Okay, first off I would like to say I am new to this forum and in fact this is my first post. About 1 1/2 months ago I was officially diagnosed with ADHD, I am male and 20years old. First, after my doctor diagnosed me he started me out on 5mg methylphenidate 2 times daily, then after 5 days moved me to 10mg 2 times daily. After about a week and a half of that I went into my next appointment to explain to him it was working great but then just stopped!

He responded with raising my dose to 20mg 2 time daily, I went home and the first day I took this dose I was completely satisfied, I went to class and I could concentrate SO GOOD! I could sit still, I didn't have to get up every 3 minutes for no reason either! Well then after another week and a half of this, it just stopped working again, so I gave it a few days and still nothing. So, I made an appointment with my doctor and he decided to put me on 54mg concerta, the next 3-4 days I took this and did not get ANY positive effects from it.

So, I then made another appointment with my doctor and he decided to switch me to Adderall XR, which I thought was a better drug. So I took this the next day and felt no effects, not even negative ones, felt as though I had not taken ANYTHING, and my concentrating and being able to sit still was HORRIBLE. So, I gave it 6 more days and then on the 7th I switched to 20mg XR once daily like he told me to do, same effects, NONE! So now I have been taking the 20mg for 4 days and have a check up appt. with him in 6 days, So I am curious what other medications should I check if my insurance covers? Any advice? Anyone have similar problems? I AM SO FRUSTRATED! hehehe

Look forward to meeting all of you. Thanks!

Oh yeah and I forgot to post one more question that goes along with this information. I was looking into some of the other medications available, to my knowledge, and I was wondering about the difference between DexMethylphenidate and Methylphenidate, I mean I know one has 2 forms and one has 1 form, and I even read a big thread on here about this, but my main question is would DexMethylphenidate be different than the Methylphenidate in regards to all of a sudden stop working or what? (read my previous post about my problem with the regular Methylphenidate) .

And if I do not get any positive or negative effects from the Adderall, would it be the same with the Dexedrine, which ones would be good to bring up in m,y doctors office, not really what he will think but I really just want to waste as little time as possible, as I am currently in school and need some help. Oh Yeah, and I think Desoxyn will be out of the question at my clinic...

Thanks very much guys!

It's understandable how frustrating this can be. Since you had a positive, yet brief, response to the methylphenidate (MPH) I would suggest talking with your doctor about either going to a higher dose of MPH or giving Focalin a try.

Also, with MPH being short acting it is generally dosed three times a day (or more). Keep in mind if you get a trial of Focalin this med is dosed at half of what MPH is- ex. 20mg MPH = 10mg Focalin.

Try to stay positive and let us know how things work out.

You might just be one of the people that don't respond well to amphetamine-based meds. About 70% of patients respond well to meds. Within that 70% some do equally well on both, the others prefer one class or the other. Stick with what works.

Possible options to discuss with your doc:
1. Go back to Concerta and move up to 72mg a day. That will give you closer to your previous doses of Ritalin 2x day. (Concerta is getting ready for final approval for adults at doses up to 108mg day). Concerta is designed to give 3 doses of IR ritalin over 10-12 hours. You get 22% immediately and the remaining 78% over the course of the day.

2. Try Focalin XR.
20mg of Focalin XR is about equal to 40mg of Ritalin.

3. Try Ritalin LA.
Each capsule contains a 50/50 split of medication. Half immeditiately, the other half about 4 hours later (Focalin XR uses the same 50/50 release mechanism for dosing).

4. Try Metadate CD.
Each capsule contains a 30/70 split. 30 percent immediately then 70% later on. Designed to give the heavier dose later in the day for avoiding the 'acute tolerance' issue with stimulants.

Here is a good source of info:
http://www.askdrjones.com/2006/11/13/determining-the-best-stimulants/

J