Did your Beauvoir ADHD kid get into STA / NCS?

[Anonymous]

One poster has claimed we are inappropriately medicating our children. She said we were committing abuse. I don't know if that was you or someone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One poster has claimed we are inappropriately medicating our children. She said we were committing abuse. I don't know if that was you or someone else.

NP here. This person pops us every time the topic of ADHD comes up on the private school thread. You can't let it bother you. I am comfortable that I, and my DCs doctors, are doing the right thing for my DC and that we are not using medication to get ahead but simply to function normally. No need to defend your decisions to this person as she/he is not in the same boat yet feels the need to chastise those of us who are in the boat.

[Anonymous]

Histrionic dribbling drivel in response to some poster who claims, as you alledge, you are inappropriately medicating your own children seems farcical. Consult your own physician, if in doubt, not any anonymous DCUM poster. Furthermore support your position and beliefs by reading scientific research papers in this area. I would expect someone from the D.C. area competitive private school community to know better and exhibit more fortitude, self confidence and insight.

[Anonymous]

One poster has claimed we are inappropriately medicating our children. She said we were committing abuse. I don't know if that was you or someone else.

There were a score of expert clinicians using the term "inappropriate medication" and "medication abuse" in multiple recent abstracts in reference to ADHD, if you scroll back. These terms you reference are replete in the ADHD literature (lay and scientific) over the last 10 years. Nothing new here unless you believe these are fake abstracts. Do you also think all those investigators have claimed you are inappropriately medicating your children and committing abuse? What is your position on this? Is your position on these expert clinicians any different than your position on the alledged "single" poster you refer to using identical terms?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If a person is prescribed a medicine by a doctor, it isn't abuse.

New poster here. But some of the studies did talk about abuse of prescribed meds. Just because something is prescribed does not mean it can't be abused.

When I read the abstracts, I thought it was interesting/shocking how many of them talked about abuse even by kids who are appropriately prescribed meds. Also the paper that said that when ADHD case files were reviewed a large percentage of kids were found to be overprescribed meds (in the sense of them receiving an inappropriate {too large} dose). Do parents not find this concerning?

I have seen the research linking unmedicated ADHD with alcohol/drug abuse and depression in later ages. But I have to wonder how many kids in the DCUM demographic are underdiagnosed. I always thought the underdiagnosis tends to happen in populations underserved by medical care: low income, minority, etc.

You need to look more closely at the abstract. You've misread the percentage of cases reviewed because the dose exceeded recommended safety levels. It was only 5.35% of ADHD prescriptions that exceeded the recommended dose and of that amount only 51.4% (which would be less than 3% of all prescriptions) were adjusted. From my own experience, it's not uncommon for dosages to exceed recommended amounts. Much of the efficacy is dependent upon metabolization. Since everyone has a different metabolization rate, the only way to know the correct dosage is to gradually titrate up. People with might metabolizism require higher doses.

From May 2006 to April 2008, 5.35% of ADHD prescriptions exceeded safety thresholds, resulting in 1,046 second-opinion reviews. Of those, 538 (51.4%) resulted in a prescription adjustment

As far as being underdiagnosed in this area, you can see from this thread that many people in this very educated area remain uninformed. It's more likely to be diagnosed than in underserved areas but not at the level research suggests it is present in the population.

[Anonymous]

I do believe most of us are satisfied with update of the current state of the art of ADHD, therapy, related issues and ADHD drug abuse. I'm certain the landscape with change in the coming decade with new findings, further research and long term follow-up studies of the outcomes of medicated and non-medicated children and adolescents. I await the findings from these studies particularly with the newer agents and combination drugs as well as behavioral treatment approaches.

[Anonymous]

I've read all the links and abstracts provided. The original argument was that ADHD is overdiagnosed and overmedicated. That's a very different question than does abuse of ADHD medication happen. I haven't seen anything posted that indicates that it is overdiagnosed or overmedicated.

