Hi, I have been diagnosed with ADHD and my doc told me to try Ritalin. I have already tried wellbutrin before and at 300mg it didn't do anything. The Ritalin which I have is of a kind which releases 50% instantly and the other 50% after 3 hours. My biggest dose so far has been 20mg which equals 10mg instant and 10mg later. But from this dose I don't feel anything. What do you think does this mean? That Ritalin simply doesn't work for me or do I need a bigger dose? The concerns which I have with using bigger doses is that I fear becoming dependent on Ritalin which I do not want. I don't want to be forced to use it daily cause I worry that once the brain gets used to it functioning without it might not be possible anymore. Unfortunately other meds like adderall aren't available to me. This means that all I have is Ritalin.
Hello, This is just my pomeranians experience but she is prescribed 30 Mgs of instant release ritalin every 4 hours as anything lower did nothing for her, she also tried vyvanse and adderall which left her with an open door closed door effect so the higher dose of ritalin is the only thing that works for her ADHD now since it's prescribed and she takes it every day as prescribed she can't answer to wether or not you will be dependent other than to say she cannot function without it. Any how I hope you get some other input I just thought I would share my pomeranians experience. Be well
Try a higher dose, how much do you weight? Because 10 mg is a tiny dose, and the effects last only 2~4 hours: Dosage for adults can be, I think, as high as 60mg per day. I take 36 mg Concerta and can't feel shit (I'm 25 and weigh 70 kg or 140 lb), so next week I'm gonna tell my neurologist to either up the dose or prescribe ritalin. And if he refuses then I'll switch docs. Regards!
Thanks for your replies. I recently listened to an adhd podcast and the woman there who's an adhd coach said that bodyweight plays no role in this and that you can't simply go by bodyweight. Imagine someone weighs 200lbs and then puts on 50lbs of fat why should he suddenly require more ritalin? I was just thinking if ritalin works then should one not also at least feel a bit at smaller doses? Maybe this is not so. Maybe it's 1 or 0.
When i got prescribed MPH for my ADHD, i could feel 10MG got me "high". Now im on 54mg concerta + 3x 10mg IR (i take the IR when i need them) i don't get high. It's just helping with focus, and i feel like you would feel after a cup of coffee. I'm a Male, 64kg.
Hi, I am really disappointed. Recently I was depressed and thought let's see if ritalin gives me a mood lift. I took 30mg Ritalin LA which has 15mg instant ritalin and 15mg time released ritalin. I felt nothing! How can other people even feel smaller doses and I feel nothing? I dont get it. This sucks.
i dont know if this helps but my son is 8 years old he has ADHD. he is prescribed 30mg of Medikinect a day (which is apparanlty the same as ritalin) The medikinect is modified release (half now half later) but if he takes it at 700am it is still worn off by 1pm and his symptoms kick back in. So 30mg for an 8 year old isnt enough.... hoping to go back to his next appt and get a faster acting dose for after lunch so he can stay in school Surely your doc can help with your dose until you find one that helps you??? I always forget how lucky we are in the UK when it comes to meds
Hi, I think this is the same which I take. My one is also separated into 50% now, 50% later. And he takes 30mg at once in the morning? 30mg at once sounds pretty much for a child. I mean for adults the official max dose is 80mg/day! For children the max dose must be much lower. I think they go by body weight which means 40 Kilo weight means 40mg max dose. Does he take it after food? That's important. Not on an empty stomach cause then the time released effect doesn't work.
yeah he takes 1 30mg capsule of medikiet,modified release hard capsules, I checked and they have the smae ingredients. He has to take his capsule then eat firstt thing in the morning. Then hs appetite dies for the day. Tbh I am at a loss now, he seems to be building a tolerance to it, at frst the 30mg was brilliant he was great at school, now after lunch he s really struggling to make the right decisions...its so frustrating. He has an appointment on the 14th Jan with the doc, I am hoping for a faster acting pill he can take at lunch just to get him through school. He was so isolated before the medication, then he started getting somewhere, it seems 2 steps forward, 1 back.
