ATAR Notes: Forum
General Discussion => General Discussion Boards => Other General Discussion => Topic started by: Surgeon on February 27, 2012, 10:11:14 pm
-
Hey guys,
So recently I've been eharing about this wonder drug called "Ritalin".
From what I can understand, it is a prescription medication prescribed to sufferers of Attention Deficit Disorder, or more commonly known as 'ADD'.
What I want to know is whether any of you personally know of anyone who has tried this drug and what sort of results and side-effects thay may have experienced.
Before I am flamed, I have never taken or had intentions of taking any drugs not prescibed to me by a medical professional. I'm just interested in hearing what other people know on this topic.
:)
-
Similar threads:
Thoughts on using "Smart Drugs" to increase academic performance [poll]
Performance Enhancing Drugs for VCE
Anyway, to cut things short, any drug that screws with the nervous system will have a shitload of side effects.
Adverse effects (Source: Australian Medicines Handbook, Ritalin)
Most adverse effects of methylphenidate are dose-dependent.
Common
nausea, loss of appetite, weight loss, anxiety, insomnia, irritability, dry mouth, tachycardia, palpitations, tremor, changes in BP (usually increases in adults)
Infrequent
movement disorders, tics, rash, growth retardation
Rare
psychosis, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, liver dysfunction
Usually, a student's best bet to increase concentration is to get more sleep.
We keep Ritalin in the safe at work. It's not to be messed with.
-
I had one particularly non-academic friend who for whatever reason tried Ritalin and said that he had never concentrated so hard in his life. Mind you, he probably wouldn't have ever even tried to concentrate very hard up to that point... But still, he noticed a marked difference.
I've heard that it can have adverse effects on people who don't actually have ADD, but I don't have any substantiated evidence to back that up.
-
Someone in my year got suspended for selling this stuff pretty much out of his locker, not something that is recommended.
-
Someone in my year got suspended for selling this stuff pretty much out of his locker, not something that is recommended.
I'm pretty sure I know who you're talking about, but just to be sure... starts with C?
It's pretty detrimental stuff. It works, but at what cost?
Moderator action: removed real name, sorry for the inconvenience
-
Performance enhancing drugs for VCE?
Shit I've heard it all.
-
I think it's more of a philosophical issue rather than a science issue. If you think about it for a second, is it absolutely desirable to be concentrating so hard for a period of time. Surely, you'll feel tired afterwards. I really wouldn't trust this to work in an exam situation. The risk of you falling tired is too high and also, too much concentration can be detrimental as well, it affects your thinking.
For example, I was lost for answers on one methods question, but I relaxed and wandered my mind a little and managed to get it because I relaxed, being tense and concentrated isn't always good you know :)
-
Really interesting to read what you guys have to say - it's definitely a very shady area of the VCE! Best to stay away from this kind of stuff though, in my opinion, as it can potentially have detrimental effects on your health and could land you in trouble with the law!
-
In my opinion the effects would be too marginal to give it due consideration.
Hey pi & Thushan, wanna do a BMedSci(Hons) with me and we can conduct a clinical trial with this drug? :D sounds awesome!
Moderator action: removed real name, sorry for the inconvenience
-
I do know that a girl who was on Ritalin who actually had ADD, went to a party I was at, had like 5 shots of vodka, practically died and only JUST made it out of the whole thing alive (ambulance called, went to hospital, etc).
Moral of the story: Don't drink on Ritalin.
-
I do know that a girl who was on Ritalin who actually had ADD, went to a party I was at, had like 5 shots of vodka, practically died and only JUST made it out of the whole thing alive (ambulance called, went to hospital, etc).
Moral of the story: Don't drink on Ritalin.
...Yeah. You can't mix Ritalin...
-
Technically I apparently have ADD, which is a load of bull but yeah. Never had to take any of drugs and I'm perfectly fine. :)
-
Disclaimer: I have never taken drugs that have not been prescribed for me. It's not my thing.
Ritalin and adderall are very common on college campuses. None of my friends take them, but I know of people who do. Honestly, the side effects probably aren't worth it, and it can become addictive. You function best if you sleep, but if you really really need to stay up all night, it's probably better to take energy drinks (I don't drink them, but...). I've also heard of this thing called 5 hour energy and apparently it works.
-
Tom, yeah same guy.
-
If you take ritalin (or adderall for our US friend :3) and you don't have ADD or a similar condition then you can change the architecture of your brain, which is a pretty big reason to not take it, because it's kinda hard to then just revert back to your normal state
-
It's not a wonder drug or some kind of videogame-esq performance enhancer like mushrooms in mario. It's medicine.
A lot of these so called "smart drugs" or nootropics won't make you brainzilla overnight. You wont be a genius. The effects most of the time (unless you had an underlying condition) will be subtle at best. Most of these aren't designed to make people superhuman, they're designed to try to bring people back to "normal".
What about once you stop and still have to do work anyway? You might not be able to cope. Unless you're planning to never stop taking it?
These are medicines remember. They go through years and billions of dollars of testing but that doesn't mean we know everything about how they work, in some cases we know very little.
Sure, there might be relatively few apparent side effects now but what about if in 20 years we discover they cause supercancer...
Things like thalidomide for example seemed really good at the time but then we found out about horrible side effects.
If you think you need to take drugs at all to be able to function in your education you're either working way too hard or stressing way too hard. Go out and enjoy life.
-
It's not a wonder drug or some kind of videogame-esq performance enhancer like mushrooms in mario. It's medicine.
A lot of these so called "smart drugs" or nootropics won't make you brainzilla overnight. You wont be a genius. The effects most of the time (unless you had an underlying condition) will be subtle at best. Most of these aren't designed to make people superhuman, they're designed to try to bring people back to "normal".
What about once you stop and still have to do work anyway? You might not be able to cope. Unless you're planning to never stop taking it?
These are medicines remember. They go through years and billions of dollars of testing but that doesn't mean we know everything about how they work, in some cases we know very little.
Sure, there might be relatively few apparent side effects now but what about if in 20 years we discover they cause supercancer...
Things like thalidomide for example seemed really good at the time but then we found out about horrible side effects.
If you think you need to take drugs at all to be able to function in your education you're either working way too hard or stressing way too hard. Go out and enjoy life.
Then again...
http://www.cracked.com/article_16532_the-5-greatest-things-ever-accomplished-while-high.html
Perhaps there's a future for some educational drug usage? lol.
-
Don't take Ritalin to concentrate take Ambien* and get more sleep.
*I am not a doctor and do not promote the illegal use of prescription only medicine.
-
I'm a big advocate for caffeine. It overclocks my brain by 1.6x.