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FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

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Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#111

Post by sudosysgen »

nerdbaggy wrote: post #17

Seems that lots of people only think ADHD people have a hard time paying attention. If it was that simple I would be so happy. Here are just a few of the things I struggle with. - Will power. People with ADHD struggle sooooo much with will power. It’s a constant struggle with everything in life and really wears you down. - Constantly putting on a fake front pretending you don’t have ADHD. - Rejection sensitivity - Fe…

God, rejection sensitivity was such a huge challenge for me, it would have helped a lot if I could have been diagnosed before being an adult.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#112

Post by TylerE »

The_rationalist wrote: post #62
eyelidlessness wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a great start. I’ll add some more: - Other common mental health issues like anxiety and depression. I experience both chronically, treating my ADHD is currently the only management I need, nothing else has ever worked. - Sensory sensitivity including overload, confusion, neurological disorders. Hyperacusis and auditory processing disorder are my main issues. I just learned this past weekend that tinnitus may…

How does one treat chronic anxiety? Xanax has a miracle reputation but like all other benzos it is said to only works temporarily as a hotfix, then you build up tolerance and you go back to your baseline Pre Xanax (or worse). What is very frustrating about such explanations is that I can't tell if it exactly put you back to your pre Xanax era or if after tolerance builds up (for a same dose) you are better than befor…

L-theanine works for me, although info take it at a pretty high dosage (3x350mg), which I take twice, once in the morning when I get up which gets me through the workday, and then the same about 2 hours before I go to bed. The effect is fairly subtle, since it doesn’t have the obvious sedating effect or a benzo, but it seems to do something for me, at least, to take the edge off.

I’ve been on this regime for about 2 years now, and haven’t noticed any sort of tolerance build up.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#114

Post by sudosysgen »

rgifford wrote: post #101

If you're considering taking drugs for ADHD or giving them to your child, I highly recommend reading into Fen-Phen (1) and other popular, contested drugs. Fen-Phen was a drug marketed to housewives in the 70s that promised weight loss and increased energy. My grandma suffered heart issues later in life due to it. It's since had 13B in settlements brought against it. Purdue Pharma will likely see 10B+ in settlements b…

Statistically, if you are diagnosed with ADHD, treatment actually significantly increases your life expectancy.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#115

Post by sudosysgen »

Daho0n wrote: post #92
tolbish wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don't celebrate those adults. We call them underachievers and have them do menial jobs.

Like Elon Musk's menial job.

Yes, often you can leverage those issues when you start with a lot of money.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#116

Post by h0l0cube »

eyelidlessness wrote: post #103
h0l0cube wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And the rest of your comment is pretty much the story of my life give or take a few degrees. It's always a small relief to know other people who have/had the same challenges. Thank you.

It was so much a relief to me too, and I’m glad I could help in that way. I’ll also tell you it saved my life. I had coped pretty well for years, but for a variety of reasons it deteriorated. I was in such bad shape before I sought diagnosis/treatment. Not saying that’s where you’re at but just validating that it can be seriously debilitating. Please feel free to reach out (same handle everywhere, personal site link…

Thank you very much for the offer. I feel like I'm on the other side of the worst of my troubles, but it has been a long road.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#117

Post by Centigonal »

rgifford wrote: post #101

If you're considering taking drugs for ADHD or giving them to your child, I highly recommend reading into Fen-Phen (1) and other popular, contested drugs. Fen-Phen was a drug marketed to housewives in the 70s that promised weight loss and increased energy. My grandma suffered heart issues later in life due to it. It's since had 13B in settlements brought against it. Purdue Pharma will likely see 10B+ in settlements b…

You make some good points here, but it's important to avoid the false dichotomy that medication is either good for everyone or always scary and dangerous.

Stimulants for ADHD have a long history of use (Ritalin's been approved for medical use since 1955!), and there's lots of scientific literature indicating it can have a variety of long-term benefits for people with ADHD.

That said, no two people are the same, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to treatment. I've met someone who takes monstrous 70+mg doses of vyvanse (essentially extended release dex-amphetamine) to function normally, has been stable that way for years, and is happily pursuing an impressive, productive life. Conversely, I've met people who can't take 5mg of instant release dex-amphetamine and get to bed 14 hours later.

Obviously, there is the risk of heretofor-unknown side effects with some of the newer drugs. We also cannot forget about known side effects of well-studied drugs: Atomoxetine, for example, can cause suicidal ideation as a side effect. That being said, if Ritalin and Adderall were going to lead to massive settlements because of side effects, I think we would have already seen that happen in the last 65 years.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#118

Post by Centigonal »

Causality1 wrote: post #113

What is it with ADHD drugs making kids suicidal? My childhood adventure with Strattera ended after one afternoon when I nearly put my dad's gun in my mouth.

I'm sorry that happened to you! I think Strattera is appealing as a treatment because it's not a controlled substance or a stimulant, but you trade off one set of side effects for another.

I believe it's SNRIs as a whole (like [1]) that have this side-effect - SSRIs, too. [2]

It's especially frustrating because SSRIs and SNRIs are mainly used to treat depression.

Some people explain it away as "it gives depressed people the ability to do things before it makes them happier," but I don't buy that. My theory is that suppressing seretonin reuptake just makes some people (especially adolescents) start thinking about killing themselves.

[1] https://safestdrug.org/2019/10/11/cymbalta/

[2] https://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/home/topics/mood-disorders...

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#119

Post by myrandomcomment »

I have always struggled to explain what having ADHD is like to others. I finally settled on “imagine going through life with this constant sound in the back of your head like a fuzzy AM radio station that you can never tune in and also can never just ignore killing any ability to focus. Taking the drug to treat it (time released methylphenidate in my case) allows me to tune that station in like it was a perfect CD with an amazing amp, or just shut it off all together like having the serenity of a quite room on top of a mountain.” Still not sure this example works, but it has improved my friends understanding. Those that know me very well are able to interact with me to the point of saying “you did not take you pill today” when I skip a dose as they can see the behavioral differences.

Another way to explain the effect on take a pill of what is chemically speed on someone with ADHD vs not is “if you take this pill and DO NOT have ADHD you will be up at 3am trying to sand your driveway smooth, but for me it provides calm and clarity”.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#120

Post by refurb »

The_rationalist wrote: post #69
nickysielicki wrote: post #2

The drug: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viloxazine tl;dr: It's an SNRI, like Effexor or Cymbalta.

Amphetamine stimulants are SNRI too just like some antidepressants such as Wellbutrin. What I do not understand is: they have the same mechanism of action (or at least the same consequence) but the effect is different, one mostly focus on fixing ADHD symptoms and one mostly focus on depression. What explain such a difference in behavior? BTW unrelated but simultaneously taking SSRIs with stimulants show great results…

Amphetamines cause the release of norepinephrine as a major component of their effect.
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