www. medicationmastery. com This video discusses the checklists used to assist in the evaluation and medication management of ADD and ADHD. Checklists for children and adolescents are mentioned.
Aug
21
Aug
18
Do ADHD stimulant drugs such as Ritalin cause heart attacks? Yes, they can–in a small number of children. Children who have a pre-existing heart condition. Since 1999 thirty kids have died from sudden death attributed to stimulant drugs. And more have suffered heart-related problems. Again, all of these children had a pre-existing heart condition. The drugs didn’t cause the heart condition!
I’m not crazy about giving drugs to kids for ADHD. Lots of strategies help enormously with ADHD that don’t involve Ritalin. However, I don’t want to be part of the over-reaction and scare tactics running amok on the Web. Most children will not have a cardiovascular problem with ADHD stimulant drugs.
But the American Heart Association’s (AHA) doing the right thing! They’re recommending that every child have an electrocardiogram (EKG) before a prescription for a stimulant drug is written. Some people think this is extreme and way too expensive.
Total cost could be as high as $250 million–that’s assuming 250 million kids have EKGs at the cost of about $100 per child. Hmm. Am I missing something here? A hundred bucks per kid sure doesn’t sound all that expensive to me–given that it could save a child’s life! One of my grandchildren. Your child. A child in your classroom.
Keep in mind that a child can have a heart “problem” that your pediatrician isn’t aware of. Exactly the reason the AHA’s saying “get an ECG” first before taking an ADHD drug. And, yes, there’s a strong possibility of a false positive since children’s EKG’s are hard to read. So have a second EKG, a second opinion, more cardiac screening. But don’t skip this important evaluation.
In addition to an EKG, an ADHD cardiac checklist would also include -
Patient and family history with attention to fainting, palpitations, dizziness, difficulty with exercise
Physical exam including blood pressure and a check for abnormal heartbeats.
Consultation with a pediatric cardiologist if necessary.
For me, that a drug requires an ECG first is enough to consider non-drug alternatives for managing ADHD. Let drugs be the very last resort.
Get dopamine-increasing foods on the table, establish routines and schedules and boundaries. Eliminate foods with artificial color and flavoring. Cut back on refined carbs like candy, cookies, pie, cake, chips, and white bread. Increase protein. Look into programs for ADHD like Samonas or other sound therapy, Cog Med, neurofeedback, and Retrain the Brain. Turn off the TV. Get them moving everyday with games, sports, and vigorous exercise. Make sure they’re getting enough sleep.
Try a runner’s stretch: Hands against the wall, one leg forward with knee bent, other leg stretched out behind the body. Slowly lift your heel, coming up on your toes. Deep breath. Exhale while lowering your heel to the floor. Repeat a couple of times and switch sides. It’s the same as Calf Pump in Brain Gym. Do Calf Pump two or three times a day. Notice the change. Now that your kids are eating healthier, not watching so much TV, and getting plenty of exercise and sleep, they may not need an EKG or stimulant drugs. They may not have ADHD.
And have you ever wondered if your kids really have ADHD? Now you can get the FREE “Maybe They Don’t have ADHD” inventory and checklist. Lists 43 factors that contribute to ADHD-like behavior. Copy the checklist. Use it over and over. Give it to teachers and parents. Help stop the over-diagnosis of ADHD!
You’ll get the ADHD inventory and checklist when you subscribe to the FREE “ADHD NewsTips,” a three-times weekly email with easy to use, effective tips for helping those ADHD kids. You’ll find it at http://www.adhdchildrentoday.com/newstipssubscribe.htm
From MaryJo Wagner, Ph.D. – The Learning Doctor, helping you help your kids learn any subject at any time easily and quickly.
MaryJo_Wagner
Aug
16
My diary continues on my ADHD and medication. Hopefully people will learn that some and perhaps remove some of the stigma of ADHD and medication in general.
Aug
5
Everyone has heard of ADHD and knows of the stigmatism associated with it, which is, the need for medical science to offer the drugs Ritalin, Adderall or Concerta, to name but a few, to help relieve the symptoms of those that suffer with it. But what you don\’t often hear is that the side effects may, to some, be worse than the actual condition it is treating. ADHD meds are more commonplace today than ever.
Medicine can be a wonderful thing and it can make it easy to live with things that years ago would have resulted in death or institutionalization of the patient. However, modern day practitioners seem to have taken the approach of one size fits all when it comes to prescribing medication for things, in particular the ADHD drugs and ADHD meds.
It is a lot easier for the doctor to say the patient has ADHD and prescribe any of the many ADHD drugs than it might be to look at the causes of it for that particular patient and see if there might be a less medicinal approach, or at the very least a less harmful medicine that could actually benefit the patient in other ways.
ADHD drugs have become so commonplace that at parties they are more of a status symbol now days than the embarrassment that they used to be. Folks used to hide the fact that someone was taking ADHD meds and today they more or less flaunt the information.
Lately nutritional programs have proven to give some relief from the symptoms of ADHD and in some instances have allowed patients to cut down, modify or even completely remove the need for ADHD med and the ADHD drugs they have been prescribed for years.
