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ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

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Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#91

Post by zeckalpha »

X-Istence wrote: post #22

Each time a study comes out and people will link it to me (I've already had this linked to me three times) claiming that my ADHD medicine doesn't do anything and that it is worthless ... for me it isn't. Without my meds I wouldn't be able to concentrate, I wouldn't be able to get work done. At one point it got so bad at work that I was afraid I was going to get fired since I couldn't focus on any single task at hand…

Perhaps you actually have ADD/ADHD but most of the kids in the study were misdiagnosed?

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#92

Post by pessimizer »

danneu wrote: post #55
obituary_latte wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: could your success be at all attributed to placebo? IOW, is there any question at all as to whether or not you could have made a conscious decision to "buckle down" and have met the same result? I fear for myself that when facing similar hardship that acquiescing to meds could just be "dealing with the situation" and not properly processing what the actual hardship is, why it exists, and how else it…

Amphetamine isn't exactly a placebo and its effects aren't exactly unknown or disputed. Asserting the possibility of placebo is like wondering if coffee is really just dark inert water but we're all just idiots with no self-awareness that buy into the oral tradition of what coffee is supposed to be. > I fear for myself that when facing similar hardship > that acquiescing to meds could just be "dealing with > the situ…

Drinking coffee doesn't make you more alert, caffeine study reveals

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/jun/02/drinking-coffe...

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#93

Post by pessimizer »

lolwutf wrote: post #7

As someone who grew up with ADHD managed by stimulant drug therapy since age 7, I can earnestly say that my experience was that ADHD drugs did boost my grades and were a crucial factor in my career success, to date (and still are).

How would you know if you have been taking them since you were 7?

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#94

Post by benjamincburns »

mikevm wrote: post #83
benjamincburns wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Honest question: could your success be at all attributed to placebo? IOW, is there any question at all as to whether or not you could have made a conscious decision to "buckle down" and have met the same result? I'm 27 now. I began taking ADHD medication when I was 21. With the exception of methamphetamine (yes, it's actually an old, crude ADHD treatment) I believe I've taken every FDA-approved ADHD drug there is -…

I'm pretty much the same as you, only that during lectures I don't draw anything, I just space out after a while and it's hard for me to sustain focus for long periods of time. Lectures are largely a waste of time for me. I ended up going to a special ADHD clinic and I got diagnosed. Unfortunately, a week and a half after beginning the titration process of Concerta I started getting side-effects (palpitations). Appar…

I wonder if ADHD clinics are a bit like a hammer in search of a nail. Unsolicited suggestion: go to a neurologist. Failing that, go to a psychiatrist.

When I took Concerta I had similar problems. The irritability was awful. My nerves just felt raw. Methylphenidate (aka Ritalin) anecdotally amongst the people I know who've taken it seems to be the most likely to cause heart problems - with one friend having been hospitalized.

If you feel like you aren't making it, there are other options.

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#95

Post by devb »

dschiptsov wrote: post #67
jt2190 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Each time a study comes out and people will link it > to me (I've already had this linked to me three times) > claiming that my ADHD medicine doesn't do anything and > that it is worthless... Unless any of those people is a licensed psychiatrist you should ignore them and move on.

Does this imply that one should read/use code only of licensed/certified programmers?))

If it was code that significantly impacted your ability ti live your life, absolutely.

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#96

Post by benjamincburns »

jt2190 wrote: post #61
benjamincburns wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a very valid statement, and I greatly appreciate/respect that truth. If that were the tack this article were taking, I'd have no qualms. This is the perfect kind of study to combat overprescription based on poor academic performance. However there's an unwritten assumption in this article that grades are synonymous with success. See the caption to Dr. Farah's photo. That's a very poor inference. That's what I'…

I read it as "success in treatment", not "success in life."

Me too.

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#97

Post by loceng »

X-Istence wrote: post #22

Each time a study comes out and people will link it to me (I've already had this linked to me three times) claiming that my ADHD medicine doesn't do anything and that it is worthless ... for me it isn't. Without my meds I wouldn't be able to concentrate, I wouldn't be able to get work done. At one point it got so bad at work that I was afraid I was going to get fired since I couldn't focus on any single task at hand…

During your "doctor recommended breaks" - try doing diet cleanses, elimination diet. Many foods, very common ones - wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, potatoes, almonds, etc - can cause ADD-like thinking through irritation (that you may notice or not) in your intestinal tract, etc.. Then there is also childhood emotion repression that could be a cause to ADD / scattered thinking. Food and past trauma are two things to always look into if someone's having difficulty. I always suggest a good dose of yoga with a regular yoga practice to help with the calming / releasing endorphines, serotonin, etc. - reducing baseline stress levels.

