tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609697803613641438.post335850011049334146..comments2024-02-01T04:43:26.273-06:00Comments on NEWS ANCHOR MOM: child health, child safety, toxic toys, autism, etc. for busy moms: ADHDJen Christensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15528551519602313049noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609697803613641438.post-55802062217794014082008-01-20T16:16:00.000-06:002008-01-20T16:16:00.000-06:00I have a son who is ADHD. I do not really believe...I have a son who is ADHD. I do not really believe in just giving a drug to fix whatever but I have to agree that unless you have lived this situation, it is hard to see where you come from. Also, every child is different. This shows in the effect medication can have and working on behavior mocification. The medication is not a cure all so we also have to work on behavior modifications. This is the way it is for us but as I said...every child is different. <BR/>CarolAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609697803613641438.post-30983347870761700962008-01-14T23:10:00.000-06:002008-01-14T23:10:00.000-06:00My son had/has ADD. He was diagnosed after a batt...My son had/has ADD. He was diagnosed after a battery of tests when he was seven. I didn't want to medicate him, but it was apparent he was failing in school and friendships. His grades and school behavior improved immediately. As he grew older, I would try to take him off meds, but his grades would drop from A's and B's to C's and D's. <BR/><BR/>He is now 21 and will not take medication. He has dropped out of college and struggles with keeping jobs and relationships.<BR/><BR/>It's so easy for those of you to make judgements when you have not dealt with this issue personally. When your child is suffering, most parents will try every possible solution. My heart still breaks when I see him struggling as an adult. You never stop being a Mom.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609697803613641438.post-34735742681536701272008-01-14T11:30:00.000-06:002008-01-14T11:30:00.000-06:00You got a problem?Just throw some drugs at it.Yeah...You got a problem?<BR/><BR/>Just throw some drugs at it.<BR/><BR/>Yeah, right.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609697803613641438.post-43863025765064639832008-01-14T11:29:00.000-06:002008-01-14T11:29:00.000-06:00In families of weak parents, it's called ADHD.In b...In families of weak parents, it's called ADHD.<BR/><BR/>In business, it's called Multi-tasking, Floating Awareness, and Diffuse Perceptual Keying.<BR/><BR/>Kids sell their Ritalin to classmates, or trade it for "cheese" heroin, pot, or X.<BR/><BR/>Shame on parents for doping their kids like they were horses.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609697803613641438.post-5468149700497224542008-01-14T10:37:00.000-06:002008-01-14T10:37:00.000-06:00Jimmy and anonymous hit the nail on the head. Rita...Jimmy and anonymous hit the nail on the head. Ritalin seems to be a parent's way of saying "I don't want to deal with it" in convenient pill form.<BR/><BR/>I was "diagnosed" with this "disorder" in my early teens. Fortunately, I was too busy with music, athletics, schoolwork, extracurricular activities, kart racing, work and family functions to really notice. <BR/><BR/>Then I found a field of study and career path that requires me to be able to think on my feet and cover a wide range of ground in a short period of time. <BR/><BR/>No, I can't keep the radio tuned to the same station for more than 30 seconds, and it took me two hours to type this post after leaving it and coming back to it eight times.<BR/><BR/>But overall, I see my "disorder" as a tremendous gift. It allows me to do things that "normal" people can't.SuperJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01415669951873907613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609697803613641438.post-87661792920412794232008-01-12T03:29:00.000-06:002008-01-12T03:29:00.000-06:00I had an ADHD child many years ago. We recognized ...I had an ADHD child many years ago. We recognized it immediately and decided on a pattern for him that was different. We never asked him to sit down and be still. We spoke with each of his teachers every year and told them of his condition and asked them not to force him to sit still but just keep him busy. He was kept challenged with the next thing to come. He is now 42 and considered a genius. He writes programs for computers and invented numerous things. He makes in the neighborhood of $500,000 per year. He has spent 22+ years in the AF and retired two years ago. We kept him challenged all the time and about the time he was 16 he had learned to control himself and accomplished very much. He was chess champion of his school. He fixed the computers for three schools when he was just a teenager. It wasn't easy but we managed and also raised three other children in the process all of which have become very successful. Think outside the box. I don't approve of medication because I've seen what it did to my sister's child who was also ADHD. He is 40 and useless. Can't keep a job and can't keep a life. Good luck with your son, and bless you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609697803613641438.post-26037505929560065002008-01-12T02:07:00.000-06:002008-01-12T02:07:00.000-06:00Ritalin is given by doctors to boys who can't be c...Ritalin is given by doctors to boys who can't be controlled or boundaried by their moms, mostly single.<BR/><BR/>The kids have amazing concentration powers when watching a Harry Potter movie or playing Halo 3.<BR/><BR/>But when it comes to school work, suddenly they've got "ADHD" = A Doctor Has Dollars.