Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects as many as 30 million Americans, that’s roughly 10% of the population. Approximately 5-9% of children ages 9 to 17 are affected and as many as 2–4% of adults are affected. Most studies show that boys are affected approximately five times more frequently than girls. ADHD is primarily considered a childhood condition, however, new research indicates that it is a lifelong condition for more than half of those troubled with its hallmark symptoms of inattention, distractibility, impulsivity and emotional instability.
Before you decide whether or not to give your child one of the ADHD drugs, I recommend that you check out the Warnings and Side-effects at www.rxlist.com and then read some real patient stories at www.askapatient.com to get some real life perspectives on the drugs. These drugs can work like magic for a short time, then the damage begins to accumulate and the neurotransmitter depletion and damage can be devastating.
Here is a sample of a few patient stories from www.askapatient.com. It is extremely revealing. This should be enough for anyone to see the destructive potential of these drugs, which are not tested for long term side-effects because the pharmaceutical drug companies don’t want to know them because then they would be liable for the damage done.
To learn about the Natural Alternatives to these ADHD drugs, click here.
ADDERALL
Patient: Female, Age 21, Drug: Adderall, 20mg, dose: 1 tab 3x/w for 6 months. Side-effects: weight loss, when i first started taking them there were good side effects. Number one, i lost 30 lbs in 3 months. I would be alert and get things done that i would put off normally. i was happy and social and a greater sense of self esteem. Now, six months later, bad side effects come on. I cant sleep, even if i take only like 60 milligrams, i wont sleep for the next two days. then i become paranoid and irritable and believe things that aren’t true. my mouth is torn up all the time because i chew my lips. when im not on aderrall i have no motivation and only want to sleep, sometimes more than 12 hours at a time, and i binge eat, like crazy. i always call into work, fight with my husband, twitchy, and though it does help me focus when i need to do homework, i end up getting behind because ill put it off for the “next time i take adderall.” i hate myself, i hate everyone why did i just tell you all the negetive effects about adderall but am still going to take it. I just woke up from sleeping about 11 hours, and im tired. I took eight 20 milligram adderall pills from monday to wednesday morning. i took two in the beginning, monday at about 2 pm, with every intention of going to sleep when i was done studying. well it started to wear off before i was done studying so i took one more. when i finished at about 12 20 am,i tried to lay down but my eyes wouldn’t close. i lied there until 4 am, then decided id get up, take 2 more, and study more. i had class at 12, before 10 am i was tired again to i took more and went to class. i hadn’t taken anymore sence then, but i couldnt sleep until last night. all i did was cry and fight with my hubby. the area in my body where my LIVER is located is in extreme pain at this very moment. all i want to is sleep. or take more adderall 2/26/2010
To read more Adderall stories, click here.
CONCERTA
Patient: Male, Age 7, Drug: Concerta, 36mg, dose: 1 tab 1x/day for 1 year. Side-effects: lack of concentration, aggression, over thinking, can’t sleep, can’t eat, over emotional, sits for long hours playing with legos and never makes anything. Comments: Our seven year old son couldn’t concentrate in school, couldn’t sit still, couldn’t follow directions. Now he is a zombie. Rail thin to the point I can see his rib cage. Won’t eat. Sits for long periods of time “thinking” over things. We’re Taking him off it now.
Patient: Male, Age 17, Drug: Concerta, 36mg, dose: 2tabs 1x/day for 3 years. Side-effects: Dry mouth, leading to bad breathe, suicidal thoughts, intense irritation, hyper focus, increased hearing tolerance, socially awkward, dizziness, headaches, stomach aches, twitches, very intense heartbeats to the point where I could see my stomach beat through my shirt, shakiness, no tolerance, cold hands and feet, over thinking, depression, complete loss of appetite-didn’t have to eat for days, paranoia, intense insomnia, crying. Comments: I originally took Concerta because of my lack of focus in class. It made me extremely focused and I got very good grades but, after a while I started to be a zombie and became a person who didn’t talk and just worked. I lost all of my personality, never felt right, was self conscious, and never knew what to say. I also could not handle stupid comments. Any kind of joke or any person who is in any way annoying would make me flip out. I also could not sleep until it wore off which was around 2 o’clock at night. Eating was not even an option and became too skinny. Always paranoid for what I had to do. In class I sweat excessively and always smelled bad. When I got home I felt alone and nothing could ever make me happy no matter how hard I tried. I also felt weak and thought I would fall down whenever I would stand because of the dizziness and weakness in my body.
Patient: Female, Age 9, Drug: Concerta, 27mg, dose: 1tab 1x/day for 6 months. Side-effects: loss of appetite, mood swings, aggressiveness. Comments: My 9 yr old daughter is on 27mg and is now doing really well in school. We/She are very proud of her accomplishments. She is now able to stay focused in class, homework, day to day life,… She was losing weight at the beginning but now with a high/healthy calorie diet she is maintaining her weight. Recently she missed a dose and by the end of the day she was acting very differently, she was screaming for no reason.. I was told it was withdrawal to not miss any doses. Now I’ve been noticing other behaviors even without missing any doses. She has been fighting a lot with her younger sister and just a couple of weeks ago started being even a bit violent. Anyone experiencing this too? I’m really rethinking this, nervous about the long-term effects.
