newer twist, older drug?

[Wonderbread]

I haven't come across this one before, but my psychiatrist gave me a whole bunch of them.
Has anyone run across Focalin before? I guess its chemical name is Dexmethylphenidate, and it looks like it was approved last November. It comes in 2.5, 5 and 10 mg strengths.
If anyone else has run across it, could you let me know your thoughts on it? Is it to Ritalin what Dextroamphetamine is to amphetamine? From my experience so far, it seems to be more pleasent than Ritalin has been.
It seems rather new, none of my friends seem to have run across it yet, dunno, if you havent tried it before, ask for it by name

 

[Jes]

Are you taking the pills as prescribed by your doctor or crushing them up and using them recreationally?

 

[fairnymph]

OK so Ritalin is a racemate (a 50/50 mixture of the two stereoisomers (d and l)) while Focalin is 100% d-methylphenidate. It is about twice as strong as ritalin, but otherwise the effects should be pretty much the same. Seeing as l-methylphenidate is probably very weak, or even inactive, Ritalin thus only has the 50% d-methylphenidate going for it, while Focalin is completely d-methylphenidate.
Bottom line: same chemicals, just isolated!
As for your analogy -- Dexedrine is to Adderall as Focalin is to Ritalin -- would be the mot accurate comparison.
If you want to know more about stereoisomers, I can explain further...
[ 23 May 2002: Message edited by: fairnymph ]

 

[PGTips]

Isn't the d- version a lot more expensive? Steroisomers can't be seperated chemically at all and have to be done crystal by crystal by eye or by a machine.

 

[fairnymph]

I'm not sure what the particular route is with methylphenidate, but in many cases, stereoisomers CAN indeed be separated chemically, or through distillation, or by way of using a precursor that will generate only one isomer. It's not THAT expensive...it's just easier to leave a racemic mix most of the time.