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April 22, 2007
ADHD Story
As a child, I always knew I was different. Making friends was actually VERY easy for me, it was the keeping them that was a hard part. I was pretty, smart, funny and amazingly outgoing. The outgoing part was not actually “outgoing”, though. It was overcompensating for my downfalls. People called thought that I was naturally happy, when I was naturally scared of rejection. I had 2 friends that took me close and one that kept me that way, to this day. I would talk NON stop and that was seen to others as disruptive and over eager, when it was not. It was a sign of nervousness and low self esteem. People that do not have adhd see us ADHDers as odd ducks out of water and misconstrue us as the complete opposite of what we really are.
By the 6th grade, I felt compared to my sister, who is 18 months older than me. I felt VERY discouraged that I could not make the grades as well as she could. She was so smart and driven it just made me ashamed of my self. I still hear my parents saying “Why can’t you be more like your sister”? I know they meant it in a good way, but to me what I heard was “you’re not good enough”. I have never told any one that. I now know they were not saying that, and I would NEVER tell them that, for the pain it would cause them. By the time I was in the 9th grade, studying was a struggle. I would scrape by the skin on my hide to pass, but that’s about it. I would just say I was “not college material”. So, I could just justify my non-ability to study and make good grades to get into a college. Back in the late 1980s adhd was just a term used for “bad” kids. I did self medicate with alcohol. I ended up dating an older boy that was trouble. He was older; therefore he could get me booze. Funny how that worked. I needed to booze to feel normal, so the older guy got it for me. My parents just thought I was bad and trouble. They didn’t know about adhd. If they knew then what they know now, they would have been able to help me. But, in that time, people didn’t talk about adhd, hell, most didn’t know what it was or even that there was a treatment for it. When I was a senior in high school, I had just about spent my entire high school career with a jack ass that was abusive and called me fat, mind you I weighed 90 pounds with a 38 bust, 24 waste, and 28 hip. I was beautiful. I didn’t think so then. I had a low self esteem. I hated myself. I felt that the world hated me too. My family didn’t understand me, my sister and I hardly spoke and my friends and I didn’t hang out much because my jerk of a boyfriend didn’t want me to, he was scared I would leave him, which I should have the day I met him. (hind site is always 20/20 haha)
Right after Christmas break of 1990, my senior year, I met some one. He was older, again, an older guy. But this one was different. He was, well, the only way to put it is, soft. In every way. Soft.
Sweet
Open
Friendly
Tender
I didn’t love him. I knew it, then and I know it now. I knew it so much then that I wanted to tell every one. I just needed an excuse out. Out of every thing. I used him. ADHDers do that. We are notorious for getting what we need, not to hurt any one, but to fix our selves. I knew that this man had just as many problems as I did, but he was Soft. He was going to save me. And he did. When we were together I felt safe. I knew he would not let me hurt. He helped me in many ways. We married. One of which was he got me into a rehab. They worked on my self esteem. And they did it every day for 30 days. I was there and that was the first time I heard about ADHD. I thought, what in the world is that? ADHD, hmmm. All dumb humiliating deeds, adhd. Lol My group counselor called in a specialist and he sat with me and explained to me what it was and that was the first time I felt at peace. Really at peace. I finally knew that I was not stupid; I knew my grades in school were not exactly my fault and that my life with adhd would be better managed now that I know what it is and how to channel the energy or medicate. I eventually divorced Soft. Not because he is a bad person, but because he was not the right person. I have nothing bad to say about him. I hope and pray he is happy, and in some ways, I feel he has played one HUGE and very important role in my life. He led me to the water that I drank. But, the rest of the work was me.
