Questions about topics in your conference video.

[Techie]

What are your OCD's? 

Have you ever taken medication for anxiety or depression? 

How do you cope with OCD's , anxiety, and depression?

Do you experience triggers that cause your OCD's, anxiety, or depression?

How did you overcome your depression and grumpiness?

[Aspergers Girl]

What are your OCD's? 

Have you ever taken medication for anxiety or depression? 

How do you cope with OCD's , anxiety, and depression?

Do you experience triggers that cause your OCD's, anxiety, or depression?

How did you overcome your depression and grumpiness?

I'm on an anti depressant and OCD inhibitor which i've been on since I was 13.

Its always easier to cope by getting into a clean and tidy house and living space and out into the sunshine if possible.

Triggers are often being overwhelmed or angry or upset, or just meltdown material.

I have not overcome it. I have pills to help it but I don't know if they work. It will likely be a lifetime problem.

[SquarePeg]

What exactly is an OCD inhibitor? I myself have OCD and am on an antidepressant, but I have never heard of the other one!

[Remission]

I'm on an anti depressant and OCD inhibitor which i've been on since I was 13.

Its always easier to cope by getting into a clean and tidy house and living space and out into the sunshine if possible.

Triggers are often being overwhelmed or angry or upset, or just meltdown material.

I have not overcome it. I have pills to help it but I don't know if they work. It will likely be a lifetime problem.

Are you using any neuroleptic/antipsychotics and if so what for?  If you are you should come off them, they should be for schizophrenia only.

People on Ritalin are at a serious advantage compared to the rest of us.  Dopamine reuptake inhibition has a whole host of benefits - increased energy, drive, confidence, sociability, concentration, mental performance.  Mostly only American kids get it but I want my psych to give it to me.

[Kresjah]

[ Disclaimer: I'm no doctor, and take no responsibility for... well... anything bad happening as a direct or indirect consequence of anyone reading this post. This is merely sharing experience and advice, and may have flaws. You have been warned. :p ]

Do keep in mind Remission that whilst it is absolutely true what you say about the "positive" effects of Ritalin (assuming one responds to it), some of the potential side effects aren't just something to brush off as nothing.

From personal experience with some meds, I can at least say that reduction/loss of appetite is not an easy thing to handle. I don't know if any medications you've tried earlier have had that effect on you, but I have found it to be hell to force down food that I really don't want (because, well, I don't feel hungry). And just for the record, never had any eating disorders and the appetite issue is purely medication induced.

If I understood the personnel correctly when I was hospitalized, palpitation (dunno if it is in the actual sense, or just a higher sensed awareness of the heart, or both) is a rather common thing. It seems it usually subsides and is harmless, but is one of the reasons we were monitored closely  (in terms of blood pressure checks, etc.) while in hospital.

Then there is the part about insomnia. In my case, it was more of a "make my non-24 hrs sleep-wake syndrome have more hours". As much as increased energy and mental performance can be good things, at the wrong time, they can just as well be bad things. You may not feel tired when your body actually is, or you just may "simply" be unable to get your sleep despite feeling tired, which may end up in stripping your body of needed sleep and general rest. Not healthy in the long run (or in the short run if you pull too many double-days).

Should you decide to go the way of Ritalin or any of the meds in that area, I'd personally recommend that you make sure you get followed up closely in the initial step up and stabilization periods.

But once again, I'm no doctor, these are the opinions of someone who's not professional, and you should take it to heart at your risk alone. Ask your doc about it.

[EDIT: Oh, and of course these are just a minor subset of the registered side effects, but those that seem (to me) to be rather common and most relevant.]

[EDIT 2: Reworded insomnia section a tiny bit attempting to avoid misunderstandings.]

[Aspergers Girl]

What exactly is an OCD inhibitor? I myself have OCD and am on an antidepressant, but I have never heard of the other one!

Well its a certain type of Anti depressant with focus on obsessive compulsive behaviour. It helps control it.

Are you using any neuroleptic/antipsychotics and if so what for?

No, because they do not treat my problems. My problems are not psychosis or related conditions. I went on one bfeifly when I was 14 but came of fit very quickly as it did not do anything for me as I did not need it (rispiridone or something)

I would probably benefit from Ritalin tbh. I take enough though, I don't want to take more.

[MM]

Ritalin can have a alot of positive effects but it is an anphetamine and therefore for people with addictive personalities it can become addictive.  I became an addict of dexamphitimine(Ritalins cousin).  It does help with social ability and all the rest of it but it can also increase anger,agression, sex drive and impulstivity.  I suggest talking to a doctor about strettera it is a new drug that helps with concertration but without the side effects of the anphetamines( I am on it these days).  Aside from drugs try alternative therapies and natural herbs and remedies talk to naturopath or take up yoga classes and keep your diet healthy.    But all in all these are only suggestions and I am no doctor so what I say is just what my experiences have been.   But you lot what a bunch of drug addicts

[Kresjah]

As always, I'll just say the usual thing about me not being a professional or anything. This is going off experience and personal research on the net, so there may be error here.

