Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what you do

Wake DC at 5:55 to get dressed , eat cereal, take a pill and get on bus by 6:25

DC goes to school and is shown naviance as freshman that a 4.0 is required for the state school

Then DC comes home from school and takes nap and is woken after a few hours for homework and given another pill

DC tries do homework that seems impossible

Unable to sleep DC takes another pill to try to sleep

Do this every school day for 4 years and go insane

Read the research

A new study, published in the JAMA Psychiatry, investigates the effect of stimulant ‘ADHD’ drugs on the brains of children and young adults. The results of the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, the ‘gold standard’ for evidence in academic medicine, indicate that methylphenidate (Ritalin) has a distinct effect on children that may lead to lasting neurological changes.

https://www.madinamerica.com/2016/08/study-finds-adhd-drugs-alter-developing-brain/

There is some evidence that the brain changes are actually beneficial.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3801446/

Our results have several clinical implications. For parents, patients and clinicians who have been concerned that the use of stimulants could harm the developing brain, our data indicate that these concerns are unfounded and that treatment with stimulants should be considered if appropriate for the clinical presentation of the patient. Our results also raise the possibility that brain changes associated with stimulant treatment might account for stimulant associated improvements in neurocognition and other areas. Of particular interest is the possibility that, given the wide range of brain areas affected, stimulants could improve several neurocognitive functions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The numbers make it look like an epidemic. Well, it’s not. It’s preposterous,” Dr. Conners, a psychologist and professor emeritus at Duke University, said in a subsequent interview. “This is a concoction to justify the giving out of medication at unprecedented and unjustifiable levels.”

The rise of A.D.H.D. diagnoses and prescriptions for stimulants over the years coincided with a remarkably successful two-decade campaign by pharmaceutical companies to publicize the syndrome and promote the pills to doctors, educators and parents. With the children’s market booming, the industry is now employing similar marketing techniques as it focuses on adult A.D.H.D., which could become even more profitable.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/health/the-selling-of-attention-deficit-disorder.html?pagewanted=all&

I'm going to assume that you have no experience with ADHD and are just trolling here because you're bored.

Direct experience. DCis early twenties and trying to get off An adderall addiction. There are many downsides to these medications. We should have started intensive counseling or tried different schools before resorting to stimulants.

And be very careful with after schoool pill for homework , our doctor prescribed Ritalin for this and this was so stupid looking back, sleep issues will result

It was a stupid decision for our child.

I'm sure that everyone has varying degrees of success/failure in treating ADHD. Your experience may or may not be applicable to other's dealing with how to treat it. It sounds like you are very negative on medication and I understand. However, you've got to do what you got to do. ADHD is real and so far, medication is the best way to treat it. It's not a magic bullet but right now, it's the best we have.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The numbers make it look like an epidemic. Well, it’s not. It’s preposterous,” Dr. Conners, a psychologist and professor emeritus at Duke University, said in a subsequent interview. “This is a concoction to justify the giving out of medication at unprecedented and unjustifiable levels.”

The rise of A.D.H.D. diagnoses and prescriptions for stimulants over the years coincided with a remarkably successful two-decade campaign by pharmaceutical companies to publicize the syndrome and promote the pills to doctors, educators and parents. With the children’s market booming, the industry is now employing similar marketing techniques as it focuses on adult A.D.H.D., which could become even more profitable.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/health/the-selling-of-attention-deficit-disorder.html?pagewanted=all&

I'm going to assume that you have no experience with ADHD and are just trolling here because you're bored.

Direct experience. DCis early twenties and trying to get off An adderall addiction. There are many downsides to these medications. We should have started intensive counseling or tried different schools before resorting to stimulants.

And be very careful with after schoool pill for homework , our doctor prescribed Ritalin for this and this was so stupid looking back, sleep issues will result

It was a stupid decision for our child.

Original researcher Keith conners think the system is out of control

To put a human face on the numbers and history, Schwarz weaves the stories of real, emblematic characters into the fabric of his narrative. One is Keith Conners, the retired professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke (among other places), whose early diagnostic scales laid the groundwork for assessing and treating ADHD. Now 83, he was a key force in the surge of diagnoses and treatment with stimulants. As Schwarz notes inADHD Nation, he foundedthe Journal of Attention Disorders in 1996, which “allowed dozens of ADHD studies per year—many of them funded by Big Pharma, naturally—to be published and entered into the forever citable scientific literature.” But in recent years Conners came to believe that the system he helped create had become a “national disaster of dangerous proportions.”

http://thepenngazette.com/pressure-and-proof/

Anonymous wrote:
The numbers make it look like an epidemic. Well, it’s not. It’s preposterous,” Dr. Conners, a psychologist and professor emeritus at Duke University, said in a subsequent interview. “This is a concoction to justify the giving out of medication at unprecedented and unjustifiable levels.”