As soon as you get kind of used to it, within a week or so, you will no longer "feel" it or perceive it as giving you a speedy sensation. The best thing, is to keep track of how much you are able to accomplish on various doses, how calm and clearheaded you may feel (whether or not the dose is stopping or at least decreasing all the internal "chatter"), if you are better able to sit still, etc. Also note if the dose is making you sleepy, any other negative effects, how your appetite and sleep are affected. Have someone you trust observe you medicated and see what they think. You may not feel a typical speed type "crash" when it wears off, I do not feel tired when mine wears off, but rather an irritable, foggy feeling. Extended release versions should not wear off as fast and it should be more subtle. Instant release ritalin is NOT long lasting. A dose for me takes about a half hour to fully "kick in", and begins to lose effectiveness after 2 1/2-3 hours, and is certainly worn off before 4 hours. Don't look for it to give you a speedy feeling....low dose ritalin CAN relax you enough and stop to stream of thoughts to where you go to sleep. I take 20 mg of ritalin 3 times a day. I make sure after I take the first one, to get a project going. If it is a day off, and I take my first dose, and just lay around or worse, lay down to "rest my eyes", I will go to sleep, and the first dose will be wasted, as I will have accomplished nothing. However, if you have adhd, sleeping while on a small dose of ritalin or Adderal is the most wonderful, restful, refreshing sleep. My hubby has said when I have fallen asleep medicated and he has observed me, I do not toss and turn, and my sleep is very peaceful. I have heard before that you cannot enter REM sleep under the influence of strong stimulants, but I dream when this has happened, so that can't be right. Most adults who take ritalin and have adhd will take doses of 40-60+ mg/day. It depends on the person, and though I'm sure it depends somewhat on tolerance and weight, it isn't totally dependant on this. I've heard of 300 lb men finding relief of symptoms at doses as small as 10 mg/day, and ten year old girls requiring doses of over 80 mg/day. I knew someone taking over 100 mg of Adderal a day, and she was not getting buzzed. If you have not taken stimulants before, and have no tolerance, when you first are medicated, you MAY initially feel a little mild speedy buzzy euphoria. This is not uncommon. Even though they are often handed out like candy, remember these are SCHEDULE II DRUGS. This small bit of pleasure felt is very real. It is crucial though, to NOT assume the medicine is no longer working just because this feeling goes away. If you try to increase the dose chasing this feeling, you will soon have a huge tolerance and a big problem. I'm sure I could catch a cheap buzz off these, if I took four or five of them at once, but it is a very more-ish thing, and you can get quite ill from it, and then you will be out of meds, and it will suck bad.
@ the joker Do you only feel it at 20mg or also at smaller doses? For me it's hard to say if it has an effect or not. Maybe I also expect wrong things. One thing which I notice is that during the day I'm often kind of distanced from my environment and I am totally busy with my own thoughts. I feel like I can't pay attention to things around me. When I'm shopping for example then I don't know where to direct my attention.It feels like sensual overflow. But when I take ritalin and then go to the supermarket then I don't feel any more focused at all. I also don't know if ritalin makes you pay more attention to what you're doing which means if I usually feel distanced from the world and am trapped thinking about personal issues then will ritalin make this stronger? Does ritalin simply amplify what you're already concentrating on? Then what if it only makes you focus more on problems? Another issue is that I often feel restless and agitated. When I'm around people then I don't have any inner peace to do anything. I can only learn when I'm alone. Ritalin also doesn't change anything about that. So yeah, I really cant say if it works for me at all. It's really discouraging when you take drugs and don't even feel anything while other people do. I also didn't get any benefits from antidepressants. It's all like sugar candy. I mean if ritalin at least gave me a high this would at least be something. @ cbabycee Does he take ritalin BEFORE or AFTER breakfast? Cause you have to take it AFTER breakfast.
Griff, it depends. Finding the right dose can take time. Fatty meals can reduce it's effect. You can stop taking them on holidays if you don't need them. Good luck.
I can't feel it at all, or at least not enough that it is perceptible to me, at 20 mg, but if I take less than 20 mg, it makes me really tired. When I was first on it, 10 mg was enough to work. But it did not take long until I noticed that it was making me feel stoned and sleepy. 20 mg doesn't make me any more or less alert than I was to begin with, prior to taking it. If I have not gotten enough rest the night before, it won't work right. But I can easily fall asleep when on it, if I lay down, if I am tired. I can still be distracted, and still have to try to focus, but it is easier to do medicated, in some way that is hard to explain. I do not feel as overwhelmed, anxious, and unable to accomplish things. I can see a project through to the end, or at least, am better about it. Ritalin does not make me sociable, and I still don't like to have too much stuff going on around me. In that respect it is calming, but does not make me as sleepy as traditional anti-anxiety medicines. I don't like anxiety meds, they are very sedating to me. I have enough tolerance that it would probably take a relatively high dosage of it for me to get high off it. If it is making you more agitated and anxious it may not be right for you, and many people find Adderal and other amphetamines less jittery. It just depends on the person. It often takes trial and error to get the medicine and dosage correct.
Hello, adderall isnt available where I'm at which is a bit sad I'd at least have tried it. One doc once told me when I have add and take ritalin then I will feel like a curtain is being lifted. This sounded like it's very noticable. But if it's not noticable and also not really a huge difference then this is discouraging. Some people say that ritalin was like a switch for them. I was just thinking even if I dont take the "right" dose then should I not still feel some benefit? If you only feel something exactly at the right dose then this sounds weird to me. Also if the effect is very subtle then I dont even know how to notice it. What if it is there and I dont even notice it?