Now, fast forward to 1997, I gave birth to a beautiful boy. My husband and I now have a fantastic adhd boy. I know what it’s all about. I have learned so much about ADHD from experience and from education my self, that I’m able to teach our son how to use it to his advantage. He is 9 now and has a near genius IQ. He still amazes me when he discovers some thing new. The ability to learn so much information in such a short period of time is unbelievable to me. With me having adhd, remembering how hard it was for me to study and learn I have a much easier time teaching him and assisting him in his home work and social skills. I am in NO way saying we have it made and every thing is perfect, but we do have it tuned in to a good craft right now. I have devolved a system for him that is working like a charm and many parents in our area have come to me for help to assist them in helping their children in home work and other areas. ADHD is hard to over come, but it’s not a life sentence to suffer from. Learning to manage life with it and learning to take it one day at a time, one challenge at a time, is the key to success. One person with ADHD can do just as much as 10 people with out, well that is not true, and one person can do MORE than 10 people with out it. ADHD is a gift if we all learn to use it properly, as parents, it is our job to teach our children what “proper use” is. And, with the right skills, medications and support system we can and will make a difference. And, just say this “ADHD, Dare Us to Succeed!”
Posted by margo at 08:27 AM | Comments (0)
April 08, 2007
New Treatment for ADHD: “Vyvanse”
Generic Name: lisdexamfetamine dimesylate
Date of Approval: February 23, 2007
Company: Shire plc and New River Pharmaceuticals Inc.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted marketing approval for Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate, formerly known as NRP104), for the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Vyvanse is a pro-drug that is therapeutically inactive until metabolized in the body’s digestive tract. In several clinical studies designed to measure duration of effect, Vyvanse provided significant efficacy compared to placebo for a full treatment day, up through 6:00 pm. Additionally, when Vyvanse was administered in two clinical human drug abuse studies, it produced subjective responses on a scale of "Drug Liking Effects" (DLE) that were less than d-amphetamine at equivalent doses. DLE is used in clinical abuse studies to measure relative preference among known substance abusers.
The FDA has projected that Vyvanse be classified as a Schedule II (or in parent, user friendly terms “carbon copied” prescription) controlled substances. This proposal was submitted to and accepted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Once the final scheduling designation is complete, product launch is anticipated in the second quarter of 2007. Vyvanse will be available in three dosage strengths: 30 mg, 50 mg and 70 mg, all indicated for once-daily dosing.
Vyvanse developed by New River, as a new ADHD medication is designed specifically to provide a lower potential for abuse, in which d-amphetamine is covalently linked to l-lysine, a naturally occurring amino acid. This combination rapidly absorbs into the body from the gastrointestinal tract and converted to d-amphetamine, which is where the drugs activity starts to work.
Vyvanse Significantly Controls ADHD Symptoms
Information from phase II and III clinical trials verified statistically substantial improvements in ADHD symptoms for patients aged 6 to 12 years treated with Vyvanse compared to those treated with placebo. These studies proved that all doses of Vyvanse (30 mg, 50 mg and 70 mg) provided significant efficacy at all time points tested, including 6pm.
In the phase II, analog classroom study, patients demonstrated significantly improved behavior when receiving either Vyvanse or Adderall XR(r) (mixed salts of a single-entity amphetamine product) as measured by the Swanson, Kotkin, Agler, M. Flynn and Pelham (SKAMP) deportment rating scale, a standardized, validated classroom assessment tool used for evaluating the behavioral symptoms of ADHD. Both treatments resulted in significantly improved behavior versus a placebo. Patients also demonstrated significantly improved academic productivity with both treatments, compared to placebo, as measured by Permanent Product Measure of Performance (PERMP), an age-adjusted collection of math problems that measures a child's ability to pay attention and stay on task as demonstrated by an increase in the number of attempted and successfully completed problems.
In the phase III, randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study, all three doses of Vyvanse demonstrated momentous improvements in ADHD Rating Scale scores compared with placebo after four weeks of once-daily treatment.
Additionally, in a study presented in October at a major scientific meeting, Vyvanse yielded a 60 percent improvement in the primary rating scale scores for symptoms of ADHD in children aged 6 to 12 years who received six months of treatment in an open-label phase III study. Results also demonstrated that at 6 months, 95 percent of children taking Vyvanse produced a "much improved" or "very much improved" rating on the Clinical Global Impressions - Improvement score.
By: Margo Richter
Source: http://www.shireadhdtreatments.com/
Posted by margo at 07:57 PM | Comments (0)