On the surface the rate of increase for the diagnoses and medication use is troubling (2.3 fold for diagnosis and 2.9 fold for medication) but did you catch the actual percentages? The rate of diagnoses increased from 1.1% to 2.8%. That's not what I would call an epidemic. If you have $1 and triple your money, you have $3. That's not a lot and based on the estimated incidence of ADHD in the general population, it seems the abstract shows ADHD really is underdiagnosed. It also said the mean age for diagnosis increased by over a year. It's being diagnosed at an older age, not younger.

The one poster is very vehement that drug abuse is on the rise but that's not the question and no one has argued that it isn't. It's actually conventional wisdom. I would expect that given more presciptions are being written. What struck me about one of the abstracts was that the non-ADHD kids who take it are primarily doing it to help them study. This isn't something they're doing for fun. They're taking it to do better in school. That says a lot about the pressure they're under and probably the pressure they put on their ADHD friends to share the medication. That's sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

One poster has claimed we are inappropriately medicating our children. She said we were committing abuse. I don't know if that was you or someone else.

There were a score of expert clinicians using the term "inappropriate medication" and "medication abuse" in multiple recent abstracts in reference to ADHD, if you scroll back. These terms you reference are replete in the ADHD literature (lay and scientific) over the last 10 years. Nothing new here unless you believe these are fake abstracts. Do you also think all those investigators have claimed you are inappropriately medicating your children and committing abuse? What is your position on this? Is your position on these expert clinicians any different than your position on the alledged "single" poster you refer to using identical terms?

I'm not the poster you're responding to but no one is arguing that ADHD medication can be misused or abused, so can many other drugs. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be used by anyone. I, for one, am exceedingly grateful vicodin, percocet, morphine and codeine are still available. Do you think repealing Prohibition was a mistake?

There's nothing controversial in the abstracts you posted and they, in fact, support many of the positions advocated by others. I really don't understand why you're getting so bent out of shape.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One poster has claimed we are inappropriately medicating our children. She said we were committing abuse. I don't know if that was you or someone else.

NP here. This person pops us every time the topic of ADHD comes up on the private school thread. You can't let it bother you. I am comfortable that I, and my DCs doctors, are doing the right thing for my DC and that we are not using medication to get ahead but simply to function normally. No need to defend your decisions to this person as she/he is not in the same boat yet feels the need to chastise those of us who are in the boat.

Thank you, you are right. That one poster is at it again and I shouldn't let it get to me. This will be my last post on this thread, and I hope the thread dies. Its too bad this one poster feels the need to go on at such length, and with such hostility, that she essentially closes off further discussion.

[Anonymous]

I am glad you have taken my advise and have recognized the poster (s) and the authors of the posted abstracts were not directly pointing to your children specifically but were speaking in general about some of the issues and in the ADHD field. This is an important realization. Consult your own physicians for advise about your children.

[Anonymous]

I was responding to 11:30, not you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One poster has claimed we are inappropriately medicating our children. She said we were committing abuse. I don't know if that was you or someone else.

NP here. This person pops us every time the topic of ADHD comes up on the private school thread. You can't let it bother you. I am comfortable that I, and my DCs doctors, are doing the right thing for my DC and that we are not using medication to get ahead but simply to function normally. No need to defend your decisions to this person as she/he is not in the same boat yet feels the need to chastise those of us who are in the boat.

Thank you, you are right. That one poster is at it again and I shouldn't let it get to me. This will be my last post on this thread, and I hope the thread dies. Its too bad this one poster feels the need to go on at such length, and with such hostility, that she essentially closes off further discussion.

Count me out, too. What a shame someone like that is so alienating.

[Anonymous]

I wonder why we took the poster's comments to be personally directed at our own children. I glad we've seen the light.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why we took the poster's comments to be personally directed at our own children. I glad we've seen the light.

"We?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why we took the poster's comments to be personally directed at our own children. I glad we've seen the light.

"We?"

Probably suffers from multiple personality disorder and ithe personality that's suppressed by the medication is probably the one posting