The other day I was reading the paper, I came across a article that read.
Ritalin nation: Are we killing our children?? This was in the opinion section of the paper. So I really only took it for a grain of salt. But the more I read it the more I got pissed off about the article. I wish it was on the net then I could link the page.
I do realize all the side effects this and other medications like it cause. My son who is age 8 now has had a few of them, and we had to keep a close eye on him. But as far as those goes he is fine on this medication. He takes 20 mg of time release every morning. He is one that has to have it everyday. Until some who just take it for school. He is on it all the time inculding the summer. Before he was ever in school, basicly right after he was born we knew something wasn’t right with this child. At 9 months he started to walk. He also had a few health problems that needed to be surgically fixed. When he entered school I was in the office everyday that first week. They wanted me to take him out of school and start him over the next year. Well I didn’t think I should do that and I beleived that would not be good for him either. His pediatrician sent to him Duke to be evaluaed.
Their diagnoses was ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Behavior Sleep Disorder.
The doctors decided ritalin would be a good one to start with, and over the years we have had to change the dosage and also add some in the afternoon.
It has been an up and down road at school since he started. I have to work hard with his teachers all the time. He’s grades aren’t the best in the world. He just finshed 2nd grade. He did stay back in 1st two years ago with in all I think was a good idea since he is younger then most in his class. But ended up with a A in math which he loves. A C in reading, that has been a battle all year and I started to take him to a reading class after school to help him. and a F in spelling. Then the grade’s that don’t recive a letter grade… Like handwriting( he is left handed) He had mostly N’s and U’s in those… Very few S’s. So we have a long way to go.
But in this article this John W. Whitehead founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. He is basicly saying we are killing our childern by giving them this medication. I would agree with this statement if the childern do not have ADHD or another form of this disorder. Then yes we are killing them since this medication is for ADHD, if you give it to a child that has another disorder then the side effects are unreal. He states that there is no proof that childern that take amphetamine-type or other mind-altering drug do not perform better academically. No studies indicate enhanced asademic performance from these drugs.
Now what I understood these drugs did… Was claim the child down so they can learn, so they can sit still and there for they learn. I know my child is learning. It’s not easy, but I know he is learning. And I also know he is a very smart little boy. And that’s not just mom saying it. He has the info in his head. But when it comes to sitting down and writing it down is where he can’t seem to do it. If in school he could answer out loud he would have wonderful grade. But to sit and right… He’s to much in a hurry…
So… now I am looking for what you’ll think about this… I know… I can not take him off this medication now. But I am also concerned about the long term effect of taking it. My mean concern is about my child and always will be. I want to do what is best for him.
I have no idea what the diagnosis process you underwent was - but if you trust it (and it sounds right, but like I said, IA very much NA Dr!), then from my experience Ritalin is an absolute life-saver.
As medications go, Ritalin has relatively few side-effects (the most visible one being lack of appetite while the drug is active), and AFAIK is supposed to have almost no long term effects (that is, if you stop the medication, there are no effects that just stay around to keep the kid company for the rest of their life). It’s sort of like wearing glasses - sure, it changes things for the kid (let me tell you, glasses on a 10 year old is not a fun situation in school!), but it helps where it’s needed, and if you take the glasses off you just go back to being the same old near-sighted you. Pretty much the same for Ritalin - it only effects the kid while being “worn”, and if it does the job, well, use it!
Also, at least one claim that you quote - that of “calming down” the kids - makes my BS meter jump on this article. Ritalin is a stimulant, for cying out loud! It actually works a lot like Adrenalin - think of how danger or excitement (adrenalin) tends to make people “focused” on whatever is the cause of the adrenalin release, and you’ll understand why Ritalin helps these kids concentrate.
BTW, you might consider checking if a related form of “Slow Release” Ritalin, brand-named Concerta, is available in your neck of the woods. It works for 12 hours straight, and has far less effect on appetite. It’s also still far more expensive… so YMMV.
