[unfinished]

My doctor put me on 20mg generic ritalin one in the am and one in the pm. Totaling 40mg. I started takeing both in the am and it worked much better. I asked him if I could go to 40mg am and 40mg pm since it only seems to last 5 hours for me. He said I could take one am one noon and one afternoon or two in am and one in afternoon totaling 60mg. I am confused and frustrated because if 40mg works for me and it is gone after 5 hours than why can't I keep a consistent 40 throughout the day. The way he wants it puts me on a roller coaster up down. Any thoughts?

[Jerrypharmstudent]

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unfinished said:
My doctor put me on 20mg generic ritalin one in the am and one in the pm. Totaling 40mg. I started takeing both in the am and it worked much better. I asked him if I could go to 40mg am and 40mg pm since it only seems to last 5 hours for me. He said I could take one am one noon and one afternoon or two in am and one in afternoon totaling 60mg. I am confused and frustrated because if 40mg works for me and it is gone after 5 hours than why can't I keep a consistent 40 throughout the day. The way he wants it puts me on a roller coaster up down. Any thoughts?

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I can kind of see where your doctor is coming from - I believe he is trying to evenly spread the dosage out so you have less ups and downs. So, taking 20mg 3x daily would make an even spread over the entrire day. I don't beleive that generic Ritalin comes in 40mg tablets (although I could be wrong). This could be another reason why he hasn't gone the 40 + 40 route - becuase then you'd have to buy 4 - 20mg/day x30 = 120 pills/mo.

Have you tried the 20mg 3x daily? Or how about 20mg in the am then 40mg in the pm?

Are you on genereic Ritalin due to insurance reasons? If not - you may want to talk to your doctor about the longer-acting forumlations - like Concerta, Focalin and Ritalin XR/CR (I think there may even be a generic extended release form of Ritalin).

Hope this helps
Jerry

[unfinished]

Hi,
I am sorry I failed to say that I am on 20mg of the XR (longer lasting) three times a day. I am confused by his decision because this longer lasting kind works for about 5 hours for me and 40mg is what seems to work best. My doctor says that the manufacturer does not recommend more than 60mg per day. But it doesn't make sense to me because the drug is completley gone after 5 hours, why not take 40mg for the next 5 hours? He is saying to take one 20mg in am one 20mg at noon and one 20mg in afternoon, or take 40mg in am and 20mg in afternoon. It seems to me that I would have different levels at different times apposed to a consistent level.
Thank you for your thoughts,
Unfinished