Do you use ritalin?

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I was wanting to ask, if any of you use ritalin, and if it helps.

My understanding is that it helps focus and calm tension and nerves.

Please let me know. Thanks!

Last edited by IdahoAspie on 13 Dec 2008, 2:48 am, edited 1 time in total.

Yeah, we DO drink ritalin

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/ritalin

(may cause seisures btw)




But seriously, never tried it

drugs...you gotta haver drugs

ritalin is a stimulant, it appears to share some structural features with amphetamine.

It has a phenyl group attached to an aliphatic carbon which in turn is bonded to an alphatic carbon bearing an amine nitrogen.

I have heard that it has different effects in adults to small children, but I always wounder how a stimulant would help a person with ADHD. Do any of the brain biochemists here have an idea of how it might be useful ?

http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/ADHD.html

Thanks for that insight woodpecker. I know, it sounds counter intuitive to use a stimulate to calm someone down, but I guess it works. The reasons why I am asking is because CNN did a report on adults without ADD or ADHD using it for the purposes of better concentration and increased brain function. I was thinking that would help me. My biggest problem is that I cannot concentrate very well.

Ritalin increases dopamine levels in the brain helping to stimulate the cells necessary for the ADD'er to enjoy an excitement related to current tasks, while helping to block other stimulation that normally causes us to become too distracted to remain focused.

I have taken Ritalin, Adderall, Strattera, and I am now on Concerta.
Although Ritalin and Concerta are both methylphenidate, I am noticing somewhat of a difference in my ability to remain on task throughout the day, whereas with Ritalin I never felt a thing (nor noticed a change at all)

As far as if methylphenidate helping someone with AS?

I believe the jury is still out on what all methylphenidate is capable of doing and how.
There are some ideas related to not only dopamine levels in the brain but also seratonin.

Time will tell.

A very interesting topic. I may or may not be diagnosed with ADHD officially, I'm not sure yet. And after deciding to go for a diagnosis, I have researched meds a lot.

They scared me before, which was one of the reasons I didn't seek out a diagnosis earlier. I'm still unsure. But I'm certainly leaning towards accepting methylphenidate if a professional suggests it. I hope either Ritalin or Medikinet would work, because adults in my country can only get ADHD meds by off-label use and paying all themselves.

Some few kids with both autism and AD(H)D react in strange ways or have uncommon side effects due to methylphenidate. I think autistic people should consider that. But most with a combination of ADHD+AS seem to get along fine with it.

from all i've heard here on this forum is that it turns you into a zomby and gives you permanent brain damage

Ritalin, or Concerta/ Concerta, is good for people with ADHD. It is used to raise concentration and help not to be distracted. I have AS. I was misdiagnosed, and that Ritalin screwed the beginning of my school year, because it has a side-effect that raise the aggressiveness, and it was disastrous for me, because I became very, very aggressive...
So, unless you've been diagnosed ADHD by a doctor you really believe in, with your AS, don't take Ritalin, it will raise your aggressiveness, and you will also lose appetite.

I think I may have when I was a lot younger but I cant really remember to be honest. Most of my life is a foggy blur.

I briefly had a script for it...then I was switched to Adderall...Maybe I shoulda tried a higher dose of Ritalin, because the Adderall did awful things to my head....The ritalin seemed quite benign in comparison...and I thing the dose was just too low.

It didn't zombify me when I tried it. It just didn't work.

Before you think about the hypothetical effects of Ritalin, consider that ADHD can cause "permanent damage" if nothing's done about it. By the time you've grown into an adult, you're behind in school, you have a bad self-concept; you may have done something impulsively that ruined relationships or even got you in trouble with the law. You haven't learned important things that it take attention to learn--for example, how to listen to a lecture; how to do a job interview; how to complete a job systematically; how to plan a task; how to organize your day; how to keep your room straight or file your paperwork.

That's "permanent damage" because now you're behind everybody else, just because nothing was done to help you learn those things on time.

