Adderall xr heart problems | ADHD Information
My 18 year old took adderall for 9 years and Ritilin for 3. Now he is on straterra.
All I am telling you is I went throug hell with him on adderall and he was taking 60 mg 3 times a day and rebounding at night with .1 clonidine.
YOu will be seeing this in the paper. I have an attorney. In August when they put the warning on the Xr. My Dr. did not read it and then they took it oof the market in Canada in /feb. 2005. I will be glad to give you my sons Obit, and autopsy,
He died of sudden cardiac death 45 minutes after he took the Adderallxr. He was found on the bath room floor no pulse and no sign of life.
I am just trying to warn people to get a EKG every year so you dont have to go through what I have had the last year.
My son was stunned by a stun gun and we sent slides to 2 ME's and they said
the stun gun did not do it the Adderall killed him. Love your children every second.
http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/adderall/default.htm
ADD Drugs' Link to Deaths, Heart Attacks Gets ReviewJanuary 3rd, 2006 (bloomberg.com)
Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Sudden deaths, heart attacks and strokes in people taking attention deficit disorder drugs have led U.S. regulators to seek advice on how to study the medications' potential risk.
The Food and Drug Administration asked its standing committee of risk-management advisers to review reports of heart-related complications in children and adults using the medicines, the agency's Web site said. The biggest makers of the drugs are Johnson & Johnson and Shire Plc, with combined quarterly sales of their products topping 0 million.
The meeting will be in Washington Feb. 14. 7 children have died on Concerta and over
20 on Adderall xr.
I will be glad to talk to any of you. This is the truth. These warnings have to be put on these drugs. Phen Phen was a stimulant, what about efedra. I dont want anyone else
to die and if you go in for a refill get a simple EKG. Takes 5 minutes . I am not against
the drug because it helped me live through a terrible time with our oldest son. I have had him checked and he is fine.
Thanks
Ann
It makes me so sad to think that b/c of all the bad "info" on ADD/ADHD and treating it w/ meds, someone out there may continue to feel like a loser and a failure, and yes, even take his/her life.
ADD/ADHD is VERY REAL. I am so happy to have a name for all the crazy things about me, and am slowly learning to embrace the bright side of ADHD.
If you don't have it, wonderful. But you don't know what it is like to have thoughts running hit and miss thru your head 24/7, or to be called lazy cause you just can't get organized. I could go on and on...I am learning to accept myself, and also to accept others for themselves. But I am not tolerating ANY judgement of my tx this ADD/ADHD.
Trolls beware.
There is a meeting with the FDA on February 14,2006 about the Risk of Add medications. I you have problems with any of these meds go the FDA and report
them. They need to know.
My 18 year old was on ritalin and Adderall for 11 years. I ws a basket case when he was not on meds. He had a very high tolerance and was taking 60 mg a day
of Regular adderall and a Clonidine at night to come off. Now I feel terrible that
I put him on it for so long. He is ok.
I read on HeartcenterOnline about the deaths that started in 1999. Now they are saying there are 7 deaths from Concerta.
Not one child should be dying from this medication. Personallyfrom my experience these drugs are easy to get in my city.
I have no Idea what kind of what kind of problems my 18 year old will have later
on in life. I will inform him to get a heart check up every year. Addhd is the hardest thing I have had to live with other than the death of my younger son.
I have nothing against the drugs but I do hope they make it harder and safer to get. I would love to see children get ekgs. After I found out what my younger
son had and you are not even supposed to have any stimulants I was upset.
I took the Autopsy to the Cardioligist and he told us what it was. the Pediatrician
did not know what it was. It is very hard to detect. I also went to Arvd.com and
Arvd.org.
One other thing my son told me at his high school some of the children were going in to get their med at lunch and taking them out of their mouths and selling them to other students for .00 a pill.
Please don't take a risk get your child checked. I wish I would have.
Ann H
This is a bullsh*t post, this never happened.A thirteen yr old with adderall, a stun gun, and now a dead child, NONE OF WHICH IS ON NATIONAL NEWS TV.
OH SPARE ME THE LIES.
THE TROLLS ARE BACK.
AND FURTHERMORE, YOU NEVER HANDLE THE AUTOPSY, THAT IS HANDLED BY THE "CORONER"
THERE IS NOTHING TO LOOK AT.
YOU HAVE BEEN DEBUNKED.
