Posted by JohnL on October 19, 2000, at 4:29:07
In reply to Adderall, posted by Wendy Sturgill on October 18, 2000, at 17:24:03
In approximately 20% of patients treated with a stimulant for various psychiatric disorders, a tiny dose antipsychotic was found very useful to counteract the excess dopamine which causes the psychosis-like or anxiety-like behaviors.
It's just a personal thing, but I really don't like to see children treated with stimulants, except maybe in the most severe cases. There are normal growing-up behaviors and day to day distractions in the twenty first century that lead to millions of false diagnosis of ADD or ADHD. We are altering the young still-developing brains of children? I don't know, I don't like that idea. Except in severe cases.
Does your daughter have trouble concentrating on computer games? TV? Things she likes to do? Or is it things she doesn't like? Basically, if she can't concentrate on anything, then ADD might be accurate. But if she can concentrate at times on something she enjoys doing, it isn't ADD. It's called normal for a kid.
But if it's an authentic true case of ADD and a stimulant is crucial, then just keep in mind that a tiny dose of an antipsychotic is often warranted to prevent the psychosis-like reactions. Statistics show this to be needed in 20% of people using stimulants. Here are some more interesting statistics that show how many true ADD sufferers found complete cure with which drugs:
Stimulants 49%
Antidepressants 24%
Benzodiazapines 17%
Antipsychotics 15%
Lithium 12%
Depakote 10%
Tegretol 5%
Thyroid 26%
Keep in mind, most of these treatments had no clinical justification whatsoever, but they worked completely. It just goes to show that brain chemistry is complicated. I really don't like messing with a child's brain unless the situation is really bad.
John
poster:JohnL
thread:46707
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001012/msgs/46740.html