The side effects of these drugs are different from the different ADHD meds and range from tremors and nervousness to anxiety, dizziness and headache, dryness of the mouth and insomnia. Constipation, Diarrhea, unpleasant taste in the mouth, impotence and or any other drastic changes in the sex drive are further symptoms.
Sometimes patients have even reported psychosis and increased blood pressure. Nausea, vomiting and heart palpitations to name just a few of the COMMON side effects of the use of these drugs that are commonly used to cure the disease. Does that make the cure worse than the disease?
Look at some of the many signs of ADHD and see if you think that ADHD drugs or ADHD meds are called for.
Just a few things that a teacher might spot and say signal ADHD are, a loss of concentration, fidgeting, lack of focus, difficulty with instructions, easily distracted etc. I am not sure about you, but this also fits me to a tee when I was in school. Science seems to have a need to find an explanation for everything on the planet and to give everything a weird name and assign a drug to it to help control or cure it.
There may well be ADHD and there may be, in some cases, a need for ADHD drugs or ADHA meds, but I for one think that the general physician population and the public need to look farther into alternative options and medications that have less harmful side effects than to just take the easy way out and say that so and so has ADHD, let\’s give him or her Ritalin. Remember, these folks will inherit the earth one day and be responsible for decisions about policy, shouldn\’t they be clear headed?
Diana is a Natural Health Consultant and is taking classes to earn a certificate in herbalism. Her website, Natural Health and Herbal Remedies, offers the knowledge, insights and experiences she has gained from her journey into the world of natural health and her quest to share it with others. Learn more about Natural ADHD Drugs at her website.
Jul
24
Is this the sort of help with ADHD children you, as a parent, are looking for? At the James Madison University, students were interviewed about their misuse of the ADHD drugs like Adderall to help them study for exams. Overall anything between 5 % and 35% of students are snorting this drug or similar ones to get through their exams. They seem to be ignorant of other possible side effects such as: anxiety, hypertension, hallucinations, insomnia, weight loss, sudden death and seizures. They seem to be unaware that Adderall is a Schedule II drug and they could get up to 40 years of imprisonment under Virginia drug law. Fines of up to $500,000 could be imposed as well. Is this the treatment of ADHD in children you wanted?
Is this the future you see for your child when s/he gets to university? Here is another story of a boy in the UK who had severe ADHD and was on a very high dose (70 mg) of Concerta. Normally a 50mg dose is the maximum dose. Because of the side effects of this ADHD drug supposed to calm hyperactivity and control impulsivity, this boy injured himself while trying to iron a shirt which he was wearing at the time. One of the side effects of the drug was a terrible feeling of depression and listlessness. The 18 year old stopped taking the medication and one of his reactions was to go and burn down a school. He was convicted of arson and ordered to pay damages. Is this the sort of treatment of ADHD in children you were looking for?
When parents ask about treatment of ADHD in children, they do not want to hear these stories and many will shrug their shoulders saying that these are calculated risks. Other parents will run a mile from these ADHD medications which are a cocktail of amphetamines and they know that they are addictive and can lead to drug abuse. They also know that these psychostimulants are in great demand on the school parking lot. Up to 20% of teenagers who have been on these ADHD drugs are at risk of drug dependency and ending up on the drugs scene and even as pushers. Is this the only help with ADHD children we are offered by the drugs industry?
Many parents have read extensively on ADHD and know that , in spite of the drugs industry’s best efforts, there ARE alternative ADHD therapies available and they consist of herbal/homeopathic remedies which are just as effective and without any of the side effects or problems I have mentioned above. Each parent has to make an informed choice and the one thing that will influence them is the fact that ADHD drugs only suppress the symptoms and never cure the cause. Actually there is no cure but the natural remedies for ADHD will alleviate the symptoms and will not turn your child into a zombie , arsonist or drug pusher. This is the treatment of ADHD in children which will never get much publicity. The link here will give you all the information you need.
Robert Locke is a Health enthusiast who specializes in Children’s Health. He has written extensively on ADHD. Discover what ADHD Alternative Therapy is available.
Jun
21
Each year in the United States, doctors write and parents fill more than 10 million prescriptions for ADHD/ADD drugs, more than 90% of all prescriptions written worldwide for this disorder. In the 1990s, sales of the pharmaceuticals used to treat the condition grew by more than 500%. However, for the past several years, psychologists, teachers, and parents have been taking a closer look at the big picture of what Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is and what the best ways to treat it really are. Supplement manufacturer MicroNutra Health has developed and now provides the supplement “Synaptol” as a treatment for the symptoms of ADHD/ADD.
ADHD/ADD is a neurobiological disorder, with behavioral symptoms such as poor concentration, distractibility, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness. It affects an estimated 8% to 10% of school-aged children, with approximately three times more boys being diagnosed with it than girls. According to MicroNutra Health, the supplement Synaptol targets all of the primary symptoms of this disorder simultaneously. By effectively addressing all the symptoms together, Synaptol enables children to get back on target quickly and safely.
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is essentially the result of a brain being overwhelmed by the stimuli around it. This feeling of being overwhelmed manifests itself in someone who simply has to relieve the feeling of being overstimulated and does so by moving around, fidgeting, and generally letting out bursts of physical and emotional energy.
Prescription drugs attempt to help people with this condition by chemically blocking some of the external and internal stimuli from reaching the brain. Unfortunately, this means that the drugs may also reduce exploration, curiosity, socializing, and playing. Nearly all of the pharmaceutical drugs have the potential for negative side effects, including diminished brain function and a narrowed range of mental capacity or emotional expression. Though generally prescribed by doctors and administered by parents with the best of intentions, these drugs reduce the overwhelming stimuli by reducing the patient’s experience of the world at large.
Synaptol appears to take the opposite approach in treating ADHD/ADD’s symptoms. Based on its ingredients and the information provided by the research-and-developer, Synaptol is intended to enhance the brain’s neurobiological abilities, to enable a child’s (or an adult’s) brain to handle greater levels of stimuli without becoming overwhelmed. They state that Synaptol is designed at the molecular level to target and feed a child’s young mind and body at the nutritional level and that it aids the body to:
* Reduce hyperactivity and restlessness
* Calm, soothe and reduce mood swings
* Improve concentration, memory and attention span
* Improve alertness and mental focus
* Calm over-active minds
* Reduce impulsiveness and aggression
According to the MicroNutra, Synaptol attacks the symptoms of ADHD/ADD by nurturing and balancing cellular metabolism, restoring optimum synaptic production, and eliminating the stress factors that exhaust physical energy resources. This restores synaptic energy, which allows brain cell activity to quicken, allowing central processing and increasing cellular communication throughout the body.
In this way, the herbal supplement takes the opposite approach in treating unwanted ADHD/ADD symptoms, compared to the approach taken by the prescription drugs meant to address the same issues. Whether you’re a patient, parent, or psychologist dealing with ADHD/ADD, it’s up to you to decide which approach to Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder you prefer.
Lila Montgomery writes about treating ADHD. Discover the facts about the many symptoms and situations that doctors and teachers routinely misdiagnose as ADHD. Learn more about coping with ADHD symptoms and the natural, side-effect-free alternative offered at Synaptol Review.
Jun
8
To learn more about medications and add? Overmedication, undermedication, and threshing. . . We have all heard, but it is good medicine for you or your students if you have ADD and are in college? Learn from Michael Sandler, an expert college ADD, how drugs can help, the positives and negatives. . . Learn more about the stereotypes, myths, truths, and more. Learn more about addiction, side affects, alternatives, and even how drug affects your personality. Almost all know the positives and negatives of a drug, including side affects, drug addiction, your personality, how it can help match “smart if you try drugs and more. (By the way, congratulations to Michael Phelps to overcome your AD / HD challenges and show us all how it can be done. Thanks to your mom too much to get you the help you needed, never give up, focusing on the positive, and believing in yourself, no matter what. We can all succeed with LD or ADHD, we can never give up, no matter the difficulty or challenge. Way to go Michael!)
Jun
3
To learn more about medications and add? Overmedication, undermedication, and threshing. . . We have all heard, but it is good medicine for you or your students if you have ADD and are in college? Learn from Michael Sandler, an expert college ADD, how drugs can help, the positives and negatives. . . Learn more about the stereotypes, myths, truths, and more. Learn more about addiction, side affects, alternatives, and even how drug affects your character. Almost all know the positives and negatives of a drug, including side affects, drug addiction, your personality, how it can help match “smart if you try drugs and more. (By the way, congratulations to Michael Phelps to overcome your AD / HD challenges and show us all how to do it! Thanks to your mom too much to get you the help you needed, never give up, focusing on positive aspects (and you govern in the pool), and believe in yourself, no matter what. We can all succeed with LD or ADHD, we can never give up, no matter the difficulty or size of the challenge . Way to go Michael!)
Jun
2
To learn more about medications and add? Overmedication, undermedication, and threshing. . . We have all heard, but it is good medicine for you or your students if you have ADD and are in college? Learn from Michael Sandler, an expert college ADD, how drugs can help, the positives and negatives. . . Learn more about the stereotypes, myths, truths, and more. Learn more about addiction, side affects, alternatives, and even how drug affects your personality. Almost all know the positives and negatives of a drug, including side affects, drug addiction, your personality, how it can help match “smart if you try drugs and more. (By the way, congratulations to Michael Phelps to overcome your AD / HD challenges and show us all how it can be done. Thanks to your mom too much to get you the help you needed, never give up, focusing on the positive, and believing in yourself, no matter what. We can all succeed with LD or ADHD, we can never give up, no matter the difficulty or challenge. Way to go Michael!)
Jun
2
Ashley, a student is interviewed by Dr. Charles Shinaver the abuse of prescription drugs in college. Is Adderall abuse or abuse of other drugs for ADHD on the College campus important? Students ask students ADHD all the time to sell or give their ADHD drugs to other students. The line between use and abuse is unclear, doctors prescribe them. Faking ADHD is easy. Coke, Dr. Pepper, coffee, tea, energy drinks, ADHD drugs, where is the limit? Pick me up Lock me vs.