Edit: Oh, and also, if you ever had painful ear infections as a child then look into http://www.aitinstitute.org (sound / auditory re-training), or if you've never had your vision properly checked out -- you should be able to see clearly / things in focus with your eyes relaxed, if you're straining them then it means your brain/mind is actively concentrating to focus, which then will take your ability away to focus on other things fully (leading to ADD symptoms).

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#98

Post by oftenwrong »

linohh wrote: post #30
X-Istence wrote: post #22

Each time a study comes out and people will link it to me (I've already had this linked to me three times) claiming that my ADHD medicine doesn't do anything and that it is worthless ... for me it isn't. Without my meds I wouldn't be able to concentrate, I wouldn't be able to get work done. At one point it got so bad at work that I was afraid I was going to get fired since I couldn't focus on any single task at hand…

What many people don't understand is the stress people with ADD are exposed to. Especially when they're smart. Imagine having a porsche in your driveway, but for reasons you can only use the first gear. No matter how hard you push the pedal to the metal, you won't be as fast as you want the car to go. Plus if you keep going full throttle in the first gear eventually you'll break something. Sounds depressing, doesn't…

>Imagine having a porsche in your driveway, but for reasons you can only use the first gear.

That is a good description of how I feel. When I was younger I could spend hours learning things, programming, reading, and playing video games. Eventually, around when I was 16 I would guess, I lost my ability to concentrate, and now I can't sit through a 30 minute TV show without losing focus. It was really bad for me in university, and continues to harm my career.

However, I was actually diagnosed with ADD and tried many different medications. Unfortunately all of the medications I was prescribed were either ineffective or had terrible side effects, so I ended up not taking anything beyond a trial period. Despite this, I used Adderrall two times to prepare for important tests in university. Side effects aside, it is amazing.

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#99

Post by kall »

gordaco wrote: post #70

The ADHD craze is rampant on the USA, but fortunately not in Europe, where I'm from. I'm so glad of that, even if I'm more or less on the opposite side of ADHD when it comes to focus and behaviour. Don't get me wrong, I'm not denying that ADHD is a thing. However, it seems that in the USA it's heavily overdiagnosed, and even worse, the educational system seems to be especially harmful to people with actual ADHD (some…

As a european with ADHD i'm not glad of that at all. It's a major PITA to find competent therapists for ADHD and our beautiful universal healthcare won't pay for half the treatment.

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#100

Post by mikevm »

benjamincburns wrote: post #94
mikevm wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty much the same as you, only that during lectures I don't draw anything, I just space out after a while and it's hard for me to sustain focus for long periods of time. Lectures are largely a waste of time for me. I ended up going to a special ADHD clinic and I got diagnosed. Unfortunately, a week and a half after beginning the titration process of Concerta I started getting side-effects (palpitations). Appar…

I wonder if ADHD clinics are a bit like a hammer in search of a nail. Unsolicited suggestion: go to a neurologist. Failing that, go to a psychiatrist. When I took Concerta I had similar problems. The irritability was awful. My nerves just felt raw . Methylphenidate (aka Ritalin) anecdotally amongst the people I know who've taken it seems to be the most likely to cause heart problems - with one friend having been hosp…

Many neurologists don't have a deep understanding of ADHD, so if I were to go to one, I'd need to find one that specializes in this field. My ADHD doctor was a psychiatrist, by the way.

I agree with you about the Concerta. I have a short fuse, but Concerta made it much worse. Unfortunately, I don't live in the US, and the only gov't subsidized ADHD medication is 'Ritalin'. That's right 'Ritalin'. Not even the active ingredient 'methylphenidate' (which is why Concerta is much more expensive than Ritalin around here).

I know some people report that methylphenidate based drugs doesn't work for them, and yet the amphetamine-based do (Adderall, Vyvanse, etc...), but if I get a prescription for either, they're going to be very expensive, and the import process for these kind of drugs is a bureaucratic nightmare.

I guess I'll just have to suck it up. Next year is my senior year, so the end is very near!

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