SEND IN THE NEXT LIAR WITH DEATH ON HIS/HER BREATH.
IS THAT YOU REALITY/CURUS? I THOUGHT YOU GOT EXPELLED FROM COLLEGE.
oh yea, it has certainly gotten easier to weed through the BS'rs !! It's folks like that telling crap stories keeping folks who could benefit from some help wandering around in a confused state of mind. I say... "look... I'm sorry your not ADHD but you had you chance now get out of the way it's my turn"If you don't think you need medication, the side effects are just too much for you and you like to sleep alot, then you have some other issue I can't relate with. But, if your brain seems like it's here one minute and gone the next. Maybe you can't follow directions that include more than one or two steps. Maybe you lose track of time, or maybe you chronically procrastinate. Maybe you think you're depressed and try to make yourself feel better with alcohol. Or maybe you need many cups of coffee to stay on track all day.
Maybe you're an impulsive overspender. Maybe you liven up everyone you meet, but deep down inside you feel lonely and sad. Maybe you have lots of creative ideas, but you just don't know how to organize them and put them into action.
Well, just maybe you have attention deficit disorder (ADD). Many people have ADD without knowing it because most people still think it's a condition found only in children, particularly boys. So whenever they find themselves wandering from one task to another, they never think it might be ADD.
I Have ADD
I know about ADD. I have it myself, and as a child I was treated bad, very bad. Until this past year... I was running out of time! I thought I'd take this chance to fill you in on some things that could change your life for the better--dramatically and soon.
First of all, having ADD does not mean that you can't pay attention. Just the opposite. People with ADD can often be extremely focused and pay attention better than anyone else at certain times.
Second, having ADD does not necessarily mean that you are hyperactive, or that you were as a child. In fact, many children and adults who have ADD are the opposite of hyperactive; they are quiet and serene.
Third, having ADD does not mean that you are "slow" or got bad grades in school, or can't excel in various arenas. Many people with ADD are extraordinarily talented, successful, and quick.
A Fast-Tracking Mind
So what does it mean to have ADD? The core symptom of the condition is a frequent, involuntary wandering of attention. You're reading a book, and the next thing you know, you're thinking about what one of your son's teachers said to you that morning. And even though you are still scanning the words in the book, you no longer comprehend them because your attention is now totally focused on the teacher's words. You do not have a deficit of attention--you are paying very close attention to the teacher's words--but your attention has wandered from the task at hand.
Everyone does this some of the time. What differentiates the person who has ADD from the person who does not is how often the person does it and how much it gets in their way.
Are You Different?
Other than a wandering attention, what other tendencies might be a tip-off that you have undiagnosed ADD? Maybe you're extremely well focused doing the most stimulating tasks at work, but in the boring parts of work and at home, you are near the brink of disaster all the time due to disorganization and lack of focus. Sometimes the high-intensity part of the job "treats" your ADD and allows you to focus.
Or maybe you are highly creative and have always wished you could take up painting or write a novel, but you hold back, believing you lack discipline, or feeling that you lack motivation, words you used to hear in school. In addition, maybe your doctor has told you that you might be suffering from mild depression. Guess what? The underlying problem still might be ADD. Often people with ADD are highly creative, but they don't develop their gifts because the symptoms of ADD get in the way. And that makes them feel a bit depressed.
Run with It!
Maybe you've always thought you were different. You've done your best for as long as you can remember to stifle your different side and appear as normal as you possibly can. You've spent decades trying to hide your true self from the rest of the world because you feared that you would be found out as crazy, weird, inept, or just bad. Well, you, too, might have ADD. ADD people typically think differently from other people and experience life in a unique way.
If this is true for you, the only way to flourish and grow is to come out of hiding. We're all a little strange, we humans. Often the best of us, the most creative and interesting and fun, are the strangest of all. Rather than hide, go see a good specialist who can help you understand in what ways you are different and show you how to take advantage of your strengths and talents. Then, instead of hiding, you can use your true self to fly high in your life, exulting in who you are and being free. Like me.
There were 75 deaths from Stun Guns in Canada since 2001. (Statistics vary to higher numbers depending on where you read)
http://www.psychiatricrights.org/Articles/SacrementoBeeonTas ersandPsychotropics.html
There were 20 unexplained deaths in Canada which may be realted to Adderall from 1999 to 2003.
I think that probably tells us what this child died from.
