Big pharma pushing Adderall and Ritalin as productivity boosters for humans

I am prescribed Adderall and take it daily. I will say that it is a super-drug and alternative motive to making it more available is to up the productivity levels of the working class. I feel that I do have an advantage when I take it. Adderall eliminates my procrastination habits and when I am in a "Addy Zone", my brain works at a level I never experienced without the drug. Without a doubt though, it changes the person while they are on it and the most troubling effect I experience is a decrease in vivid dreams.

I would like to thank every one who has posted with the first hand experiences and thoughts who have taken the drugs that might be made more widely available. Any one else who has taken these drugs please do share your opinions also.

reply to post by RedGolem

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Well, in doses recommended by manufacturers, under normal (no drug interactions, no certain illnesses) conditions those drugs should not kill 99.9999999... (warning - uneducated guess) of patients. But once you increase number of people who will use it - fatalities can happen. We are all different inside. Some might be much more prone to side effects. And there are people who do take several drugs - so here adds interactions thingy. And there are people who have specific problems that will make individual in higher risk groups.
So once drug is taken by larger group of people (not to mention OTC suggestion - why not GSL then???) there is higher chance of someone dieing of it. In researches by drug companies - even in phase 4 - amount of data is significantly lower then if it is going to be prescribed to increase concentration to general population.
For example - in methylphenidate - drug went through all the tests, and after decade of usage FDA voted to add black box warning - that it might cause sudden death/heart stroke and other nice things (oops, black box suggestion was rejected month later). By the way -Adderall also has similar blck box as i found out.
It does not mean that it will happen often, but it does mean that there is a small chance that it might. Small chance multiplied by larger group of users - number of people who suffered from it higher.
Plus - there is a tiny chance of depression. Pretty severe depression though. So here added drugs for depression that also have their side effects and the chances of unwanted outcome rise.
If i would guess - reason for black box arguement was because there were 25 deaths between 1999 and 2003 for unknown reason with people (kids and adults) that used methylphenidate. From 3 million users.So increase number of users by 10 and number of victims has a chance to rise similarly if it is correct corelation.

[edit on 13-12-2008 by ZeroKnowledge]

I've always been against these drugs because the teachers tried to get my ex's child to take them.

I never really understood what they do or how they work, but I suppose if they increase the blood flow to the frontal lobe and make people smarter, why not for adults?

Personally I'd rather try chewing coca leaves, but I suppose that would have side effects eventually as well.

Now that I think about it, I've been a drug addict since a child as I was introduced to the drug sugar and I was sneaking it out of the drawer by the age of 3-4 in the form of jello & koolaid. Now I get it from beverages & confections.



[edit on 13-12-2008 by verylowfrequency]

I have considered it as well, however I must say the "short attention span" and hyper style of speech that many users exhibit is a bit annoying.

Have you found that it changes your emotional temperament at all? I would be worried it might make me more aggressive (i.e. reduce inhibitions and bring on snipeness in some people).



I have worked with people that stayed pumped on Adderall and similar drugs for performance reasons. However, I don't think for one moment it will replace Crystal Meth.

Meth releases massive amounts of dopamine (i think thats the hormone) and creates a euphoric feeling. I do not believe Adderall has the same effect, sure it gives the user energy and makes them think faster, but euphoria? If that were the case I would expect my coworkers would have mentioned that.

[edit on 13-12-2008 by Sonya610]

From what I've seen, big pharmaceuticals don't have to push too hard. Most people who take such things are only too happy to oblige, if not actively seeking such artificial stimulants. Nobody is holding a gun to anyone's head here.

[edit on 13-12-2008 by Resinveins]

Yeah I really don't think they need an ad campaign.

From what I've seen, people have been using them for this purpose for years, either getting fake prescriptions or just getting them on the (huge) black market.

Prescription drugs are the new "gateway drugs" - the teenagers I used to know were all potheads for years without really getting hung up on anything more serious - but as soon as the Oxycontin started going around and becoming easy to get, a bunch of them were snorting heroin only a few months later - "it does the same thing but it's a lot cheaper" - and ending up in jail thanks to their new addictions.

Some info on nootropics (aka Smart Drugs) from Erowid (visit for a full listing of drugs & supplements:



Also an interesting blog post with user submitted regiments: grinding.be - nootropics

as an anarchist, i am a big believer in "cosmetic chemistry" as a lifestyle choice. i have very little patience with other people (government, doctors) telling me what i can and cannot put in my body. ritalin is at the top of my list of preferred lifestyle choices. if i didnt have to spend buckets of money and feel like a criminal to get it, i would take it every day.

i like getting things accomplished and having enough energy to really put forward my own ideas and interests. also, i have chronic depression and social anxiety. ritalin cures all of the above.

the only other chemical that i have found to be as genuinely beneficial, and thus it boggles my mind why it should be illegal, is marijuana.

these things will never get legalized, tho. TPTB are not interested in helping us become happy and self-motivated. too bad.

i appreciate the poster above me bringing up the subject of nootropics. i take a daily dose of "nootropil", which is legal and easy to purchase on the internet and is quite effective in boosting cognitive function.

Adderall has changed many peoples lives for the better. I went from failing out of college to making a 3.6 g.p.a. first semester back after a 5 year hiatus. People that have a.d.d. are far more likely to abuse substances and indulge in risky or illegal behavior to " become stimulated" . I wish I would have gotten diagnosed years ago. My entire life has changed for the better.

reply to post by Sonya610

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I can't say that adderall lowered any inhibitions of me and my frinds I only noteces that it caused us to be more focused and decisive in what we were doing. We weren't proscribed it so just to clarify.

Same here. I never got any kind of buzz from it, I didn't even feel speedy on it. It actually calmed me, slowed my head down, relaxed me if anything, which allowed me to stay on task. Methphenidate, as well as Adderal, are really no big deal, even at the highest safest dosage. I never felt addicted to either when I abruptly stopped. And I agree with another poster here, who cares what someone does to themselves. And, who gets off telling another what they think is best for them? I say legalize it all. I despise people that think they have a right to dictate what's best or not for me. Let each make decisions for themselves and let each deal with their own consequences. I despise this nanny state world we have to tolerate run by a bunch of authoritarians and totalitarians that think of us as a bunch of ignorant monkeys that can't take care of ourselves for ourselves.

I have to go with my first instinct on this one and say that the potential for abuse is all to high. If you take over the recommended dosage you will get a nice feeling. I have a strong feeling that it's not like it's not the same as other illegal drugs but it is there.

Also most of the time when college students use this they take over the recommended dosage. A good amount of them don't used drugs like this everyday but when they do it's for a paper that is due soon or to study all night for finals.

Also something that jumps to my mind is the effect this drug would have on this in the working community who chose not to take it. If all of a sudden more and more people were using these drugs to boost productivity then everybody not using the drug would have to find other means to step up their performance. I'm sure will never see the day where taking a certain drug becomes mandatory but if everybody is taking this drug and you can't keep up then you have just become the weakest link on the chain.

Thanks, that is good to hear. I have done more reading on Adderall and depression; apparently it is sometimes used along with standard anti-depressants. The drug can give depressed people a “major boost”, plus it often raises their energy level and inspires them to get stuff done. In the case of depression, the severe lack of motivation causes a lot of additional stress, from what I have read apparently the effects of Adderall (i.e. energy and the motivation to get stuff done) can give real world benefits that help lift depression outside of the drug itself. I think I am going to give it a try. I just hate dealing with doctors, and that is always a huge hindrance.


[edit on 14-12-2008 by Sonya610]

I suppose these things work differently in everyone. When I was taking methphenidate I was also prescribed Zoloft. The combination worked great to alleviate clinical depression, but I never lacked motivation to get things done until I started the Zoloft. My depression WAS my motivation. When the Zoloft started to work its magic, things didn't bother or depress me. Thus, the garage never got cleaned for a year, dirty dishes could wait until tomorrow, the cat litter box too, etc. I had to stop the Zoloft to regain my clinical depression in order to get my motivation back, ha. I eventually gave up the methphenidate too when I discovered regular cardio/aerobic level workouts worked much better than pills.

Strange thing too, the few times I tried taking larger doses of methphenidate or Adderall to see what all the hype was about, all it did was give me a headache and cause me to fall asleep. I would even occasionally take 10-20 mg of methphenidate with a cup of coffee in order to fall asleep at night when my brain wouldn't shut down enough for sleep. I later learned this is quite common with those that are ADHD (as opposed to ADD).

[edit on 14-12-2008 by Divinorumus]

Pretty much the same for me. I've been prescribed both Ritalin and Adderall, and Adderall is by far better. I was also on some other pill for a while but I can't remember what it was called. Choloradine, or something similar sounding to that.

I am a completely different person while on Adderall, I want to work, I actually got urges to work. My attention span was greatly expanded as I usually get bored or lose focus of what I'm doing after a few minutes.

I haven't been on either for a couple years now since I graduated, but when I go to college in september I plan on going back on Adderall. If I don't go back on it, I know I'll zone out in class, I know I won't touch the work, and I know I'll flunk. Adderall is a godsend for people like me.

“Drugs make a well person sick. Why would they make a sick person well?” (Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D.)


I just wish that more people would realize that there are safe alternatives to RX's. The pharmaceutical companies count on us being sick. The drugs that they make treat symptoms, not causes. The drugs that we take to treat one symptom, will usually cause other symptoms, resulting in the need for more drugs.

www.doctoryourself.com...

www.doctoryourself.com...

"Big Pharma" companies are owned by the same elitists
across the globe. Their goal clearly is not human
well-being but profit, endless profit. This mafia-like cabal
needs to be destroyed, jailed, by Unites Nations of Earth
for their crimes agaist humanity. US FDA is part of that
cabal, they need to be destroyed and rebuilt completely.

there is hope, but criminal FDA and Big Pharmas need to go...

reply to post by TeeJay

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Tee Jay
that was some good information you posted, thanks.

Also thanks to every one else who has been posted there experiences with the drugs in question.