I probably won't be diagnosed until february, but my psychiatrist is willing to prescribe me Ritalin since exams are coming up and I'm having a real hard time studying.

So I would like to know: what's the most obvious difference in Ritalin's effect between people who do and don't have ADD Inattentive? The inattentive part is important since I'm not hyperactive. Ritalin does have a different effect on regular ADHD, right?

it helps both inattentive and hyperactive. people use ritalin to stay up like caffeine, makes them jittery or osmething, with ADHD, you become calm and very focused. i become more quiet and can zone into something.

i've been using tyrosine 1500 mg instead of ritalinf or the past 2 months. i switched to 20 mg ritalin LA today and it was better than tyrosine, but a little more jittery. it hink im going back to tyrosine or the 10 mg ritalin LA.

yes .. it seems to make non-ADD people speedy, while it calms us down. And it really does, it is like the storm inside my head is dying down, I feel more "present" in the world, and have much less trouble to start doing things and to stay on track.

I have ADHD combined type and now I hear people who I don't care about even if I don't want to. I can come back from my daydreams at will, and even in my daydreams I stay thinking in that same thing or situation without going "off-topic", I speak slower and it's easier to let people talk before me; the difference is AWESOME! And I haven't even started classes yet; I want to try it in the battlefield XD. It was exchanged by Concerta and it does the exact same effect (although it takes longer to start acting than plain Ritalin).

Methylphenidate-based drugs, in general, work a little less well for inattention than amphetamines do.

Ah. Thats why I like amphetamines better then coke. Methylphenidate affects me like coke, I get quit and verry anti social. But my schrink doesnt want to give me amp. Maybe il end up buying it on the streets

I finally got Ritalin from my doctor. I feel great again, haven't had this feeling for a long time :)

Took 10mg about an hour ago. I seem to have better concentration and I feel a lot less depressed (no more depressing thoughts!). Concentration wise it has the same effect on me as non-ADD'ers but not as much. I feel like I concentrate as any normal person who doesn't take Ritalin.

I'm starting to get a little hyperactive though (only physically, my mind calms down). Is this normal or could it mean I don't have ADD after all? I'm going to be tested next month.

btw doesn't Ritalin stay in your body for a few days after use? How long before my tests should I stop taking it? I wouldn't want it to influence the test results.

edit: one more question, does Ritalin make you a lot more motivated? Is there a difference in that aspect between ADD'ers and non-ADD'ers who takes it? My psychiatrist simply denied Ritalin improves motivation.

ritalin has a rather short half life. I recall that it is less than 4 hours.
This means that after 8 hours less than 25% still remains in your blood.
Peak blood concentration occurs after about 2 hours after taking it. So you can expect ritalin to last about 4-6 hours or less.

As to motivation... you supply the motivation and the stimulants allow you to focus on it.

Me :D

It's worn off already. Lasted about 3 hours...

edit: one more question, does Ritalin make you a lot more motivated? Is there a difference in that aspect between ADD'ers and non-ADD'ers who takes it? My psychiatrist simply denied Ritalin improves motivation.You might feel motivated because you can do things you weren't able to do and maybe you think now you can change a lot of stuff around you. That's how I feel sometimes. And yeah, a 20 mg dose of Ritalin lasted 2.5 hours to me. I'm on concerta 36 and even when the effect goes away I still can't sleep. http://addforums.com/forums/images/smilies/faint.gif Yesterday I finally did it after 4:30 am.

btw doesn't Ritalin stay in your body for a few days after use? How long before my tests should I stop taking it? I wouldn't want it to influence the test results.


Just a side-note. If you are taking ritalin to help study, and not taking it while you perform your tests, you are shooting yourself in the foot. Studies show that you will perform best when you are in the same mental state as when you practiced and studied. That means, if you take ritalin when you study you need to take ritalin when you test. Otherwise, it's pointless and possibly even counter-productive.

