Dose equivalents: Extended Release vs Regular,

[Anonymous]

I am an adult male who has very recently been prescribed a medication regimen for ADD. I’m trying to determine what would be the equivalent dosage of a “normal release” generic methylphenidate compared to Methylphenidate-SR.

Here’s the story…please bear with me, I DO have a question after my explanation;

My physician originally prescribed 18mg Concerta, to be taken once daily. After a week I felt no discernible effect; he suggested I give it another week’s trial and call back if I felt the same.

After 7 days I still felt no effect; I did call and he suggested that I might need a larger dose. I requested that he prescribe a generic if possible to keep the cost down…he agreed and gave me a prescription for 10mg Methylphenidate-SR tablets and that I was to take 3 of them in the morning.

The pharmacist told me there was no “generic” version of the medication as prescribed and that the cost for 90 pills (a 30 days supply) would be almost $400.00. Even though my insurance would pay a substantial portion it was still prohibitively expensive so I did not have the prescription filled.

I contacted my physician again to explain the situation and he said he would be happy to prescribe a generic version of NON “extended-release” tablets but I would have to take it at 3 intervals throughout the day – – which was fine with me.

Here’s my question (finally!): the second prescription he wrote is for 10 mg Methylin tablets and I am to take one tablet, three times daily.

Wouldn’t the equivalent dose be 30 mg tablets, taken three times daily?

Hope I made myself clear…

Thanks

Philip

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