Again - I AM NOT A DOCTOR! This is all just anecdotal evidence - and I may have some facts wrong too! you should talk to your phsician about this. But my advice, FWIW, is - don’t listen to the “Ritalin is poison” quackery!
My ADHD son has been on Ritalin for five years. I give it to him only on school days, or days where we’ll be on a long car trip. He is an Honour student, a well-behaved child, and very socially well-adjusted.
I think the opponents of Ritalin (in our case, 20 mg slow-release methylphenidate in the morning as he heads out the door to school) are those who do not have children who have needed it.
FWIW, my niece Miss Magic8Ball was also on Ritalin when she was younger. She has grown out of the need of it, and weaned herself from it years ago. She also is (was) a good student and social. The only side-effect she and my son ever had were the loss of appetite while dosed. However, my sister drugged her every day, and included an after-school dosage.
IANAMD However, I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was in the second grade. This was back in the early 80’s or so, when the problem wasn’t overdiagnosis but that most people had never heard of it.
Most psychiatric durgs are not magic pills. Ritalin is. Instead of struggling for hours just to read one page, I could sit at my desk and work. Mom and Dad were always very worried that I might be overmedicated or suffer side effects.
Offhand, I can’t think of an I had. Once I hit puberty, my brainchemistry changed and I had to switch medications several times.
My latest pyschiatrist thought that I still had some ADD problems, and that Ritalin( and its generics) might help. So, I’ve been back on ritalin for a few years. Still no side effects. And it still helps. She switched me to Concerta a few months ago, and this has made my days much smoother. I only need to take one pill in the morning. There’s no need to take pills with me each day and no fear of missing a dose.
IMO There is a problem with overdiagnosis. But, giving Ritalin to a child who doesn’t need it will not calm them down. It isn’t just a stimulant. It’s speed. The same medication I take to quiet my mind is sold on finer streetcorners everywhere.
The only side effect he has had is the loss of appetite. In the mornings when he gets up, he pigs out. Hardly eats any lunch… The school use to call me and tell me he wasn’t eating. I explained what he was on and they understood. Dinner time he will pick at his food. And then before he goes to sleep he pigs out again. And I try to make sure there are good things for him to snack on… He well also get up in the middle of the night and eat. He sleep walks and eats. I’ll find him at different places in the house asleep some mornings… With the adivse of what he eat beside him… He just went to the Dr. last week for a check up on his meds… I take him every couple of months. I think it’s a good idea to keep a close eye on it that way… But since school was over I wanted to take him off the extra 5 mg he was getting at lunch time so he could finsh the day at school… His teacher said he was just not paying attention and some other signs a problem was starting. So he was on that the last three months of school. So I wanted to talk to his Dr. before I stopped it… and Like he said I am his mother and if I feel he doesn’t need it over the summer then we’ll stop it… And then wait and see how the start of third grade goes when he starts again. We do keep a close check on his weight, since he did start to lose weight about a year ago… As of last week he weights 52 pounds and he will be 9 in Sept. To me that seems like alot just by looking at him. He looks very skinny to me… But he is starting to shoot up so.
Just alittle back ground I am a single mom , with three kids , he is the youngest.
And some days I just wish I could just go away and not deal with all of this…
And I hate the fact that people label these kids as being problem childern… They are not… they are very special childern, that need alot of love and support and understanding… and loads of time.
Ritalin was a lifesaver for me as well. It took my attention span from infinitesimal to still short, but much closer to normal. I was able to do my schoolwork all of a sudden, and my grades jumped from “damn near about to repeat first grade” to honor roll or its elementary school equivalent. Only short-term effect I noticed was it suppressed my creative side while I was on it (only during/right after school.)
As for long-term effects, I haven’t seen any long-term ones in the children Ritalin really helped. Ten years of it did nothing to me. Honestly, a good number of people learn to create the effects themself and can go off the drug by late adolescence.
The appetite-suppressant effects might go away in the summer, if you feel he can discontinue his lunch dose.
