I was diagnosed with ADD the summer going into my senior year of high school. I was prescribed Vyvanse, a pill used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder. Many people are prescribed ADD medication like Vyvanse, Adderall, Ritalin, Concerta and have different feelings about them. For me personally, I try to take my medicine as little as possible. I HATE the way it makes me feel. It alters my personality to the point I feel like a zombie, it gives me headaches by the end of the day, and the worst part is…I don’t eat. My stomach growls constantly, but the thought of putting food in my mouth makes me want to vomit. Picking between doing well in school is a hard choice for me. I have been asked multiple times if I would be willing to sell my pills and for the life of me I can not figure out why anyone would want to feel this way. (Andrew, if you do read this…I have NEVER sold them (= ) The response I get is, “It helps me do better in school.” Well believe it or not, for people who do not have ADD it does absolutely nothing for you.
MTA, a government funded study showed that in the long run students who take ADD medication and do not have ADD see no differences in the classroom. 579 students with ADD were randomly placed into 3 different control groups for 14 months. In the study, children 8-9 who do not have ADD began to see ADD symptoms after taking the medication. Kids with ADD who are taking the medicine saw improvement in their schoolwork. Recently, there was an 8 year follow up on the groups and there was no difference in academic achievement for the children without ADD. The studies showed that the medication kept a student quieter and less distractive, but had no effect on their test taking or homework. This study is a retrospective study because their medical history and lifestyle were being monitored. The possibility of chance is always an option. The children without ADD could have had more distractions in their test-taking environment, which could affect their scores and academic achievements. I believe the study was done well because it was large, was conducted over a couple of years and also contained a double-blind placebo making the results more accurate and trust worthy.This being said, taking ADD medication without a prescription is pointless. In the long run, taking unprescribed ADD medication will not achieve what you are working for but could seriously get you in trouble with the law.
http://www.drugs.com/vyvanse.html
http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323368704578593660384362292
This is very interesting to me. One of my good friends has ADD and he refuses to take his medication because of the way it makes him feel. Also he described the same zombie like symptoms that you mentioned. I personally have never taken adderall or anything but the people that I know that have have mentioned different affects it had on them.
I also wrote about ADD/ADHD last blog period! I wrote about whether or not the rise in diagnoses actually has a genetic basis, or if it’s just becoming more social acceptable. The article also deals with the fact that many people claim to not be able to concentrate and how big drugs like adderal have become especially in colleges (This is this article)
I’ve heard a lot of people say that they don’t like the way these medicines make them feel, which is a shame for people who really need it, like you said it’s difficult to choose between doing well academically and feeling physically well. I’m skeptical of the trial you chose, however, because it seems as though thousands of students wouldn’t be making a huge deal over these drugs in regards to their school work if they actually didn’t help at all. I see that you mentioned it was a government funded study, which could mean a huge bias in the results. The government obviously doesn’t want any illegal selling and ingesting of drugs, so it’s in their best interest for a study to show that these drugs do nothing for non-ADD/ADHD diagnosed people. Just something to think about!
This is such a good topic to write about. I also had ADD and am prescribed Adderall. I was going to write a post about what causes the headache after using it because I don’t understand why by the end of the day my head is always throbbing. I also don’t like how I feel once the Adderall dies off. People ask me for some all the time and I didn’t know that it doesn’t do anything for people who don’t have ADD.