George Jones say's
One way or the other
Honey your on your own
Nothing last forever
It's only a matter of time
One way or the other
To return never more
Don't count on me baby
For I will be gone
One way or the other
I'm out that door.
My heartfelt prayers go out to you and your family over the loss of your son. I cant imagine the level of heartache you feel as a mother.
I would just like to understand all of this. Are you saying that Adderall caused his death? According to what I read on the internet (forgive me if this is not about your son) but since you signed Ann, I was wondering if this was your story. The story stated that the child was at a party and when he left he got out of the car and was he was attacked by a boy with an 80,000 volt stun gun right to the heart. The story also states that the doctor couldnt find any heart damage but yet the autosy showed Mycarditis Cardiomyopathy which is caused by a virus. I cant imagine that an 80,000 volt stun gun didnt cause further damage to the heart and Im sure you wouldnt have given your son Adderall if you had known that either the stun gun damaged the heart and/or he had a pre existing heart condtion caused by a virus.
Again, I apologize if this was not your sons story but if it is, if there are extenuating circumstances that made your son more prone to a heart attack and thats important information. What is scary is how negligent some doctors could be and they are the ones that actually cause the death when such a serious mistake is made or a serious illness isnt detected.
AdderallXR has been put make on the market in Canada and the link below willl give parents some insight as to why it was suspended but then reinstated.
Please accept my condolences on the loss of your son and I hope you and your family have found the strength to cope and endure.
Health Canada allows Adderall XR® back on the Canadian market
My son Matthew started taking 25 mg of Adderall xr on Sept 15 2004 and my husband found him on the bathroom floor not breathing 45 minutes after he
took his medicine. They could not revive him.
I am not against any of the addhd medications my other son
took Adderall for 10 years and he is fine and it really helped him. My only concern is for everyone taking Adderall XR with the deaths that have happened.
Canada had taken it off the market.
All drs need to do is a electrocardiogram and make sure that you have a good
strong heart and monitor it yearly and maybe a life will be saved. Matthew was only 13. My husband and my other son had tests because they had both taken
adderall. They are both on Straterra now. I don't want to see any more deaths.
Adderall does work for ADDHD. If you feel dizzy or faint get your heart checked.
It has been a nightmare for us losing this great child. Please take care of your children He had been to the dr. 4 times in 2004 and there was not sign of heart
problems. I don't want to scare anyone. 
It happened to our family don't let it happen to yours.
Ann
He was stunned by a stun gun but the Cardiolgist that read the Autopsy said it it had nothing to do with the Stun gun. It was the Adderall that he took and he died
45 minutes after he took it. He was not supposed to be on any Stimulant. The experts said the stun gun would have caused ARVD.
Ann
Bailey -
The cardiologist would certainly be the expert on that. I do know that a murmur is usually when the valves don't properly close - which is an issue where there can be inadequate blood flow. The meds we take increase heart rate and if the murmur was small then it may actually help keep blood pressure up and flow would be better.
The big heart troubles are arrythmia. Where the heart can't keep a steady rythym. Then the meds may cause a great deal of distress.
The big thing if a pre-existing heart condition is there and taking ADHD meds is to make sure to take enough water in. Also - to avoid overexertion with exercise or work as that's usually when death occurs in unknown heart conditions. Typically the meds have caused damage when the person taking them is both overdosing themselves (weight loss or to get a "high"), and combining that with overexertion and dehydration.
Safety first! And since a cardiologist is watching then it should be ok! As always report anything that seems odd to you no matter how big or little that may be.
My son has a heart murmur due to heart surgery when he was 6 days old.
He was on Adderal XR for a year.
I talked to the cardiologist before we started him on it and he didn't think it would affect him at all.
We ended up taking him off it due to neg. side effects that were unrelated to his heart.
Is a heart murmur not considered that serious when it comes to stimulants????
I just read an article in my local paper yesterday "ADHD Drug Study Eyed In Wake Of Bad Reactions" It was sort of on the same lines as the cox-2 inhibitor thing with the arthritis medications. Vioxx and bextra were pulled off the market. Having arthritis myself, and after trying many meds, Bextra worked wonders until they took it off the market because of evidence they can raise the risk of a heart attack or stroke. Now I suffer!!! Anyways, as with all medications, we need to make sure we have good watchful Dr's, we should be well informed consumers and that we always have to weigh the risks vs the benifits on any meds we take.