ADHD – Your Childs Life May Be in Danger
Mon, Mar 17, 2008The ADHD medication Ritalin has claimed another young victim, Anthony Cole, 15. Our hearts go out to his family and friends in this difficult time.
This trend of young children being depressed must be stopped. The pharmaceutical companies have issued warnings that these medications can cause suicidal thoughts. HOW CAN IT STILL BE ON THE MARKET?!
WebMD.com
FDA Advisories. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued:
An advisory on Strattera. It suggests parents and other caregivers closely watch for warning signs of suicide in children and teens taking this medicine.
An advisory on antidepressants to closely monitor adults, teens, and children taking this medicine for warning signs of suicide.
The FDA does not recommend that people stop using these medicines, but to watch for warning signs of suicide in those using them.
The number of children that are taking ADHD medications have increased dramatically in the past 15 years. In a previous post I wrote about the possible link to these medications and Adolescent Violence.
“The number of adolescents on mood altering medications is also at a staggering level, maybe the two are linked. Four years ago the doctors were prescribing anti depressant medications to children as young as 7 years old, now they say it should be used with caution in younger people. Why? Because one of the side effects is suicidal thoughts and another is violent mood swings! It gets even worse when the doctors are prescribing all these wonderful new drugs for ADHD and come to find out they also can cause depression and suicidal thoughts.”
Reading this story about Anthony Cole breaks our heart and fills us with anger. We know what it is like to lose a child. Our bad experiences with ADHD medications make that anger boil. Our son just turned 16, he has ADHD. He was on medication from age 7 until he was about 12 years old. We were concerned that he was always zombie like, he never ate, he never slept, and he was not growing at a normal rate. He was very depressed, cried a lot and he was a loner. We worked with the doctors in changing the brand and dosages to try and help this behavior. Nothing worked. The final straw came when the doctor promised us this “new” type of medication Strattera was not a stimulant and would eliminate all the side effects. Our son just got worse he was so skinny and was not sleeping at all, he started being sneaky and not taking his medication. After sitting him down and talking with him we decided to take him off the medication, although the doctor did not agree he said it was ultimately our decision. It took a lot of patience and still does, we try different things, lots of hands on work. He is very bright, but it is hard to get him to do the homework. We were willing to trade the good grades and calm behavior for an energetic young man that has grown to 6’0 tall and 215 lbs. He now eats, sleeps, enjoys any project and is obviously growing at an enormous rate.
These medications may help some children without the deadly side effects, but it is really worth the risk of your child’s life?
DruU says:
Mar. 17, 2008
This is the exact reason why we need to start questioning the FDA. http://druutopia.com/pot/2007/09/20/trust-in-the-fda/
Unfortunatly, to many people are trusting the FDA and saying, “Its approved medication”
My daughter is Diagnosed with ADHD. I had her on medication for about a week. I started to question the medication they had her on and the side effects were horrible. It made her stoned – zombie like. She also started losing weight and couldn’t eat. She was already skinny and being watched closely by the doctor because she couldn’t gain weight. I pulled her off and she has learned to deal with it and can force herself to concentrate more now. She still has her spells but all in all she is in control of her ADHD.
I also watched a video about using Medical Marijuana for ADD. Can’t get to it here at work but check it out.
Chad & Stacey says:
Mar. 17, 2008
This zombie like effect is so common in children that are prescribed these medications. That should be the first clue to any qualified professional that something is just not right.
We also have read studies on using medical marijuana to treat ADHD. From what we’ve read it seems the studies are very promising. It helps with the attention and the hyperactivity with no suicidal side effects. Although the prudes in this country would never allow this kind of treatment, they rather our children take their “legal” drugs.
ADHD - Your Childs Life May Be in Danger at adhd advice.net says:
Mar. 17, 2008
[…] the rest of this post and contact the author: here Filed under Uncategorized […]
ADHD Report» Blog Archive » ADHD - Your Childs Life May Be in Danger says:
Mar. 17, 2008
[…] unknownReally interesting read I found today:The ADHD medication Ritalin has claimed another young victim, Anthony Cole, 15. Our hearts go out to his family and friends in this difficult time. This trend of young children being depressed must be stopped. … […]
DruU says:
Mar. 17, 2008
That is why it upsets me so much. Most people are picturing an 8 year old smoking a joint. Which I would never agree with. I can however see putting a little Canni-Butter on a piece of toast.
unknown says:
Mar. 17, 2008
I think parents just need to deal with it. kids do not need pills or pot. there are just kids being kids there will out grow it. I am a big beliver in just dealing with ada. I have seened kids on stuff and it is pretty sad seeing them all spaced out. there never had all this shit 30 or 40 years ago. keep them busy doing thing and there will be just find. stop pushing pills and pot now come on. start at 8 yrs hey by time there in there 20s who know what there will be now. own kids are so messed up now because of the way parents are. learn to deal with it.
DruU says:
Mar. 17, 2008
Unknown: I agree totally, That is why my daughter was on medication for a week (maybe 2)
The whole Marijuana discussion is because I can not believe that Marijuana is illegal and things like Ritalin (that are killing people) are legal.
Aspirin averages 500 deaths per year. Anyone at any age can walk up and buy a bottle of Aspirin. Marijuana – Impossible to Over-dose (well there are stats that say you have to smoke your weight in Pot) but for me 180 lbs of pot would be pretty hard to do…
Chad & Stacey says:
Mar. 17, 2008
We agree with Dru that it is the point that medications such as Ritalin are legal when they have fatal side effects and drugs like Marijuana are illegal with non fatal side effects. There seems to be no research in finding other ways to deal with ADHD without medicating children.
Unknown, we also agree that parents tend to find the easy way out when it comes to thier kids. Parents are not educated on the bad side effects from thier doctor, just the so called “good” effects.
unknown says:
Mar. 17, 2008
i guess what i was trying to say it that to me a kid would have to jumping from the ceiling lights. and just can not think of nothing when he is in school. but you give them meds and he is just not your kid anymore.he is someone you just do not want to see for your kid. i had a boy like that i just learded how to deal with him in a totally diff. way and it worked just find. yes it was hard but i knew it was for the best. we can put man in space but we can not do things to help all the children in the world. why would that be???
des says:
Mar. 19, 2008
Great post. I used to take ADHD medications. At the same time, I seeked help from http://www.attention-deficit-disorder.net as they offer plenty of tips and guides. Ireally worked for me. Any opinions?
Sheena says:
Mar. 3, 2012
As an adult that takes ritilin I agree. Ritilin shouldn’t be used for anyone. It causes me to have suicidal thoughts, depression, heart palpitations and insomnia. I can easily see a child or teen with different hormones affecting their judgement commiting suicide while on this drug. If my doctor didn’t basically say i had no other options in medication, (I’m seeking a second opinion) I would be of this terrible pill in a heartbeat. The FDA and drug companies do not have people’s best interest in mind, they only care about money. Interesting fact my doctor told me the other day, there are increased shortages of ritilin available at pharmacies, not because the pharmaceutical company isn’t producing enough, she believes they are purposely causing this shortage so people who are dependent on this medication get desperate and that they will pay whatever the company asks for the pill. There’s going to be a price hike in the medication soon. Just goes to show again where these companies hearts lie.