Ritalin/Concerta have served me well as an aid for ADHD for several years.
I’ve currently been given 3 bottles of Concerta 36mg, but it turns out that they are a bit too strong for me as the come-downs have gotten quite brutal. (Idk why my tolerance fluctuates like this, 36mg fit me well in the past). What I really need is an 18mg Concerta or a 5mg Ritalin. The problem is that my psych has shut down meaning that I’m stuck with these pills or nothing for several months.
Does anyone know if it’s possible to somehow extract the MPH from the pills and consume it instant release the way you would with Ritalin?
I tried grinding down+drinking half of the inside of a Concerta pill (≈18mg), but that made me vomit as one of the compounds that usually stays inside the pill evidently irritated my GI tract. I also tried leaving a pill in tepid water for 24h in the hope it would leach the MPH the way it does in your gut (I’d then drink the appripriate portion of that), but the pill released some sort of goo which I couodn’t bring myself to consume.
Do_not_ simply cut it in half. Concerta is made with some sort of pump mechanism inside.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmotic-controlled_release_oral_delivery_system
Cutting it in half will expose the full content plus some stuff that’s not meant to be exposed. Follow the instructions from the R link on that other comment.
Ok, I found a guide:
https://reddit.com/r/Drugs/comments/s2jdl/concerta_methylphenidate_extraction/
I’ve taken half an extended-release tablet with no ill effect (not Concerta).
It’s not really possible to extract the drug from the extended release components without knowing exactly what chemicals they used and doing some chemistry to dissolve the components you don’t want in a chemical that only disolved that chemical and not the drug.
As for reducing dosage, I do that with lots of drugs for rationing purposes either due to shortages, insurance delays, or financial issues. If it’s a capsule, you usually can pull the two sides apart and take a portion of the drug inside. Some have multiple different components inside, but usually they are randomized enough during shipping that you’ll get a fairly even distribution of the components.
If they are solid tablets, it depends. Some you can cut with a pill cutter, but some will cause issues because they are designed to be digested more slowly and taking it cut can cause unpredictable release timing.
Disclaimer: not a doctor or pharmacist, just have had to ration meds a lot due to the crappy healthcare system in the US.
Concerta is an extended release tablet and modifying it is not likely to work that well. I think that they call that out in the patient monogram noting you might see the tablet in your stool.
Maybe you can cut them in half. Grinding it is a no-no. Best bet is get the correct script.
