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ADHD Pill Faces High Hurdle in Europe as Stigma Persists

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Re: ADHD Pill Faces High Hurdle in Europe as Stigma Persists

#31
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you suspect?

Nothing at all. Methamphetamine, which is not very different than the dextroamphetamine in Adderal, has proven to be a remarkably safe substance and in general, society benefits a great deal when people ingest methamphetamine. I'm sure schoolchildren being prescribed dextroamphetamine to take every single day for years is a very good idea as well.

Is this sarcasm? Hard to tell since many people do take methamphetamine daily as prescribed by a doctor.

Re: ADHD Pill Faces High Hurdle in Europe as Stigma Persists

#32
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you suspect?

Nothing at all. Methamphetamine, which is not very different than the dextroamphetamine in Adderal, has proven to be a remarkably safe substance and in general, society benefits a great deal when people ingest methamphetamine. I'm sure schoolchildren being prescribed dextroamphetamine to take every single day for years is a very good idea as well.

Are you honestly comparing crystal meth from the street to something prescribed under the guidance of one's doctor? Your post strikes me more along the lines of hysterics than a rational foray into discussion.

For shits and giggles, let's compare apples to apples. Desoxyn (Methamphetamine HCl). There you get the scary M word, but one that's FDA-approved and prescribed--though, admittedly, not commonly--by doctors. Same chemical substance minus the crystallized form, impurities, and of course, the world of illicit meth.

Oddly enough, Abbott Pharmaceuticals isn't synthesizing Desoxyn in their backyard meth lab ala shake-and-bake and Walgreen's isn't hawking it from the saddle bag of their pharmacists' motorcycles. Same substance, different context.

If you want to argue against possible long-term effects of d-amphetamine on developing children, do so. You certainly won't be alone, though for all the hysterics and despite thousands of long-term studies on its effects, there's a rather glaring dearth of support for that position. But, hey, "methamphetamine!"

Re: ADHD Pill Faces High Hurdle in Europe as Stigma Persists

#33
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not "drug it out of them"? If the disease is caused by a chemical imbalance, why not try to fix the chemical imbalance? Some people (myself included) are not functional without medication.

Because I don't believe it's a disease.

And yet, thousands of doctors do, and they prescribe medication to thousands of patients who also do, and for the most part, those medications work as expected.

Re: ADHD Pill Faces High Hurdle in Europe as Stigma Persists

#34
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not "drug it out of them"? If the disease is caused by a chemical imbalance, why not try to fix the chemical imbalance? Some people (myself included) are not functional without medication.

Personally, I'm pretty skeptical that most of the people diagnosed with it have a disease. I think it's a perfectly normal human variation that just doesn't match well with our Industrial Age approach to education. The way I think of it is like height. There's a normal range of tall and short. There are also diseases that make people unusually tall or short. But mere shortness doesn't prove disease. And just because…

I think it is perfectly reasonable to take that viewpoint. It certainly might be over-diagnosed. However, as with all neurological disorders, there is often quite a bit of mutability in the actual diagnosis; It isn't uncommon for people to be initially diagnosed with ADHD, only to be later diagnosed with something else. There are a lot of overlapping symptoms with other disorders, varying from OCD to Bi-Polar to Asperger.

Re: ADHD Pill Faces High Hurdle in Europe as Stigma Persists

#35

Good. Medicine in the form of antibiotics and inoculations against various dangerous diseases has brought us far, but it seems to be time to rethink some of the recent developments. Maybe we can stop growing a monoculture of humans where the slightest deviation from the norm must be treated with some kind of drug. I am from Europe (but live in the US) and I salute the folks there resisting this nonsense. (And for the…

I'd recommend that you talk to a few people with ADHD and see if they consider their disorder to be "the slightest deviation from the norm". It's clear from this article that doctors certainly don't see it that way.

Re: ADHD Pill Faces High Hurdle in Europe as Stigma Persists

#36

Vyvanse is a prodrug of dextroamphetamine, which means that it turns into that in the body. The advantage allegedly is that it's less prone to abuse but the real reason it exists is that dextroamphetamine entered the market in 1937 and so its patent has long since run out. Dextroamphetamine in turn is just amphetamine with the left-handed isomer removed. This left-handed isomer is less potent than the right, but both…

And heroin (with a few chemical bit twiddles) is used to treat pain after major surgeries and accidents. And methamphetamine (with a few chemical bit twiddles) is used to treat stuffy noses. Face it, almost all drugs can be misused...but that is not a reason for them to be banned. After 8 years and 3 dropouts into my 4 year undergrad degree, I was finally diagnosed with ADHD. My pre-diagnosis GPA was 1.9, my post-dia…

Don't take away a kids right to his personality just because you think you are broken.

Re: ADHD Pill Faces High Hurdle in Europe as Stigma Persists

#37
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not "drug it out of them"? If the disease is caused by a chemical imbalance, why not try to fix the chemical imbalance? Some people (myself included) are not functional without medication.

Because I don't believe it's a disease.

Of course. Never mind all the evidence. What you believe is more important than any research could ever be.

Re: ADHD Pill Faces High Hurdle in Europe as Stigma Persists

#38
post #35

Good. Medicine in the form of antibiotics and inoculations against various dangerous diseases has brought us far, but it seems to be time to rethink some of the recent developments. Maybe we can stop growing a monoculture of humans where the slightest deviation from the norm must be treated with some kind of drug. I am from Europe (but live in the US) and I salute the folks there resisting this nonsense. (And for the…

I'd recommend that you talk to a few people with ADHD and see if they consider their disorder to be "the slightest deviation from the norm". It's clear from this article that doctors certainly don't see it that way.

And I'd recommend you visit the overflowing offices of a few shrinks scamming patients by charging $100-$150 for five minute appointments to provide the monthly refill for adderall.

Re: ADHD Pill Faces High Hurdle in Europe as Stigma Persists

#39

Good. Medicine in the form of antibiotics and inoculations against various dangerous diseases has brought us far, but it seems to be time to rethink some of the recent developments. Maybe we can stop growing a monoculture of humans where the slightest deviation from the norm must be treated with some kind of drug. I am from Europe (but live in the US) and I salute the folks there resisting this nonsense. (And for the…

thanks to uninformed attitudes like yours, I was unable to get any treatment for my ADHD for years while living in Europe. Instead I was told that I was stressed because I was depressed, and depressed because I was stressed, and made to feel like it was my fault for not being easily treatable.

Maybe we can stop growing a monoculture of humans where the slightest deviation from the norm must be treated with some kind of drug.

Yes, yes, and vaccines are a pharmaceutical industry plot, and all the rest. I am really tired of this amateur-hour analysis from people who can't even be bothered to muster up a citation for their hand-waving argument.

Re: ADHD Pill Faces High Hurdle in Europe as Stigma Persists

#40
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you suspect?

Nothing at all. Methamphetamine, which is not very different than the dextroamphetamine in Adderal, has proven to be a remarkably safe substance and in general, society benefits a great deal when people ingest methamphetamine. I'm sure schoolchildren being prescribed dextroamphetamine to take every single day for years is a very good idea as well.

Methamphetamine in fact IS prescribed by doctors to treat certain disorders. It's unfair to compare prescription methamphetamine to street meth since street meth is not only often very impure, but is typically taken in dosages 30x - 50x greater than a therapeutic dose.

This logic could also be used to argue that acetaminophen / ibuprofen should be Schedule I narcotics since taking a dose 30x - 50x larger than the therapeutic dose would almost certainly result in death.

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