<p>I don't, I guess I should change that once I get to college</p>
<p>I don't think Adderall will really help someone perform better on a test if they are not ADD. A nonADD person does not respond to the drug in the same way. Yes, adderall will help someone stay awake and study, but perform better--don't think so. I know students who had a terrible time getting adjusted to medications when they were prescribed and supposedly "needed"--I can't imagine putting one's body through that unneccessarily. If they do perform better I would suggest placebo effect :).</p>
<p>Right, the idea is not that you use Adderall for the test itself, but while you're studying for it.</p>
<p>Adderall does improve performance of some tasks among young adults with ADHD:
[quote]
ADDERALL XR® (mixed salts of a single-entity amphetamine product) significantly improved driving performance, cognitive function and attention in young adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a controlled driving simulator study conducted by the Washington Neuropsychological Institute and presented today at the 18th Annual U.S. Psychiatric & Mental Health Congress in Las Vegas, NV.
[/quote]
<a href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=33384%5B/url%5D">www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=33384</a></p>
<p>Among persons without ADHD amphetamines are sometimes used to maintain alertness, but not to enhance performance.
[quote]
Performance-enhancing use
Amphetamines are usually not used by athletes in sports involving extreme cardiovascular efforts, as methamphetamine and amphetamine put a great deal of additional stress on the heart.</p>
<p>The United States Air Force uses amphetamines (Dexedrine) as stimulants for pilots, calling them "go-pills." After a mission, the Air Force issues a "no-go pill" (Ambien or Temazepam) to help the pilot sleep.</p>
<p>Amphetamines have been popular among some truck drivers, construction workers, and factory workers whose jobs require long or irregular shift work or automatic, repetitive tasks. It is for this reason that they are sometimes labeled a "redneck drug." They are also used by white-collar workers trying to stay alert during long hours of multitasking, and by students hoping to improve their academic performance. There has also been at least one report of the coercive administration of amphetamines to cannery workers in Thailand, in order to enhance productivity (Seabrook, 1996).
[/quote]
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine</a></p>
<p>The physiological effects of amphetamine would be of mixed value for exam taking.
[quote]
Short-term physiological effects include decreased appetite, increased stamina and physical energy, increased sexual drive/response, involuntary bodily movements, increased perspiration, hyperactivity, jitteriness, nausea, itchy, blotchy or greasy skin, increased heart rate, irregular heart rate, increased blood pressure, and headaches. Fatigue can often follow the dose's period of effectiveness. Overdose can be treated with chlorpromazine.
[/quote]
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine</a> (Sorry about the wikipedia ref)</p>
<p>Indeed, beta blockade may be of greater utility in managing stress responses in problem solving and performance (as evidenced by concert musicians).
[quote]
The effects of stress were measured by performance on word association tasks and a test of how well the participants unscrambled anagrams. Measures of blood pressure, heart rate and performance on cognitive flexibility tests all indicated the propranolol reduced the effects of the stress in the research participants.</p>
<p>"The propranolol actually reversed the stress-induced cognitive problems and improved performance levels to within the range participants reached when they weren't under any stress," Beversdorf said. "So what we found is that the stress of public speaking triggers the brain's normal response to stress, and that stress response is enough impair cognitive flexibility. In turn, 40 milligrams of propranolol is enough medication to reverse this effect in healthy people."
