Ritalin LA (long-acting) capsules are used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

About 3% of children suffer from ADHD. It makes them unable to sit still or concentrate on tasks for any length of time.

They may have trouble learning and doing school work. They frequently become difficult to manage, both in school and at home.

Ritalin LA is a central nervous system stimulant. It is thought to work by regulating specific chemicals in the brain that affect behaviour. It helps to focus attention, shut out distraction and allows impulsive people to think before they act. If successful, it will enhance an inattentive person's natural ability.

This medicine is part of a treatment program that usually includes psychological, educational and social therapy.

Your doctor may have prescribed it for another purpose.

This medicine is only available with a doctor's prescription and your doctor has special permission to prescribe it.

There is not enough information to recommend its use in children under 6 years old.

Some of the symptoms of an allergic reaction may include shortness of breath, wheezing or difficulty breathing; swelling of the face, lips, tongue or other parts of the body; rash, itching or hives on the skin.

Do not take Ritalin LA if you have any of the following medical conditions:

Taking Ritalin LA together with MAOI medicines may cause a serious reaction with a sudden increase in body temperature, extremely high blood pressure and severe convulsions.

In that case, return it to your pharmacist.

Your doctor will want to know if you are prone to allergies.

Your doctor may want to take special precautions if you have any of the above conditions.

This medicine may affect your developing baby if you take it while you are pregnant. It is not known if the active ingredient in Ritalin LA passes into the breast milk. Breast-feeding is not recommended while taking this medicine.

Some medicines and Ritalin LA may interfere with each other. It may be necessary to change the dose or in some cases to stop one of the medicines.

Some of these medicines include:

You may need to take different amounts of your medicines or you may need to take different medicines.Your doctor and pharmacist have more information.

They may differ from the information contained in this leaflet.

Ritalin LA is available in long-acting capsules containing 10 mg, 20 mg, 30 mg or 40 mg of methylphenidate hydrochloride as the active ingredient.

Your doctor will usually start with a low dose and, if necessary, increase it gradually at weekly intervals up to 20 mg to 40 mg each day. The maximum dose is 60 mg each day.

That way the effect will always be the same.

This medicine helps to control your symptoms but does not cure your condition. Your doctor will check your progress to make sure the medicine is working and will discuss with you how long your treatment should continue.

During treatment for ADHD, your doctor may stop Ritalin LA every so often (e.g. over weekends or school holidays) to see whether it is still needed. Breaks from treatment also help to prevent a slow-down in growth that sometimes happens when children take this medicine for a long time.

Your chance of an unwanted side effect may be increased if you do.

Some of the symptoms of an overdose may include vomiting, agitation, headache, tremors, muscle twitching, irregular heart beat, flushing, fever, sweating, dilated pupils, breathing problems, confusion and seizures.

Like all stimulants, this medicine may become habit-forming and can be abused by some people. If you take it correctly as instructed by your doctor, abuse or dependence should not be a problem, either now or later in life.

Your doctor will want to check your or your child's blood pressure, height, weight and do blood tests from time to time to prevent unwanted side effects from happening.

If your child is not growing or gaining height or weight as expected treatment with Ritalin LA may need to be interrupted.

Your doctor can discuss with you the risks and benefits of taking it while you are pregnant.

If you suddenly stop taking this medicine, your condition may reappear or you may get unwanted effects such as depression. To prevent this, your doctor may want to gradually reduce the amount of medicine you take each day before stopping it completely.

This medicine may cause hallucinations, dizziness, drowsiness or blurred vision in some people. If you have any of these symptoms, do not drive, use machines or do anything else that could be dangerous.

Drinking alcohol is not recommended because it can worsen some of the unwanted effects of this medicine, such as dizziness and drowsiness.

If you are going to have an operation, tell the doctor that you are on treatment with Ritalin LA. You should not take Ritalin LA on the day of your operation if a certain type of anaesthetic is used. This is because there is a chance of a sudden rise in blood pressure during the operation.

All medicines can have side effects. Sometimes they are serious, most of the time they are not. You may need medical treatment if you get some of the side effects.

The above side effects may be serious. You may need urgent medical attention.

Inflammation of the nasal passages and throat; decrease in number of blood cells (red cells, white cells and platelets); swelling of the ears (a symptom of allergic reaction); feeling anxious, irritated and agitated, aggression, mood changes, abnormal behaviour or thinking, anger, thoughts or attempts of suicide (including completed suicide), excessive awareness of surroundings, feeling unusually excited, over-active and un-inhibited (mania), feeling disorientated, changes in sex drive, lack of feeling or emotion, doing things over and over again, being obsessed with one thing, confusion, addiction; trembling, temporary muscle weakness, loss of skin sensation or other functions of the body due to a temporary lack of blood supply to the brain (reversible ischaemic neurological deficit), migraine; double vision, dilated pupils, trouble seeing; stopped heart beat, heart attack; fingers and toes feeling numb, tingling and changing colour (from white to blue, then red) when cold ('Raynaud's phenomenon'); cough, sore throat, shortness of breath; diarrhoea, constipation; swelling of face and throat, excessive sweating, redness of the skin, large red blotches on the skin appearing within a few hours of taking the medicine; muscle pain, muscle twitching; blood in the urine; swelling of the breasts in men; chest pain, tiredness, sudden death; weight decreased, abnormal sounds from heart.

Some people may have other side effects not yet known or mentioned in this leaflet.

A locked cupboard at least one-and-a-half metres above the ground is a good place to store medicines.

Ritalin LA 10 mg capsules are white to off-white beads in a light brown and white capsule with imprint NVR and R10 in tan-coloured ink; bottles of 30 capsules.

Ritalin LA 20 mg capsules are white to off-white beads in a white capsule with imprint NVR and R20 in tan-coloured ink; bottles of 30 capsules.

Ritalin LA 30 mg capsules are white to off-white beads in a yellow capsule with imprint NVR and R30 in tan-coloured ink; bottles of 30 capsules.

Ritalin LA 40 mg capsules are white to off-white beads in a light brown capsule with imprint NVR and R40 in tan-coloured ink; bottles of 30 capsules.

Ritalin LA capsules contain 10 mg, 20 mg, 30 mg or 40 mg of methylphenidate hydrochloride as the active ingredient. They also contain:

Ritalin LA capsules are supplied in Australia by: