Does anyone take "study pills" for ADHD?

I'm 100% positive I have ADHD. I went to a doctor today for it, and now I'm waiting to get a referral for a diagnosis. I have a lot of trouble studying and paying attention in class. I just zone out completely and it takes forever for me to read one page.

Does anyone else have ADHD? And what pills do you take for it?
I'm considering Dextroamphetamine off a dealer because I cannot wait 4-6weeks for a referral.

i dont think you should self-diagnosis yourself and take drugs for it.

I agree with lucasvince. Besides, ADHD is usually diagnosed around the age of 5-7 and rarely first found in the late teens

DON'T DO IT. Just man the fuck up and and concentrate. Take 15 min breaks for every hour of studying or... You can read a section of notes and do pushups and recite it in your head while doing it. Then memo another section do pushups and recite the previous section. Sounds weird but hell it's worked for me so far. Sleep it off and the next day you become less stupid.

Sounds to me like either you find the material really boring or you're lacking motivation. ** Try a different studying place, I find myself doing nothing when I'm at home so I go hibernate in the library.

Drugs don't solve problems. They blind you to think they do and create even more problems. My brother was thought to have ADHD and was recommended to take ritalin, we went to his paediatrician who looked at the teacher's note thinking WTF (kids will be kids, let them run around). Just cause you can't concentrate, get bored easily doesn't mean you have ADHD. I don't see it as a problem unless you're running around throwing tantrums everywhere.

I find that drinking green tea helps me study better since I feel calm afterwards. Or write out a list and give yourself a time limit to spend on a chapter so that you feel pressured to finished. And then take a break

If we can all self-diagnose, we wouldn't need doctors to begin with.

tea is awesome. always have a cup when i get to work.

I believe i have the same thing as you. I told my friend how incredibly hard it is for me to process n remember things in class, even reading a page is a struggle. He said that some of his classmates in his program have the same problem and take Ritalin seeing as they "ADD/ADHD" and said I probably have the same thing. I've never got around to consulting a professional but I probably should.

vitamins? music?

It's very common for people that can't concentrate to be misdiagnosed with ADHD (especially kids). Doesn't mean it's true. My psyc textbook gave some percentage of people that are misdiagnosed, but I can't recall it.

Anyway, I have an idea of what you're going through. There are a lot of times that it's EXTREMELY hard for me to concentrate on studying or paying attention in class. I usually take a break (ex. eat a snack, play a videogame, run on treadmill) and start studying again. For class concentration, I feel like that got better the more classes I took and the further I got in my studies.

Please DO NOT buy from a dealer. You never know if they're selling you real pills. They may or not have done something to those pills that you'll end up regretting/paying for later.

Forgot to add:

Similar to what Elle said, try to only study a little at a time. Maybe an hour a day. I find that when I try to cram everything last minute, my mind goes on freak out mode and I can't concentrate on what to study first because I'm busy trying to learn everything before the exam/quiz/etc.

I have heard of Ritalin and I don't think it's recommended. I heard the side effects are bad and might as well just be cocaine.

I understand where you guys are coming from and it's probably not the best way to go. I don't know. In hindsight, I think I've had this problem back in high school. I always found myself studying a lot more than my peers only to get the same results. I was always annoyed by the kids that only studied a day before and got better grades than me.

My doctor told me it's not as easy as just a self-diagnosis, but I believe ADHD is more common than people think to a certain degree. It's not that I am bored with my subject. I also find when I watch movies I zone out on the actor's lines and I forget what they say. What really threw me off today was that it took nearly 2 hours to read 10 minutes. That's NOT normal! I study without distractions, and I study in calm environments. I just cannot focus. I always find myself re-reading the same text over and over again because I zone out. It's not because i'm bored, or necessarily have a lot on my mind. My brain just doesn't tune in and it's so frustrating because I do not have the time for it to malfunction on me.

To the person who said ADHD is diagnosed at an early age - I have to disagree. I think if you have ADHD, you'll always have it to a certain degree. Socially, I have no problems focusing or concentrating. I can carry on a conversation or activity with somebody else without being distracted by something shiny in the sky. So therefore, that is why I don't think I was diagnosed at an earlier age because nobody saw it in me.

I'm on multi-vitamins right now.. so, we'll see..

