Well after I realized that Wellbutrin was not working for my ADHD like I had hoped, I asked the doc what my other options were. She said there were, of course, the stimulants and that they are usually fairly effective. She seemed a little bit hesitant though, perhaps because I told her I am in a fraternity and she was worried I was just try to score drugs to sell or abuse, which is not the case. Still, she agreed that stimulants would be worth a try and said she would put me on adderall. However, she noticed that the hospital, for whatever reason, "requires" me to do a "trial" of ritalin before I go on adderall. So she said I would go on a trial of ritalin for 2 months at the amount of only 2.5-5mg a day! My little sister is on concerta at 54mg a day! This amount seems very low to me and has very little effect on me and for only a matter of a few hours. Perhaps a dosage of 15mg 3 times a day (similar to what my sister takes) is what i would need, but i guess the doc felt differently

Do you think she perscribed the small amount as a part of the "trial" requirements (perhaps in order to test my responce to the drug in smaller/safer doses)? Or perhaps she is just afriad that I would abuse them? What do you think the reason for such a small dosage would be?

I have been taking 5 mg of Ritalin per day since the end of October. That is enough for me; it does its job just fine. Don't think that 54mg of concerta for your sister is strange compared to 2.5 mg for you. Talk to your doctor if it doesn't have the results you are looking for.

That's good to start small but not for a full 2 months at that dosage if it's not having much effect. 10 mg was too much for me so I broke them down to 2.5 mg but that was combined with Wellbutrin which I didn't like. In the end none of them seemed to work & I'm trying and antidepressant then we may try stimulants again.

Originally posted by jwadd21
... go on a trial of ritalin for 2 months at the amount of only 2.5-5mg a day! ...

This is a really, really low dose. If you showed no previous condition or experience with it to suggest special circumstances I'm not sure what might be prompting this.


Typical starting dosage is at least double:

" .. Start with 5 mg twice daily "

http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/methphen_ids.htm

Seems like though if worried that you would abuse it, she might put you on Strattera or maybe just not prescribe.

Don't know.

Not sure what Drs. do when confronted with what they perceive as an abuse risk.

My sense of it is that they prescribe, prescribe, and prescribe anyway...

It's a normal does to START on, but I have never known anyone to prescribe a steady low dose for such a long time.

Normally, instructions (which vary according to severity, reaction to medication and weight) are to work your way up from a low dose (2.5 to 10mg, 5mg seems best) once or twice a day up to a maximum of 1 - 1.5 mg/kg of body weight, stopping at whatever level works.

Most people will medicate 3 times (morning, lunch, afternoon) at between 10 and 30mg for each dose, as the dose lasts around 4 hours in most people.

Some people who are very sensitive to the medication need less (once or twice/day), especially if they can't sleep if a dose is taken int he afternoon.

Others metabolise the drug quickly with a duration between 2 and 3 hours, so they take 4 or 5 doses/day.

A moderate theraputic dose is going to be about .5mg/kg/day for methyphenidate - it varies from person to person but this is the doseage that helps the most, on average. Typically you start low and work your way up slowly. More is not always better, especially with stimulants - a moderate dose works best for most people.
I would ask your Dr about the low dosage and the reasons for it. There could be medical reasons for the low dose - like an existing "tic" or other condition he/she is worried about.
Regards,
Greg

I think it is most likely that there is some regulation saying she has to give this small of a dose for two months. After all, she was going to put me on Adderall instead, but they forced her to give me ritalin for a "trial". Either way I bet we can resolve this at our next appt. By the way, here is what I found for the average ritalin dosage...

Average dosage is 20 to 30 mg daily. Some patients may require 40 to 60 mg daily. In others, 10 to 15 mg daily will be adequate.

She had no reason other than some wierd regulation to give me something lower than she considers a small dose.

2.5 mg does seen a but lower than the average dosage that Dr begin patients on. 5mg or ritalin is usually what doctors start out with then gradually move the meds up over time to find the correct dose.

Research is showing that lower dosages of AD/HD medication may actually be more benificial than the larger doses. It sounds to me like this Dr may actually be up on the current research about AD/HD medication too.

I would be more worried if you were started out on a high dose instead of a smaller dose. This way you can gradually adjust you dosage. If you had started out on a higher dose and has side effects you would know if the side effects were from the medication itself or is the dose was too high.

As for trying Ritalin before Adderall that is pretty common too. It's pretty standard to try a patient on Ritalin 1st since it is the most common medication and has had the most testing done on it.