Dose - Skipping therapeutic doses to prevent tolerance

[attentionplease]

Can any doctors/relevant experts/knowledgeable people explain the effects of irregular dosing on the brain versus uninterrupted dosing? With respect to whether the advice I've had from NHS Direct and my GP (neither of them specialists or in any way experienced in this field) to not skip doses is good advice.

They say it's in case of withdrawal symptoms but I know I'm unlikely to get significant withdrawal because people do it all the time in the USA where doctors are less paranoid; I'm actually more concerned by the claim I've read that irregular dosing makes you more likely to develop a tolerance rather than less.

You see on fora for ADHD, people report their doctors told them to skip their stimulant two days per week so as to help prevent tolerance. I desperately want to avoid tolerance because I'm probably going to require this stuff to function well for the rest of my life and the faster I get tolerant to each dose, the sooner I may end up unable to be helped by any meds at all.

Some people find once they're tolerant to one kind of stimulant at every dose, the others work less well, and for all I know methylphenidate might be the only med that will work for me anyway. That's what's worrying me. While I have noticed some improvements at this starting dose (5mg) I think it could be better but I want to avoid dose increases where possible for this reason. Thanks in advance.

[Coconut]

Irregular dosing probably only has the effect of decreasing build-up of tolerance. When my tree misses a few doses or just doesn't bother taking them, he notices the effects are more pronounced the next time he doses. However, this difference is small.

My tree's advice - despite him not being a doctor but a knowledgeable patient - is to not take methylphenidate on days when it really isn't required, such as lazy days off. If you feel you don't need it, don't take it.

[blipblop]

I have been diagnosed with AD/HD and am prescribed Ritalin by my psychiatrist. He has told me before that I can skip doses on days I do not need it to prevent getting tolerant to it. The only reason to not not skip doses is if you are doing something that could be dangerous if you lose concentration, like driving. If you were just sitting around the house watching tv or something, there would be no reason to take it. Ritalin doesn't require time to 'build up' in your body like some anti-depressants, and its effects end within 3-6 hours, meaning that you aren't messing anything up long-term by skipping a couple of doses. I've never read that skipping doses could increase the likelihood of developing tolerance, that doesn't sound right to me.
The only situation in which I would believe that is if a person was to skip therapeutic doses so as to save them up and take a really huge dose later for fun, but in this situation it would be the use of high doses that would cause tolerance.