Ritalin LA - This can’t be right!? | ADHD Information

I hope you can get it straightened out soon so you can get your dosage optimized.

Just for future reference. The long acting forms can also be taken a couple times a day for longer coverage. Ritlain LA covers about 6 hours. My daughter's doc even works with concerta  (10-12 hour coverage) a couple times a day for some patients that have evening demands and can sleep better with the meds in the system. In this case the advantage of the longer forms is the smoother transition in and out of the system, but they don't work well for everyone.

My son takes 2 20mg pills of Ritalin SR in the morning on school days only. He just started taking the 2 last week.Ok, short history here, since am a new poster.

I am an adult female with ADHD (wicked bad). This was decided about 10 years ago. At one time I was on regular Ritalin, and it changed my life.

I have not been on medication at all for about 6 years. My life is beginning to fall apart (again), so I seek medical attention. I've been seeing a psychiatrist for several months now. He was able to collect all of my records from various sources, and could see my past diagnosis and the meds I have been given. First, he put me on Wellbutrin. This of course didn't work. I'm NOT depressed. Then we tried a very small dose of Seroquel at night. This stuff stinks too!

So, finally he gives me Ritalin! Same dose as before, 10 mg 3 times a day. Usually I only take half a dose at night though. I stop and get it filled on the way home, pull it from the bag, and its capsules! I'm thinking, "this isn't right!". It's Ritalin LA! Now, why in the world would he give me LA, and tell me to take it 3 times a day!? And also, if I'm taking 30 mgs of Ritalin a day before, doesn't the lowest dose of LA made seem a bit off!?

So, I call the office, the secretary talks to a nurse, and the nurse says "Yes, Ritalin LA, 3 times a day, is a normal dosage schedule.

I'm reading online that LA is a once a day kind of thing.

Any advice or experiences would be appreciated. Oh, and this stuff seems to do nothing for me at all.


Ok, now that I have read more about the Ritalin LA, I know why it isn't working for me.

I just found my old Ritalin bottle, and I was mistaken. I was on 20 MG twice a day, and 10 for my 3rd dose.

So, basically with this RLA, I'm in a sense only getting 5 MG at a time. This is 1/4 of the dose I was on years ago.

I also see that 20 and 30 MGs once a day is a pretty normal dose for folks around here. So, tomorrow morning I will try taking 20 MG once a day, and if that does nothing I'll try 30 on the next day, once per day. If this doesn't work, I'm calling my doctor
lganio, thanks for responding.


I have ADHD, ya know. I'm getting very impatient waiting for responses on this uber slow moving board! 


I just don't understand why this doctor did this. I haven't taken it 3 times in a day yet, but I've taken it in the AM, and then about 6-8 hours later. It doesn't seem to be doing squat for me. I can remember well how "chill" regular Ritalin made me feel.... Vickie, thanks :)

I actually LOVE this Doctor, but I honestly believe that he made an error in my prescription. I think that he meant to give me regular Ritalin, 10 mgs, 3 times a day. Like I said before, he gave me a script for something that is meant to be once a day, to be taken 3 times in a day. We've talked about the LA meds before, and the time release stuff. He said himself that there were other drugs for ADHD that could be taken once a day. Then several months later he says "lets just get you back on what you were taking before", and hands me the prescription.

When he gave me the Seroquel he told me I could adjust it myself. He said 25 mgs 1 hour before bed, and add 25 mgs each night until I got the effect I desired. And he said I could go up to 400 mgs or so. Hell, I passed out on 25! I upped it to 50 but never more than that. I tried it for a week, and it did nothing for me. It made me feel a little less "reactive" he calls it, for about the first 1/4 of my day. But my adhd brain was still in my head. He said it is working successfully on the prisoners in the local prison that have ADHD, but this stuff also makes you feel like you've just smoked pot! I'm sure the prisoners love the stuff. Me personally, I don't like to feel "drugged up".

He tried the Wellbutrin first because he thought I was depressed. I'm not. I'm just dealing with a lot of depressing things in my life right now. I don't however show the typical signs of clinical depression. Plus, he thought the Wellbutrin might help me quit smoking. Now he tells me he doesn't want me to try to quit smoking right now, which I wasn't planning on it anyway.....not yet.

I truly believe this was done in error. And if I can read on here that kids are taking 80 mgs of this stuff, and  I am told to take 10 mgs 3 times a day, I think I can safely take the 30mgs all at one time when I wake up. I'll try 20 first, and then 30. If that doesn't work, I will call him back.
My son was on Rit. LA and it was a one time a day thing.  He did get a booster dose of regular rit. at 3pm to get through homework.  I am a special education teacher and deal with a class of ADHD children and my experience has always been once a day for Rit. LA. 

Your doc may be starting out cautious incase there is an underlying anxiety issue that the stim might make worse. His trying you on welbutrin indicates he is posibly worried about this. Call the office with the information on your old med and ask what the doc's usual schedule for increasing to an effective dose is.

Do not take the meds outside of the doctor's instructions. This is abuse and could ruin his trust of you. You need him to trust you so that he can start to give you more and more leeway with your meds. If you continue to feel you cannot work with this doc, start the search for a new one while you get the meds going with the current one.

Good luck and try to be patient (I know this is not easy, but is important in the long run). Come here and vent as much as you need.

vickie39144.893912037