Ritalin -vs- Methylphenidate

[mark]

It took me a long time to find out what I'm about to tell you, so I figured everyone just beginning to research ADHD could benefit from my prior "research".

Here is the basics:

Ritalin is the exact duplicate of Methylphenidate. Ritalin is the original trade name that the company who invented the drug gave it, which is called CIBA-Geigy of Switzerland. They had a patent on it which expired about 10 years after they designed it. At that point in time, any company could then begin making the same drug, but not under the brand name Ritalin. So the chemical compound name of Methylphenidate is used by the other drug manufacturers for their product.

The only real difference is in your wallet. Most Health Care Plans will only pay for "generic" brand prescription coverage. That is because CIBA-GEIGY charges more for their brand Ritalin. Supposedly this is due to them recouping all the research and trials money they spent designing the drug. So if your Psychiatrist/Doctor writes a prescription for "Ritalin", and doesnt write D.A.W. (Dispense As Written) in the box on the bottom of the prescription form, the pharmacist is required to supply you with the generic version named Methylphenidate. And if he does write DAW, then you will get the original CIBA product actually named Ritalin, but your Health Care Plan may require a higher co-payment out of pocket.

Hope this is of help to others on the website.

[Andrew]

However......

Some ADDers who have taken, or who still take Ritalin actually DO notice the difference between the brand name and Methylphenidate - including myself. I can't tell you if its manufacturing standards, or binding compounds or something else...but there IS a difference.

[mark]

Yeah, I know exactly what your talkin' bout Big. It kinda "feels" different. But the chemical compound is supposed to be the same.

[lleegle69]

They ARE different. I was given generic Ritalin....by Rite Aid drug store...Methylphenidate, manufactured by Sandoz. I thought that I would jump out of my skin. I felt "weird"...my heart raced....I had tremors...It was horrible. I have taken ritalin for years....and have never had this happen before. They ARE different...trust me on this one

[Coldhandedman]

It's all in your head. You just all got mad that you couldn't say that you were on RITALIN anymore. Maybe Methylphenidate is too hard to say?

Totally kidding. Right now I only have 2 more of my Adderall pills and then I will use my Methylin ER pills that I still have (which technically doesnt exist anymore) and then who knows what I will do unless I get some kind of insurance again.

[lleegle69]

Nah...I call it "metha-fena-whacha-call it"

[The ADHD Fan]

I agree with that statement. Although different brands of the same medication should theoretically be the same and have the same effects, a number of individuals have reported noticeable differences in effects of different brands of the same medication. This is true many types of medications (ADHD and otherwise), not just Methylphenidate.

One thing that I think we should not overlook is dosing. There is an "acceptable" degree of variation among dose sizes of pills of a specific medication. Nevertheless, certain batches come out on the high or the low end. This happened relatively recently with the drug Dextroamphetamine (see related forum post here). Essentially the manufacturers tested the amount in some of the capsules and found levels up to twice as high as the reported labels.

I think that if we were to look at the different manufacturers, we might begin to see that certain ones "overdose" their medications consistently, while others consistently "underdose". With regards to ADHD medications, going over or under by 10-15% potentially can make a noticeable difference, and lead to some of the results you described.

Finally, each brand of medication often has a slightly different form of coating or encapsulation. These differences can lead to slightly different delivery times and quantities.

I definitely think that there should be mores clinical studies done on different brands of the same ADHD medications. There should definitely enough variability to make these studies worthwhile. Any thoughts?

Originally Posted by lleegle69

They ARE different. I was given generic Ritalin....by Rite Aid drug store...Methylphenidate, manufactured by Sandoz. I thought that I would jump out of my skin. I felt "weird"...my heart raced....I had tremors...It was horrible. I have taken ritalin for years....and have never had this happen before. They ARE different...trust me on this one

[Coldhandedman]

Originally Posted by The ADHD Fan

I think that if we were to look at the different manufacturers, we might begin to see that certain ones "overdose" their medications consistently, while others consistently "underdose". With regards to ADHD medications, going over or under by 10-15% potentially can make a noticeable difference, and lead to some of the results you described.

Finally, each brand of medication often has a slightly different form of coating or encapsulation. These differences can lead to slightly different delivery times and quantities.

That is actually a really good point and no more different than how food is tested. Food can actually be a lot higher or lower with fat, carbs, protein etc. than what is actually stated on the label, and they are given ranges in which they can be over or under.

A product that says NO trans fat, cannot have any trans fat. However, a product that says "0" trans fat, can actually have up to "1" gram without it being a big deal.

So, I imagine that the pharmaceutical practices are much the same in those regards.

[xJPx]

I started on ritalin in high school and then when I was in my 20's I started taking the generic Methylphenidate and it did exactly the same thing for me. I'm sure that is true about the over or under dosing. I was good on 10-15 mg's a day since it's such a low dose that is probably why I didn't see a difference. Generic is always the way to go to save money! You could always up or down the dose yourself. I did I was prescribed 20 mg's in the morning and 20 in the afternoon. That changed very quickly to 2 in the morning and maybe 1 in the afternoon if I had school/work.

[SfumatoPants]

As I understand it both are made on the same manufacturing line, in the same production plant. The press mold into which the compound goes has different markings. That's it. This way the company maintains control and profit by manufacturing both the name brand and the generic. In some cases the name brand and the generic may be manufactured by different companies. In the case of Ritalin, Novartis makes both.