When i was about 8 years old our old family doctor prescribed 50mg a day of Ritalin to help control my severe case of ADHD, and i continued at that pace until i was nearly 16. My problem is now that I have been off Ritalin for more than 10 years, I am attempting to go back and correct some mistakes from my past, mainly getting a college education. I started to research the long term side effects of Ritalin to see what kind of problems exist in patients who had taken this drug years after having been off the drug, but can only seem to find lists of side effects for those who are still on the drug.

The thing thats troubling me the most is more than half the side effects i have found, i still suffer from 11 years later. sleep disorders, headaches, motor tics, decreased appetite, nausea, irritability and depression being the main issues now. Is anyone else on this board having similar issues related to ritalin use?

I don't know if the things you'r describing are from taking Ritalin or not, but I do know that some of those sound like symptoms of Bi-polar disorder. I'm Bi polar and suffer from (on a ragular basis) Insomnia, extreme fatigue, depression, difficulty focusing, headaches, irritability, and eating disorders. I did take Ritalin at age 12 , but only for about a month. I guess what I am say is there in my experience are a lot of links between ADHD children and Depressed or Bi-Polar Adults. Just food for thought.

I am wondering why there is no public study to determine the corolation between Ritalin and bi-polar disorder. I've read that 1/5 people who are treated for AD/HD develop bi-polar disorder as well. There is a definite correlation between people who are treated for AD/HD and bi-polar development, but it does not have to be causal. I wonder if people are too afraid to see if Ritalin is causing bi-polar disorder in those predisposed, and if the benefits for some are too great to consider linking it to bipolar development, or if by some other environmental factor the bi-polar incidence is increasing.
Here is just an observation, but it seems this should be provable or not to somebody with the resources. I admit Ritalin helps many tremendously increase their performance and confidence, and helps get them off of other forms of self-medication. Maybe it only triggers it in those predisposed to bi-polar. Either way, it seems like we should want to know.
1) Total AD/HD diagnosis and treatment increased
2) Total bi-polar diagnosis and treatment increased afterwards (especially in population 1)
3) 1/5 people treated for AD/HD develop bipolar disorder
Is there a causal link or is it just coincidence?

just an opinion. it seems alot of people are all of a sudden being diagnosee with bipolar, is it the new ADHD of 10 years ago?
since my oldest son is adhd- so i know there are people with true add. in fact he took rityln for 10 years, with little problems or side effects. (by the way he now takes ginko for work and its working great for him) When he was diagnosed years ago- every other kids was being called ADD. and many werent'. Even my youngest was told he borderline ADD. He had many Learned traits and is a very focussed and driven musician... and just recently one dr suggested he was bipolar... another said no.
after a bit of research on the traits of bipolar... I found the questioneers for this are way too general. both my husband and i failed them all.
im just a hyper energetic person, as is my husband, and son. we are driven perfectionist. definatly a perssonality trait -but not an illness. and yes my mind races a million miles an hour and i cant focus sometimes and i talk to myself- but i live a normal life. whatever that is.
I mean if you need meds and you feel better, take them- I society should quit worrying about all these lables and focus more on types of personalities- a,b,c and how society should embrace each.
but im probably dreaming

I ahec been faced with the possiability that my 6 yo is add/ adhd. He failed k-5 last year. We paid an ungodly amout of money for him to go to privet school and get a more 1 on 1 type education, but it proved to be a large waste of money. So we enrolled him in publice school this year K-5 again, and the teacher has already said take him to the dr. This may ruin his future if we don't do something about it NOW. The one constant that my husbandand I have thought about over the past 6 years is my labor with im. I was induced with him, and the dr. broke my water at 2cm. Every time i had a contraction his heart rate would fall dramitically so the put a tube inside me and ran saline into my stomach to help give him osme boyancey. The Dr. also put an oxygen mask on me to help him. HE came out 18 hrs. later face up with the cord around his neck 3 times and around his right shoulder once. We have pondered the thought that going so long with his oxygen supply cut off... maybe this is the cause of some of his problems. He just isn't like our other 2 children. Are we in lala land with this or could really be a csude of his troubles? Any adivice would be great.