Posted by nomom on March 31, 2005, at 9:57:18
In reply to Re: Concerta Dose (in adults) Question, posted by henryO on March 31, 2005, at 3:01:15
It's for ADHD, and she's 23, 110lbs. She's been taking it for about 4 days now, no real side effects other than a slight appetite loss but that seems to be getting better. She says she doesn't notice any real difference. We're all new to this, does it take a while to work?
> What's it for? How old is she?
>
> The best dose is the one that achieves the desired result with tolerable side effects. The patient is ultimately the one who decides about that. Speaking as an adult with ADD and depression, 72mg is a whopper of a dose. I have taken the 36's but prefer the 18's. 10mgs of regular Ritalin will crank you right up, all be it for around two hours. Concerta is spread out over eight to ten.
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> Don't let miligrams fool you. Nuerontin is taken in huge sounding doses and with other drugs .5mgs is quite potent. Mgs are not equivalent med to med like horse power.
>
> Have you ever tried Concerta? It wares off in 8 hours pretty much. I believe every doctor should be required to take their own medicines for a while. Everybody has a unique reaction to any psychoactive med, but there are reactions common to certain percentage groups. Concerta is just Ritalin SR (slow release). It is speed. It really improves concentration for me. It has good anti depressant qualities too, largely limited to the duration of the med. I've always liked Ritalin but after 60 to 90 days its efficacy begins to deteriorate for me. If I lay off it for a few months and then start again it works as before. Because of this I mostly take it on an as needed basis. This makes some people nervous but over many years I have never abused it. In fact the opposite is true I probably avoid taking it on occasions when it would be advisable.
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> I think we all tend to take less or even none of these drugs. Noncompliance is a far bigger problem than over use in my experience. I fought the whole med thing for years but pointless emotional pain finally made me very flexible and open to whatever works. I take my Lamictal religiously. I also take Klonipin and Ritalin judiciously but when I do they work quite well. It took years of trial and error and pain, but for the past three years or more these meds have been doing an excelent job. Hooray for drugs. I would be miserable hermit without them.
poster:nomom
thread:476811
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050330/msgs/478099.html