I think I may have reached a tolerance for Focalin (I take Focalin XR). Would it make sense to switch medications to adderall or something?

if you think you've peaked on focalin, then it can't hurt to discuss a new med w/ your doc.

What dosage are you currently at? How long have you been on this particular dosage?

J

What dosage are you currently at? How long have you been on this particular dosage?

J

I take 120mg of focalin xr twice a day.

Holy crap....120mg twice a day?

J

You've openly posted about abusing your meds in another thread, so I can only assume you are not prescribed 240mg a day? I doubt you have reached your 'tolerance' so to speak, at least not your therapeutic tolerance. You just need to stop chasing the high.

No, that is the amount my doctor has prescribed for me. 120mg twice a day. I don't have any clue what is a typical dose, I'm assuming by your responses that my dose is high. I knew it was high but I didn't know it was shock worthy high.

This is from the Physician's Desk Reference (PDR) for Focalin (http://www.drugs.com/pdr/focalin.html):
Recommended dosage

For people who are not currently taking Ritalin, the usual starting dose is 5 milligrams a day. For those who are switching from Ritalin, the starting Focalin dose is half the amount of the Ritalin dose. In either case, the total daily dose of Focalin should be divided into 2 doses taken at least 4 hours apart.

Depending on the response, your doctor may increase the dose by 2.5 to 5 milligrams a day, up to a maximum daily dose of 20 milligrams (10 milligrams twice a day). Increases are usually made at weekly intervals.
According to that, your dose does seem quite high. I know some doctors will prescribe dosages exceeding what is recommended by the PDR if you aren't responding to the lower dosages, but I haven't seen too many people with dosages as high as yours.

I'd definitely talk to your doctor about why he has chosen to prescribe such a high amount of the drug.

This is from the Physician's Desk Reference (PDR) for Focalin (http://www.drugs.com/pdr/focalin.html):

According to that, your dose does seem quite high. I know some doctors will prescribe dosages exceeding what is recommended by the PDR if you aren't responding to the lower dosages, but I haven't seen too many people with dosages as high as yours.

I'd definitely talk to your doctor about why he has chosen to prescribe such a high amount of the drug.

Thank you for posting this information. I will certainly speak with my doctor about the dosage I'm on. I am pretty anxious about this now. I don't know what to think about my doctor.

I know the reason for the 120mg of focalin xr is because my doc says with xr, you're actually getting 50% strength immediately and 50% several hours later. So, we agreed that 60mg of regular focalin was effective (after several trials at different doses) which is the maximum recommended dose. So with the xr, 120mg is 60mg immediately and 60 several hours later. I wake up everyday at 5:30 and take my first dose of 120, and according to my doc, 60mgs are dumped immediately, then 60 later at about 9:30/10:00. Then at 1:00pm I take my second 120mg dose which is 60mg immediately and 60mg later. I found a review of dexmethylphenidate that states the same thing (I was trying to find info about the long term effects of Focalin use when I came upon this review). It says,
"Dexmethylphenidate extended release utilizes spheroidal oral drug absorption system technology to achieve a 50% immediate medication delivery and 50% delayed release of dexmethylphenidate approximately 4 h after ingestion."

found at: http://www.expert-reviews.com/doi/abs/10.1586/14737175.5.4.437

btw, I could not find any info on the long term effects of focalin other than it may slow growth in children so if you find something, will you please post it or a link to it? Thanks!