Xenolithium t1_j5sllfk wrote on January 25, 2023 at 7:08 AM

As someone who was on Ritalin for a long time....

Get. The. Fuck. Off. It.

Seriously. It will ruin you. I lost my childhood because of it.

yogopig t1_j5swvx4 wrote on January 25, 2023 at 9:40 AM

That is not how the prescription of drugs works.

Are you a physician or other healthcare provider? Have you thoroughly evaluated OP and their condition in order to fully inform your suggestion? What is informing you in this situation that makes you more credible than their doctor?

Xenolithium t1_j5ubdoe wrote on January 25, 2023 at 4:56 PM

I was on Ritalin for 10 years when I was a kid. I have ADHD and have had it since I was a kid. I had to be hospitalized when I was younger because the psychosis caused by the Ritalin got so bad. I walked out of school without a word and walked home. Had no recollection of it. I also put our family cat in the microwave during an episode according to my family, almost killed my mom, had serious hallucinations that made me violent against people. I can't remember half of my childhood and only memories I have come in fragments.

So, no, I'm not a physician or psychologist. But, I am very, very familiar with Ritalin and will always steer people away from it from personal experience. There are other options.

yogopig t1_j5ue17i wrote on January 25, 2023 at 5:13 PM

I’m really sorry that Ritalin didn’t work out for you, you aren’t the first and won’t be the last.

However, I think it’s important that when you say you are “very, very familiar with Ritalin” you mean you are very familiar with how YOU and only you respond to Ritalin, not anyone else.

I understand you have only the best of intentions, and I’m not trying to be rude, but frankly its actually harmful to use your anecdotal experience to dissuade other to take Ritalin. Because, many people respond entirely different to Ritalin than you did, and for them it is a life changing drug that works better than any other ADHD medication out there. If your advice prevents one of those people from taking Ritalin, you just worsened their life.

Treating brain conditions is a somewhat of a controlled guessing game because with so so many drugs we don’t fully understand the pharmacology and even if we did we don’t fully understand the implications and their tremendous variation. Please let medical professionals do their job and go through the process.