Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 13936 Location: everythings better in, texas USA
ADHD drugs - bad experience Posted: 10-24-07 19:24pm
just an expierience
my brother was diagnosed as "adhd" a few
years ao
they put him on meds that messed him up so
bad it wasnt funny
so we flushed them down the toilet
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ladylee70
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 14 Nov 2006 Posts: 1912 Location: Boise, Idaho,
Thanks: 1
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Posted: 10-25-07 00:41am
ADHD is extremely overdx. You can have the
symptomology of ADHD and yet not really
have it. There are other causes that some
doctors really fail to look more closely
at including, sleep disorders, anxiety
disorders, mood disorders, nutrition,
aspergers..the list goes on.
Stimulant medications usually helps
increase the neurotransmitter Dopamine. It
has been shown that, in general,
individuals who have ADHD have low levels
of Dopamine. The non stimulant medication,
Strattera, works on the neurotransmitter
norepinephrine. The frustrating thing
about the whole med issue is that we are
all wired so differently. We can have the
same dx but the actual cause of it may be
different from one person to the next. So,
a specific medication may work wonders for
one person but really negatively affect
another person. This is the reason why it
is so vital that a person see a good
psychiatrist for correct dx and
medication.
I am not saying this is your brother,
girlfriend, but I have seen so many kids
who are negatively impacted by stimulant
medication because of misdx or poor
treatment of the dx. For example, you
don't want to put a child or an adult on
Ritalin who have difficulties with mood
stability. It would probably throw that
person over the edge into a manic state. A
very similar response can happen to an
individual who has high anxiety levels.
You can have both Anxiety and ADHD dx but
it's so important to treat the Anxiety
first. I believe that sleep disorders are
underdx. So many individuals have sleep
disorders that mask as ADHD. There is
actually more to a sleep disorder than
just insomnia or sleep apnea.
I am wondering if your brother was misdx,
had a dual dx and was wrongly medicated or
if he was just overmedicated??
How is he doing now?
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young Girl
Especially EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 13936 Location: everythings better in, texas USA
Posted: 10-25-07 17:22pm
hes off meds now and still gets angry
sometimes but as hes grown up hes
definately matured a little bit
hes in football now
his grades are great and he doesnt have
near as much anger as he used to towards
life and himself
i dont know if i believe in this disease.
i dont know what i think about it
i do know all people respond differently
to medications but i also believe its
teaching kids (expecially young boys) that
its ok to take drugs if there is something
wrong with you
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ladylee70
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 14 Nov 2006 Posts: 1912 Location: Boise, Idaho,
Thanks: 1
Thanked:0
Posted: 10-25-07 21:23pm
I can appreciate your viewpoint as it's a
common one. On the other hand, some
individuals who truly have ADHD and are
untreated self-medicate to control their
symptoms. I am one of those individuals
who self-medicated. I was undx until
graduate school.
My brief story: I started drinking coffee
at age 11 because it calmed me down. I
started smoking cigarettes at age 12
because it also had a calming affect. Both
of those are stimulants. In high school I
drank a lot and occasionally used MJ. Yes,
both of those are depressants but when I
was on them, I was calm. I no longer smoke
- thank goodness. I barely graduated from
high school because of the severity of my
ADHD. It took me three years to complete
two years of community college because it
took all of my cognitive effort just to
attend to what I was reading and block out
all incoming stimuli, including the
slightest of sounds. I went to university
and finished up the remaining two years of
my undergrad., still undx although I
suspected I had ADHD. Finally in graduate
school, I was dx and was put on
medication. I can't began to tell you what
a difference it made. My grades continued
to rise and my writing abilities jumped
ten-fold. Prior to medication, I couldn't
even write one sentence without my mind
becoming all jumbled up. Your writing
skills are better than mine was going into
graduate school. I just got a lot of help
from people. My undergraduate degree was
in speech and hearing sciences, so I
hardly had to write papers. My ADHD was so
bad I didn't even know where to put
commas. I never had the attention span to
learn and things like commas are among the
many little details I often missed. I
seriously never read one book until I got
into college. Then it took so much effort
to read even a page.
I no longer truly "need" medication to
function but life is much easier on it. I
am much different today. I read all the
time and my attention span is so much
better. I still get "labeled" as the
person most likely to lose her keys by
other staff members at my school:).
My father and his five brothers are very
severe. They have all self-medicated,
which is a pretty sad story.
It is true that boys are more identified
than girls. I do believe that boys are
over identified and girls often are under
identified. What your brother went through
is sadly common. I worked in a high school
as a school psychologist and a lot of the
boys stated very similar things. I
remember a few stating that they would
rather deal with the ADHD then with the
side effects of medication.
My father is extremely successful as a car
salesman because he is a constant mover.
He really can't sit still. It drives me
crazy. He has been doing it for 30+ years.
There are a lot of people who are
unmedicated or undx (officially) ADHD who
are extremely successful. I think it's
great your brother is in football.
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young Girl
Especially EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 13936 Location: everythings better in, texas USA
Posted: 10-25-07 21:27pm
yes football is a great way for him to be
self disiplined and learn to not be so
angry all the time,which he was.
i am one of those types of people that
NEVER takes meds no matter what lol. ive
never taken midol for cramps,tylonol or
advil for headaches or anything.my body
will take care of itself
i guess thats why i view everything this
way
i certainly dont ever shame or argue
against the fact that some people may
truly need and do better on medication
however back in the 1800's there was no
adhd or bipolar disease
people were people and young boys were
young boys.
it seems like nowdays all the doctors want
to do is label you for something and shove
a pill down your throat
and sometimes i wonder if its the actual
meds or the mental part of takeing a
routine drug that makes these kids "seem
better"
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