Keep Ritalin below 86 degrees to maintain potency?

[FightingBoredom]

So, since I started taking Ritalin I've pretty much always kept it close by so I could remember to take it. The closest place I could keep it? My front pocket!

Now, I'm reading a part of the ADD Success Stories book by Hartmann and it says Ritalin mfg companies suggest keeping it below 86 degrees to maintain potency. And I think my pocket can exceed this by at least 10 degrees! (15 when my wife is neaby )

Maybe that explains why I feel like Ritalin hasn't been halping as much or as consistently as it once was...........

I guess I'll be keeping it cool and see how goes.

Anyone else experienced this and have feedback?

[Gregster]

Well, heat will degrade almost any chemical - it will increase the rate of oxydation, etc - but it's a factor of how much heat and for how long. I don't think methylphenidate is a particulaly unstable compound. Don't leave it on the dashboard of your car for 3 months in the summer, but I wouldn't worry about carrying a few pills in your pocket for a couple of days - you don't walk around with a month's worth anyway. There would be no loss in potency - miniscule - if that. Carry it in your pocket if that helps you remember to take it. I put mine in my breifcase.
Regards,
Greg

[David]

I used to keep a bottle of Ritalin in my car and a bottle in the house. Sometimes I would carry extras in my pocket etc... Trying to keep it around so I wouldn't forget. (Imagine that)

I had an extra bottle that had been sitting in a second vehicle of mine that I started using after I had run out of everything else and hadn't seen the doctor in a while. I used these for about a month and did notice they didn't feel as potent but after a while I guess I became used to it.

After I visited the doctor again and had another script filled, I took the same dosage and it felt like I had at least doubled what I had been taking. They were noticeably more potent than what I had been taking for the last month. I of course got used to it after a couple of days but it really made me think about these pills going bad after being in heat.

Another thing that I noticed and now judge (at least in part) "freshness" by is that new pills can be very hard to break in half. (I break 20 mg's in half for 10 mg dosages) The older the pill gets, the easier it is to break in half.