Using Ritalin as a study aid

gordotempo

Does anyone know if there is any know side effects to usng ritalin as a study aid. Would a GP give a prescription for this reason alone or would it have to be prescribed as reatment for ADD?

SomeDose

gordotempo wrote: »

Does anyone know if there is any know side effects to usng ritalin as a study aid. Would a GP give a prescription for this reason alone or would it have to be prescribed as reatment for ADD?

Ritalin is an amphetamine derivative and has a list of side-effects longer than your arm, many of them quite serious. There is no way a GP should or would prescribe it as a study aid. In fact even for ADHD indications a GP should not precribe it without a diagnosis and treatment being first initiated by a specialist. There's good reason why it's legally controlled to the same degree as morphine or heroin.

In summary, forget it.

eth0_

If you don't actually have ADHD, the effect is just like drinking two or three espresso's (but without the jitters).

No doctor will prescribe you an amphetamine derived stimulant because you're having trouble studying.

Get help from a study skills class instead and take some (not a lot) caffeine.

Kama

In America, Adderall is widely abused in this fashion, but since its dexamphetamine you are essentially just speeding, which isn't exactly recommended for optimum studying. Proper breathing and well-timed breaks would be more helpful imo ^^

alantc

Side effects include euphoria.

gunsofbrixton

Provigil generic name Modafinil is a more commonlly used study aid. IT IS NOT an amphetamine based drug it is widely used as a treatment for Narcolepsy.

In US military trials pilots who were given the drug were able to perform for 40hrs straight with no measurable drop in both dexterity and the ability to process complex information. The same soldiers then slept for 8hrs and were again able to continue for another 40hrs.

It has been commonly been refered to as a "smart drug" in the press. Google some info on it

studybug

It is great for helping to study for extended periods of time without breaks.

jim o doom

Friend of mine uses it for study purposes coming up to finals etc.. If you ever do decide to go down this route make sure it's on a very irregular basis as all amphetemines are fairly addictive.

Carsinian Thau

I wouldn't touch Ritalin for something like that. You'll probably do far more harm than good.

And as other posters said, there's no way a GP would prescribe Ritalin to help you study. Not unless they wanted to be struck off for malpractice.

anotherlostie

I find it strange, tbh, that any medical advice doled out automatically results in a thread being locked, but it is OK to discuss the off licence use of Ritalin as a stimulant.

Vorsprung

anotherlostie wrote: »

I find it strange, tbh, that any medical advice doled out automatically results in a thread being locked, but it is OK to discuss the off licence use of Ritalin as a stimulant.

In fairness, no-one's giving medical advice out here, and using a drug off-licence is fairly common practice.

Lil' Smiler

SomeDose wrote: »

Ritalin is an amphetamine derivative and has a list of side-effects longer than your arm, many of them quite serious. There is no way a GP should or would prescribe it as a study aid. In fact even for ADHD indications a GP should not precribe it without a diagnosis and treatment being first initiated by a specialist. There's good reason why it's legally controlled to the same degree as morphine or heroin.

In summary, forget it.

Didn't know what it was, so looked it up. I just saw a few of the side effects, would definitely not make me want to try it!

OP, why not go down the herbal route, burning essential oils. see if there's anything in the health food shop that helps?

What's wrong with a good nights sleep, plenty of water and fresh air during study breaks?

eth0_

You could use something like Sudafed (the non drowsy type). It contains Pseudoephedrine so raises your levels of alertness. However...it's not something you should abuse. And the effects really aren't much better than coffee.

Same goes for Ritalin - if you don't have ADHD, you won't get more more of an effect than drinking coffee or red bull.

Carsinian Thau

Lil' Smiler wrote: »

What's wrong with a good nights sleep, plenty of water and fresh air during study breaks?

An excellent (and sensible) question.

eth0_

Carsinian Thau wrote: »

An excellent (and sensible) question.

Some people (myself included) have massive problems with concentration. A good nights sleep and regular study breaks makes no difference to me, which is why i use "study aids".

Belfast

Many stimulants both legal and illegal can prompt study in the short term.
Use of stimulants for study could become an end in it self and lead to addiction.

Could the use of stimulants drugs to aid study be considered cheating like the use of performance enhancing drugs in athletics.

if so how long will it be before student have to take random drug tests to stop them cheating ?

eth0_

I don't think so. Anyone I know who takes these drugs for studying has big problems with concentration and wakefulness. If anything they put you on an even keel with your peers. It's not like my results shot up since I started using them.

As for addiction - no chance of that with modafinil. And you're not taking these drugs on a daily basis, just around exams and assignments.

eth0_

I don't think so. Anyone I know who takes these drugs for studying has big problems with concentration and wakefulness. If anything they put you on an even keel with your peers. It's not like my results shot up since I started using them.

