Posted on 03/22/2006 11:22:40 PM PST by neverdem
GAITHERSBURG, Md., March 22 — Stimulants like Ritalin lead a small number of children to suffer hallucinations that usually feature insects, snakes or worms, according to federal drug officials, and a panel of experts said on Wednesday that physicians and parents needed to be warned of the risk.
The panel members said they hoped the warning would prevent physicians from prescribing a second drug to treat the hallucinations caused by the stimulants, which one expert estimated affect 2 to 5 of every 100 children taking them. Instead, they said, the right thing to do in such cases was to stop prescribing the stimulants.
On Feb. 9, a different advisory committee voted 8 to 7 to recommend that the Food and Drug Administration place its most serious warning label, a so-called black box, on the labels of stimulants to warn that they could have dangerous effects on the heart, particularly in adults. That recommendation grew out of reports that 25 people, mostly children, had died suddenly while taking the drugs.
The twin conclusions come more than 50 years after Ritalin was first approved to treat attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity. Since then, stimulants have become among the most widely prescribed medicines in the world. In the United States alone, about 2.5 million children and 1.5 million adults take them; as many as 10 percent of boys ages 10 to 12 do.
In addition to Ritalin, two other stimulants, Adderall and Concerta, are popular.
The drugs have been studied in hundreds of trials over five decades and have proven to be extremely effective. But they have always been controversial, with some experts saying they are overprescribed. It is a measure of the difficulty of uncovering the physiological effects of medicines that experts are only now grappling with some of the drugs' serious...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
ping
I have very strong views against the use of drugs for children. There are some cases where it benefits, I am sure. To be giving these kinds of drugs to 10% of our children is criminal!
Interesting take on this:
Confirming the Hazards of Stimulant Drug Treatment
By Peter R. Breggin, M.D.
Until recently, no studies have systematically examined the rate of psychotic symptoms caused by routine treatment with stimulant drugs such as Concerta, methylphenidate (Ritalin) and amphetamine (Dexedrine, Adderall). Doctors who prescribe stimulant drugs often seem oblivious to the fact that they can cause psychoses, including manic-like and schizophrenic-like disorders. Without providing a scientific basis, the literature often cites rates of 1% or less for stimulant-induced psychoses (reviewed in Breggin, 1998, 1999). Recently on television I debated a well-known expert in child psychiatry who took the position that prescribed stimulants "never" cause psychoses in children.
The rate of psychotic symptoms that first appear during stimulant treatment has recently been investigated in a 5-year retrospectives study of children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (Cherland and Fitzpatrick,1999). Among 192 children diagnosed with ADHD at the Canadian clinic, 98 had been placed on stimulant drugs, mostly methylphenidate. Psychotic symptoms developed in more than 9% of the children treated with methylphenidate. According to Cherland and Fitzpatrick, "The symptoms ceased as soon as the medication was removed" (p. 812). No psychotic symptoms were reported among the children with ADHD who did not receive stimulants. The psychotic symptoms caused by methylphenidate included hallucinations and paranoia. The authors conclude that, due to poor reporting, the rate of stimulant-induced psychosis and psychotic symptoms was probably much higher.
In my practice of psychiatry, I am frequently consulted about children who are taking three, four, and sometimes five psychiatric drugs, including medications that are FDA-approved only for the treatment of psychotic adults. The drug treatment typically began when the children developed conflicts with adults at home or at school. In retrospect, the conflicts could easily have been resolved by interventions such as family counseling or individualized educational approaches. Usually under pressure from a school, the parents instead acquiesced to put their child on stimulants prescribed by psychiatrists, family physicians, or pediatricians.
When these children developed depression, delusions, hallucinations, paranoid fears and other drug-induced reactions while taking stimulants, their physicians mistakenly concluded that the children suffered from "clinical depression," "schizophrenia" or "bipolar disorder" that has been "unmasked" by the medications. Instead of removing the child from the stimulants, these doctors mistakenly prescribed additional drugs, such as antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and neuroleptics. Children who were put on stimulants for "inattention" or "hyperactivity" ended up taking multiple adult psychiatric drugs that caused severe adverse effects, including psychoses and tardive dyskinesia.
It is time to recognize that the supposedly increasing rates of "schizophrenia," "depression," and "bipolar disorder" in children in North America are often the direct result of treatment with psychiatric drugs. They should be classified as adverse drug reactions, not as primary psychiatric disorders. Doctors need to become more expert at identifying these adverse drug reactions in children and more aware of how and why to taper children from psychiatric medications (Breggin and Cohen, 1999).
When parents are willing to take a fresh approach to disciplining and caring for their children, or when the children's school situation can be improved, it is usually possible to taper them off of all psychiatric medications. The parents are then relieved and gratified to see their children increasingly improve with the removal of each drug.