[/quote]
<p>lol look at what this guy has to say about ADD</p>
<p><a href="http://www.reject.org/soapbox1.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.reject.org/soapbox1.html</a></p>
<p>"WARNING: these views often don't follow the status quo, I may say things that upset and/or offend you, if you can deal with it, be my guest....but if you can't maybe you should reevaluate continuing. Any and all complaints or compliments should be directed to <a href="mailto:flatline@reject.org">flatline@reject.org</a>"</p>
<p>Don't be offended at me, its not my words, though I do agree with some aspects of his arguements.</p>
<p>lol prism. Actually I agree with some of his basic premise--he just goes overboard. Kids do need to learn consequences and yes ADD is often used as a crutch or an excuse. Wonder what Viagra users would think of his comment there?</p>
<p>There's no question that ADD is dramatically overdiagnosed, if it exists at all (which it almost certainly does).</p>
<p>If you are one of those people that says "ADD and ADHD don't exist" or that "students should be tested for drugs before taking exams"... or even better... "They don't make much difference, its just like drinking caffeine" OBVIOUSLY have no clue about ADD or AD/HD. People who are stupid enough to recreationally take adderall, strattera, ritalin, etc. to help them study are getting into something they don't even know. If, for you, it has the same effect as caffeine, then DRINK CAFFEINE. There is a difference between people who study for 3 hours straight then have to take a break so they become more alert or because that much studying is too monotonous... versus the people who truly CAN NOT study for more than 10 minutes without the need to get up and do something else. Or studying or reading for 30 minutes and then realizing you don't remember one single word of what you read. WELCOME TO MEDICAL SCHOOL, DOCTORS. You will have the pleasure, I HOPE (for your own sake) of discovering the ADD and ADHD are REAL. That doctors - amazing people like those you strive to be one day.. discovered that in all people, there is a part of the brain that monitors and controls concentration and focus. However, as is proven scientific fact, there are those people - many in fact - in whom that part of the brain fails to receive stimulation. No matter how hard they try, it is impossible for them to focus or concetrate the way that someone without this disorder is able to.</p>
<p>Get over yourself. You aren't the world's model student. Someone with ADHD isn't necessarily using it as a crutch. They aren't less intelligent than you, they aren't lazy, they aren't unmotivated. </p>
<p>So for these people, the PROPER evaluation by a professional and perscription and use (if deemed necessary, or helpful) of these medications, yes, MEDICATIONS, is helpful and for some folks, can completely change their lives. Not because its a "smart pill" that allows them to retain more information or keep them up for three days straight to study for an exam. Those are the people who abuse it.</p>
<p>Talk to people who have REALLY needed are benefitted from these medications... and I will almost guarantee they will openly share with you everything they can't stand about the medication, but why is does help. Also, they will share the struggles they've had with it and why people who it does nothing for - more than act like a cup of coffee or red bull - should NOT take it. </p>
<p>No one without this disorder or who knows someone with it can understand... unless they are empathetic enough. No, its not the end of the world. No, it doesn't kill you (although it commonly walks hand in hand with depression and seasonal affective disorder). However, to the aspiring student, if it goes untreated, it can cripple your career. </p>
<p>If you are so closed-minded to advancements in behavioral disorders, get out of the meical field... NOW.</p>
<p>And if you think that taking Adderall, Strattera, Ritalin to "study better"... Have fun with the shakes, vomitting, drastic weight loss, lock-jaw and chewing from amphetamines, liver issues, heart palpatations... oh man the list goes on and on.</p>
<p>If you truly NEEDED it, you would understand. If you don't understand an issue... don't discuss it as if you do. It makes you sound like a child to those who are educated. Like a college pre-med freshman to a graduate student.</p>
<p>Don't discount medical findings until you, yourself have the opportunity to study them. Chances are, the person who made that medical discover knows a little more than you about medicine.</p>
<p>Don't take offense to this, just become a little more open to the fact that not everyone is the same as you. And if you don't understand something or don't believe it, don't tell others they are simply creating a "crutch" so they can raise themselves to higher standards by cheating.</p>
<p>Very well stated Two Cents. My son was diagnosed as a college freshman. After starting on medication, he called and said "You know I can read one page, know what it said and go on to the next---I always had to read a page 4 or 5 times." I was shocked. I had no idea that this was the way he had read and studied as he always did well in school. He thought everyone was like that.</p>
<p>My biggest problem with the ADD/ADHD diagnoses is that I know several people who took their kids to family docs, complained about child's behavior and were just handed Rx---no testing, no counseling.</p>
<p>Did your son approach someone about his problem or did you realize this?</p>
<p>Adderall is overprescribed.
