[Learningdaily123]

Hi,

In the past my doctor prescribed my ritalin for ADD because of expense (I'm paying out of pocket). I was on 60mg per day of short acting. Occasionally I would take less and occasionally if I had a long day (12 hours) I may take more.

After a while, I noticed mood swings and mild aggression. I began to research and found this was common with higher doses of ritalin. I stopped taking ritalin cold turkey. It was the worst experience of my life.....for 3 days I thought I was going to melt, then after that it took about 10 days for me to have any type of motivation at all. I didn't even want to get out of bed or off the couch for about 5 days. Then slowly I began to "level" out.

I feel great now, but when I am working on projects for work that require me to be in front of a computer for extended periods, I just lack focus.

My question is, if I were to start taking ritalin again, but cut my dosage back to 20-30 mg on the days that I am in the office, will I experience the same withdrawals if I wanted to stop because of vacation or just didn't need it for a while?

Was my experience so bad because of the dosage or do I just need to look for other much higher priced alternatives?

The ritalin did work well, but I don't ever want to go through that mess again.

I appreciate all feedback, but if someone has actual experience with this, I would be grateful for your input.

Thank you

[vans1974]

Sorry to hear! For me, every psychoactive drug can be somewhat difficult to withdraw from. When you say "Ritalin" or methylphenidate (Ritalin LA, Ritalin SR, Concerta, Methylin, Methylin ER, Metadate CD, Metadate ER) etc., since they all are a little different, then so is probably the withdrawal experience. I'd ck with a pharmacist! Best of luck!!

[Arwen_78]

You could try another drug? You just need to keep trying but first take with your doctor, cold turkey is never good. Just because one worked great doesn't mean another can't be found or that it was the right drug for you.

You said he would work with you so maybe you could find one that isn't to high priced but works wonders for you! Plus, have you check out the drug discount drug card on here or if you meet any drug companies financial assistance programs?

[HealingNSuffering]

Yeah like Arwen said, talk to your doctor first, you should be slowly tapering your dose down, not quitting cold turkey. I agree coming off of it is hard, and due to the nature of this disorder, its hard to function without that stuff... I've been pretty much non-functional since I quit back in 2003, try a lower dosage.

[19restless51]

There was a shortage of an ingredient in methylphenidate last summer, so I couldn't get refills in tablet form (allergic to gelatin capsules) and I cut back the dosage I took each day. Short-acting Ritalin wears off quickly, so I was taking (AM + PM) 20 mg Ritalin SR, which does last longer, about 6 hrs for me. Horrible emotional stuff happened when I lowered the dosage or didn't take Ritalin for a few days at a time, trying to conserve it until the shortage was over. First time I'd faced that problem-dojn't ever want to repeat it. Now, I'm on 20 mg at 7 am and 2 pm and a regular 10 mg Ritalin, right before I go to bed, to slow down my brain, so I can get to sleep. 50 mg/day works just right. I'm 62, athletic, 135 lbs, 5' 7" and have a lot of work daily on the computer. Avoid screentime for several hours before bedtime, so the brain can relax a bit.