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609697803613641438.post-73306822796351313932008-01-11T21:21:00.000-06:002008-01-11T21:21:00.000-06:00One of the most helpful and safest therapies for A...One of the most helpful and safest therapies for ADHD has been food supplements high in 3 omega fatty acids.. You can read these abstracts from pubmed. Some papers are available for free. The majority of papers show benefits, few and minor side effects<BR/>http://tinyurl.com/2h8z9d<BR/><BR/>on the other hand pharmacological have been linked to a variety of side effects.I suggest any parent giving these drugs to a child read the package insert to be educated about what adverse events might occur. <BR/><BR/>Some of the more worrisome reports include suicide while on Straterra. Not just one or 2 isolated cases, 130 cases in one month of monitoring:<BR/><BR/>http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/strattera.html<BR/><BR/>Here is another report:<BR/><BR/><BR/>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060524/ap_on_he_me/adhd_drugs<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>By LINDA A. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer Wed May 24, 7:42 PM ET<BR/><BR/>Accidental overdoses and side effects from attention deficit drugs likely<BR/>send thousands of children and adults to emergency rooms, according to the<BR/>first national estimates of the problem.<BR/>ADVERTISEMENT<BR/><BR/>Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated<BR/>problems with the stimulant drugs drive nearly 3,100 people to ERs each<BR/>year. Nearly two-thirds — overdoses and accidental use — could be prevented<BR/>by parents locking the pills away, the researchers say.<BR/><BR/>Other patients had side effects, including potential cardiac problems such<BR/>as chest pain, stroke, high blood pressure and fast heart rate.<BR/><BR/>Concerns over those effects have led some doctors to urge the<BR/>Food and Drug Administration to require a "black box," its most serious<BR/>warning, on package inserts for drugs such as<BR/>Ritalin, Concerta and Adderall. Yet even doctors advising the FDA don't<BR/>agree on whether that's warranted.<BR/><BR/>The issue was discussed in a series of letters in Thursday's<BR/>New England Journal of Medicine, including some from doctors worried about<BR/>the dangers of not treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.<BR/><BR/>"The numbers (of side effects) are puny compared to the numbers of<BR/>stimulant prescriptions per year," said Dr. Tolga Taneli, a child and<BR/>adolescent psychiatrist at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New<BR/>Jersey in Newark. "I'm not alarmed."<BR/><BR/>An estimated 3.3 million Americans who are 19 or younger and nearly 1.5<BR/>million ages 20 and older are taking ADHD medicines. Ritalin is made by<BR/>Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. of East Hanover, N.J.; Concerta by Johnson &<BR/>Johnson of New Brunswick, N.J., and Adderall by Shire US Inc. of Newport, Ky.<BR/><BR/>Twenty-five deaths linked to ADHD drugs, 19 involving children, were<BR/>reported to FDA from 1999 through 2003. Fifty-four other cases of serious<BR/>heart problems, including heart attacks and strokes, were also reported.<BR/>Some of the patients had prior heart problems.<BR/><BR/>Still, there hasn't been a clear estimate of the scope of side effects. The<BR/>CDC report, while not a rigorous scientific study, attempts to provide that<BR/>by using a new hospital surveillance network.<BR/><BR/>From August 2003 through December 2005, the researchers counted 188 ER<BR/>visits for problems with the drugs at the 64 hospitals in the network, a<BR/>representative sample of ERs monitored to spot drug side effects.<BR/><BR/>Doctors linked use of stimulant ADHD drugs to 73 patients with side effects<BR/>or allergic reactions. Another 115 accidentally swallowed ADHD pills,<BR/>including a month-old baby, or took too much.<BR/><BR/>"These are cases where a young child took someone else's medication or they<BR/>took too much of their own," CDC epidemiologist Dr. Adam Cohen said of the<BR/>second group.<BR/><BR/>Nearly 1 in 5 patients was admitted to the hospital, 1 in 5 needed stomach<BR/>pumping or treatment with medicines, and 1 in 7 had cardiac symptoms.<BR/>Sixteen percent of the side effects involved interaction with another drug.<BR/><BR/>Besides cardiac problems, common symptoms included abdominal pain, rashes<BR/>and spasms, pain or weakness in muscles, according to Cohen. No patients died.<BR/><BR/>Extrapolating to all U.S. hospitals, the researchers estimated 3,075 ER<BR/>visits occur each year.<BR/><BR/>In another letter in the journal, the heads of the American Psychiatric<BR/>Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry<BR/>wrote they are concerned a black box warning would discourage use of ADHD<BR/>drugs, raising patients' risks of academic failure, substance abuse and<BR/>other problems.<BR/><BR/>This past February, an FDA drug safety advisory panel voted 8-7 for a black<BR/>box warning. The next month, another FDA panel instead recommended data on<BR/>cardiac and other risks go in a new "highlights" section the agency plans<BR/>to add to the top of drug inserts.<BR/><BR/>Dr. Marsha Rappley, pediatrics professor at Michigan State University, and<BR/>two other doctors on the advisory panels believe the vote for a black box<BR/>was premature.<BR/><BR/>She said studies show the drugs raise blood pressure and pulse rates a bit,<BR/>but it's unknown whether that would harm children taking them for years,<BR/>and that cardiac risks may be higher for adults.<BR/><BR/>Dr. Steven Nissen, cardiology chief at the Cleveland Clinic, who had<BR/>pressed for a black box warning at the FDA panel meeting, said ADHD drugs<BR/>are powerful stimulants and inherently risky. Nissen and other doctors say<BR/>the drugs are being prescribed to some who don't need them.<BR/><BR/>This week, the FDA said it is "working diligently" on "labeling changes<BR/>that we feel accurately reflect the available data and the advice of the<BR/>committees." The agency declined interview requests.dayoubhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09520327328680598586noreply@blogger.com