Concerta to short-acting switch -question | ADHD Information

Hello all. I've been taking Concerta for the last 6 months, and I am going to switch to short acting methylphenidate starting next year, as it's much cheaper for me and more manageable. My question is - has anyone had a similar experience, and what is the dosage that I'm supposed to switch to? I am going to talk this over with my doctor first, of course, but I was wondering if you guys could give me some pointers.

I've been taking 36 mgs of Concerta, and although it's usually enough for me, I found that only higher dosages (i.e. 54 mgs) give me the amount of focus that I need for more complicated work. So, like, the 36 mgs gets rid of most of my distractability problems and the ensuing irritability, makes me more organized and less worried that I will screw up, and makes my days A LOT more manageable than normal. However, the 54 mgs completely calm me down, put me in a zen state where I can follow through with decisions and plans very easily (not so easily on the 36), and if I had the choice, I would have preferred to be able to "switch on" that state of mind whenever I need to do complicated work. Generally, however, the 36 mgs is enough; the 54 mgs gives me a noticeable and uncomfortable "crash," and the effects I get from the dosage are not always necessary (so e.g. I will take the 36 mgs on a day when I am going away somewhere and prefer not to forget important things / be late, etc, but I would prefer the 54 mgs when I'm working on my tax forms or writing an important letter, etc).

My questions are: what is the correspondance in the amount of effect / stimulation between, say, 36 mgs of Concerta and 36 mgs of short-acting methylphenidate? Should I take more - or maybe less - to achieve the same kind of effect? What about the higher dose that I sometimes need? I am not sure I really need the 54, perhaps I could do with something like 45, but I just generally wanted some tips as to how to allow for the change of the form of the medication in planning the right dosage to get the same effects.
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My son was on just the short acting plain Ritalin first. They are not dosed the same. 5mg of Ritalin is like 18mg concerta or something simmalr to that. Just ask the doctor what to do. He can give you a smaller dose of the short acting ritalin to go with your Concerta to get a higer effect on some days!

He would know the best was to dose them for you! My ds also takes a  10mg dose of ritalin with his 54mg of Comcerta in the am because it takes so long for the coating to wear off to start delivering the meds! So I am almost positive you should be able to do the same on a day you need the 54mg instead of the 36mg. You just will have to repeat the Ritalin dose if you need it all day! Ritalin short acting lasts around 4 to 6 hours. 4 hours for ds!

Hope that I did not confuse you!

We switched to the concerta because the short acting was to up and down with emotions from the meds wearing of then repeating the dose. But we let it wear off till he was hungry again. I think it was too long beween doses by then! He dose not eat durring the day! Just a nutritional shake now!

Anyways I hope that helps some!

 

The other thing to consider with Concerta is that only 22% of the dosage is release initially.   So for 36 mg - that's only 8 mg or with 54 mg - 12 mg.   The issues in the morning could also be related to a lower dosage release than what they get later in the day.

My understanding is that 18 mg of Concerta is approximately the same as taking 5 mg of short acting 3x a day.    36 mg would be approximately 10 mg 3x a day.

Also,  if you think 45 mg of Concerta might be better,  you could use an 18 mg and 27 mg to get to the dosage - though it would probably be more costly.
Thank you for all this info. My main problem with Concerta is how expensive it is for me, as my insurance does not cover the medication at all. The short-acting version is about 70% cheaper for me for a monthly dose. It only takes about 45 minutes for me to feel the first effects (the coating), and I've gotten used to that, my main problem was that it wears off in the evening too soon, and also that I do not always have to / want to get up early in the morning just to take the med in time. Thank you for the information again, anyway - my doc is very cool and cooperative, I just wanted to have something to add to our discussion on my part, although she is up to date on dosages and reactions anyway, and I trust her. It just feels better if I feel I have consulted another source ;)