So medication for ADHD does not work in the long term?

Question

This was on BBc news this morning, I will try to find a link, I am sure it will be on their website.

Did you also know that Ritalin (a popular ADHD medication) kills more people than cocaine does? I will try to find that statistic but I fear it was in my 'drugs training' at work.

do you have any experience of ADHD and or medications?
My partner work in a behavioural school and deals with this daily and has mixed views . . .

Answer 1

I have know this for a long time Sugar,
My son was prescribed Ritalin when he was 8 years old.
He was on it two weeks,i have never seen a young child turn into a zombie so quickly.I took him straight off the medication and took him to see a dietitian,we have never looked back.
My son is 19 next week and although we still have bad days with him,they are becoming more rare.
He knows what foods affect him and which don't.
Admittedly it has not been easy,so hard at times i felt like pulling my hair out.But we are getting there and he has turned into a fine man.
Omega 3 helps a lot as well. we Started a trial with him when he was 15.
I don't believe in medicating children if it is unnecessary and there are more ways to treat a condition.

Answer 2

For people with no family history of addiction, ADD/ADHD medication has no long term consequences. I will say this once more to make sure you understand... NO FAMILY HISTORY OF ADDICTION. For people WITH a family history of addiction and a genetic/personality/family structure that encourages addiction, you need to avoid these meds like the plague. ALL addicts have ADD/ADHD. That is what spurs them to try and self medicate through the abuse of illegal/legal substances. A family history of addiction + stimulant ADD/ADHD medication = the triggering of the pathways in the brain to spur on the addiction process. If you have NO history of addiction, you can stay on these medications after the age of 18 BUT you would be better off trying some of the more target medications to help adults since the brain differences between adults and adolescents is great. If you have a family history of addiction, you need to start treating your addiction... if it has manifested itself in actual addiction in you or not because that is the outcome if you do not start working to control your predisposition towards self medicating through substances or extremes of action. People that sky dive and do all those "Extreme Sports" have add/adhd and addiction. They use their extreme sports to get the endorphin kick that they WOULD have found in coke or alcohol if they didn't find extreme sports first. As for the chick above me... If she couldn't sleep on the ADD meds, if she had those shaky feelings, if all of that she described happened, then she was either misdiagnosed with ADD/ADHD and she was taking medication that wasn't necessary and most likely CAUSED her later 'signs' of having the disorder or she was on the wrong medication and should have told her parents and doctor about her feelings to try one of the thousand other ADD/ADHD medications that may have stopped those negative side effects. The best long term solution to ADD/ADHD is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Psychiatric Medication, be it for ADD/ADHD, PTSD, OCD, Anxiety, WHATEVER, is only a band-aid on the problem for most people... Medication should only be used to help you cope with the situation until you can work out the CAUSE of the problem and solve it in a meaningful, long term solution. Use the medication as long as you need it, but never stop trying to NOT NEED IT! Traditional Therapy, C.B.T., whatever it takes... Just don't come to rely upon the medication to "Fix" all your problems.

Answer 3

Yes, some years ago I worked with a primary aged boy with ADHD, he was on ritalin and it worked very well for him. He was not as you would expect, he was not out of control or rude to adults etc, he just never shut up for a second when he needed his medication. 20 min's after taking it he coped just as well as any other child in the class. Lots of the parents of children in the school I work in try to say their children must have ADHD, they often can not admit to themselves that their child's problems stem from poor parenting and want to use ADHD as an excuse to hide behind. Each case has to be looked at and assessed. I'm with your partner on this one as it worked for the boy but is not something to be dished out as the norm'.

Answer 4

I guess all the meds do is suppress or enhance production of chemicals within the brain that cause ADHD so in the long term won't help, only calm down the child.

Answer 5

You will a lot of problems rely in there diet. I have heard that vanilla ice cream and yogurt are causing big problems with these kids.It is what manufactures what are putting into there foods.What happen to a la natural foods veg's, salad. Organic foods would help these kids a lot. grain fed beef and chicken etc Some foods have poisons in them eg peppermint ice cream / chocolate. I have been told by a reliable source. I think it comes back to the old fashion foods no junk food. It worries me there are numbers on can food and chip packets etc. How many people know what these numbers are, it is scary

Answer 6

My friend resisted with her child, and cut out all E numbers and fed her just natural foods. Even at juice time at school she has her own special juice, she cannot eat sweets that are given out for birthdays etc. The girl bit my daughter twice, but I must say since she put her daughter on the new regime the change is amazing. I also think its better to try Omega 3 fish oils as well. If this works, fine. If this is not enough, it must be an awful decision for a parent.
Who wants to put a child on medication? Thank God I haven't had the worry with my little darlings! lol

Answer 7

I don't think i had ADHD, but when I was younger I had a hyperativity disorder and I was sent to this woman who err did some herbal stuff, homeopathy or something... my mum was telling me she thought it was going to be a bit of a joke, but it actually help me... found out I couldnt have any dairy products only goats milk etc, no wheat or anything... no sweets (not that i was ever allowed them really)... it dramatically improved my behaviour .... And apparently I was a bit of a nightmare....

They gave me tiny little white pill things, but they were sooo small.. no idea what they were called, I just remember them..

Answer 8

They should try to find out what causes ADHD or ADD a lot of kids and people are over medicated!

Answer 9

Personally I don't believe in ADHD, I think it's a very convenient excuse for bad parenting - be that through bad diet, lack of discipline or whatever. I also think that given that any behavioural problems would probably be solved by increased discipline or better diet, no kids should be on a medication like ritalin anyway!

Answer 10

Both my nephew and brother in law were on ritalin and they were still the same on it the only major difference is they would nt hardly eat and lost a lot of weight. Personaly i think a good diet and propper disaplin helps it won t cure the problem but you can manage it