As for addiction - no chance of that with modafinil. And you're not taking these drugs on a daily basis, just around exams and assignments.

406C

eth0_ wrote: »

Anyone I know who takes these drugs for studying has big problems with concentration and wakefulness. If anything they put you on an even keel with your peers. It's not like my results shot up since I started using them.

Ok lets work through this:

SomeDose wrote: »

Ritalin is an amphetamine derivative and has a list of side-effects longer than your arm, many of them quite serious.

Lil' Smiler wrote: »

Didn't know what it was, so looked it up. I just saw a few of the side effects, would definitely not make me want to try it!

An amphetamine with serious side effects which some here wouldn’t want to risk

alantc wrote: »

Side effects include euphoria.

So you can get high on it and give off the impression you are not ‘speeding’ on it.

jim o doom wrote: »

all amphetemines are fairly addictive.

Ritalin, an amphetamine, is addictive.


And no one here is for using it as a study aid, in fact stating:

SomeDose wrote: »

There is no way a GP should or would prescribe it as a study aid.

Carsinian Thau wrote: »

And as other posters said, there's no way a GP would prescribe Ritalin to help you study. Not unless they wanted to be struck off for malpractice.

So lets get this straight. Ritalin is an addictive amphetamine with some serious side effects, that gets you high, that no-one here agrees with being used as a study aid, and that if prescribed as such that GP should be struck off.

Yet it is prescribed every day to thousands of Irish children for just that very reason to help them study.

Does this make any sense?

Would any of you give it to your children?

seraphimvc

lol OP i suppose you tried redbull?

well,a little secret,i drink a bottle of Chicken Essense(http://www.brandsessence.co.uk/) during study or the day i am going in for exams!abit hard to get it here tho,try asian market behind grafton street.

gordotempo

Lil' Smiler wrote: »

What's wrong with a good nights sleep, plenty of water and fresh air during study breaks?

Yes and then we'll all go live on cupcake lane drink tea a pick daffodils.

All joking aside. Modafinil or as the brand name is know Provigil is "meant" to be very good. Its not a methamphetamine and is used by professors in the US and has also been used in the military.

It's prescribed for narcilepsy by your gp. No known side affects. Not thay I know of anyway.

Previous poster has an excellent point about prescribing ritalin to kids just because... they act like kids.

Bren1609

*post edited by Tallaght01, as we're not going to start giving advice to people about buying drugs on the internet*

sam34

oh its extremely reliable :rolleyes:

seriously, ordering drugs off the net is crazy stuff, you've no way of knowing if what you get is what you've been told you're getting.

really dodgy, imo.

ceegee

gordotempo wrote: »

It's prescribed for narcilepsy by your gp. No known side affects. Not thay I know of anyway.

Dont think thats entirely true. Quite a few in there which could seriously damage your study effort

medicines.ie wrote:

The following undesired effects have been reported in clinical trials and/or post-marketing experience. The frequency of undesirable effects considered at least possibly related to treatment, in clinical trials involving 1561 patients taking PROVIGIL were as follows very common>1/10, common>1/100 to < 1/10, uncommon>1/1000 to < 1/100, unknown (cannot be estimated from available data).

The most commonly reported adverse drug reaction is headache, affecting approximately 21% of patients. This is usually mild or moderate, dose-dependent and disappears within a few days.

Investigations

Common: abnormal liver function tests, dose related increases in alkaline phosphatase and gamma glutamyl transferase have been observed.

Uncommon: abnormal ECG, weight increase, weight decrease

Cardiac disorders

Common: tachycardia, palpitation.

Uncommon: extrasystoles, arrhythmia, bradycardia,

Gastrointestinal disorders

Common: abdominal pain, nausea, dry mouth, diarrhoea, dyspepsia, constipation

Uncommon: flatulence, reflux, vomiting, dysphagia, glossitis, mouth ulcers

Blood and lymphatic system disorders

Uncommon: eosinophilia, leucopenia

Metabolism and nutrition disorders

Common: decreased appetite

Uncommon: hypercholesterolaemia, hyperglycaemia, diabetes mellitus, increased appetite,

Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders

Uncommon: back pain, neck pain, myalgia, myasthenia, leg cramps, arthralgia, twitch

Nervous system disorders

Very common: headache

Common: dizziness, somnolence, paraesthesia

Uncommon: dyskinesia, hypertonia, hyperkinesia, amnesia, migraine, tremor, vertigo, CNS stimulation, hypoaesthesia, incoordination, movement disorder, speech disorder, taste perversion.

Respiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders

Uncommon: dyspnoea, rhinitis, increased cough, asthma, epistaxis

Infections and infestations

Uncommon: pharyngitis, sinusitis

Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders

Uncommon: sweating, rash, acne, pruritis

Unknown: serious skin reactions, including erythema multiforme, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, and Drug Rash with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS)

Eye disorders

Common: blurred vision

Uncommon: abnormal vision, dry eye

Renal and urinary disorders

Uncommon: abnormal urine, urinary frequency

Vascular disorders:

Common: vasodilatation

Uncommon: hypertension, hypotension

General disorders and administration site conditions

Common: asthenia, chest pain

Uncommon: peripheral oedema, thirst

Immune system disorders

Uncommon: minor allergic reaction (e.g., hayfever symptoms)

Unknown: Angioedema, urticaria (hives). Hypersensitivity reactions (characterised by features such as fever, rash, lymphadenopathy and evidence of other concurrent organ involvement).

Reproductive system and breast disorders

Uncommon: menstrual disorder

Psychiatric disorders

Common: nervousness, insomnia, anxiety, depression, abnormal thinking, confusion

Uncommon: sleep disorder, emotional lability, decreased libido, hostility, depersonalisation, personality disorder, agitation, abnormal dreams, aggression

Unknown: psychosis, mania, delusions, hallucinations and suicidal ideation

AmcD

Just on a practical point regarding provigil/modafinil: it is a potent enzyme inducer and can seriously interact with other medications. This is most relevant to women taking the pill- it can make the pill fail

I would never prescribe either Ritalin or Provigil as both have the potential to be abused as "lifestyle drugs". Ritalin (and possibly provigil) is limited to consultant prescribing, which I think is fair.

Giving Ritalin to children for bold behaviour is another can of worms. Yes we are at risk of labeling children with ADHD, when really they might just be a product of their social circumstances.

Bren1609

Does anyone know if Adrifinil is legal in Ireland and if a prescription is required. Im assuming yes but i couldnt get any info online.

drzhivago

gordotempo wrote: »

Does anyone know if there is any know side effects to usng ritalin as a study aid. Would a GP give a prescription for this reason alone or would it have to be prescribed as reatment for ADD?

A number of issues arise here not least of which is the addictive element of the drug itself and the other potential side effects of using amphetamines which can unmask psychiatric problems such as bipolar depression

A GP would be grossly irresponsible to prescribe this for study alone.

ADD is a specific diagnosis and ritalin has been used in this group in the US in particular though the rate of prescribing in Ireland is quite low by comparison

Some good points were made about why the need and could this be considered academic cheating in comparison to athletes who use it to boost athletic performance

The question you need to ask yourself is why do you need it?

How long have you been in college?

I studied medicine for 6 years and it wasnt until the very end that i actually got a routine that worked well for me for studying as opposed to teh rote learning we have all done for the leaving certificate.

We dont all learn and retain knowledge the same way.
My wife when studying used to rewrite notes over and over as her method of studying
I originally did that but changed to summarise to bullet points during my final years and did better with that

It might be worth your while talking to an educational psychologist to find out what is the best method for you individually to learn, there are some methods to work this out, and there will be a cost to you ( and NO neither I nor my wife are educational psychologists )

On that basis you could find that you have been studying in the wrong fashion for you personally over the years.
Some respond to visual stimuli
Some to auditory (ie make recordings of your lectures or study notes)
some like perfect silence
Some prefer background noise

Only a suggestion but I would avoid the drugs as a solution

opinion guy

Is it just me or does this thread read like a bad infomercial ?

Drugs are bad mmmmkay ? I have the attention span of an agitated ferrit - I wouldn't touch any of this stuff. I merely adjust my study style to break everything down into tiny chunks and take breaks very frequently. Like every 20 mins if needs be. Just keep them short breaks.

locum-motion

opinion guy wrote: »

Is it just me or does this thread read like a bad infomercial ?

As it happens, I agree and I'm deleting the post.
However, please use the 'Report Post' button, not 'in thread' comment.
Thanks.

opinion guy

locum-motion wrote: »

As it happens, I agree and I'm deleting the post.
However, please use the 'Report Post' button, not 'in thread' comment.
Thanks.

Apologies locum-motion - I actualy meant the whole thread in general - well actually the pro drug half - not any particular post! My bad

locum-motion

opinion guy wrote: »

Apologies locum-motion - I actualy meant the whole thread in general - well actually the pro drug half - not any particular post! My bad

I misunderstood you, so apologies to you in turn.
I thought you meant the post that dragged up a long dead thread to post about how great a prescription-only drug is.
I'm going to close this now, and let it sink into the obscurity it was hauled back from!