Ritalin | ADHD Information

My son has just been diagnosed with adhd and his pediatrician put him on ritalin and ever since all i've heard is stories of how it makes people worse. what do you think is there any success stories

[QUOTE=dmary]hi michaels mom!how are you?as for ritalin...im totally against any type of drugs used for so-called ADHD.I find this diagnosis is often misdiagnosed....at least here in canada there was a news report on ritalin and there was i few kids that took it for years and couldn't get off it.It became an addiction....I know a lot of people on this board probably want to tell me off...but its just an opinion i have...have u tried any ther way to go about it?I personnaly think the teachers today just dont want to work anymore....they prefer your child to be drugged up.at least look at the side effects....do you want your child to be in the statistics like adderal xr?look how many kids died and then they discovered that it wasnt good...its banned here in Canada.Is it worth it?[/QUOTE]

Hi I'm just wondering if you or your children suffer from ADHD? Me personally I have had it all my life and wasn't put on Meds till I was about 20. I wish they had the medications they have today, when I was growing up it was such a struggle and nobody understood what I was going through. The teachers always said I was just Lazy and I would never amount to anything. I am now the parent of a 11yr. old boy with ADHD. who sees a big difference since starting meds. I don't want him to suffer like I did. It's scary anyway you turn, I pray every day I'm doing the right thing for him. If he said to me tomorrow " I don't want to take this any more" We would stop!

hi michaels mom!how are you?as for ritalin...im totally against any type of drugs used for so-called ADHD.I find this diagnosis is often misdiagnosed....at least here in canada there was a news report on ritalin and there was i few kids that took it for years and couldn't get off it.It became an addiction....I know a lot of people on this board probably want to tell me off...but its just an opinion i have...have u tried any ther way to go about it?I personnaly think the teachers today just dont want to work anymore....they prefer your child to be drugged up.at least look at the side effects....do you want your child to be in the statistics like adderal xr?look how many kids died and then they discovered that it wasnt good...its banned here in Canada.Is it worth it?

michaels mom,

My son & I have both been on some type of Ritalin My son for 5 years and I 8 years. So far so good. My son has tried other meds but we always came back to Ritalin

Millions. It has been used for over 60 years, in millions of people world wide. The success stories far outweigh the latter.

What you have to remember, is that there are millions of people using it. Hell, people have been addicted to advil, and have died from that addiction, as have people died from drinking too much water. The fact is, it lets thousands and thousands function as they should be able to. But I do agree with the fact that alot of dr.s are quick to medicate.

[QUOTE]look how many kids died and then they discovered that it wasnt good[/QUOTE]

Of the 20 reports of sudden death, 12 were in the USA from 1999 to 2003, a time frame when 30 million prescriptions were written for the medicine, according to the FDA advisory.

20 out of 30million, that seems like a pretty good record to me. Better than quite a few other medications. Actualy, your chance of death would be slightly less than you getting hit by lightning( the actual percentage is .000666), and the FDA has absolutly no ideas of the ban being called "completely foolish" by the mass of doctors that use it.

my point is the benefits far outway the risk. And if your child were to be put on it, and you deemed correct for him, he needs to have a full check over, most of the deaths were due to heart problems that were present before the introduction of the medication.

Daven38414.258900463
Newbie
Newbie

Joined: February 26 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 27 Posted: March 03 2005 at 3:55am | IP Logged

dmary wrote:

IM TOTALLY AGAINST ANY TYPE OF DRUG GIVEN TO A CHILD...PERIOD.LET THE TEACHERS DO THEIR JOB.

I didn't want my child on "drugs" either, but it wasn't the teacher that made the decision, i did. after going through kinder, 2 times and loosing several jobs, not to mention watching my child struggle, i decided to give it a chance couldn't let him suffer any longer. Something had to work. Besides letting the teachers do their job at the expense of my child hardly seems worth it. when he's older we'll taper off medicine to see if he has the coping skills, but for know he's able to concentrate and focus. he's much happier, point is we do whats best for our children, every-one is a critic, and nothing is safe anymore, air ect.... we do the best we can to help them function.

duques651197038414.4859722222[QUOTE=LJD]

Just wanted to say thanks to those who posted with facts. It is so easy to get caught up in an opinion sometimes and have it to become a belief without really fully investigating. I for one, asked that my son be put on Ritalin, specifically, because it has been around the longest. I feel better about trying meds that have a long history than trying the ones that have just come out and haven't had a long run.

LJD

[/QUOTE]

What new ones are you reffering too? Adderall and ritalin were released about 6 years apart.

