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FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

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251–260 of 358 posts

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#251
Putting to one side the question of whether ADHD in particular exists, it is worth noting a few things.

First, psychiatry has a real problem with pathology. In order to determine that something is in fact a disorder, you first need a normative model. But what exactly is psychiatry's normative model, and is it a good one? Not only that, but history has shown that the field is highly vulnerable to political pressure (the evolution of the DSM is a great example). Let us not forget that the norms and demands of the consumerist culture are unnatural and those who choose to live by that culture will measure themselves in accordance with it. There is an objective reality, but culture can either enhance our view of it, or corrupt our understanding. Psychiatry is a part of culture and thus not only not immune to culture, but a product of it.

Second, the range of symptoms can be both improbably expansive and mutually contradictory to such a comical degree that such purported disorders begin to look like a blank canvas onto which we can project practically any real or imagined problem. When you are experiencing problems of unknown etiology, and someone comes along and gives it a name, it is very tempting to embrace the diagnosis because of the relief it seems to bring, that this condition has a name, and not only a name! Salvation is at hand! But that relief does not demonstrate correctness.

Third, the lines between the psychological, the physical, and the moral are blurred and fluid, so looking for smoking guns in one domain is bound to lead to frustration. Some factors may be constitutional, such as temperament. We know that certain temperaments lend themselves better toward certain kinds of work and styles of work than others (to draw on classical terminology, you would much rather have a phlegmatic judge rather than a choleric one; a sanguine waiter rather than a melancholic one). Some factors may be developmental (the psychodynamics of the environment we grow up in leave a mark on us all, for good and for ill; confused or wrong ideas about what's true and what is good). Some factors may be moral (bad habits, prurient interests, a lack of temperance, vices of all stripes, the resulting repressed guilt). All can contribute to our inability to focus or function. However, I claim that, especially with the excessive medicalization of all human discomforts and problems, real or imagined, the moral is the most neglected and arguably the most important. It is the moral, the proper exercise of practical reason, where our power to choose, rightly or wrongly, ultimately rests and the bad practice of which leads to enormous problems in also the psychological and the physical domains.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>And the last thing I want to add is, you won’t have fun doing any of the above stuff. It’s never going to be fun and it never is fun for anyone. The only joy you’ll get is at the very end when you succeed. You still haven't understood the perspective of people with ADHD. They know all of this intellectually (and depending on age) they have tried more systems, mental models, techniques, strategies, tricks and hacks t…

You can read my comments in this thread. Trust me I know exactly what it’s like having a midterm coming up and staring at a book and being unable to read one word, on the verge of flunking out, and realizing your life is not going to amount to shit. Which means, I was procrastinating even when the consequences and stakes were high. Either I was reckless, or I had no conception of the magnitude of the consequences. Is…

Of course I cannot speak for everyone with ADHD but for me the focus issue generally extends even to typical procrastination behaviour for I can't consistently focus on things that are fun and harmless, like reading a novel (currently The Expanse) or watching a Netflix show or physical activities (BJJ).

I think that ingrained bad habits are only the top layer in a life with ADHD.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#253
Somewhat an off topic:

Something that puzzled my doctor - sometimes the effect ADHD meds have on me is that it makes me sleepy. After trial and error, I think I narrowed it down to the blood concentration. Now I use regular adderall ir generic and split it four doses through out the day - that setup almost eliminated the sleepiness effect while preserving focus (and sanity while remembering taking it multiple times a day).

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Do lower reading comprehension, stunted long and short term memory, and a constantly wandering mind also factor in there? Yes! These are even pretty common symptoms addressed in youth. And the rest of your comment is pretty much the story of my life give or take a few degrees. If these are still difficulties for you or if you ever find them to be again, I highly encourage learning more about how ADHD presents in ad…

Do you have any tips on dealing with these issues as an adult? I saw meditation mentioned at least.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite some time ago, I read a short story by Kurt Vonnegut that described an effort to “equalize” everyone. The protagonist had a different, exceptionally loud, nose played in his headphones at random intervals. It had the effect of interrupting his thought process completely, to lower his effective IQ. I’ve always thought it was a decent representation of how ADHD works. Hyperfocus is harder to simulate, since it re…

It is this one - one of my favourite short stories: HARRISON BERGERON http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html

Bookmarked. Again. I think the title is just so different than the content that I never associate the two.

In any case, thank you!

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#256
post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been on Adderall for almost 30 years, and I'm not seeing any heart issues.

Hi! I'm glad you're doing well on your medication. Can I ask, what have you done to make any possible issues visible? I've heard a few scary stories from people about long-term adderall usage weakening their heart muscle but they are/were not particularly healthy individuals

Well.... I'm not dead (yet).

I have monthly check ups. They take my pulse, blood pressure, and weight. I've noticed improvements when I changed my diet (the nurse said "wow" when she checked my pressure).

I had an EKG 10 years ago, when I switched to this Dr.

I have an (almost) annual physical.

I'm not really sure which of those is enough to give you comfort - more than anything, I wanted to give a counter story to the "scary stories"

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#257

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…

> People thinking it’s not a real condition

Well it certainly does not help that ADHD diagnosis is closer to art than Science. There is probably a bunch of disorders that we just call ADHD for the lack of better tools.

Disclaimer: I used to work on drug dev for ADHD

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Increasing dosage to feel consistent management is normal for ADHD patients. The goal is to reach the highest dosage that doesn’t cause side effects. This is where we actually get consistent relief from some of our symptoms. The reality about ADHD and self medication and substance abuse is that it’s untreated patients who experience it the worst. If your friends who’ve talked about this with you are anything like me,…

What you may not believe is that you are no longer in control of wanting to get more. That’s the reality of a drug. Anyway, have the paranoid episodes hit you yet? Give it some time, I see the anxiety is already consistent. Just be sure to manage your drug holidays and control tolerance.

> What you may not believe is that you are no longer in control of wanting to get more. That’s the reality of a drug.

Here (and in other comments since last night) you've made a lot of comments like this one. You're essentially telling everyone taking ADHD medication that they're budding druggies and need to get off the train before it's too late.

That's your experience. And it flies in the face of what many, many people here are describing.

You've made your point repeatedly, over and over. Would you mind letting the rest of us discuss it in peace without telling us that we are borderline addicts? Your comments are not helpful or substantive; they're just divisive and mean at this point.

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I generally believe that the way behavioral patterns emerge is not instant, not everything is a habit, some behaviours are impulsive or context driven. lets say that habits take time to form though. > and therefore the way you get out cannot be instant. this is only true if breaking a habit, is also a habit. i don’t not certain this is always true. lets ask, what is a habit? since this is an async convo i will answ…

Hey I never ran a day in my life. I found out if I take steroids I can jump start my running in 3 months. Turns out I’m a great runner, so I must have been a great runner all this time and just need a therapeutic dose of steroids to show that I had chemical deficiency that easily solved it. Now life is much more fair for me. Look, once your life depends on a decision you know was a trade off (you feel entitled to wha…

Screw it. Ya caught me. So, you surmise ADHD doesn't exist, and that all the phenomena is is that it's a convenient excuse for people to take performance enhancing narcotics? Is that about what you're at?

Re: FDA approves new ADHD drug for children

#260
post #247

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.

> 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 don't think you get it. My son can either be on medicine, or he can fail middle school, and high school and be uneducated. If you're volunteering to sit next to him, and redirect him to his work every 3 minutes, or pay for someone to do it, by all me…

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