[Loser]

I was once medicated for adult ADD. I don't doubt that I have it, and I'll defend that if necessary but that's not where we're going right now, I don't think.

Anyway, I knew of the side effects but didn't see any sign of the ones that worried me. My friends knew when I was off the meds, because I was more likely to interupt, make rude comments, talk in the theater, and genrally make slightly but noticably more of an *** of myself than usual.

I went off the stuff twice a year or so, more to confirm that I needed it than to look for undersirable effects while I was back on it. At some point, though, I noticed that certain very, very important behaviors were almost completely absent while I was on the meds.

I had misunderstood one of the listed side effects, and didn't think I was experiencing it. As soon as I figured out what was going on, I ditiched the med compeltely and have been living with the original problem, adult ADD, ever since.

Some of my friends ('friends', perhaps) gave me a hard time when I was off-meds, and really let me have it when they found out I had ditched them permanantly. I had a good lashing ready for them, though, and fortunately there were others willing to back up my decision.

Of course, that's not to say that the drug-free life is for everyone. It is, however, important to remember that drugs don't 'fix' anything, they just allow you to trade one state of being for another, and the exchange is always complicated. It sure can be worthwhile, sometimes.