Alice,

I am 18 and also a college student. I have two jobs and to top it all off, I have Multiple Sclerosis. I am currently on provigil because I am so tired all of the time. That is what attracted me to your question, but upon thinking about it, I have realized that you should not try these drugs. First of all, you could get addicted. Second of all, its illegal. Third, you could have it so much worse... you don't need some silly drug to help you get through your day like I do. You have your health... please don't ruin it!

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(2)

Dear Alice,

I am an "older" female, at this time trying to live through withdrawing from Adderall. If I had known I would have to face this, I never would have started in the first place.

I have been on Adderall for almost 2 years now. I started out on 20 mg 3 x a day and am now on 30 mg 4 x a day. The rug was pulled out from under me 3 weeks ago when my husband abruptly quit his job, leaving us with no medical insurance. My first reaction, I kid you not, was not "how are we going to make our house payment?" but, "what am I going to do about my Adderall?" I worried a lot about this, and then the fateful day finally came when the pharmacist said "that'll be $168 please."

When you're used to paying $15 WITH a decent income, and now faced with having to pay $168 with NO income... lets just say it's a no-brainer.

Yesterday was my first Adderall-free day, and it was a nightmare. All I did all day was literally sleep... the same with today, except for this brief time period I am spending to try to find out how long it will be before I can return to my normal, pre-Adderall self.

Let me just say that even though I was getting legit prescriptions from my family doc, I was not using it illegally. Although your reasons also seem very noble, I would strongly advise against doing this. Believe me YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS.

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To the reader:

Besides the obvious danger of addiction, I want to point out another drawback: Those stimulants may be sabatoging your studies. I learned in my Drugs and Behaviour course that stimulants (and many other drugs) cause dissociation: While under the influence you may forget the things that you learned while drug-free, and the facts you learned while under the influence may be lost to you once the drug wears off. So the only way to consistently learn and retain information is to be perpetually in one state or the other.

Keep in mind that many tests rely on reasoning and problem-solving and not just memorization. A clear head may be more important than a list of facts and figures. Happy studying!