How many diffrent forms of Ritiland are there?

Ritalin LA is a time-release form that is said to last all day. (Some people find that it still doesn't last long enough, and need to take it twice a day.) There are several different forms of Ritalin out there. There is "plain" Ritalin (which is not time-release, and has to be taken much more often), Ritalin LA, and Ritalin SR (another time-release formula that doesn't last as long). Concerta is a different type of "all-day" time-release Ritalin. Many of us have had to try several different forms before finding the one that works best for us.

Ritalin LA is long acting methylphenidate that typically lasts up to 8 hours. 50% of the med is released imediately and the other 50% is released four hours later. It's supposed to mimic two doses of the short acting Ritalin which can last anywhere from 2 - 4 hours. Ritalin LA is good for children who can't swallow pills since the beads can be sprinkled on food. There is another 8 hour sustained release med called Ritalin SR, but you need to swallow that one. Other than the delivery system, I'm not sure how different the affects would be between the LA and SR.

My daughter was on Ritalin LA for over a year and did very well on it. Unfortunately, because of her very fast motabolism, it doesn't last much more than 5-6 hours, so she was having to stop at the nurses office after lunch for another dose and would also need to take another short acting pill after school.

We recently tried Strattera over the summer in the hopes that we'd find a medicine that would work 24/7, but it didn't work at all for her.

We are now starting a trial of Concerta which has the same active ingredient as Ritalin, but is a 12 hour time release med. She'll be in middle school in a couple weeks and doesn't want to have to see the nurse.

Maureen