I don't advocate Ritalin in every case of ADHD. The milder ones can be managed with education/training only; and in any event, some (like mine) are medication-resistant and have to be managed that way. But ignoring ADHD is the worst thing you can do; because if you do, you'll end up with a child who grows up without those all-important skills that his distraction doesn't let him learn. Worst of all, he'll be so held back by the ADHD itself that he may never learn to use his unique strengths--the associational thinking, the creativity, the way an ADHD brain will hyperfocus on something or link together concepts that other people would never in a million years put together...

Ritalin, as the theory goes, helps stimulate an underactive frontal lobe, which is where inhibition, planning, attention control, and self-control are centered.

That means, by the way, that other stimulants can help ADHD children, too; caffeine is one such substance--oddly enough, many ADHD children will become calmer and more focused after drinking coffee.

I drink coffee because it helps me focus, and does so better than Ritalin. The worst side effect I've had from caffeine is physical tension and an increased need to stim--which doesn't disturb my studying, because, like I've said, I'm also more focused.

To add to Callista's explanation; surprisingly many people with AD(H)D also self-medicate in form of (street) drugs if they're left un-medicated and/or don't handle their AD(H)D with behavioural or therapeutic methods. That can go from cannabis to cocaine, speed, whatever is currently in fashion.

Well, I've been clinically diagnosed with ADD, and only for the past year am I now considered to have AS. I think it's possible I have AS and a dash of ADD (can't explain really why I say "a dash"); as do other people that I know. I am currently prescribed to Adderall XR (25 mg atm, but working on gettin it down to 20, then to 15), and it helps me out for school and everyday tasks. The AS is still showing, just keeps the ADD dormant. It Helps my clumsiness go down more too. Only in the evening when it's all worn off do you see my ADD kick in more

I'm just glad that I don't have trouble planning things ahead of time--if I couldn't make lists and procedures for things, I'd be unable to do most things I can do now, including very basic things like doing the dishes. While I'm hopeless at planning things while I'm doing them, as most people would approach things like household chores, I'm fine if I have a plan in mind beforehand. That could be as easy as standing there and thinking for ten seconds of what I'll do; or as complicated as making up a fully functional morning routine to print out on a sheet of paper and post on the wall.

In my opinion, the inattentiveness and hyperactivity of ADHD aren't the big problems--it's the impulsivity, the inability to plan things and think about them while doing them (or at all before doing them) that really causes trouble. I don't know, because I haven't been impulsive since my teen years, whether I would be OK on my own if I had that particular ADHD trait. As it is, I just have inattentiveness, mild executive dysfunction and a history of hyperactivity and tendency towards fidgeting, for a fairly easy-to-deal-with case of ADHD overall despite not responding much to medication.

Good stuff!
As for the first part of your post, I can relate to that so well... sadly.
Although my I.Q. and other assessments put me in their above-average and superior intellect levels, I have been unable to fully appreciate my abilities because of the issue of my Add/hd.

By the time I hit my late 20's, I had been through 32 jobs... military medic, machine shop (milling machine OJT), ambulance driver, construction worker, welder, legal information research, truck driver, bar bouncer/doorman, commercial diver, phone book delivery, cab driver, E.R. Tech, photography assistant, oilfield roughneck/roustabout, hospital lab assistant, etc.

I have been going to college since 1978 and I have yet to earn a degree or even know what I really want to do with my life... I am 48 years old.

Most of my jobs I have just up and left, only two have I been fired from.

I have always been prone to blurting out things that get me in trouble, whether they are 'inappropriate comments/jokes', or just angry words out of sheer frustration.

Although I have always known I was smart, not being able to apply those smarts to everyday life in a consistent and frequent manner led me to doubt my own self.
Was I really lazy like some folks told me?
Why couldn't I remember things like the next day/hour I was to work?
Why couldn't I calm down my mind and just focus on one task until I finished it?
How could I ever find a way to pick the most important task for the moment and get started on it and hopefully finish it?
Why could I 'lose' myself in some activities/projects, doing quite well with them also?
If I could 'pick up any instrument and play it', as so many people like to point out to me, then why wasn't I a better musician?
Why couldn't I just talk with people... or even one person... at a social gathering and enjoy the moment, instead of hearing every conversation, glass clinking, chair scooting, door opening/closing, cell phone ringing, car-driving-by-outside, noise and all the while fidgeting with my feet or hands?
Why... when I would happen upon an associate/friend at the mall, would I start up a conversation with them, only to start up another conversation with another friend/acquaintance who happened to wander by us, which then had me attempting to continue two different conversations with two different people until one or both would just quit talking and walk away?

