h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Tomorrow I start taking Ritalin. This is apparently essential for me to function properly as a student, as I'm showing many of the symptoms of ADD, and _something_ is keeping me from getting my (ugly, tedious, unnecessary) homework and classwork done. I'm feeling considerably apprehensive about this, as I like the way my brain works right now. (I have many uncommon and exceptional mental talents, and I'd say so extraparenthetically if it didn't sound like bragging.) If all this is going to do is make me focus on and enjoy stupid tasks, ones that in my normal state of mind I wouldn't do unless I was paid considerable amounts of money (and even then I'd resent it), then I don't think that it's something I want. The other interesting thing about Ritalin is that it apparently functions similarly to cocaine, but is not addictive when taken orally. I think my primary fear is that it will "allow" me to focus and reduce my mental background noise [1], but reduce my special capabilities as well... and I'll be too drugged to regret it. I'm suspicious that the absent "addiction" mentioned is referring to physical addiction, but not psychological. I don't want to be happy and productive at the expense of who I am. My parents have agreed to make me stop taking it if I show any signs of damage to my personality, such as loss of a healthy level of paranoia. I'm also considering having them keep me from taking it on the weekend, even if I want to. But it may simply be too "beneficial" for my own good. I'm normally a very cautious person, but this time I'm caving to the pressure at the insistence of my friends and family. It may, after all, turn out well... But why do I feel like I'm taking the blue pill?

This may be the last you ever hear from the real me. I leave this message as a monument to who I was, am, and will be. Wish me luck.

~Nathan

[1] I _like_ my background noise! It lets me do useful things like compose music in the back of my mind while working on something infinitely less interesting.

P.S.
If I reply to this later, stating that my suspicion was completely unwarranted and everything is wonderfully perfect with my life, you'll know what's really happened to me. Nothing in life is perfect, nor should it be. Perfection is something to strive for, not something to have.

How are you doing on the Ritalin?

My 7 year old is on it, and there is not a great deal of difference in his personality. He is simply able to sit still for longer than 2 minutes. He often sits for 20 minutes at a time these days.

I'm not trying to belittle your concerns though, I'd rather my small boy didn't have to take such a strong drug, but he wouldn't be able to function at school without it.

I too have a seven year old who suffers from ADHD and the approach we took was that of diet.
There are alternatives to Ritalin.
Large doses of vitamin B6 and and some vitamin C along with taking fish oils ( omega 7 etc ) have produced results as good as ritalin without the addictive or other side effects.
I got an article into the guide on ADHD thanks to the good people on high who decide such things.
This only briefly covers the alternative treatments but they are out there.
I have to ask if you are in the UK or US?
Treatments and knowlege of alternative methods of helping cope with add and adhd vary an awful lot. Often doctors dont know anything about the subject.
There was an article some time ago in "the observer " that told of a woman who was given ritalin after coming off cocaine and she found it to be even more addictive than coke. This may have just been her but I think I would be reluctant to take it.
That said it has produced good results in behaviour modification, and is quite widely used in a school situation.

Sorry for not replying earlier.
I actually stopped taking it a few days after I started, as I just couldn't put up with the way it altered my thought processes. It doesn't let you think about more than one thing at a time, and that one thing is usually whatever's in front of your face (or behind it; I spent a good deal of time trying to figure out exactly what was going on with my brain). I knew something was wrong when we were watching a video about pyramids in class, and I actually sat and stared at it the whole time. I found myself literally unable to do anything else (and it wasn't even that good of a video). The other thing that unnerved me about it was that, because it increases the serotonin levels in the brain (inducing artificial happiness), it's difficult to actively object to its effects while under its influence. You could probably run a very efficient dictatorship by just putting large amounts of Ritalin in the water supply.
Plus, it didn't provide much benefit as far as I could tell. So I'm looking for other options. (I'll probably stick to caffeine, which actually helps sometimes. Similar effects, considerably lower dosage, and _I_ choose when to take it.)

