• 💊 OTHER DRUGS 💊 Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads 1 Notable Threads 2
    Dangerous Combos Addiction Support
    Emergency Services Benzo Guide v.1
    Addiction Stories Scary Case Studies
    Biology, Pharmacology & Drugs 101
  • Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Stimulants Ritalin tolerance question

P

Poltques

Greenlighter
Joined
Jul 25, 2011
Messages
1
Hello. I have a question about how different methods of taking a drug affects tolerance. I'm presribed Ritalin IR 50mgs/day. I'm using it mainly to help with my studies but lately(on a free week) I've tried snorting and it was a pretty good experience. What I'm wondering is, if we assume insufflation has 3x the bioavailability of oral, can I, in theory, snort 15-20mg/day and avoid tolerance? Thanks.
 
I'm not sure about the tolerance but snorting crushed pills on a daily basis will wreak havoc on your nose. The effects will also be shorter so it will likely require more re-dosing. If you're going to do this then it's probably best not to do it as your daily dosing method.
 
I think you are being a little bit generous by assuming the bioavailability of intranasal Ritalin is going to be three times stronger. For one thing, oral BA of Methylphenidate fluctuates quite significantly based on things like stomach contents and intranasal BA is influenced by things like nasal contents.

For another, you need to take into consideration peak plasma concentration when thinking of tolerance. Peak plasma concentration is the maximum level of the drug attained in the blood stream. So, let's say you take 50 mg of Ritalin orally. The Methylphenidate will peak in your blood stream, but the peak will be more gradual and probably less pronounced than if you insufflated the same dose. This is because when you snort the Ritalin, more of the drug gets into your blood stream at once. The amount of drug your body is exposed to at a given time will have quite an impact on the level of tolerance it builds.

So, while in theory you're idea may make good sense, I'd be willing to bet that after a few days of snorting Ritalin, 50 mgs orally won't do shit for you.
 
Yeah, oral BA of almost any drug is higher than insufflated. You'd be hard pressed to find a substance with a higher intranasal BA than oral BA, unless it was specifically designed to be administered intranasally, such as afrin or any other nasal spray or saline solution
 
You will experience a faster growing tolerance, if you continue to take it intranasally, since the peak of it's plasma level is higher and the duration smaller.
The best way to avoid tolerance is to avoid sharp peaks in plasma concentration and to pause to take it from time to time (weekend?).
 
tolerance will still raise. it will always raise if it is in your system continuously. no matter the ROA
 
The oral BA is quite variable - 11-52% officially but either way, as others have said, the likelihood that intranasal is 3x more efficient is probably a pipe dream.

The growth of your tolerance has to do with how much of the drug is bioavailable that you use, not just the mg you take. You won't slow tolerance acquisition by using a more efficient route. In fact, you're likely to exacerbate the process if it wears off quicker using that route and you re-dose more frequently.
 
Cane2theLeft said:
The oral BA is quite variable - 11-52% officially but either way, as others have said, the likelihood that intranasal is 3x more efficient is probably a pipe dream.
Click to expand...
That might be true, but when you take the varying activity of the esterases into account (which are much more prevalent the gastrointestinal tract), that does'nt sound to be such a far fetch.
 
^ could you explain this further?

It's nice that BL has such wide-reach but that's not always helpful... I just googled 'methylphenidate intransal bioavailability' and THIS THREAD was the 6th result. 8(
 
mcgrCONTIN said:
Yeah, oral BA of almost any drug is higher than insufflated. You'd be hard pressed to find a substance with a higher intranasal BA than oral BA, unless it was specifically designed to be administered intranasally, such as afrin or any other nasal spray or saline solution
Click to expand...
Off topic, but there are a number of drugs who's BA is higher when insufflated compared to oral admin. Dilaudid is a great example. Heroin, morphine sulfate, suboxone... THere are plenty.
 
BrokedownPalace said:
Off topic, but there are a number of drugs who's BA is higher when insufflated compared to oral admin. Dilaudid is a great example. Heroin, morphine sulfate, suboxone... THere are plenty.
Click to expand...

Just about to say that! H has almost no [useful] oral BA I believe. (Plus, it tastes like shit.)

Anyway, I feel like most pills that aren't analgesics are best taken orally for the actual effect. If you're looking for the rush, feel free to insuff, but you might be able to plan on using more because you'll want to redose. However, tolerance comes with everything. Sooner or later you're going to need more.

Maybe if you switch your ROA up every, it's kind of like the "muscle confusion" theory in exercise. I don't know, just a suggestion!
 
^You're gonna have to insufflate morphine sulfate until you learn your lesson! ;)
 
Last edited:
Cane2theLeft said:
^ could you explain this further?

It's nice that BL has such wide-reach but that's not always helpful... I just googled 'methylphenidate intransal bioavailability' and THIS THREAD was the 6th result. 8(
Click to expand...
I think the esterases are much more concentrated in GI tract, thus MPH is much more metabolised once it's there. Since the nose isn't used for digestion, esterases are not needed to such a great amount...
 
probably best taken orally, don't forget that there are binders/fillers in those pills. I was prescribed Ritalin IR 10mg (generic brand) to take 3-4 times a day. I have sniffed it a few times, most of the time the powder was so fine that I'd end up coughing, but there is a bit of a rush. Most likely because it is hitting you faster than it would via ingestion. However I found snorting it wasn't really worth it.. and I tried to extract the chemical itself from the pills, but it didn't really work out so well. If you can manage to extract the methylphenidate and then snort that, perhaps then you would have something that you could work with.
 
concise answer:

methylphenidate (ritalin) is actually one of the few drugs that has a higher BA nasally than orally. that is a fact. that said...intranasal ritalin can be a lower dose than oral to achieve the same level of intoxication. it will also give you a better quality high (ie a rush). however, it will not last nearly as long....maybe 2hrs max and your tolerance will actually increase faster and youll have harsher come downs.

there are not many binders in ritalin compared to other pharms. but the increased BA compounded by the fact that youre getting a more intoxicating dose at a faster rate will readjust your dopamine receptors faster than if taken orally. there is no way to avoid tolerance build up. in fact, sniffing pills will just increase your tolerance faster.
 
tolerance develops SO RAPIDLY when snorting ritalin, if 10mg snorted got ya high that hour, say 10hrs laters, you can be sniffing 100mg just for relief, or to avoid a crash, tolerance develops as you go if you choose snorting due to its short onset, constant redosing (cauusing tolerance) orally, it will take some days....snorting ritalin = syntehetic cocaine, you can plow thru 100 ritalin pills in a 24hr period snorting
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top