Best non-prescription drugs that help concentrate?

[howerabin]

I don't want any crap about how unhealthy it is. Over the past year, I've been abusing Luvox and Abilify to help concentrate on studying, and now my mom hid them somewhere where I can't find them. Would Tylenol help concentrate? Gravol?

[Award Winning Boss]

Have you been diagnosed with anything that means you struggle with concentration? If not, I think you're better off training yourself to concentrate more instead of depending on drugs to do the job for you.

[Luka Petrovic]

I agree with award winning boss. I don't say this to offend, but as a fact of life. Drugs are for a weakness of the mind, not a really a hard and fast rule as there are drugs intended for proper use in medicine, caffeine and nicotine which when they occur naturally are rather weak.
Instead learn to become self-sustaining, discipline yourself and teach yourself to concentrate without drugs. you have made this task more difficult for yourself by already relying on drugs for a year, but it can be un-done. When you rely on drugs for your performance how can you even hold pride for what you do as it is not your natural ability that gave you the result, but the drug.

And seriously, this is a dangerous game you are playing, just because its prescription doesn't mean it can;t hurt you, you are messing with your bodies natural chemical balance in a very unsafe way. if that were to happen under my roof, there would be more than just having the drugs hidden, so consider yourself "lucky" for that.

And as a final word, do not distress if you cannot find the solution to ending drugs. You will repeat and fail trying to get off it until you truly make the decision that you don;t need them. That can be a long time, just be patient. Good luck and no, tylenol and gravol will not do anything for your memory at any amount!

Edited May 4, 2013 by Award Winning Boss
Fixed double post.

[yii yann]

I absolutely agree with Award Winning Boss and Luka. However you came here for help and not a lecture, and I know how annoying it is not be able to concentrate.

Tire yourself out, and then lock yourself in your study area with no computer and no phone (this is essential), some strong coffee, and promise yourself sleep after you've achieved your targets for the day. You will feel like hell, but you will force yourself to work hard and achieve laser-like focus when you know that you can get sleep once you've completed your tasks.

Eventually, you might even start working earlier and earlier, because you can't take the stress of being tired and studying.

Also, Tylenol does not do anything. It just makes you feel like you're in a medically-induced daze the whole time, so don't waste your money or put your body through unnecessary crap

[susanne]

agreed, and I have never heard that it's effective in making you concentrates;

how about taking a hot shower to calm yourself down? You shouldn't abuse non-prescription drugs

[Matsu]

Just drink some coffee, double up multi-vitamins (with vitamin B6.. or just blain ole vitamin B6 though the other stuff can't hurt either) and pop an Omega 3 (preferably high DHA content) capsule before tests or heavy study sessions. Super easy to get your hands on. Healthy body, healthy mind.

[cricketcrazynerd]

Get some music on while you work...it might help (helps me at times)

Don't ruin your health just for IB! It's meant to be a part of your life, not just your life

[Nabz]

Coffee itself is a drug lmao. It is coming from a non coffee drinker

[susanne]

Coffee itself is a drug lmao. It is coming from a non coffee drinker

no, coffee is not the drug, caffeine is the drug

but the effectiveness of coffee is arguable because apparently when you're tired, coffee doens't have much of an effect on you

[Sandwich]

You are a complete idiot, in my opinion. You're not 'abusing' drugs, you're randomly taking your mum's tablets which you found but have no real idea of what they do. Anti-psychotics and anti-depressants are not well known for helping you concentrate. The two that you chose have a tonne of side-effects (anti-psychotics in particular are pretty dirty drugs) and actually interact with each other. You're not being monitored, you could do some serious damage to yourself, you are an idiot. 'Crap about being unhealthy' is just code for ignorance at how significant some of these drugs can be.

- Tardive Dyskinesia. Infrequent but unpredictable and irreversible side effect of anti-psychotics like Aripiprazole. If you think it's worth the risk of gawping and gyrating your head like a fish (unless you actually HAVE a psychotic condition, in which case this risk is preferable, believe it or not), you're a fool.

Just do your own work like a normal person. The 'drug' that helps you concentrate is caffeine or sleep. If you think you need drugs for school work, goodness knows how you intend to cope with life. It's better to develop actual coping skills, studying skills and so on now that will stand you in good stead - instead of taking inappropriate pointless tablets.

[howerabin]

For the record, I have full knowledge of what drugs I was using; they were my OCD drugs. They were like a friend to me. Not even my parents could have relaxed me as much as those pills.

Initially, I swore myself to temperance with those drugs; I didn't want to become a drug addict. But my OCD and anxiety got much worse, and I found myself taking sometimes 5 times more than what I was prescribed at the wrong times of the day. Then I began adding another drug to my routine, a drug I wasn't even supposed to take and was not prescribed on.

I found that most of the times, using those drugs helped me escape from all the pressure that I felt was being put on me. Growing up in the shadow of my brother, who, by the way, got all 7s and 6s in IB, I always felt inferior, since I never got the grades I wanted, or because I never even measured up to him. This was also a factor in making me use those drugs.

I do remember some bad experiences with them though. For instance, one night, I had a chem IA to work on, and I thought it would be a good idea to take some of the drug that I wasn't prescribed on, just to concentrate. A couple of hours later, I found myself unable to concentrate at all; my eyesight was pretty much done for, and I had this really weird headache. I took too much of the drug. That's why all this happened.

I'd like to apologize for being so direct with my plea for something that'll help me concentrate. We're all under a lot of pressure these days.

Edited May 4, 2013 by howerabin

[Luka Petrovic]

You saying "they were like a friend to me" tells me a lot about your use of them, you are dangerously addicted. Get some help.
See I always say people use drugs of any kind because they are running away from something, in this case its being in the shadow of your brother.
No need to apologize for your plea, just know why it happened and fix it.
Good luck

[braindead]

The crux of Sandwich's post is that you need to develop these skills at some point anyway, the sooner the better. No way will you be able to get away with popping pills in a workplace and attempting to explain it to your boss as "your friends" that help you concentrate. I hope you can pull through man.

[yii yann]

Holy **** guys calm down, just telling him not to take them is going to simply push him further towards it. He's got his mum to lecture him.

@howerabin: Dude, concentration "enhancers" are absolutely useless compared to your brain's actual potential to focus. Getting your brain to focus needs some effort. Easy for some, not so much for others. It's like a huge frozen lake - you need to crack the solid surface to reach the unlimited freshwater below.

Goals. Tiny ones. "I will study for the math exam that's in a week, now. I will do question one and two now.". Break it up into tiny chunks, and then have a release each time you complete it. Finished the questions? Have a cookie, then come back, and this time try 3 qns in a row. Reward yourself. MAKE SURE this reward involves you sitting at your table and not going away. I sometimes even just arrange everything on my desk, as a reward.

Increase the size of your goals again and again, till you're where you need to be. You will feel your focus has improved a lot, simply with this tension-release system. Compared to this actual focus, you will find that your medication simply helped to numb everything you feel, giving you the illusion that you were focussing. I know what "mental" medication feels like - I was on a rather large cocktail just two years ago. It was terrible - you're constantly in a daze, and it becomes "normal" after a while, making real life seem weird. Don't get stuck in it. Fight for yourself, and you'll find the effort you put in, will have launched you far and beyond your peers.

[Egos]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTFnmsCnr6g

no drugs