I haven't taken Strattera or Ritalin, but I have taken Adderall on many occasions. It boosts energy and once allowed me to focus enough to write a 2 page paper in 2 hours!--impossible for me in any other situation--it usually takes me days because I can only write in short bursts. I actually began the paper and forgot that I had taken an Adderall beforehand. I walked away from the paper one or two times but had an urge to go back to it...then I realized my focus was a result of the medication. It truly was an eye-opener for me. It allowed me to focus so much. I did experience some jitters (finger-twiddling and palm-scratching) but other than that I was upbeat and most importantly I could focus!! Adderall is a gift. I think we all have varying degrees of ADD.</p>
<p>mkm56-</p>
<p>Sadly, yes, there are many doctors who are too quick to perscribe.. especially without testing.</p>
<p>And it is amazing to hear what it is like to try to study from someone with this disorder if you, yourself, don't have the same disorder. My mother noticed my habits years before I did. Just like your son, I thought my habits were "normal" or that everyone was the same way. I did horribly in High School.. and was tested and perscribed Adderall in my sophomore year. It took until my senior year to develop new, positive habits. I experienced some negative side effects from Adderall at the time (very underweight.. the stimulant on top of weight training and sports i was in took a heavy toll). I was switched to Strattera after 2 years in an attempt to put on some weight. After a few months I began randomly experiencing "food poisoning"-like symptoms and it took over a month to realize that it was due to the Strattera. So after that, I discontinued medication all together. This was about half-way through my senior year of HS and let me tell you... those last few months were the most difficult of my schooling. I couldn't stay awake no matter what. I'd sleep 8-9 hours a night, drink coffee in the morning, but I still couldn't stay awake. It was so hard to concentrate. I would zone out during lectures or videos.. or not pay attention when I was supposed to be taking notes. I couldn't help it.</p>
<p>I decided not to go to "college" right after I graduated. I went to massage school.. where I ran into the same study issues, while also working more-than-full-time.</p>
<p>Since then, I've taken a year or two to work and find a "career". I recently saw my family doctor who re-evaluated me (all the same testing as before since some people do seem to "grow out" of the disorder.. their brains "learn" how to work "properly") and put me back on Adderall - a very low dosage. It has made a huge difference. </p>
<p>Right around the same time, I decided to go back to school to do my pre-med and then go onto medical school. Knowing the kind of studying I've had to do and will have to do, I KNOW there is almost no way I could have done it on my own. Not that I wouldn't try, but I would've gotten too frustrated at not being able to study and wouldn't be able to study efficiently enough to learn what I need to in the time allotted for pre-med and medical school.</p>
<p>It angers me to see kids taking these medications because it "is like drinking coffee and keeps them awake". Then these MEDICAL students say there is no such thing as ADD or ADHD and that people just take these drugs to try to get an unfair advantage. I'd love to see them try to survive ONE semester with one of these disorders... then try to preach what they do right now.</p>
<p>TwoCents, I wish you the best of luck with your schooling. You will certainly be more emphatic towards others and open to listening as you know what it is like to be diagnosed with something that others may not believe is "real".</p>
<p>This whole thing has prompted my son to do alot of outside study on the brain, its development, neurochemicals, neuroplasticity, etc.</p>
<p>He is currently on Adderall (short acting) as all the others tried had just too many side effects. Talk about adjusting to college and the work load plus dealing with side effects of new med every 2 weeks or so---ugh!--rough first semester.</p>
<p>Again, good luck---you've got the tools now and always had the drive, I wish you the best.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"You know I can read one page, know what it said and go on to the next---I always had to read a page 4 or 5 times."... He thought everyone was like that.
[/quote]
<em>goes to see his doctor</em></p>
<p>I hope your son has finally adjusted to the medication and that it helps him instead of hindering him. I wish him the best!</p>
<p>And the same for me in some aspects.. there were many things that turned me towards medicine, but my own experiences and desire to understand the brain and human body better were definitely huge factors.</p>
<p>Best wishes!</p>
<p>i am almost 100% positive that there is no magical pill or drug that will help you concentrate or study without some reprucussions. Aderall and **** like that prolly have some long term set backs that haven't been fully recognized. To avoid this risk or longterm harm, just stop ****ing procrastinating</p>
<p>Please keep in mind that most medications do have long term effects. I know its something that I've discussed very thoroughly with my doctor.
But there is a difference between procrastination and an inability to concentrate... a medically recognized and diagnosed disorder that has been proven through extensive medical research.
If I was a procrastinator... I wouldn't have enrolled in college. It isn't a procrastination problem at all. I work as hard as anyone else... just as frequently (if not more) than my peers... Its just that some people do benefit - TRULY benefit - from this medication. And although there are side-effects, yes, the benefits far outweigh them for now. I'd rather have the side effects than not go to college.</p>