Yeah... undiagnosed/treated ADD/HD such as mine has lead to a pretty sh***y time in my life.
But... I have also been able to spot little things, such as a noise, motion, or object that other people have missed, sometime to the benefit of my work.
Also, for the most part, in regards to other people my age, I seem to have more fun at life... just at the cost of a long-term career, financial stability, a long-term romance, etc.
I am WAY creative and lovin' it!

My former wife (one of the reasons we divorced was due to the fact that she couldn't take my ADD'iness any more) used to shake her head and say, "I just don't see why you can't get up in the morning, go downstairs and make a list of things you need to do today and then follow it!"... and she's a Pediatrician!

As far as meds... it took a LOT of convincing to get me to try meds.
I was too worried I would 'change into someone else'.
I have also tried coffee, and my former wife did 'prescribe' Coca-Cola for kids on some occasions instead of putting them on something like Ritalin right away.






Ooooh.. I envy you. I am forever leaving the dishes, even after several attempts at getting started doing them.



I have a white board that I use now, although sometimes I still blindly walk by it.




As I mentioned above, my impulsiveness has gotten me in trouble before.. mild to serious trouble.
It is also one of the most frustrating things my former wife had to deal with.
We might discuss how to do something around the house, say... getting a small table to put something on, and although my wife was just mulling over the idea and not ready to implement it yet, it would take hold of my mind and I might dash out to buy a table soon after we discussed it. She would then get angry with me.
She used to say it was impossible to buy me gifts, also.
For example, I've been playing fiddle for a long time now and I started getting interested in playing mandolin too, because they are stringed and tuned the same.
She planned on getting me a nice, custom-made mando from a guy we met at a music festival once, and before she could order one for my birthday or Christmas (I don't remember), I had gone out and purchased one out-of-the-blue when I was hanging out in a local music shop one day.

As far as fidgeting goes....
I have a very hard time being restrained for any reason.
I'm always a bit worried about going to concerts where we sit in theater seats.
Last night was a good example...
My daughter and I went to see A Celtic Christmas at the local university theater.
It was a group of five people who told stories, played music and danced traditional Irish dance.
The whole time through, my legs were bouncing to the rhythm, I was tapping my fingers against each other or on my leg, my upper body was bobbing or swaying to the music.
When I would get all wound up (when the music gets to a frenzied pace or just plain exciting) I would let out a WHOOP!
Although family and friends who know me and go to these concerts with me, seem to accept my behavior, I do worry about the other people around me.
Not that I'm real loud or really moving all over the place, but I'm sure to some folks it would be distracting to sit behind or next to me.

The last time I was called in for jury duty selection, I was worried about getting busted for being a tweaker (someone on meth... the illegal kind ).
I sat right up front in the audience section of the courtroom (not sure what it's officially called) so I could pay really good attention to everthing... the lawyers, the judge, the stenographer, the bailiff, the waterspots on the ceiling tiles, the grain in the wood on the judge's bench, the solitare game the steno would play during breaks, etc.
Anyway, it happens that my seat was right next to where the bailiff was posted and I kept worry that my fidgeting was going to be a problem. I kept it down pretty good for a while, I think, and no one ever said anything.
Of course, the next day when we were supposed to 'SHOW UP ON TIME AND NOT A MINUTE LATE', I showed up after my name had already been called (not for selection, but for general role call... we were having a hard time filling one vacant seat in the jury box due to several disqualifications the day before). Luckily, I didn't get in trouble over that.
I would have brought up my ADD/HD if selected for the jury, though.

Eh... I've got to go, I'm late to a meeting with someone who is giving away something on craigslist... told him I could be there by 4pm and it's 3:55 now and it's still a 40 minute drive up there.