Son put on strattera but he smokes pot | ADHD Information
I have to dispute the claim that pot makes ADD worse in my own personal experience.I am dutch, i have had ADHD all my life and struggled like no tomorrow in schools, from elementary to high school. Once i went to college, i had a REAL bad first year with horrendous grades.. then i started smoking pot and guess what.. i graduated in two majors, straight A's.
I am sure that a lot of people who smoke pot experience it differently in the way it affects them.
However, pot is legal in The Netherlands and MANY people smoke it there and most people i know, who have been smoking pot all their lifes just about, are very succesful. I think there is a big 'stereotype' towards pot smoking and too many people think it destroys you.. don't get me wrong, it can if you're not careful as the smoker of the stuff but in my experience with many people, it makes little difference. I've seen the other way around too tho.
I think the main difference between The Netherlands and the USA is that we get decent education on it (as well as birth protection, sex, voilence, etc) whereas in the USA, soft drug education is limited to lame commercials on tv that do nothing more than make the kids laugh and light up another one. Legalizing pot brought hard drug use down to a VERY low level, the rest of Europe is slowly starting to see this.
On top of that, the pot in the USA is.. well.. grass.. has little to do with pot anymore. Maybe that's the cause of all the 'bad stuff' going on the USA with it, bad quality pot.. Probably affects people different.
However, pot isn't THAT bad for you in general.. it's not addictive (contains no nicotine either) and one 'blunt' is about four cigarettes worth of tar.
Now, the Adderall XR that i am taking, THAT is a DRUG.. on the street they call it "speed". I went 'home' to The Netherlands this weekend to visit my grandma for her birthday, i smoked some pot in the local coffeeshop and the Adderall XR didn't seem to do anything different. Wouldn't know about Strattera.
Everybody is different, and things affect everybody different as well.. if your son's grades start to drop, then there is a problem.. i have seen many families around me here in the USA whose kids start to vegitate on the pot, which of course affects their grades. Once again, in my opinion it's all down to education on the topic, which is next to non-existant in the USA, sadly.
Just my point of view.
Hemmie38469.6946759259Well there are a couple of reasons why i am so calm. My child is 18 (really nothing i can do). He is a freshman in college, and he just started to smoke occasionaly, its college and it sounds cliche but, a time for experimenting. Dont get me wrong, if i knew he was doing ANYTHING other then weed i would be utterly upset. Smoking pot make ADD worse..Wait till you see his grades drop!
wow hemmie,
i couldn't agree with you more, now i'm not a pot smoker but i have absolutley nothing against it. i have many friends and family that do it and the majority are well educated successful people, the ones that aren't it isn't because of the pot its because they have no desire to do anything with themselves.
have you ever heard of anyone overdosing on pot? without it being laced with something else. sure there have been people that have died in wrecks or killed by someone that was high while driving, but what about alcohol, its legal and people drive drunk everyday and are killed everyday by drunk drivers. legalize it and over tax it (like they do cigs) and clear up some prison space for the real criminals.
as for helping or hurting with adhd, i don't have a clue, and i'm sorry i got carried away on the pot subject.
JohnOsoe,
It would be nice if once the strattera kicked in your son might not feel the need to self-medicate. In my case I was drinking and using drugs till my doctor put me on Ritalin (8-10 years ago) I hope it works out for the both of you
I only smoke pot when i go back to The Netherlands, it is after all illegal here.. As a 'legal alien' i could be deported out of the USA if i get caught with pot so i simply don't do it. There's no point in risking it.
i've done a fair amount of research on the web related to pot interactions with Adderall XR and there is precious little to be found, so i am assuming that it's negligable.. my psychiatrist knows i smoke it on occation (we don't go back more than four times a year) and didn't warn me at all about any interactions.
If stratera is also a stimulant based on one or more amphetamines, i'd venture a guess that it'd be the same.. but, you never know.
My son is going to be put on Strattera (active chemical, Atomoxetine) but he smokes pot. I would like to know if strattera will have any negative interactions with Marijuana. I am very concerned because i heard on another message board that the two together can cause cardiac arrest. please help, thankyou. JohnOsoe38469.5208449074
hello, have you told your son's doctor the he smokes pot ? how old is your son? i am so amazed at how your so calm at lease you sound so calm.. i would be yelling and screaming and taking my child to a drug counsler. but that is just me. i give you credit for staying so calm.. i would not give him the strattera until you talk with his doctor..
Dr. Daniel Amen from the Amen Clinic which specialized in Brain Spect Scans for healing the brain said in his 3/15/05 "Brain in the News Newsletter" that marijuana caused decreased activity in the frontal and temporal lobe areas (areas involved with memory and motivation). He has taken thousands of brain scans to track damage done to the brain and it might be worth it to check out the Amenclinic.com web sit and look up the article I listed as well as all of the other information there regarding ADHD and the brain.
I think too many meds are perscriibed for a brain by doctors who have not actually examined it. These brain spects can see where the damage is that is causing the behavior. They also talk about how to protect the brain from damage.
I agree that marijuana causes less damaged that some other drugs but to suggest that it is good for our brain doesn't seem accurate.
We were told add/adhd kids will self medicate if not medicated while in school.POT IS USED FOR PAIN RELIEF IN CANCER PATIENT. Once a child is 18 you loose control. He will have to learn things the hard way. Grades aren't sent to parents in college. They are now considered a adult.The school has to respect his privacey now. Drug rehab should be skeeped out before he uses other things and gets worse. I pray for you and him. [QUOTE=janz]Smoking pot make ADD worse..Wait till you see his grades drop! [/QUOTE]
Amen, Janz! I know from experience. Back in my wild party college days (1995-1997) I would enduldge in a little green goodness, HOWEVER, it made my head go a bizzillion miles an hour faster then usual!!! I was amazed at how much I could think of at one time after a good smoke.
[QUOTE=slacker]
wow hemmie,
i couldn't agree with you more, now i'm not a pot smoker but i have absolutley nothing against it. i have many friends and family that do it and the majority are well educated successful people, the ones that aren't it isn't because of the pot its because they have no desire to do anything with themselves.
have you ever heard of anyone overdosing on pot? without it being laced with something else. sure there have been people that have died in wrecks or killed by someone that was high while driving, but what about alcohol, its legal and people drive drunk everyday and are killed everyday by drunk drivers. legalize it and over tax it (like they do cigs) and clear up some prison space for the real criminals.
as for helping or hurting with adhd, i don't have a clue, and i'm sorry i got carried away on the pot subject.
[/QUOTE]Pot still makes people stupid, that's the bottom line. People DO NOT function properly on pot. I am speaking from full blown experience.