It's interesting to hear what effects it has on the person who is taking it. My 7 year old can't articulate like this. Although you didn't like staring at the video being unable to look away, that concentration is the thing that my son needs. Funnily enough, I get the same result when I take the flower remedy clematis just before I go into a boring meeting - stops my mind wandering, and I can usually remember what was said more than 5 minutes later.

I've read about the positive effects of the fish oil for a number of things, including ADHD and dyslexia, autism, intelligence, skin problems and arthritis. In fact a combination of evening primrose and cod liver oils seems to be the most effective. I take supermarket own brand 1000mg capsules to relieve joint pain but it may well be keeping my brain sharp too. An expensive way to take exactly the same thing is the supplement called Eye-Q.

The biological explanation of why it works for concentration has something to do with the way that the oils stop deterioration of the fatty myelin sheath around neurons. This is like the insulating layer round an electrical wire. If this can be kept intact then the electrical current can pass quickly and efficiently. Neural activity is an electo-chemical process.

It can take up to 12 weeks for any effect to be noticed, although in the case of the joint pain, I noticed a difference after 2.

I'd read reviews of Eye-Q, and it was recommended that a cheaper product would do the same job. Is it the omega 3 oils? Because I bought some flax oil wondering if it would be the same.

However, I didn't carry on giving it for that long! I didn't realise that it would need to be given for 12 weeks. I think I'll buy tablets instead. I do wonder if I'll be able to see a difference while he's on ritalin though...

My daughter has ADHD among other things...she is now 18 and soon off to university. I refused all drugs .She has a diet which avoids things that make her worse such as dark green veggies,orange colouring,vinegar, full fat milk,too much sugar...and no caffiene is allowed. caffiene makes her crazy. You may find an elimination diet, where you keep a diary of how foods affect your mood, and eliminate the ones that make you over active, helps. When she was very small the hospital gave her a sedative..she sang all night. Often drugs have the opposite effect on ADHD sufferers. She also has eczema and asthma,which could be made worse if she eats or drinks certain things.
On the plus side she can read 4 books at once, but she has to keep swopping from one to another to keep her concentration.you can tell her something and by the time she has walked from the room she has forgotten it.She found school very difficult but has done ok. Don't give up hope Twinkle and avoid the drugs if you possibly can.

hugs and kisses to you!!!
Our boy is only 7, but the dietary approach has made a huge difference.
Keep on the fight, i'm sure that diet is a rea;;y underreated area of study.

I am 11 and have recently come off of ritalin, having been put on Concerta. Concerta is a capsule which slowly releases a steady stream of methylphenidate after an initial boost when taken. It lasts for about 12 hours and I find it better than ritalin as it stops me having to leave lessons, and it stops the varying levels of methylphenidate (more at beginning (ok), gradually decreasing over 4 hours until cycle begins again with more after another pill). I also have been diagnosed with ADHD and am amazed at Methylphenidate Hydrochloride's effect on my school grades. From the bottom of my class in year 3 (before Ritalin) to now (top set of 3(scolarship)in a private school) With Concerta. It also has to be said that I am lactose intolerant. There are tiny amounts of lactose in ritalin and another type of pill I am taking called Dixarit(Chlonidine Hydrochloride) and I have found that with small amounts of lactose, it has built up my tolerance. I call lactose intolerance "lactase deficiency". The practical upshot of lactose intolerance is that if I have anything with any milk products in, a lot comes out of both ends very fast. Oh well. For more info on lactose intolerance see guide entry A978627 which I wrote in 25 minutes.

42.

That's very interesting. My son is allergic to milk, and I queried that Ritalin had lactose in it. The said that the tablet would benefit him a great deal more than the lactose would cause him problems. We're seeing him again soon, I'll make a note of what you said and ask him for more information.

That's a good entry, there is stuff in there that will help my son, although he has a slightly different problem. I was always told that if you don't grow out of problems with milk it's an allergy, that lactose intolerance disappears - or rather the body learns to cope with it. I'm also lactose intolerant but I ignore it as I like too much.

Buy lactase Capsules and take 1! You won't throw up!
It works, trust me.

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I don't have symptoms like that, I must admit. I did when I was young, but I've outgorwn it. I still show up on tests though. My son used to throw up, then it moved to the other end, now he gets eczema.