What's the answer to this widespread, unwarranted use of medication in the treatment of children? As long as we respond to the signals of conflict and distress in our children by subduing them with drugs, we will not address their genuine needs. As parents, teachers, therapists, and physicians we need to retake responsibility for our children (Breggin, 2000). We must reclaim them from the drug companies and their advocates in the medical profession. At the same time, we must address the needs of our children on an individual and societal level. On the individual level, children need more of our time and energy. Nothing can replace the personal relationships that children have with us as their parents, teachers, counselors, or doctors. On a societal level, our children need improved family life, better schools, and more caring communities.
http://www.nativeremedies.com/concerta-ritalin-adderal-side-effects.shtml
How long before these NEA liberals start "medicating" students who show tendancies toward conservativism?
This should not be a surprise. Here you have a stimulant, much like amphetamines, why wouldn’t it affect the heart?
The hallucinations I find interesting. Could be related to the reverse affect it has on children (stimulant that calms). Major Doctorate Thesis here for somebody.
You don't know about depression drugs, only Tom Cruise does. He studied it.
It is basically CNS damage in many cases originating in the Vestibular System. As such Ritalin is of no value and can actually worsen the symptoms. C.A.P.D. symptoms can be triggered by sensory saturation. There are several clues to this. For example a kid who when you tell them to do something acts like they don't hear you or says HUH? As you are repeating yourself likely for the second or third time they suddenly understand you. That is because it took that long for the sensory data to process.
An adult condition brought on by this is Panic Disorder or General Anxiety Disorder which has non phobic origins with the exception being such things as heights etc. Here's some links some may work and some may not. I know about this because I have lived with it all my life. I have a sinus allergy history and Asthma. The allergies damaged the Inner Ear.
IMO the so called epidemic we are seeing is a direct result of our vastly increased sensory offensive technology of the past few decades. The only ones trained to test and diagnose this are Audiologist and Speech Pathologist. BTW it also effects Visual Sensory Processing as well. For this Ritalin is by no means the answer. A sedative or an antihistamine actually works better but most cases do not require medication but rather environmental modification. The exception is when it develops into anxiety disorder. At that point SSRI's and antidepressants should be avoided at all cost. In patients with motor or sensory damage there is an increased danger of Serotonin Syndrome and it's not a pretty site either.
ADHD and clinical depression are both severely over-diagnosed and over-medicated. Thanks for the tips about CAPD.
Depression a lot of times is caused by physical ailments. The answer to both of these is good extensive medical histories and some basic common sense. The shrink should be the last stop after all other possibilities are ruled out. Shrinks do not know what C.A.P.D. is either nor do they recognize General Anxiety Disorder that originates by Central Nervous System dysfunction like Sensory Processing Disorders.
I saw my wife who was treated with Zoloft and Trazadone go into Serotonin Syndrome twice in a week while in the hospital. It's like giving someone hits of Acid literally. They trip. The ER doctor see's the patient as being psychotic and tries for a mental hospital transfer and doesn't even to a PDR look up for adverse side effects. It can be a deadly condition. My wife went in a COMA from it.
12 years ago I was diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder. They tried me on SSRI's such as Paxil etc. They bounced me off the walls. I managed to find a book that a research shrink/Neurologist wrote called Phobia Free. He linked Vestibular Disorders to ADD ADHD, forms of Dyslexia, and even TMJ a jaw disorder. That book saved my life.
I put my foot down and found a doctor who would prescribe Xanax for me. I have what is called Stimulus-sensitive myoclonus that produces Myloclonic Seizures with this that is induced by audio and visual sensory saturation. It means severe upper torso spasms for me like getting hit by a cattle profd or a bucket of ice poured down my back.
The Xanax tones down the sensory system to where I can function on a limited basis. That is why giving someone like me Ritalin or SSRI's would be a disaster. I have nearly gone into Serotonin Syndrome several times till they stopped the blasted SSRI's. My sensory processing system is damaged. I don't need an influx of more sensory impulses causing even more flooding.
To clarify something my wife is a quadriplegic and also has extensive motor and sensory damage.
What test does your students take? Definitely not urine. They would fail that test.
What test for what? I'm not a school teacher. I'm expected to teach patients.
Panel Urges Lowering of Allowable Fluoride
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Ping. Amen.
Adderall is speed:
GENERIC NAME: amphetamine and dextroamphetamine
BRAND NAME: Adderall, Adderall XR
DRUG CLASS AND MECHANISM: Amphetamine and dextroamphetamine are used in combination to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. Adderall stimulates the brain and also can increase blood pressure. In a recent small study in children with ADHD, the effects of Adderall lasted longer and were preferred over methylphenidate (Ritalin), the most commonly used drug for ADHD. Adderall XR is an extended release form of Adderall. Adderall was approved by the FDA in 1996.
Reading now that the Omega 3 supplements are helpful in regulating ADHD symptoms.
Having had a history with methamphitemene abuse, I can witness to the fact that these drugs will make you hallucinate. My Brother and SIL, both victims of these drugs during adolescence, have been pumping this stuff into their oldest boy for years and are now considering it's use on the younger boy. I went through the same , when my ex-wife tried to put my youngest daughter on Ritalin in the 6th grade. Fortunately, I persuaded her, after a month of watching our daughter suffer from the effects, to cease treatment. I wish I could do the same for my Brother's family.
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