Long term medication use

I get worried reading how children have had heart failure from these medications over long periods of time. My husband says that they never list how much medication they were on, if it was high dosages and if they has health problems to begin with. It still scares me though. I've struggled with medicating my son for years and honestly, can't take it anymore. His behavior has improved but I worry about him having health problems later in life. I wish I could hear more stories about children that started it years ago, are fine and are in college. I only know of one person who mentioned that to me. Anyone have any thoughts on this suject? Thank you.

I mentioned to my son's psych that I was concerned about Kyle's heart beating so fast due to the ritalin and Wellbutrin and he said not to worry unless he still had to be on meds when he was 30. Tachycardia is a side effect of a lot of these meds, and deaths - while infrequent - have occurred.

The best thing we can do as parents is educate ourselves fully as to the side effects and the frequency of these side effects. We need to read post marketing studies because the studies done before marketing are usually only 6 - 12 weeks long. A few of these meds are no better than placebo either. My favorite site for medication information is rxlist.com.

Your husband is totally right! He is looking between the lines. I don't know what kind of med you have your child on, but I have my son on Ritalin SA ...and I did my research before I put him on it.

I found out, that there were a couple thousand deaths from 1990-2000 assosiated with Ritalin. After looking into it a lot more... only 2 or 3 of those deaths were from people that took the drug as prescribed. The other deaths where from drug abuse, drug interaction, or the person was physically ill before they started taking it

When you are doing your research... look between the lines. Make sure there are enough facts to back up the claim.

Hi Just wanted to say that also being on meds. the ped. should be seeing your child at least every 2/3 months so they should know if the heart rate changes. I will visit every month for the first few months to watch them closely then taper off to the2/3 month visit. my 13 yr, old is lucky if she sees her psych rvery three months or so. i am concerned about side effects of adderall xr mixed with neurton and prozac. she sees a doctor only when she is ill.

From someone in the medical field my suggestion for you is to go to all of your doctor appts., get lab work twice yearly, an EKG once a year, BP & pulse every visit and weight checks. Most people don't think of an EKG but from the mouth of a cardiologist it's good to have one prior to starting a stimulant and one per year to check for any changes. You can never do too much to be sure your child's health is up to par.Best of Luck to you and your family!

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