The rise of A.D.H.D. diagnoses and prescriptions for stimulants over the years coincided with a remarkably successful two-decade campaign by pharmaceutical companies to publicize the syndrome and promote the pills to doctors, educators and parents. With the children’s market booming, the industry is now employing similar marketing techniques as it focuses on adult A.D.H.D., which could become even more profitable.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/health/the-selling-of-attention-deficit-disorder.html?pagewanted=all&

I'm going to assume that you have no experience with ADHD and are just trolling here because you're bored.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what you do

Wake DC at 5:55 to get dressed , eat cereal, take a pill and get on bus by 6:25

DC goes to school and is shown naviance as freshman that a 4.0 is required for the state school

Then DC comes home from school and takes nap and is woken after a few hours for homework and given another pill

DC tries do homework that seems impossible

Unable to sleep DC takes another pill to try to sleep

Do this every school day for 4 years and go insane

Read the research

A new study, published in the JAMA Psychiatry, investigates the effect of stimulant ‘ADHD’ drugs on the brains of children and young adults. The results of the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, the ‘gold standard’ for evidence in academic medicine, indicate that methylphenidate (Ritalin) has a distinct effect on children that may lead to lasting neurological changes.

https://www.madinamerica.com/2016/08/study-finds-adhd-drugs-alter-developing-brain/

While these changes did not appear to be connected with significant benefits or harms that were measurable in the short-term period of this study, the authors note that “the long-term consequences remain to be established.”

...typical DCUM research quoter. Only posting the part that benefits their argument.

The numbers make it look like an epidemic. Well, it’s not. It’s preposterous,” Dr. Conners, a psychologist and professor emeritus at Duke University, said in a subsequent interview. “This is a concoction to justify the giving out of medication at unprecedented and unjustifiable levels.”

The rise of A.D.H.D. diagnoses and prescriptions for stimulants over the years coincided with a remarkably successful two-decade campaign by pharmaceutical companies to publicize the syndrome and promote the pills to doctors, educators and parents. With the children’s market booming, the industry is now employing similar marketing techniques as it focuses on adult A.D.H.D., which could become even more profitable.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/health/the-selling-of-attention-deficit-disorder.html?pagewanted=all&

Anonymous wrote:This is what you do

Wake DC at 5:55 to get dressed , eat cereal, take a pill and get on bus by 6:25

DC goes to school and is shown naviance as freshman that a 4.0 is required for the state school

Then DC comes home from school and takes nap and is woken after a few hours for homework and given another pill

DC tries do homework that seems impossible

Unable to sleep DC takes another pill to try to sleep

Do this every school day for 4 years and go insane

Read the research

A new study, published in the JAMA Psychiatry, investigates the effect of stimulant ‘ADHD’ drugs on the brains of children and young adults. The results of the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, the ‘gold standard’ for evidence in academic medicine, indicate that methylphenidate (Ritalin) has a distinct effect on children that may lead to lasting neurological changes.

https://www.madinamerica.com/2016/08/study-finds-adhd-drugs-alter-developing-brain/

Thanks everyone. OP here. I just left a message for the doctor. We will see what he says.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We use 10 mg of short acting Ritalin at 5 PM. No problem with sleep because she also takes clonidine which knocks her out. Without the clonidine, we'd probably use 5 mg a little earlier and melatonin to sleep.

We do 10mg of short-acting Ritalin at 5pm as well, with an 8 year old. We do it twice a week to accommodate religious school and an evening activity. Kid bounces off walls so falling asleep has never been her problem.

this is child abuse, pure and simple.

Oh brother. Child abuse is not giving your kid medical treatment. If your kid was diabetic, would you deny him insulin?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We use 10 mg of short acting Ritalin at 5 PM. No problem with sleep because she also takes clonidine which knocks her out. Without the clonidine, we'd probably use 5 mg a little earlier and melatonin to sleep.

We do 10mg of short-acting Ritalin at 5pm as well, with an 8 year old. We do it twice a week to accommodate religious school and an evening activity. Kid bounces off walls so falling asleep has never been her problem.

this is child abuse, pure and simple.

Anonymous wrote:We use 10 mg of short acting Ritalin at 5 PM. No problem with sleep because she also takes clonidine which knocks her out. Without the clonidine, we'd probably use 5 mg a little earlier and melatonin to sleep.

We do 10mg of short-acting Ritalin at 5pm as well, with an 8 year old. We do it twice a week to accommodate religious school and an evening activity. Kid bounces off walls so falling asleep has never been her problem.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need a lunchtime or afternoon booster that he takes at school. It helps a lot.

Can he take a booster before his daytime medication wears off?

Yes. The morning dose wears off gradually. The booster just makes a new peak followed by a more extended wearing off.

This is what we do, too. Started it in MS and have continued it into HS.

This. My 4th grader takes a booster of ritalin at school in the afternoon to help get him through the rest of the day and homework. On weekends/vacations, we rarely give him the booster unless there is something going on in the evening that requires attention and focus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need a lunchtime or afternoon booster that he takes at school. It helps a lot.

Can he take a booster before his daytime medication wears off?

Yes. The morning dose wears off gradually. The booster just makes a new peak followed by a more extended wearing off.

This is what we do, too. Started it in MS and have continued it into HS.

Anonymous wrote:More importantly, why did you think 10 minutes of homework in elementary school was a problem? The studies are pretty clear that homework is only helpful in areas where a student is struggling. Beyond that, D.C.'s time could be spent doing other productive activities like reading for enjoyment or hanging out with friends. Our es is moving away from homework and I'm cheering them all the way.

10 minutes is fine in 1st grade but it isn't in 5th grade. Most middle schoolers have significantly more HW than 10 minutes so it was a huge shock to go from nothing to a few hours. That's what I objected to.