Ginger, I thought that might be the case when I saw him at the Dopefest. He’s amazingly well-adjusted. Bright kid too, and all that I noticed was the very minor fragmented speech pattern(I have it too, albeit more severe, so it’s easy for me to notice.)
ms_mom, they aren’t problem children any more than a kid with dyslexia is a problem kid. Sure, there are problem kids with ADD, but no more a higher occurence than ‘normal’ kids. As a matter of fact, ADHD/ADD children are quite often brighter than their ‘normal’ counterparts.
Don’t worry. You’ll get it all worked out. If you want to talk, my email is in my profile.
It would seem to me, though - and this is only from my experience with a 9 year old, 75 lb boy - that they’re giving him too much if it’s 5 mg at lunch as well as 20 mg slow release in the morning.
I don’t beleive he is getting to much. I think if he was he would be more zombie like. And he is no where close to that. Even with his meds, he is wide open. He wakes up between 5:30 and 6am and goes strong until, now in the summer time 10 or 11. But when he does drop… He is dead asleep… He also does the talking in his sleep and the night terrors. Which those really frighten me.
Like I said I took him off the 5mg in the afternoon… Since that was needed to help him with school. But since summer is here, he can run wild and enjoy his time.
One thing he does love to do… and he doesn’t sit still doing it, but it does keep his mind busy… Is his gameboy advance… He’ll sit there and play it for long peroids of time. And only likes the puzzle type games… Like Zelda and those… Where he has to use his mind. And he loves doing word puzzles too.
But to sit and read it’s like it kills him… And we have not found anything to help with that…
And thanks Ginger I might take you up on that sometime…
I don’t have a kid who has ADD or ADHD, but actually I kind of do … my husband (my 26-year-old kid). He doesn’t take Ritalin anymore, but did when he was diagnosed with ADD in high school. I haven’t seen any negative effects with him, but then again, he wasn’t on it that long. The positive thing I wanted to share with you is that it is possible to “grow out of it” in a sense (though I fully realize that not everyone does). Basically, as my husband has gotten older, he’s learned to control many of the problems he had without being on Ritalin to help him do that. I realize that it’s not possible for kids to do that, which is why it’s great to have this drug to help them. I think what concerns many people is that some parents and sometimes even doctors rush to diagnose and/or give kids Ritalin when they might not need it (obviously not the case in your situation).
Many of the things you say about your son remind me of my husband. He still doesn’t read much, except for a few magazines. However, he does enjoy looking up and reading things on the Internet. You may want to try this with your son if you’re really concerned about him not reading enough. You may also be able to find some fun games in the areas he struggles with in school, such as the spelling which you mentioned. I just want so much to encourage you in this. My husband, who at one time was a straight D and F student, is now a successful salesman who is extremely career oriented. He just had to find his niche and something he enjoyed, and then he could concentrate on it. Don’t be discouraged!
yellowval Thanks for the words of encouragement and suggestions. He does like to play computer games… Maybe I can find some good reading ones for him to work on.
I just worry about him. And I only want the best for him.
Some days I do feel like pulling my hair out becasue it has been such a bad day. But then when I see him laying in the bed sound asleep I am so thankful for him.
Not if you’re diagnosed when you’re twenty-four years old, it ain’t. The drug works wonders, for sure, but you’re still left with a life-time of problems that you’re stuck with.
To not medicate a child who needs it is a form of abuse which is inexcusable. Anybody who advocates not giving medication to ADD kids should be treated the same as those who advocate beating kids with a rod lest they become spoiled.
ms_mom67, my son is 15 now and has been on various psychiatric medications since kindergarten. He has been taking Ritalin/Concerta for most of that time. The hardest years were when he was younger, like your son is. Keep working at it – he will eventually grow up and be more self-aware and able to take care of himself. You’re doing the right thing in taking him to the doctor and watching your son very carefully. Don’t let those muckrakers get you down!! I know how you feel, I’ve seen them on TV and I get so mad when I hear them claiming that we’re killing our children. My son is doing really well and I’m really proud of him, as I’m sure you are of your son, too. Lots of psychotherapy and the right medication have helped him grow up to be a wonderful, mature young man.