Daven..thanks for stating the facts as there is plenty of credible doucmentation to support what you have stated. LJD....its very astute of you to recognize what is fact and what is myth or a personal opinion. Everyone is entitled to an opinion but before giving one, one should do their homework and know their subject becasue when anyone tries to pass their opinions off as fact, that delays good treatment and does a terrible disservice to our children.My son has been on ritalin for about 4 months and the dosage has been increased twice and he did much better on the smaller dosage. however, it was a really tough decision to give him a narcotic at all. we have had 'ok' success with the drug but we are going to talk to his doc about straterra.

Ritalin changed my life. Of all the stimulant medications it has the longest track record by far and although it is a stim( so is caffeine) it is not an amphetimeine. I am glad I didnt need adderal and glad it's out there for those that do.

As to Ritalin and Addiction...I'd say ignore the scientologist...it's called willed ignorance when people refuse to believe the FACTS. The FACT is ADHD involves real changes in how the brain works which have been recorded..it isnt a made up illness.

Chudd.com has a lot of great information as well as a lot of summaries of studies. Did you know ADHD and addiction do go hand and hand but they are finding those who were diagnosed and not medicated are far more likely to end up substance abusers? Good Luck, and remember..... To wear your tinfoil hat when reading the scientology all medication is evil crapola

My Dr and some others here will tell you diet really matters...I listened to my Dr's advice on it and am a believer after experiencing the results. I am glad for your son he lives in an age when ADHD is diagnosed. My family fought to keep me from being put in the Special Ed of the 60s for slow children. The school knew something was wrong and my Parents knew I was closer sharp than slow.

LJD

everbody needs to read talking back to ritilan itsd got alot of facts on ritilan

I have decided that bloodflow to the heart is not the real cause of heart disease and have embarked on a crusade to teach people if they just tried circulate their blood harder they wouldnt have coronary artery disease and am convinced digitilis and lipitor and surgury are just cover ups cuz DR's are too lazy to teach their patients proper circulation.. Now, excuse me I am off to a scientology meeting where I can meet like minded people to tell me I am right

BOBEL WROTE:
and am convinced digitilis and lipitor and surgury are just cover ups cuz DR's are too lazy to teach their patients proper circulation.. Now, excuse me I am off to a scientology meeting where I can meet like minded people to tell me I am right

For those unfamiliar with the Church of Scientology and also the book entitled "Talking back to Ritilan' written by Peter Breggin who is a member of the Church of scientology, below are two links that are very informative. The first link is an article written by Russel A Barkley Phd who is a world renowned ADHD expert and in his article he talks back to Peter Breggin. The second link decribes exactly what Church of Scientology is.

Talking Back to Peter Breggin

Operation Clambake present: What is Scientology?

BumpI am twenty seven years old and have two children, all of us have adhd. My paternal grandmother and my father also have adhd.In first grade my teacher just thought that i was lazy, inattentive and hyper. I remember being so figity because i had to use the restroom. My teacher was so strict that she refused to let me go. When i continued to figit in my chair she tied me to it. needless even through highschool everyone remembered the girl that peed in her pants in the classroom because she could not settle down. My dream since i was ten was to be in the military. I was discharged after six months and their discovery that i had adhd. I was suicidal by the time i was 13 and had alot of problems growing up. I had attempted suicide at least three times by the time i was 23. When I was in the third grade I stopped taking ritilin. I will always regret that. I was also very violent and short tempered as a teen.My daughter is 7 1/2 and is on ritilin and has no problem taking her medication. My son will be 4 in less than two weeks. he has been on ritilin for almost two years because of his behavior and family history. Without the ritilin his attention span is only around three seconds. Now he can sit in his preschool class for twenty to thirty minute activities. Before the ritilin he was extremly violent towards myself and everyone around him. Before the age of three he had torn his bedroom door off of its hinges multiple times. He has put holes in the walls. When he was two he almost burned our newly purchased home down because he put a calculator in the microwave while we were sleeping. I thank god that all smoke detectors were working that day. Without his ritilin he is physically abusive toward me with biting and hiting.(leaving marks). He is also very defiant without his medication. He does have a developmental delay due to ear infections causing him to have temporrary losses of hearing. Under the influence of medication, he has not tried to leave the house even once. Without the ritilin he had left the home while we were sleeping at least three times in a period of two months. He would dismantle door alarms or crawl out windows. We even had to get police involved more than once. The ritilin helps him to realize the consequences of his behaviors and it keeps everyone safe.No one can tell me that this is a "so-called" or imaginary disease.I see the benifits of medication and the consequences of the lack of it every day of mine and my childrens lives.