I was on ritalin for the same reasons, Redbone. I took it from like age 16-17, and it seemed to help me maintain focus when I was in school. The problem was it seemed to give me some strange sensation in my heart, some kind of altered pulse rate. For this reason, I had to get off, so doctors recommended Welbutrin. I found that worked at least as well for me. Maybe you could try that if you feel that ritalin causes your hairloss to get worse.
Here's the interesting part. After age 19, I was able to check off of all medication and maintain my focus quite well. I thought maybe the attention problems were just part of growing up, but more research on the topic and conversations with doctors lead me to realize that this was not the case.
ADD and ADHD are caused by misfiring of neurons in your brain, and the medications I mentioned correct this problem. While on medication the neurons fire properly, and everything is in proper working order. Over time, and this will differ from person to person (or in some people, never even occur), the brain can *learn* how to make the neurons fire properly, just as they do on medication. I suspect that this is what happened in my case, as I went on to become a straight A student in college and graduate school *without* medication.
The main thing to remember is that you need to be on medication for a long period of time (at least a couple of yrs I'd guess) to experience this effect.
Try out the welbutrin if you're worried. It might work just as well for you.
Good luck.
Yardbird
