Posted by Molybdenum on March 15, 2008, at 19:12:10
In reply to Is Concerta the same med as Ritalin, posted by TexasChic on March 14, 2008, at 20:39:19
They are indeed the same drug - methylphenidate but the delivery systems & hence effects differ.
The problem with this drug is that it has a very short half life, so taking plain old generic methylphenidate will give you a peak effect in an hour or so & then run out a couple of hrs after. When what we humans need is something that works pretty evenly all day & then wears out well before its time to sleep. So the manufacturers bring out all these different preparations. Some contain 1/2 "immediate release" MP & 1/2 with the granules coated in something that takes a set time period before it gets worn off & the MP released. These ones are the same as taking a dose of MP now & the same dose again in x hours.
Trouble is that this only partially relieves the very short 1/2 life problem. The "ideal" way to take this drug is to work out what's the right dose for YOU & then have some way that you can take say 20% of it 5 times a day in between waking up & early afternoon. This way, your body gets a new little burst dose at regular intervals.
There's 2 ways to achieve this:
a) work out what the right dose is for you & then take fractions of the dose say 5 times during the day as per above *or*
b) buy one of the more expensive preparations that do this for you. Some of the new preps have not just "immediate release granules" + "2hr-dissolving coated granules" they now sell ones with a third bunch of granules that take longer to release. But all this is doing is trying to give you little bursts during the day.
So......if you want to save money, then go get the generic immediate release 10mg tabs. Take 1/2 tab at 8am, again at 10am, 12pm, 2pm say.
The problem is that people forget & then they feel crap & then they take it too late in the day & can;t sleep which makes them tireder the next day, etc, etc.
If this is for a child, then I imagine it would be very hard to get them to make sure they take it at the right times. Anyway, run it past the Dr as you can technically achieve the same result with the cheaper versions.
Here's a good article on it: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/462703_5
Read as much as you can stand (!) & then zoom in on the graphs in Fig.5 & fig.6. A picture's worth 10E3 words...:)Good Luck ;)
poster:Molybdenum
thread:817984
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080303/msgs/818169.html