I’ve been on Ritalin since I was seven (I’m now almost 26), and let me tell you, without it I don’t know where I’d be. (Probably locked up somewhere-in addition, I’m also on Paxil for an anxiety disorder).
The problem is, people seem to focus on the stories of those who overprescribe, or else they read that “Ritalin is prescribed more now” and instantly think we’re overmedicating everyone. No. What is happening is, with more information, we’re now able to treat people better, more people are being correctly diagnosed than just being labled “a problem child.” Or they blame it on TV and/or video games.
I think we may be hurting humanity by giving Ritalin, but not in the way you expect.
I think AD/HD is a normal human condition. These people are the risk takers, the non-conformist, and the truly independant thinkers. They try things that others don’t even think of trying. Some make great advancments, not only for themselves, but for humanity. (read Thom Hartmanns books, especially the Edison Trait, for more info). But many people w/ AD/HD unfortunatly fail in their personal risk taking. Overall having a certain %'age of humanity beign AD/HD is a benifit to humanity, even if a very small number of those w/ AD/HD actually make a difference.
This is not to say that numanity would benifit w/ everyone being AD/HD, as most of them fail, but having a few of them have made great advancment. (BTW it appears that Ben Franklin, Edison and Einstein were AD/HD).
By providing meds, you make a AD/HD person opperate as a ‘normal’ person, which may be easier on that person, but that person may not be able to be that creative risk taker who has brought us our standard of living.
This is my humble opinion, if you don’t like mine, well you know what you can do w/ it
As a psychologist and advocate for the use of stimulant medications for properly diagnosed people, I can not agree with the whole “we are hurting humanity” gig, on the premise that it (medication) is taking away from people who are non-conformists, risk takers etc…etc…
This is simply not true. As an adult with ADD, and as an adult who is medicated for the condition I feel respectfully obligated to say, when used as an attention aid, and sometimes mood stabilizer, stimulant medication is a necessity to those who need it.
I am certainly not pairing those who crush it up and snort it, to those who use it for an attention aid. Large pool of difference there. Research is is ever evolving, and knowledge is the only form of solitude I hold onto when talking about stimulant medications. I would not be taking anything if this were something that is just grown out of. Those children who grow out of it, quite possibly may have been victim to the overprecribe craze, and when they hit puberty adapted to life, and got off the meds. This is not the case with adults with ADD. If the long term effects of stimulant medications had shown reproductive, genic, or otherwise physically altering side effects, I would not be taking anything.
The bottom line is the OP did the right thing by having the child properly tested at Duke. Proper testing and blood screening is what is needed to make informed decisions about placing children or adults on medication.
That’s what I asked for… everyone’s opinion… I want the good and I want the bad. Everyone has an opinion… I do have to agree with what you said about them being the true risk takers… They are… I have seen my son do things I would never even think about doing. And some that scare me… He has had some pretty good injurys so far. I swear I believe he thinks at times nothing can happen to him… But I know better. And I continue to protect him as best I can… Just think of this… Someday he could be President … Oh that’s scary :smack:
Oh one other thing, I just re-read this article again.
He also states…
What can we do?? Frist, our government should immediately step in and place a moratorium on Ritalin and similar drugs. No child should be subjected to such medical and psychological abuse. This means our president and Congress should make Ritalin and related drugs the top priority in the so-called war on drugs.
I found the article on line but it was in another forum, so I cut and pasted.
Not sure if I am aloud to that or not. link to the Rutherford commentary page
And speaking as the father of a 14-year-old stepson who’s been taking Ritalin since about the fourth grade (he’s now on Adderall), he went from a child with severe behavorial problems in school to someone who is capable at his studies and pleasant to be around. He seems to have maintained his skewed way of looking at the world, loves art, has developed several friendships and is looking forward to tech school next year.
so YMMV.
