Is Ritalin harmful to anyone without ADD?

ok i took my first retilin 10 mg and i am 33 and i went psycho,flying weird and that was prescribed by my doc.

30mg for an 8 year old was very silly,it must have been so scary for him.

don't ever do that again if you care about your brother.

maybe you need to be revaluated as your meds do not seem to work.(i am not saying this in a nasty way )

No one can determine why your brother exhibits such behaviors except a trained professional. Many disorders mimic others, even medical conditions. Any medication if not given under the direction of a physician or not given as prescribed can have very dangerous outcomes. A qualified and competent physician will never give medication to determine whether the child has Adhd. 
A formal diagnosis is made first and then treatment is determined. The effective medication and dose of stimulant medication is very individual and playing doctor is putting your brothers in serious harms way. If your brother had undetected heart problems the results of your actions could have been devastating. If you want to help your brother, go to your parents and suggest they have him tested. What is bad for your brother is anyone other than a qualified physician administering medications to him and I urge you never to do that again.

ha, the kid is my brother, I would know if he had heart problems, and no one in our family has ever had heart problems.

Again, you miss the point. ANY medication can cause serious consequences whether the person has heart problems or not when they are not administered and monitored by a qualified physician. Based on your bith date, your 16 years old so your confidence about your decisions are seriously lacking in terms of information and experience. If you want to help your brother, do whats right and speak with your parents. Don't stress your point for the purpose of just being right. What your doing is not only legally wrong but more importantly, your putting your brother in harms way by playing doctor. Are your parents aware of what you did? If not, if your hiding it there must be a part of you that knows what you did is wrong. Sorry but your not the parent and have no right to make any decisions for your brother, especially at 16 years old. I think your intentions for your brother are well intended but please don't do that again. If you really want to help your brother, speak to your parents about getting him evaluated so they could start the process of getting your brother help. Adhd meds are very safe but only when monitored by a physcian and given for the proper diagnosis 

Euphoria, I'm very concerned also, that you gave your brother Ritilin. 

1) Only a physician can rule out heart conditions with a thorough exam, and add an EKG and an ultrasound for extra measure.  Word of mouth or familiarity is a very dangerous assumption.

2)  Usually when starting a child out on Ritilin, the physician starts at a very low dose, and works up.  30 mg, by the way you describe his activites, was too much.

3)  Stimulants increase vascular pressure, blood flow and heart rate.  If there were no previous heart condition, the extra strain on the vascular system can make a pre-existing condition show up.  There are also heart conditions which are NOT hereditary, but ones we are born with or develop, so your assumptions about familiarity are very risky.

4)  You would be better to teach your younger brother not to EVER take drugs or anyone's medication.  EVER!  What you did, can set him up for being very vulnerable to activities I'm sure you would rather him not be involved in.

5)  Giving someone else your medication to see if they have ADHD is not a way to diagnose.  People react differently to the different meds, and the dosage must be just right for them.  It is a VERY individualized complex matter.

I know you were only trying to help, but please do not ever give anyone else your medication.  It really can be not only dangerous, but can set them up for abuse and carelessness in the future. 

Take good care of your little brother. 

Administering any medication in the absence of a physicans approval and formal diagnosis is dangerous. Thats the point and it is totally irresponsible of you to take matters into your own hands. Your parents need to know what your doing and you need to get more informed, if not for yourself but for your brothers sake. Parents are advised to get the child a full medical workup before the child is put on Adhd medication regardless of whether there is a history of heart problems in the family or not. My son doesn't have heart problems but I got clearance from a cardioligist first. Decisions like this are for parents to decide, not another family member that things they knows better Thats the clue. Based on your posts you think you know and that is very alarming. Don't take anyones words for it but speak to a qualified clinician who will thoroughly clue you in.

Euphoria,

Dont ever do something like this again. It is illegal and could land you in jail and your brother  in the grave or hospital. 

Firstly there was not two young children alone in the park without supervision.

I myself never allow frankie or any of my other 3 children out alone in any circumstances and my son was not present when this incident happened and if he was he most certainly would not have been alone.

The incident happened in the park oustside my friends caravan, she was with him and his elder brother of 12yrs  and baby of 3 months but took her eyes of him for a short while to see to her baby when he found the glass and drunk it. medical attention was sought, it was at the hospital where a doctor had told my friend the the ingredient used in the medications for ADHD (as i said Ritalin or the alike medications) contains a form of speed but only in a small doseage to help the child focus and is often nicknamed  "Kiddie speed" and "legal speed", my knowledge of this is little and one I plan to research further.

Ritalin or the a like medications contain a form of speed,with only a small quantity in each tablet given to a child with ADHD or alike  it will calm them down as for some reason it has the adverse effect as it would with someone who hasnt got ADHD or alike which is why he was probably up for a couple for days I imgine he was a bit groggy and tired when the effects started to wear of and obviosuly it must have scared you as you have asked the question.

My friends son a few weeks ago was rushed to hospital after drinking a glass of coke he found in the park, he has adhd and autism like my son and is on 35grams of Ritalin a day.. within half an hour of drinking it he stomach was bloated, he was hot sweaty, sick, not able to walk or stand for more than a few minutes, pupis were enlarged and he was so not with it, you could have said he was totaly drunk.... it turned out after having the rest of the drink examined that it had speed in,  but it caused his heart to beat irregular and fast and he was having palpitations and to a child that young was scary.. he is only 6yrs

Also without scaring you as I dont know how true this is but Ritalin is held under a class 2 drug and can pose a prison sentence if you are caught sharing or handing out a tablet to someone who is not legally prescribed the drug.

I hope your brother is ok now and any problems with him get sorted quickly, I can see you were only acting in a way that you thought would help and not realising what potential damage it could have caused him.