ADHD medication and children(rant post)

20  2017-02-28 by my17thname

My son is younger than ten and really active with sports- Brazilian jiu-jitsu, baseball, soccer, and cross country. He also rides BMX bikes, is in guitar and drum lessons, and has really good grades in school. He plays outside when it's warm and isn't allowed to play any video games nor watch television on school nights, we also do not have cable. I keep him active and he's healthy.

I'm sitting in one of his classes right now, about fifteen parents are around me and EVERY SINGLE one is basically bragging about what brand and dosage of ADHD medication their child is on. How is this a bragging right? 'My son takes medicine to get him through the day, to make him sleep and another one to wake up'. WHAT?! How is this okay?! How is this something that is so common that they're talking about what time they dose their kids for the best results??

I understand that ADHD is a real thing but this class is for 8-12 year olds, how is it that HALF of them are diagnosed and on medication? What is going on?

31 comments

I'm in England, are you in America? Paid health care is probably why. It's a money maker, the NHS because it's free it's different here.

I am in America.

They give those prescriptions out like candy. I got one when I didn't even need/want it. Filled it twice and never taken it again. I hate that medication.

Infuriating, isn't it?

My son struggled with ADD, but I did tons of research and put him on good vitamins and a high quality, multi-spectrum omega instead of meds. I cannot wrap my head around the kid-dosing that everyone seems so fond of.

Bro, people around here try to get their kids diagnosed with shit to get benefits. I can't fathom being that shitty of a parent.

My child is VEEY active, at times surprisingly so, but I'd rather her her be a child than a drugged up zombie.

Schools also get more federal money if they have kids who get diagnosed and get an IEP

Yup. The choice schools around here pick up all those kids then dump them back to Public when the payment is made. It over crowds and over budgets the Public Schools. I think they call it first (or third) Friday? (I forget my little bro is a teacher have to ask him) Since like clock work they only wait until the minimum amount of days needed and then do it.

What's crazy is that they treat it with, literally, amphetamine. The generic version of Adderall, printed on the prescription bottle, is: D Amphetamine salt. That's right. They prescribe children synthetic cocaine.

Dextroamphetamine isn't anything like cocaine, but I understand your concern. It is a stimulant and you can DEF feel it, but you won't need to be blowing down lines of addereall ecery 45 minutes to stay focused.

Have you ever done done both? They're far more similar than you alleged.

I have plenty of experience with both thank you very much.
Yeah, they are stimulants-probably not good for ppl who are functioning normally- but cocaine has a much shorter lasting effect and is much more euphoric. I've never snorted any add meds I just take em prescribed and don't abuse them. I guess not everyone treats it like that. Cocaine is essentially made to be abused however just by the nature of how fun it is and how much you need to do to keep the fun going for a full night.

Pretty much the point I wanted to make is that kids should t be on these stimulants- but cocaine is a far more dangerous animal. It's like drinking a beer vs drinking straight liquor.

Weird. I got more euphoria from oral adderal than I ever got snorting coke. Same general buzz though. Adderall definitely lasts longer. It's like improved cocaine.

I mostly just want to dispell the myths that either of these are instantly addictive and that coke will make you disfunctional. Coke will definitely leave you poorer though, even ignoring free addy from insurancr scams.

I've tried other add meds as well, the most euphoric one being vynanse. The come down was insanely depressing though. The least and imo best one for focus, relaxation, calmness was provigil.

I am scribed a low dose xr off brand adderrall myself so maybe my tolerance has built up

Just doing a line or a few bumps of coke though will have me sweating bullets and talking to strangers like we are old friends lol

They're totally different. I wouldn't be able to work/focus on coke.

They aren't exactly the same, but they have similar effects. Calling them totally different seems dishonest.

Structurally they're totally different. Similar effects.

Kids who legitimately have ADD have a different brain chemistry where the amphetamines bring them back to normal. They don't feel the same high a normal person does when taking them.

Yup. My mom waited until I was 18 and at that point it was very obvious that my brain processes information differently than most, I can't even describe what a difference meds make. It doesn't give me a high or whatever, I can just fucking live and function now. I mean yes I could before but for what it's worth, not in a way that made sense with the world. I'm sure if it was a different time I would have managed but I am so glad I actually got tested.

I do want to get off of meds at some point but to someone with ADD those basic life-skills and habits that don't come as easily. The meds do thoroughly do their job and you learn; essentially adjust your brain so that you have those skills embedded and you can use them without meds as well.

it's more similar to meth but ritalin is chemically similar to cocaine lol.

Synthetic cocaine? You're a fucking idiot.

In high school, i had a guidance councilor try to send me home with samples, I said I didn't want to try them and he told me I was being paranoid.

God dammit this really pisses me off. Being a kid is considered a disorder and these blind ass moms think they're doing what's best.

Mom guilt and the need for other mom's approval takes over and...our whole country is full of drugged kids.

Moms who are reading this, follow your own instincts and try to raise kids who do the same. We don't need anyone to be perfect. We need them to be who they are.

I wonder if a nutrient deficiency caused by industrial agriculture and processing is being papered over expensively by the pharmaceutical companies, and if so, which nutrient? I would guess iodine and magnesium as the primary likely-shortage nutrients.

This makes sense in a way. My daughter is 10 and has ADHD, but we don't medicate her. We switched our diet and cut out junk food and what not.She is a different child. I can post in greater length tomorrow if anyone wants a full breakdown.

Please do

I have a 10 year old daughter that all her life can be high strung, fidgety and have attention issues, sometimes she hyper-focuses on things as well which cannot be good at times. We learned early on that they didn't want to say ADHD because she was younger, but she has all the markers. We noticed Red Dye 40 caused her to go off the walls, so we cut that out early on. In January we made a lifestyle change as a family. We cut out a lot of carbs, (almost gluten free, but not quite) My wife makes smoothies every morning, consisting of spinach and fruits, we keep a lot of fruit in the house and nuts. Most of the snacks tend to be healthy. We noticed her moods change to positive, and she flies off the handle less. We cut out processed foods by 50-60%, we don't eat out as much, and we keep fresh almond milk, yogurt and a good bit of fruits and vegetables in stock such as baby carrots. Now my wife is a SAHM, so she makes the yogurt and almond milk and fixes the snack packs so that helps. We are able to buy nuts and fruits in bulk via Costco or Aldi. Give it a shot mileage may vary, but it's helped us.

When I was in high school I used to take triple the dose of Ritalin before practice, I went from bench to starting to MVP to college scholarship in 2 years. :)) Thanks MOM and DR Sampson.

to sleep?

I understand that ADHD is a real thing but this class is for 8-12 year olds, how is it that HALF of them are diagnosed and on medication? What is going on?

I have ADHD, I only got diagnosed at 21 and the medication has literally changed my life.

That being said I cannot even imagine giving this to little kids. It's power as fuck. Stimulants are no joke. I have a customised diet and specific behavioural planning in order to ensure I can function as intended.

No child needs to be on this, it's outright reckless IMO.

I can understand it when they get into their mid teens, exams are a problem and school grades matter a lot, or in kids who have severe behavioural problems. But in general I think its damn near criminal.

ADHD Fraud is a good book on the subject by Craig Hovey