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With and Without My Ritalin

It comes on as a heat. A warmth starts in my chest and gradually spreads into my neck and arms. For me, ADHD is not a static condition. It comes in squalls. My life is lived between the poles of who I really am and who the Ritalin turns me into. The presence or absence of the medication affects every single experience I have. A simple trip to Ikea can either be a productive use of a Saturday or an overwhelming gauntlet of tedium and frustration, depending on whether or not I have prescription amphetamines in my bloodstream.

As I head up the escalator into a sea of blue and yellow with no drugs in my system, the heat has already begun to build. My eyes flash around the room. I chomp…

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Featured

 If you don’t have ADHD, Adderall and Ritalin won’t work for you

When given these medications in a recent study, people without ADHD were more motivated to solve complex problems—but less accurate.

 The Ritalin Explosion

What happened in 20 years? Was our water supply different? How did we all of a sudden find ourselves with lots of patients and lots of people in the population who have obsessive-compulsive disorder, when 20 years before, we didn't have it? The big change was that we found a treatment that really worked--two major treatments. . . . Then we had a whole new generation of medicines, like Prozac and Luvox and Zoloft, and they worked. And then we had a whole group of psychologists who came up with talk therapies that were very effective in treating these disorders. So patients who thought they were going crazy and didn't want to share it with anyone because there wasn't an effective treatment, have now come out of the woodwork and say, "I have OCD and I need to be treated for it. And I'm not even embarrassed about it, because I want to get rid of it."

Articles of Interest

My adult ADHD drugs felt like a lifeline. Then came the scary side-effects …

Dexamphetamine felt like a silver bullet. Suddenly I could plan ahead, follow entire meetings, and pack a bag without having a nervous breakdown. Gone was the constantly harried feeling that had bullied me into perpetual motion for most of my 34 years. There seemed to be more time in each second to listen, absorb and think. I no longer wanted to punch people in the back of the head when they were blocking my way in the supermarket. But after a year on stimulants, things began to unravel.

My friend, Methylphenidate hydrochloride

“Methylphenidate Hydrochloride is the hydrochloride salt of the synthetic central nervous system stimulant methylphenidate. Methylphenidate appears to activate the brain stem arousal system and cortex to produce its stimulant effect and, in some clinical settings, may improve cognitive function.” (source) Also known as Ritalin, my ADHD medication. I get a few questions every other day about medication, it’s hot topic, because it is heavily stigmatized but also because they can be difficult to get, expensive and there are always questions of “what is best for me”.

Raising the Ritalin Generation

I REMEMBER the moment my son’s teacher told us, “Just a little medication could really turn things around for Will.” We stared at her as if she were speaking Greek. “Are you talking about Ritalin?” my husband asked.

Ritalin-type drugs best to treat ADHD in children, shows study

Methylphenidate drugs safest and most effective while adults do better on amphetamines.

ADHD: The High Price Of A Quick, Quick Fix

At long last, the scientific research community is rethinking a 20-year old study about the benefits of medicating ADHD with stimulants like Ritalin.

Is Methylphenidate Anything Like Cocaine?

Methylphenidate is the active ingredient in two major drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Ritalin and Concerta. Ritalin is the immediate-release form of methylphenidate, whereas Concerta is the extended-release form of the drug.

Misplaced Blame On Childhood Ritalin For Later Substance Abuse

The latest look finds that young adults who took stimulants as kids were no more likely to have substance abuse problems later than those who had ADHD but didn't take stimulant drugs. It's the broadest and deepest analysis yet, but it still leaves many questions unanswered.

Ritalin 'Doesn't Turn ADHD Children Into Robots'

This is the take-home message of the report: Children with ADHD viewed their medications as useful tools to help them with their behaviors, not as controlling drugs that hijacked their minds.

Ritalin at 75: what does the future hold?

Seventy-five years ago, a new stimulant drug with the generic name of methylphenidate was born in the Swiss lab of chemical company Ciba. Like many drugs, its therapeutic purpose was unclear. But these were the days a scientist could take a drug home and test it on their spouse, which is exactly what Ciba scientist Leandro Panizzon did. Panizzon’s wife, Rita, reported that the drug gave her tennis game a real fillip. And so Panizzon named the drug Ritaline in his wife’s honour.

Ritalin enhances your ability to do tasks by making you more motivated

People tend to think that Ritalin and Adderall help them to focus. And they do, in some sense. But what this study shows is that they do so, in part, by increasing your cognitive motivation. Your perceived benefits of performing a demanding task are elevated, while the perceived costs are reduced. This effect is separate from any changes in actual ability.

Ritalin Gone Wrong

TO date, no study has found any long-term benefit of attention-deficit medication on academic performance, peer relationships or behavior problems, the very things we would most want to improve.

Ritalin rising? Let’s be smarter about ‘smart drugs’

In the meantime we should beware of inadvertently contributing to the US-led enthusiasm about so called “smart drugs”. Prescription stimulants may well be drugs but they don’t make you “smarter”.

Simone Biles refused to be shamed for her ADHD medication after hackers leaked her private records

According to NBC News, the records showed Biles tested positive for “methylphenidate,” more commonly known as Ritalin, in August. She disclosed to the governing body that she was taking the medication for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which she’s had since she was a child, and was approved under WADA’s therapeutic use exemptions.

Study Unlocks Brain Mystery of Ritalin

Now, researchers at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton and the State University of New York at Stony Brook report that the medication appears to work by increasing levels of the brain chemical dopamine.

Study: Ritalin Doesn't Help Academic Performance

A large, long study found that children had worse academic outcomes after being treated with one particular stimulant.

The Age Of Ritalin

For years Ritalin has been a godsend for children who were so hot-wired they were simply unreachable, and unteachable. In severe cases, the benefits of Ritalin (and the family of related drugs) on these children's ability to function and learn and cope are so direct that advocates say withholding the pills is a form of neglect.

The Ritalin Generation

Two epidemics dominate the news today: the Zika virus and the rampant use of opiate drugs. To these, New York Times reporter Alan Schwarz adds another: the long-simmering plague of rambunctious American children who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and prescribed the drugs that treat it.

What If Einstein Had Taken Ritalin? ADHD's Impact on Creativity

The question is whether the Ritalin Revolution will sap tomorrow's work force of some of its potential genius. What will be the repercussions in corporations, comedy clubs, and research labs?