Rittalin in china, Rx needed?

[EPM-shanghai]

Hello, long time reader first time poster,

Has anyone bought Ritalin in china before? I've been trying to get my hands on some and it's proving to be quite elusive.

I'm taking the business chinese test in october and a CFA test in dec. so I've got my hands full. I'm looking for a little 'boost' by way of rittalin or concerta.

I was just hoping to get an idea of the availability of Ritalin / Concerta (methylphenidate) before I tried to A. get a doctor to prescribe it and B. charged it to my company's health plan.

I don't have a.d.d. or anything so I don't have any previous prescriptions to help me convince the dr. it's a good idea. I'm not sure whether a Chinese Dr. would respect me for taking studying seriously or despise me for using an academic steroid.

(ps, the correct capitalized spelling of ritalin shows up in the firefox spell check, how messed is that?)

[flameproof]

Sorry, no idea.

But once I was looking for Modafanil and couldn't find it in China OTC.

[EPM-shanghai]

Actually I just back from the Dr.'s, it ended up being a nice day of hookie from work.

turns out that ritalin is regulated as much as morphine. The Dr. and me hit it off so she flat out told me that she could only prescribe me 6 pills. It's so uncommon the hospital only had 4 pills in stock. So a 'specialist' had to go to another to get two more. And the kicker is they were only 10mg each, so the Dr. said I could probably just take them all at once.

Sadly the health insurance company was billed 700 rmb for this fiasco.

so if you need an extra study kick in china it seems to be a BYOR scenario.

[BrandeX]

already checked into this, check with a doctor in a large/international-class hospital, you "might" have some luck. I asked one doctor, and they told me in recent years these type of medications have been banned in China, primarily adderal.

[cdn_in_bj]

It's strange how some medication such as antibiotics are sold OTC here (well, at least they were pre-Olympics), but drugs such as these are banned or so hard to find.

[mr.stinky]

try an online pharmacy....india, canada, england. i've had meds shipped to china

with no questions from customs. box was small enough that the post office delivered

to school rather than pick up at the intl post office. they'll either ship without rx,

or you can scan and email one, or fill out an online certification and their "doctor"

will write one for you.

[valikor]

Sorry to resurrect this thread. I googled it and it sounds like drugs like concerta, adderral, ritalin, are either banned or strictly regulated.

So, I will put my question this way: is there ANYTHING that is readily available in China (Beijing) that would facilitate focus, concentration, etc.? I recently quit my job and plan on studying full time, and it would be beneficial to have something.

I know this isn't a medical forum, but I think I would be interested to learn how people are dealing with the restrictions.

[BrandeX]

Coffee.

Ephedrine is banned too fyi.

[bored]

you can get a two week supply at the western hospital in shanghai (at least two years ago you could). its expensive. btw ritalin is regulated the same as morphine in america as well. both drugs are schedule II narcotics in the USA and locked in a safe

[flameproof]

It's strange how some medication such as antibiotics are sold OTC here (well, at least they were pre-Olympics), but drugs such as these are banned or so hard to find.

Aspirin is a prescription drug in China. OTC you can get only Paracetamol (and I think Ibuprofen).

When you buy it online (yes, you can) keep in mind that it is a controlled substance in China and that this could cause potentially lots of trouble if you get caught.

How you get it in the US? Prescription only, right?

[abcdefg]

It's strange how some medication such as antibiotics are sold OTC here (well, at least they were pre-Olympics), but drugs such as these are banned or so hard to find.

The main difference is that narcotics and stimulants can be habit forming and/or abused and hence are more tightly restricted.

[Meng Lelan]

How you get it in the US? Prescription only, right?

Ritalin, Adderal, etc. in the US they are prescription only. I've got a number of students mostly adolescent boys who are on Adderal and other attention-problem drugs like that. You just tell the pediatrician that the child doesn't pay attention in school, is unfocused, easily distracted, and you'll be given a prescription for the child to take to the pharmacy.

[bored]

where i live in china u can get almost anything at the pharmacy without a prescription unless its a controled drug like morphine, ritalin, valium, etc

[imron]

I know this isn't a medical forum, but I think I would be interested to learn how people are dealing with the restrictions.

Not everyone needs to take a pill in order to facilitate focus and concentration. I don't, and so restrictions like this have absolutely no effect.

[xiaocai]

I can think of 2 options now:

1) get some pseudoephedrine containing cold and flu tablets and cook your own methylamphetamine. It can be done at home without any professional chemistry equipment. I don't know how exactly it is carried out but apparently you can find the recipe on internet.

2)Atomoxetine, which is marketed by Eli Lilly under the name 择思达 in China, is a new choice for treatment of ADHD. It works in a way similar to some antidepressants but improves concentration instead of mood, and therefore has a much lower chance of addiction compared to stimulants and is not a controlled substance. But it is still protected by patent and hence it is very expensive. Same as many antidepressants, it normally takes about 1 to 2 months to reach its full effect. Recommended dose for adults is 80mg daily in 1 or 2 doses. The price is about 270RMB for 7 of 40mg capsules according to here, so you can do your maths and see if it is worth it for you or not. And bear in mind that it is only studied and licensed for treatment of ADHD, so I have no idea whether is will work as well as Ritalin or Concerta if you just want to improve your performance in exam.

[xiaocai]

BTW, I have some cheap Strattera 40mg for sale, anyone interested?

[aristotle1990]

Coffee.

Ephedrine is banned too fyi.

Haha, it is indeed, but the plant it comes from, ephedra, is not. I mean, come on guys, this whole amphetamine business started with a plant that's widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. Get more creative, will ya?

Chinese name is 麻黄, and it can be purchased legally on the internet. I've never done it myself, so I'm not sure how effective it'd be. (I'd be interested in hearing how you find it. But of course, using too much of it could result a heart attack -- unlikely if you're just drinking the tea, but I'm not really kidding about this one -- so please be careful. Get your doses right.)

[gato]

BTW, I have some cheap Strattera 40mg for sale, anyone interested?

What else do you have?

[xiaocai]

Well not too much. Actually it was just a return from some customer which still has got another 2 years of shelf life. It's just an anti-depressant like drug so I guess it is okay to sell it over internet as long as the buyer has a valid prescription.

We also have one Zoladex 3.6 mg implant for sale at the moment as well, but I'm not sure how many people one these forums will be interested. Sorry we don't do any stimulants or narcotics. Don't want to get in trouble.

Just kidding, my boss would get very mad with me if I started an underground business here.