Which is better: adderall or ritalin?

If Ritilin and Adderal are made of the same pharm qualities. What are the differences and why isn't Ritilin an amphetimine?

How about Alertec ? Isn't it cut like Adderall

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Hi im 16 years old.. I have been taking adderal for a year now and was wondering if ritalin would be better or not.. Cause i have ADD and a siezure disorder.. And When i first started taking adderall i lost 15 pounds in 2 weeks.. Im 5'8' and since june i gained 40 pounds.. And was wondering is it because i stopped taking adderall for the summer.. (Cause i only take it for school) or because its effects stopped working.. cause i went from 20 grams a day to 40 grams a day Can some1 help me please???

I tried adderall and I am a 34 yr old adult male. I have just started taking a medication for my add that I was diagnosed with from childhood. The adderall had side effects that were very unpleasant to me. So therefore I am taking ritalin instead. All I ever read is ritalin is for kids. I never really read about adults taking it. I think it seems to work more positively for me so far. Maybe it was because i only took ritalin for a very short time as a child and got off it because it was not working like it should have for me then. But anyone that wants to comment that would be great. Anyone that is using it as an adult? Am I the only one? Anyhow let me know the good bad and ugly of it. Thanks...

Steve

I have a 13 year old who has ADHD and has had it since he was a baby! They didn't diagnose him until he was in 2nd grade. They tried ritilan tabs not the LA at first but did not go well because school was missing his doses. He did not react to it well because going from hyper, bouncing off walls to a kid who didn't say or do much was shocking. We tried concerta which I hated just as much. Finally his Pediatrician said they can't help and we needed to start seeing a medication specialist. I went with the specialist and i was able to tell her how he reacted to certain meds and believe it or not Ritilan LA worked well for many years and it was an all day med so he was able to keep it working during school hours. I liked Ritilan LA and believe it or not his body adjusted and he started eating normally and he was controllable but not a zombie!  If anyone has children taking LA I suggest that they eat a quick fill me up breakfast then take the medicane. I did though notice at first my son did have a problem with falling asleep because of the meds, and that was a problem for a bit. Doctor suggested giving small dose of benadryl liquid at night to help because i did not want him on a sleeping pill. It worked and eventually he didn't need that anymore. I do struggle with my son now but it is because he is 13, at least that is what everyone says!!! Good Luck!

i know u posted this a yr ago, hoever ifeel i need to reply anyway. I am a41 yr old female FINALLY diagnosed with adult ADD around 6mo ago, even though I know I have been living with this since childhood.I was so happy to find out I really wasnt a loser, and theres help out there.So, I was titrated up to adderall 20mg imm 2x daily.I became a new person!!!! was actually getting things done:):) for first 3 mo, never knew I was such an awesome person:) only side affects were they made me VERY tired when thy wore off. So, Dr and I decided to try ritalin er 271xdaily and 10mg imm release only if needed.all i can say is 10x more side affects!!! dont get the clearheaded thinking as with adderall. Just very Jittery,headaches,stomach aches, im having to take diazapam to feel a bit better.yuck!!!! So, tried both, Adderall just seems sooooo gentile., And does the job soooo much better.Never felt like i was on any kind of stimulant on adderall at all. Ritalin hovever i do. Now my son took ritalin from ages 5-11 worked great for him, however around at age 12/13(puberty) started making him feel jittery and crappy (sound familiar?) Its my mommy opinion, that for some reason, ritalin in children works like addeall for us grownups.....would love to read a study on how, while adderall and ritalin are mostly the same, how the tiniest dfferences may make a huge impact......ps... dad,uncle, me, and 2/4 sons diagnosed....hmmmm..

My 5 yr old grandson JUST starting 10mg of adderal this morning, not a good experience, he had heart pain at one point, and he is almost zombie like, like he lost his spirit and sense of humor, he also has his jaw/teeth clenched so that his the top row of teeth arecrooked from the bottome row....he isnt himself and in 1/2 hr it will be 8 hrs since he had it today....

The adderall is better than Ritalin because with Adderall you can go off of it and have no side effects unlike ritalin you have to be winged off this drug becaue your body becomes addictive to it.

Guest wrote:

Guest wrote:

does any one have any kids in this age group i am looking for feed back on how to handle my son how is now 5 and has just been put on adderall and is freaking out trying to get a handle on him any suggestions

My daughter has been on adderall for almost a year now. I have found that it works better than the dexadrine. Adderall is a time released version of dexadrine. The dexadrine made her moody. Her sleep has never been good. Her psychiatrist suggested clonidine. If you child is anxious or has a hard time getting to sleep it will help dramatically. It has changed our lives. Take care and I hope this helped.

my son was on clonidine for many years, starting at age 5. He would get terrible headache's when the clonidine would start to wear off because his blood pressure would sky rocket. Clondidine is a blood pressure med. It is given to help with sleep because it lowers your pressure and low blood pressure makes you sleepy. If I woke him before it wore off he would get dizzy, pass out and throw up...due to moving around with low pressure. He now takes melatonin and is sleeping wonderfully with absolutely NO side effects! (he had to be weened off the clonidine...horrible!)

Think this really depends on the individual,severity of add/adhd, and which symptoms you suffer from the most,like inattentiveness or hyperactivity and impulsivity. I was able to try out both ritalin and adderall and adderall suits me well. I feel like it helps me stay on tasks better and longer, sit still longer without getting up every 5 minutes. Also I feel like I can focus when people are talking to me. Plus it lasts longer 5-7hrs. Ritalin is good also,noticed within 30minutes of first dose that the "noise"went away and I felt calm,less anxiety.I went to grocery store and actually noticed all the different choices for food, and I was reading some of the product info! And didn't feel like the world was watching. But it didn't last as long just a few hours, but I noticed it worked quickly when taken 20-30min(while adderall took 45-60min and peak around 1 and a half to two hours)

Try Ritalin. My son has tried both. Recently he has been on Adderall but has never been very sucessful with his education as compared to before when he was on Ritalin. Also, he had major issues with another med prescribed to him that I feel was either contraindicative with Adderall or just had abad side effect. Adderall is an amphetamine and is very strong. Getting off it should be handled carefully with a Doc, as he could get depressive. Better to gradually work it off.

take him off it!

Hello! I noticed this post to be an old one, but nonetheless I was interested to see how you have adapted to the ritalin...? Are you still taking it regularly? I am a 35yo male and just recently started taking it as an adult. I too was on it for a short time as a child. My Dr is certain I have adult a.d.d... However I am the furthest thing from hyper. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. I just started taking 10mg Er 3 times daily. The headaches are horrible, and have yet to see any real benefit. I have only been on it for 2 days, so maybe I am just being impatient? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Chris.

I find Adderall works much better, and it is more effective on more sleep. However, in the dosages I need, it keeps me up so I can't get very much sleep. I don't know how to get any real sleeping medication, so if I've had between 50-90mg of Adderall during the day (even if I take it all in the morning), I have to drink heavily to be able to sleep at any reasonable time. Even with that help, it can still be tough to sleep. Then the less sleep I have, the more Adderall I need the next day. It's a nasty cycle that can only reset on the weekend when I don't use Adderall nor alcohol. But I will lose my job without it and I get so much stuff done. Just be safe; the price of real Adderall is skyrocketing. If you're offered something at a reasonable price, it's probably not Adderall.

Ritalin is not addictive. It is a myth. Addiction and abuse are not the same.