You might feel motivated because you can do things you weren't able to do and maybe you think now you can change a lot of stuff around you. That's how I feel sometimes. And yeah, a 20 mg dose of Ritalin lasted 2.5 hours to me. I'm on concerta 36 and even when the effect goes away I still can't sleep. http://addforums.com/forums/images/smilies/faint.gif Yesterday I finally did it after 4:30 am.So is it an ADD thing of Ritalin to wear off so quickly? Or is it just different for each person?

From my experience in the past, I only had a bit of trouble going to sleep. Waking up was much easier than usual though.

Just a side-note. If you are taking ritalin to help study, and not taking it while you perform your tests, you are shooting yourself in the foot. Studies show that you will perform best when you are in the same mental state as when you practiced and studied. That means, if you take ritalin when you study you need to take ritalin when you test. Otherwise, it's pointless and possibly even counter-productive.Thanks, that's good to know. But does the same thing apply to not taking Ritalin while studying and taking it during your exam? I don't have enough to last the whole studying period, which means having to take 1 a day half of the time and 2 a day during the other half, so I'll still have to study quite some time without the effects of Ritalin. I could go ask my doctor to prescribe me more when I'm out of Ritalin, but I'd be screwed if he denies and I don't want to take that risk.

A friend of mine (who definately does not have ADD) wants to try it out just to see the effect. What should I ask him to see if it affects him different than me?

And one last question: how does Ritalin affect an inattentive or combined ADD'ers physically? It makes me just a little hyper but calms my mind though. Could that mean I don't have ADD after all?

So is it an ADD thing of Ritalin to wear off so quickly? Or is it just different for each person?

From my experience in the past, I only had a bit of trouble going to sleep. Waking up was much easier than usual though.

Well, it's supposed to last 4 hours but I guess it depends on the person.

Effects vary from person to person.

In general, someone with ADD would benefit by the medication (at the correct dosage) by getting back on the curve of being "normal". ADD people don't become super students by taking the meds. They become 'normal' and simply are able to function to the best of their normal ability.

Someone without ADD that takes stimulants get the same benefits such as increased focus, energy, and generally much more speediness effects. This allows such people to typically study harder and do better on mental intensive tasks like college exams and projects/papers. Hence the abuse at colleges. Such regular and inappropriate use by people that don't require these meds can be a catylst for addiction.

Kinda like an analogy for anabolic steroids. People that need hormone supplements due to whatever reasons simply get back to being normal whereas a regular person with already normal levels of hormones take these and become incredibly stronger, faster, and better at sports BUT at the increased rate and probablity of side effects (hair loss, cancer, organ damage).

J

Well, my friend (who definately doesn't have AD(H)D) took 10mg and it didn't have that much effect on him. He only had a little bit euphoria. He hasn't gotten any sleep though, he's been awake for 30 hours (the Ritalin made him slightly more awake). Will it have a different effect when he gets enough sleep? It's definately not the dose, every other person who took 10mg I've heard of gets improved focus and speediness.

Ritalin and Concerta made me sleepy, and gave me terrible headaches when it was wearing off. I just wanted to go back to bed after taking it. I'm more inattentive then anything, I have my moments though.

Ritalin and Concerta made me sleepy, and gave me terrible headaches when it was wearing off. I just wanted to go back to bed after taking it. I'm more inattentive then anything, I have my moments though.

I had the headaches too. They sucked, but instead of making me sleepy it did the opposite even when the effect had already gone away. I've been taking concerta lately but I didn't take it for two days in order to sleep what I hadn't. It feels sooo good ^___^.

Ah. Thats why I like amphetamines better then coke. Methylphenidate affects me like coke, I get quit and verry anti social. But my schrink doesnt want to give me amp. Maybe il end up buying it on the streets
Yup, dexedrine feels better than ritalin for me too. Much gentler, and ritalin was already doing a lot of good. I'll still have to test dexedrine "in the battlefield" after January 1st :)
But I would not buy it on the streets. You'll probably not get what you think, and still pay a lot. Why not find another shrink? Why does s/he not want to prescribe dexedrine?