Patient: Female, Age30, Drug: Concerta, 18mg, dose: 1tab 3x/day for 15 years. Side-effects/Comments: It’s taken me 15 years to fully gauge the effect of this drug on my life from adolescence to adulthood. What seemed like minor side effects as a child (social awkwardness, anxiety, staring into oblivion), turned out to be warning signs of lasting effects on my life as an adult. With the stimulants I achieved a 4.0 GPA both in high school and in college, and found a high paying dream job on Wall St. But on the flip side, the stimulants have robbed me of my happiness. The anxiety is incessant. It has destroyed my romantic relationships and left me socially dysfunctional. I can’t maintain romantic relationship, don’t speak to my family anymore, and don’t have any close friends. I’ve found that that “distant stare” that we get with the drug isn’t just a funny side effect. Your mind is thinking so much (stressing about some minor detail) that it stops using those instinctive/emotional pathways that make you “human”. As a consequence, I would encourage parents trying stimulants on their children to take a deeper and more thoughtful look at what’s happening to their child on the medication. GPA is an easy thing to measure, but emotional development isn’t. Ultimately, it’s the latter that will govern meaningful happiness, not the former. F age: 30; duration of TX: 15 years; dose: 18mg 3X D 7/7/2010
To read more Concerta stories, click here.
DEXEDRINE
Patient: Female, Age 19, Drug: Dexedrine, for 11 years. Side-effects: Headaches, shakiness, extreme insomnia, no sex drive, paranoia, antisocial tendencies, obsessiveness over repetitive tasks, suicidal thoughts, feelings of invincibility, aggressiveness. Comments: I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 8, and I’ve been on this drug ever since. After 11 years on it, I have extreme withdrawals when I run out and forget to refill my prescription. I’ve contemplated killing myself or someone else over stupid things like dirty dishes. I have no desire to be social, and I’m told that I act like “a tweaker” constantly. Sure, I can crank out 3,000 word essays in 4 hours when I take it later in the day, but then I’ll be up until 5am. I usually get 3-5 hours of sleep a night. This drug is EXTREMELY dangerous, and it will become your life. I don’t even know who I am naturally, because I’m always on it. I recommend not taking it unless you have a severe disorder. After growing up under the influence of this drug, I feel like I’ve been robbed of a normal childhood. DO NOT give this to your children. Robbing children of any creativity and impulsiveness in order to “fix” overactive minds is not worth the suffering of trying to get off this drug. 12/17/2007
To read more Dexedrine stories, click here.
RITALIN
Patient: Male, Age 36, Drug: Ritalin, 30mg, dose: 1tab 1x/day for 9 years. Side-effects: headaches, aggressive violent behavior, loss of appetite, slow growth, late puberty, memory loss, anxiety. Comments: I was put on ritalin when i was 5, and stayed on till i refused to take it any longer at 13. I had many problems as a child, mostly due to being smaller than the other children in my class. I suffered severe headaches as a child. puberty came late, and was less than 100 lbs at age17, and reached 5 foot 10 at age 23. and 120 lbs. Today , i suffer from depression, and anxiety. ritalin is a serious drug and should not be given to children. 7/30/2010
To read more Ritalin stories, click here.
VYVANSE
Patient: Male, Age 9, Drug: Vyvanse, 10mg, dose: 1tab 1x/day for 6 months. Side-effects: Anger, depression, threats of suicide, hiding in small spaces, uncontrollable crying, unreasonable, unable to process explanations about why he could or couldn’t do something or have something. Comments: My 9 year old son began taking Vyvanse about 6 months ago which was the same time I got re-married. He was taking this along with a 2nd medication in the afternoon. In the evenings, he began hiding in closets, under tables, I would even find him at night with his pillow and blanket asleep in the back of his closet. He was having terrible anger and if told he couldn’t do or have something he cried, screamed, said he wished he was dead and wanted to kill himself. Every evening was a complete disaster. We finally went to a psychiatrist who took him off Vyvanse and kept him on the afternoon med as a trial. Amazingly we have no more crying, no more hiding and no more threats of suicide. He is my happy, sweet, loving child again. All along I thought it was my marriage that had made this happen to him and felt horrible about it but now we know it was the medication. 8/5/10
Patient: Female, Age 15, Drug: Vyvanse, 50mg, 1x/day for 10 months. Side-effects/Comments: Just got back from the hospital with my 15 year old daughter who, after taking Vyvanse for 10 months, began to experience serious side effects including irregular and racing heart beat, dizziness, weakness, blurred vision and dulled hearing, chest pains and sweating episodes. Doctor put her through a battery of tests; full blood profile, chest x-ray, EKG and more. Final conclusion was the Vyvanse was causing the bad side effects. He recommended taking her off of the drug immediately. Not sure why these symptoms took 10 months to manifest, but users beware, it may be cumulative and become serious. Also, during this time periods became irregular. We’re looking for alternatives now. 7/4/2010
Patient: Female, Age 19, Drug: Vyvanse, 60mg, 1x/day, for 2.5 years. Side-effects/Comments: For the first year- year and a half that I took vyvanse, it was 30 MG, and seemed like a miracle pill. I lost 20 lbs, raised my GPA from a 2.5 to 3.4, I could concentrate without any issue … it seriously was like the miracle pill. Over the past years I have had to raise my dosage from 30 mg to 40 mg and am currently taking 60 mg. For the past year and a half I have been going through hell. The side effects are unexplainable… I became depressed and almost came to the point of being prescribed antidepressants, almost daily i go through hysterical fits of crying uncontrollably over the simplest things sometimes for no reason, I get urinary tract infections at least every two months (UTI’s are a side effect), loss of appetite, anxiety attacks, headaches, insomnia, anger, it causes me to over analyze some situations to the point of it becoming paranoia, it has opened the door to an eating disability. If I don’t take I will either sleep all day or lay in bed literally all day with no motivation. 2/25/2010
To read more Vivanse stories, click here.