I was wondering if some of you guys could share your experience with Ritalin. I am taking 5 or 10 mg twice a day. 5mg does nothing, and 10mg has barely any effects which only last for around 2 hours or so. I was very hopeful this medication would help, but it hasn't been the case so far.

I am guessing that this is your first ADD med. I was also recently diagnosed with ADD. I tried Adderall for a month but switched to Ritalin this week. I liked Adderall but I was having some mild side effects so my doc suggested we try Ritalin so I could compare the two.

Currently, I am on up to 20mg per day. I do feel the effects of the med at this dose but, as you will discover, we all react differently. I was also on 20mg of Adderall per day and that was plenty for me but many people require much more than that.

So, you may well need to titrate your dosage up over time to get the benefits of the drug you seek. Or, you may eventually need to try another med. It is definetely a trial and error process but make sure you work closely with your doctor on this.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. There is a lot a great information on this site.

Does anyone remember their first time using the drug? I felt very strange, and I thought it was just the medication working well, but haven't felt that way since. What is the mental "change" you guys experience after taking your normal dose? Thanks a bunch!

This isn't quite a "mental" feeling, but I felt INCREDIBLY heavy the first time I took Ritalin. It was like gravity was planting me as a tree in the ground.

I was wondering if some of you guys could share your experience with Ritalin. I am taking 5 or 10 mg twice a day. 5mg does nothing, and 10mg has barely any effects which only last for around 2 hours or so. I was very hopeful this medication would help, but it hasn't been the case so far.
Depending on your age 20mg per day isn't much, but since you're only starting - it is a good starting point.

Finding the right medication and dosage level takes time. This is something we ADDers need to learn :) a bit pf patience.

A rough summary of my dosage increases:
starting: 2x10mg/day
titrate: 1x10mg + 1x20mg
titrate: 2x10mg + 1x10mg
titrate: 2x20mg + 2x10mg

Then went to Ritalin LA, (long acting):
starting: 40mg with occasional 10mg morning/afternoon when required.

The start was horrible and titrating up was horrible. However, a day or two afterwards the side-effects went away, but the therapeutic effect stayed.

I was lucky in that respect. I managed to find the right medication first up. But other people on ADDF have tried for months and months.

Important:
Don't give up. Let your body adjust for a while. Try it out and see how it goes.
It's also important to be consistent with dosages, food intake, sleep, etc. If you're looking for consistency, then those things need to be consistent as well.

Your Doc will know all this, so don't deviate from his instructions.