Drug info - Adderall (Amphetamines) vs Focalin (dexmethylphenidate)

[soccerfocus05]

Recieved first ADHD rx today for focalin. Have self medicated with good results using adderall, how does focalin compare (hear its like cleaner ritalin?)
If i feel adderall worked better, how should I tell my psych without admitting I've taken adderall without an RX? Also, I have a feeling the doseage (5 mg QD) will be way too how do I ask for more without seming like a junkie?

[dark12]

5mg a day is pretty low.

SWIM went down this road with his shrink who tried starting him on strattera. Right off the bat she even told SWIM that she does not prescribe amphetamines to college students. SWIM decided to play her little game for a month and then came back and told her the sexual side effects were horrible. So instead of prescribing strattera she gave him 15mg dexmethylphenidate. Next month SWIM said it helped a lot, so she increased his dosage to the normal therapeutic dose of 20mg per day.

SWIM also wanted amphetamines so the next month he flat out said, "I have been reading a lot of ads for something called Adderall and I would like to try treatment with that." She agreed and started me on 15mg. Next month dosage was increased to 20mg. And he continues to get larger doses of amphetamine.

Anyway, this is just SWIM's story, but he hopes it can help SWIy out.

[soccerfocus05]

bump. have yet to try the focalin, but I know adderall+a red bull+ an alkalizing agent works wonders for SWIM to work, study, clean, and excercise. Anyone have any experiences with both

[gmeziscool2354]

Focalin is great it's like Ritalin but with out most of the negative effects and a more
Mild come down. 20 mgs was a bit much for swim to study with but was quite recreational

gmeziscool2354 added 2 Minutes and 37 Seconds later...

Swim must add that with the 20 my dose he broke he time release and took orally. Nasal works quite well too but swim has sensitive nostrls so usually avoids this method

[hughjrection]

A little bit of a late add, but for anyone doing Focalin SWIY has a friend who does it nasally. SWIY's friend says it gives much of the same effects of nasally doing adderall, but without the killed appetite and other negative effects. SWIY's friend also says to not do more than 20mg at once like this or very serious things could happen, and to start at 10 in two 5 lines. Also SWIY's friend says that taking focalin nassally gives a face numbing sensation much along the lines of coke.

[Matt The Funk]

And to reply to the original question, remember to take it slow if SWIY isn't getting what they want, it may take quite some time for a doc to trust you, complain of side effects if you want different medications, but take time when doing so, also take time when asking for an increase in dose. Not that YOU should do this, just SWIY could probably do this to help them out.


SWIM is looking for something to help his ADD (which has gotten to the point where he can't get any school work done, which is the only reason he wants it now, he doesn't mind the ADD problems that are caused during non-school related activities) but he doesn't want anything abuse able(or at least something you really have to TRY to abuse). He can't take SSRI's or SNRI's as they make him manic as hell, even with mood stabilizers. Would this Focalin (dexmethylphenidate) be a prime choice to talk to his psychiatrist about? He has had good effects with medium doses of methylphenidate (non-prescribed) for his ADD and doesn't feel very many recreational effects unless used with his other DOCs.

Any input? It seems this drug is somewhat new? He doesn't want to take Adderall because it causes him far too many side-effects and doesn't help as well with his ADD, plus it seems much more abuseable to him.

[hughjrection]

In SWIM's opinion focalin is just as abusable as adderal. Focalin when abused SWIY would not have to take as much, and can have stronger side effects. Unless SWIY is talking about taking it orally in which case SWIM has no experience in the matter.

[Bajeda]

My panda got much more in the way of euphoric effects from focalin than he did from adderall. He also found it worked better as a study aid. Its funny, as methylphenidate gave him bad side effects, whereas dexmethylphenidate didn't. Might be worth looking in to, but if it effects swiy like it did my panda, the abuse potential may also be higher.

[herostyle]

Originally Posted by Bajeda

My panda got much more in the way of euphoric effects from focalin than he did from adderall. He also found it worked better as a study aid. Its funny, as methylphenidate gave him bad side effects, whereas dexmethylphenidate didn't. Might be worth looking in to, but if it effects swiy like it did my panda, the abuse potential may also be higher.

That's the same way it worked for SWIM.