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FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

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Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#161

Post by astrange »

reader_mode wrote: post #49
falcolas wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think of the relation between being really sad and having crippling depression. Now take “occasional ADHD symptoms” and ramp them up to the same degree. Get an idea of how this could be debilitating now?

Yep - but from what I've seen in kids diagnosed as ADHD it's not really close, my nephew got diagnosed but realistically I can see myself being way worse at his age and still coming out functional without medication.

You're older so your cohort was worse performing in general, because everyone in the US had lead poisoning back then and now kids are somewhat healthier. (You probably have adult ADHD.) He can still need help if he performs worse than the rest of his class - there really aren't long term downsides to taking medication or anything here.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#162

Post by watwut »

h0l0cube wrote: post #58
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…

Do lower reading comprehension, stunted long and short term memory, and a constantly wandering mind also factor in there? I was a precocious talker and reader, and in many ways a 'gifted' child, but I always struggled to comprehend reading material, or remain engaged with what a teacher was saying. These learning difficulties pretty much negated the value of any 'gift' I may have had. That said, anything related to c…

> I was a precocious talker and reader, and in many ways a 'gifted' child, but I always struggled to comprehend reading material, or remain engaged with what a teacher was saying. These learning difficulties pretty much negated the value of any 'gift' I may have had.

Afaik, those are different brain functions. Early reading is a lot about early development of memory. Comprehending material can be about many different things. Remaining engaged is difficult if you dont understand. But also, it is about attention span.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#163

Post by curioussavage »

sudosysgen wrote: post #131
ralusek wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I'm understanding this correctly, are you saying that untreated ADHD is more likely to result in suicide?

No, not suicide. Alcoholism, addiction to other drugs, car crashes, etc... Are all much more likely for untreated ADHD patients.

Yeah for real. I’m lucky I survived 3 car wrecks and that I’m not diabetic after years of compulsively consuming sugar to stimulate my brain. All got way better after I started being treated.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#164

Post by astrange »

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…

> On the topic of Ritalin and Adderall, lots of my friends found they had to increase their dosage to see consistent effects.

They are not addictive at normal doses but there can be tolerance depending on your diet. This is actually pretty easy to treat - get a lot more magnesium and try NAC as well. (Vyvanse's effectiveness actually seriously depends on how acidic your diet is. If you take a dose with orange juice it may be completely inactivated.)

> Some talk about abusing alcohol to get to sleep.

Sleep issues (delayed sleep phase disorder) are themselves an ADHD symptom. If you time it right so the stimulant wears off at bedtime this can actually help you - but if it wears off early, I don't have the willpower left to go to bed.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#165

Post by watwut »

reader_mode wrote: post #42
thonos wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> None of you ever want to hear it, but everyone goes through this. It’s the human condition. Comments like this make me angry because it shows how much of a disconnect there is with taking ADHD serious. It's like saying to a depressed person to "just don't be sad and focus on something fun". Sure everyone struggles, but imagine those struggles cranked up by 20x. You overthink EVERYTHING, you're driven by random impu…

>Sure everyone struggles, but imagine those struggles cranked up by 20x. You overthink EVERYTHING, you're driven by random impulses that make you focus on something new and shiny, that make you yourself believe that this is not an impulsive, but this time something worth committed to it, just to lose interest 2 weeks later. I'm still having a hard time seeing this as a debilitating condition, I can relate to all the…

> I'm still having a hard time seeing this as a debilitating condition, I can relate to all the things you said and undoubtably taking drugs like modafinil or ritalin turn me super productive and focused, but I don't want to be medicating day in day out, tolerance grows too fast.

I have hard time to see your broken leg as walking preventing condition. I have hit my leg badly yesterday, but I can easily walk now, it surely must be the same.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#166

Post by jasonkester »

esyir wrote: post #156
iovrthoughtthis wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you’re insinuating that adhd (or, executive functions disorders) don’t exist. 1. there is lots of evidence showing that “something” is wrong with lots of peoples executive functions and that this observed problem is hereditary. 2. this is pretty insensitive. everybody does have these symptoms to some extent as you executive functions can’t be running 100% all the time. just like everyone has varying degrees of sight.…

That's a pretty uncharitable take of his view. Rather, he seems to be claiming that it's heavily overdiagnosed. Looking at the numbers, I'm leaning towards that too. 9.4 percent of children are diagnosed with ADHD, and that's just the confirmed cases, nothing about estimated prevalence. Either we're screwing up the diagnostic criteria and overlabelling people (or worse, we're diagnosing them out of convenience), or w…

To be fair, this response was likely written in response to the second paragraph of my comment, which I have since removed (since it could be read to mean exactly what the comment in question understood it to). So it’s probably not as uncharitable as you think from reading it in its current context.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#167

Post by astrange »

lazide wrote: post #11
Someone1234 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do people "celebrate" ADHD-like dysfunction in adults? Seems like a lot of adults struggle substantially with those issues (in particular without a diagnosis).

If you overlap Elon Musks behavior (or a number of quite famous musicians) with ADHD diagnosis charts, you’re going to have a fun time. Like most things, we celebrate the high functioning folks and denigrate those who aren’t. Kids are also expected to fall in line and be easy to manage, and those that aren’t get medicated.

> If you overlap Elon Musks behavior (or a number of quite famous musicians) with ADHD diagnosis charts, you’re going to have a fun time.

That's cocaine. You're thinking of cocaine.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#168

Post by herbst »

barsonme wrote: post #134
jasonkester wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you reconcile this with the observation that seemingly every single child in the United States is diagnosed with this condition and prescribed drugs to treat it? Watching from Europe, where roughly nobody is diagnosed with it nor prescribed drugs to treat it, I’m always baffled, fascinated and horrified watching Americans talk about it.

Yes, every child in the United States is diagnosed and given stimulants for fun, unlike enlightened Europe. It might be over-diagnosed in the United States. I sure think so. But that does not make the effects of the disorder any less damaging. At any rate, perhaps you might consider whether Europe is under diagnosing disorders like ADHD? Or, perhaps your have an incorrect understanding about ADHD diagnoses in the US?

To be fair i have adhd (as child and adult now) but my doctors always agreed that stimulants arent necessary.

I think this is the main cultural difference, not that its underdiagnosed

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#169

Post by RHSman2 »

eyelidlessness wrote: post #75
lfowles wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the actual bullshit things about ADHD is that I often can't focus even on things I do like . Absolutely nothing convenient about that.

This so much. I’ve been having such a hard time managing my symptoms because of burnout, and a long stretch of unemployment when I left my last job, and a determination to get a more healthy life set up that I haven’t been able to listen to music. I’m a musician, primarily for my own personal enjoyment, and I can’t even bear to hear a song. Because so many other things are jammed up in my brain.

tell me more! Struggling to finish, get out what you want, don’t like what you make, overly judgemental of your work? I am musician/ADHDer for the love of it.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#170

Post by [deleted] »

RHSman2 wrote: post #147
jasonkester wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re right. I didn’t like that bit of my comment, and was in the process of lopping it off when you were composing your reply. Apologies for not getting the edit done in time. Mostly I’m alarmed that so many parents are happy to put their small children on a lifetime supply of medicine for something that’s not immediately life threatening.

I have two children with ADHD and myself (non medicated). Having a child with ADHD is extremely hard. All we try and do is workout the way for them to navigate life with out destroying everything around them. We haven’t had to medicate them yet but the decision would be a very considered one and weighed up to if it would change their lives for the better.

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