The Forums › Forums › Medication › Methylphenidate Generic › My Journey, Input appreciated. › Reply To: My Journey, Input appreciated.
Hi @cj3w, welcome to the forums, aka “the support group”. 🙂
It’s late and my meds wore off long ago, so I probably shouldn’t even try this right now, but here goes.
The shift work is most likely messing up your internal clock. It could be the medication too, since fatigue is a possible side effect. It could also be something else entirely. You should mention it to your doctor, maybe ask for some blood tests to check to see if everything is okay. You are young and healthy so there is probably nothing to worry about, but it never hurts to check.
It is important to try to stick to a routine with the medication. If you can take it at the same time every day it will work better. But I understand what you’re saying about the short time that it is effective. You could try another slow release medication like the Concerta. Maybe there are some that are less expensive. I really don’t know.
As for the dose, 10 mg is pretty low. If you have been taking it for at least 2 or 3 weeks with no side effects it is probably time to increase it to the next level. But that is up to your doctor.
The general rule with most meds is that you start on the lowest dose for 2-4 weeks and if you are tolerating it well and it seems to be doing some good, then you go up to the next dose, and keep going up gradually, until you find the one that works the best. I believe the maximum recommended for methylphenidate is 60 mg/day, but don’t quote me on that. You want to take the lowest dose possible to get relief of your symptoms. Remember that you will build up a resistance to it over time and it will become less effective. And if you are still taking the IR, it is still going to wear off in about 4 hours.
Weight can have an effect on how some medications work. In some cases people who are overweight require higher doses. Your BMI puts you just barely in that category, but not enough to worry about, in my opinion. There are many other factors that will affect how the medication works and everyone is slightly different. Finding the right dose is usually a matter of trial and error unfortunately.
The easiest way to get the most accurate and up to date info is probably to talk to your pharmacist. They have more detailed knowledge and experience with all the different kinds of meds that are available.
Good luck, and good night. 🙂
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