I recently (three months ago) began taking adderall (40 mg per day), and, due to its relatively long half-life requested ritalin as a substitute, as I was instructed. I began taking 40 mg of ritalin per day, but it took me a few weeks to work myself up to this dosage. The drug has been very helpful to me, and after finally getting myself up to what I was supposed to be taking, I decided that I could benefit from taking a slightly higher dose.
I was under the impression that I was taking the lowest dose. It turns out that the 10mg pills I was taking (and this goes without saying, I'm sure that most, if not all of you, are aware that this is untrue) were a step up from this. The lowest dose is, of course, 5 mg. I am now accustomed to taking 50 mg per day only to find, a couple of weeks after getting the prescription that I was given filled, that, I believe, my psychiatrist thought I was taking 5mg pills. Obviously, the dosage I was re-prescribed with has been halved. I fear that I was given too hefty a pill to begin with, and have worked my way up to a dosage too high for me because I thought that it was the appropriate thing to do.
I am 6'1", and I weighed 167 lbs when I started taking ritalin. I now weigh 147 lbs, but I have a small frame, so this isn't too bad, and I readily understand that weight loss is a by-product of taking any form of stimulant. At any rate, it is somewhat obvious to me that my psychiatrist was under the impression that she was originally prescribing me with half the dosage that she thought. Now I'm probably addicted to my current intake, and I think it might be too much for a little fellow like myself.
So... is 50 mg approaching the realm of too much for a 147 lb man? I know how to remedy the prescription's miswriting, but I really think that I was overprescribed to begin with, and worry that I will need some sort of "fix" if I have to down the dosage when I thought that increasing it was appropriate. I rant, though, and should stop. Please give input.

Wellll, it seems to me that optimum dosage is based more on relief from symptoms that from any mg. per lb. type of equation, honestly.

I take 81 mg. daily of methylphenidate in the form of Concerta. I am a female roughly 160 lbs. 5'5". I am also severe ADHD....

::shrugs::

How did you feel on the dosage you had?

Crazy :cool:

At first, pretty hopped up. I had never even consumed caffeine. The only thing that worries me is that my doctor "upped" my dosage while assuming I was using half of what I was. I remember her asking me if I wanted 10 mg pills and break them in half, so I'm sure that she thought I was taking 5 mg pills. I just don't want to be taking sh*t tons of amphetamines because of an error... As stated earlier, it took me some time just to get myself to be able to take in the 10s... I hope I haven't upped my tollerance unnecessarily.

Ritalin is methylphenidate and not an amphetamine. The doses are way different than for Adderall.

Crazy :cool:

If it is helping your thinking and your "moods are stable"; you probably dosed yourself right. If you do take more than you need, your thinking efficiency will go down and you will get cranky and possibly unstable. Another thing to look for is at the end of the day when the meds wear off, if it feels like a crash you could be taking too much. I always preffer a gentle let down compared to a crash.

Just tell the doctor about the mistake and she will adjust the script and everything should be fine. Everyone makes a dosing error from time to time.

Tom

I think (99% sure) that body weight has little to do with dossage. It's a symptom relief thing and dossages vary from individual to individual with little correlation to body weight.