I'd first just want to say that I'm not trying to give an impression that any of these medications are the perfect medication, that they are completely safe or anything similar. Regardless of what is said, they are still drugs, and do carry the risk of abuse. Simply put, I'm not trying to promote anything, just give information.

Now, as far as I've understood, Ritalin (methylphenidate) is not an amphetamine from a technical perspective. It does however possess many similarities. Whilst there are many similarities, there are also differences in how they affect someone compared to amphetamines (i.e. Dexedine which is based dextroamphetamine).

Regardless, they are both psychostimulant drugs. Ritalin is some places said to not carry addictive properties, although there also seems to be enough abuse to question this. Don't know how true this is.

Not everyone responds to Ritalin and may have a beneficial effect from i.e. Dexedrine. Dexedrine seems to also have less side effects, but if what I mentioned above about addictiveness is true then it doesn't surprise me why some places requires testing of Ritalin up to maximum dosage with no effect before being allowed to try Dexedrine.

If I remember correctly, some research (I can't find the specific statistics now, so I can't remember if this was for dextro-, methamphetamines or both, how it was taken, nor what location this research was for) states that a regular street dose of amphetamine was 500mg. Clinical dosages seem to start at 2.5mg per dose and usually go up to a maximum of 40mg total a day. Of course, it can probably still induce addictiveness, but that statistic does tell an interesting story.

In the end Ritalin, though in many ways similar, do have differences from other drugs classed as amphetamines. Just jumping on the "it's amphetamine" bandwagon though is in my opinion not the right way to go at it. Both of them have their strong sides as well as their own set of caveats. Regardless, I'd consider it wise to at least give it an extra afterthought before jumping after Ritalin (or Dexedrine, or any other similar drugs) as if they are the Savior of Man.

[Remission]

I guess you could say that an old man dying of terminal cancer has become 'addicted' to his pain-killing medications.  So according to 'conventional wisdom' and 'normal morality' he should be taken off the meds he is addicted to and left to die in excruciating pain? 

I have no sympathy for anyone who berates the state of being 'addicted' to a medication - frankly it's none of your effing business what meds anybody takes in order to 'get by' in life.

Life sucks for normal people, but life suck ASS for autistic people.

[Kresjah]

If you want to take it as a personal offense, well, that is your call. None of what I've said is meant as any offense (personal nor indirect), and I can make it no clearer than that.

I at least am not telling you not to use it, I'm not telling you that you will get addicted, nor that you won't. If people choose to try it, then by all means I won't stop you. However, if I do have knowledge about something that is of such general importance to someone, then I don't really have much to lose in sharing it, and unless someone chooses to interpret well-meant information as personal offense, they can only gain from it.

It's better to give an informed consent to something than giving an uninformed consent. Even if the results becomes the same, you're aware of the positives and negatives in advance.

My doctor at the psych. ward said something quite wise to me when I was there. I asked her about how the medication would affect me, knowing that there seems to be a fair share of heart attack on my father's side (including himself having had one too), and my grandfather on my mother's side died of sudden heart failure. So she put it this way (loosely quoted): "If you respond to this medication, the benefits of the reduced amounts of stress you'll have will likely equal out or outweigh the issues you'll otherwise have from the constant stress you feel." I chose to try that medication and I don't regret doing so... but if I hadn't asked, I wouldn't have known it could contribute to complications on that level.

So again, I at least have no intentions of saying you shouldn't try something like Ritalin, I'm just saying that before considering it purely a euphoria you should at least know what it is. Maybe the risk of "addiction" will outweigh the cons of not using it, but at least you are aware of it rather than just going into it thinking it'll be a breeze.

That is why I've said what I have said at least. And also, you're not the only one here who may be considering this kind of medication, and this may be informative to them too.

I honestly can't see what I've said wrong if you were referring to any of my posts, but I'm no mind reader either, and I may have misunderstood you. If this post doesn't clear up anything, please do explain.

[Remission]

I wasn't aiming anything at you, I had in mind those people who are anti-drugs to the point where they'd rather suffer than take a pill (even if it comes from a doctor). 

[MM]

I have no sympathy for anyone who berates the state of being 'addicted' to a medication - frankly it's none of your effing business what meds anybody takes in order to 'get by' in life.

Life sucks for normal people, but life suck ASS for autistic people.
[/quote]

Sometimes remission mate we need to be grateful for the things and the abilities that we do have.  I was born with asthma, highfunctioning autism and a lazy eye and now I have developed alcoholism but I have medication for my asthma, I have had surgery for my lazy eye and I am coping with my HFA these days.  It sucks I wish the almighty would just cure me and get it over and done with.  But remember there are tons of other conditions such as schyzafrina, bipolar, ADHD, PPD and many other people that suffer from other diseases and mental illness that we dont have.   It sucks that the world only wants to know you when everything is going well and then they reject you when your not well but I have.   But I am glad I live in a first world country and not in a third world one