The diagnosis of ADHD is largely based on the DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) criteria by American Psychiatric Association, as follows:

A. Either (1) or (2):

(1) Six or more of the following symptoms of inattention have persisted for at least 6 months to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with development level:

• Often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities
• Often has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play activities
• OFten does not seem to listen when spoken to directly
• often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behaviour or failure to understand instructions)
• Often has difficulty organizing tasks and activities
• often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in takes that require sustained mental effort such as schoolwork or homework.
• Often loses things necessary for tasks or activities such as toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools
• is often easily distracted by extraneous stimuli
• is often forgetful in daily activities

(2) Six or more of the following symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity have persisted for at least 6 months to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with developmental level:

• often figets with hands or feet or squirms in seat
• Often leaves seat in classroom or in other situations in which remaining seated is expected
• Often runs about or climbs excessivly in situations in which it is inappropriate; in adolescents or adults, may be limited to subjective feelings of restlessness.
• Often has difficulty playing or engaging in leisure activities quietly
• Is often "on the go" or often acts as if "driven by motor"
• Often talks excessively
• Often blurts out answers before questions have been completed
• Often has difficulty waiting for his/her turn
• Often interrupts or intrudes on others, e.g. butts into conversations or games

B. Some hyperactive-impulsive or inattentive symptoms that cause impairment were present before the age of 7 years
C. Some impairment from the symptoms is present in 2 or more settings, e.g. at school or work AND at home.
D. There must be clear evidence of clinically significant impairment in social, academic or occupational functioning
E. The symptoms do not occur exclusively during a course of a pervasive developmental disorder, schizophrenia, or other psychotic disorder and are not better accounted for by another mental disorder such as mood, anxiety, dissociative or personality disorder.

I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. so frustrating

Story of my life.
And I don't have ADHD, my mom thought I did and I went through diagnostic and I am perfectly normal.

There's always going to be people who can party and skip class and still get A's, life sucks, move on. That's no reason to think you have ADHD. My bf also zones out when it comes to actor's lines, he actually can't tell you the plot even if we watched the movie let's say 5 minutes ago, he tries to retell it but he can't. He doesn't have ADHD but instead it's cause he doesn't read often and never developed the skills of paying attention to details when he was younger which he's slowly changing.

There's always people who are below you and higher than you, all of my friends tell me I'm smart but I think I'm so freaking slow. I got into UBC Pharmacy and changed programs because I felt that everyone around was too smart. Sometimes you just don't click with what you're studying, in first year I took psychology and kept being in denial that I loved it when it was my lowest mark so I took another psyc class the second year, almost failed it. I went to the prof's hours and psychology and I just don't click. A lot of people fail to understand that sometimes what you want to be isn't what you're good at, like how just cause you like a dress on mannequin doesn't mean it'll look good on you.

I sometimes can't study in super quiet environments and enjoy studying in groups of people.

And I'm not going to say j4joanne is wrong here, chances are she'll be the one handing you your meds so I'd take her word on things here.
To sum it up: I think there are other factors that's leading to your inability to finish your textbook
And I too changed in high school, I swear it's puberty lol. I used to be able to cram 10 minutes before an exam and ace it but when high school came, I stopped being able to do that. =(

**Sorry for the rant but I'm glad you're just taking multivitamins...ish, and wait for a diagnostic. Good luck with your exam! =)

Before you self diagnose and self medicate, consult a professional.

When it comes to mental health and drugs, it's 100% recommended that you see someone who is an expert, and I don't mean folks on the internet, people who have taken psych courses, etc. See your doctor and wait for that referral.

Whether drug helps or not is a topic for another day, but control what you can. Change your diet, method of studying, etc, in the mean time.

btw, assuming you do have ADHD, the medication you need might be different than that of others. so dont take the drugs other ppl take ... hell dont take it at all.

This reminds me of these drastic measures: I'm sorry, definitely not saying you're like this but lolz this thread is just lolz.
Please login or register to view links

......... So that's why there are so many international students looool

Thanks ELLE for your acknowledgement I just want to make it clear that I'm not trying to put myself in any authoritative position here, I just have a bit more readily accessible medical resources on hand and I'm always here to share when appropriate.

Indeed there are so many people undiagnosed of ADHD due to lack of awareness to the disorder in early childhood, yet an equally alarming number of people are misdiagnosed, therefore unnecessarily taking meds, because of the push to increase in awareness nowadays, especially in modern societies such as ours.

As your fellow forum-mate (I clearly just created a new word there lol), I sincerely hope you do not have ADHD as it is not pleasant to have to deal with a disorder and have to go through treatment for it, especially with medications quite prone to creating side effects. I wish you the best of luck with your studies and upcoming exams, but do remember this: it matters not your marks at the end of it all if you do not truly enjoy what you are learning about, hopefully you are able to find your passion in your learning, often it makes the process much more enjoyable

Finally, as a pharmacist, all else aside, I would much prefer that you be misdiagnosed but at least receive legitimate medications from pharmacies rather than purchasing from dealers and have no idea what their source is.

my mom had me tested too lol