Placebos, Drugs, and ADHD

Amen. I feel compelled to add that the same anti-drug folks who moan and whine about kids being over-medicated tend to be the very same folks who refuse to vaccinate their own kids. @@

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OMG, you are spot on awesome!

The soldier has adhd, and we tried meds for about 3 years, but he kept getting more and more aggressive. Then I find out this year (yup I was a little slow) that children with a chemical imbalance (like bipolar) become more manic and more aggressive (try WAY more) on stimulant meds.

They are also more likely to self-medicate with illegal drugs, but that is one of the risks that I take to keep him under control. I understand what you are saying, and you are right…the study people will have a field day with this. But really, how many moms could feel better just by giving their kid a pill. And doesn't that imply there is something wrong with us in the first place???

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I agree about the age thing. People have this notion that our bodies are made to live to 125 years old, if only we maintained them optimally (Like all those articles you see about some group of people who live in an old Japanese village where they tout fresh fish and goji berries or whatever antioxidant is en vogue at the time.) But in reality, our bodies have a shorter natural lifespan (as you say 50 or so years) which we have been able to prolong considerably. LUCKY US!

I have no problem with kids taking meds, provided they NEED them. I have seen a few people close to me get misdiagnosed, over-medicated and that in turn screwed them up just as bad. I have also seen some be properly diagnosed, correctly medicated (which I am aware can sometimes be a trial & error process) and helped out. So I am on the fence about it all. It's really a case by case decision. I still believe way too many kids have been dismissed as ADHD, when they couldn't hold a candle to what your son has to go through.

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OK, lost the long and detailed comment I wrote because it wouldn't accept it as a guest so had to set up on IntenseDebate which ate the COMMENT.

*sigh* Thought you should know.

I'm going to gather my scattered wits and try again. In a bit.

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I'd like to say thank you. I agree about the cancer and life spans, medications, all of it really. I hear the same thing about c-sections (I had 4) and my boys and I wouldn't be here without them. Also, I would not be the mother I am and my kids would not be who they are without the wonders of antidepressants. We had a couple of rough years as I spiraled downward. I'm just so glad for the pills I take. Without them I might not be around anymore.

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I agree. There are kids that need the meds. It cannot be denied. And while we should also teach coping mechanisms, there is no doubt that medications work for a variety of illnesses. Enough putting down that which helps us. I completely agree.

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We have an ADHD'er here. If you have been reading my blog long enough (I haven't been blogging as much about the kids lately – they've calmed down & gotten a little boring, LOL) you'll know it's Dolly. She came out of the womb DIFFERENT.

Hers falls into the range where she has excellent attention span – if she likes what she is doing she is extremely focused, & on tests can show the attention of a far older kid.

However, she has ZERO impulse control. So if she doesn't like what you're offering, her brain & her butt are GONE. If it occurs to her, she's going to do it, whether it's appropriate or not.

The social responses these kids get is HUGE. It can really be detrimental to their sense of self. We spend a lot of time talking about being a good friend, how to interact, and we do a lot of play dates with kids that she gets along with well. Interestingly, she gets along best with other girls who are also just a little more than their parents can handle. Calm kids get really worn out really fast.

We aren't medicating. Her teacher last year said, "I just don't think her grades reflect her ability!" because she was getting B's instead of A's. I said, "I know. And I don't think 2nd grade grades are going to matter in 20 years. B is still good." To which her teacher almost had a stroke.

We know we may eventual have to do the medication, but for now I choose to view her as a kid who needs a little special direction. Still manageable. Diet is extremely important and she MUST. KNOW. THE. PLAN. YOU DON'T HAVE A PLAN? SHE IS MAKING THE PLAN FOR YOU THEN.

I think she'll grow up to be a super-intent, very driven person. I love that. I hope we can keep motivating her forward medication-free, but I know that's not always possible. "Puberty [may] hit her hard," (ten points if you recognize the quote!) and being her parent is a hard, hard job some days, but that's okay. She has made me a more patient & more focused parent.

The psych I took her test results to said that her gender & where she falls on the spectrum make her a good candidate for behavior mod instead of drugs – but that most boys can't do it med-free.

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Second-hand placebo seems to be unique to this class of drugs. I wonder why? Complicating this issue is that medical studies have repeatedly demonstrated a very high percentage (a little over 80%) of normal kids improve some aspects of behavior with stimulants. That is why response to these drugs is not to be used as a diagnostic tool.

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my response was a little long winded and I posted in response, or better said, in inspiration to this today. I linked you… check it out You got me out of laundry.,

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OK, trying again (I really liked my earlier comment).

The thing that struck me while reading this is how hard it is to find a single answer (and how much we want there to be one). That and, of course, that modern medicine is a wonderful thing as demonstrated by the abysmal medical stats of all the third world countries who are still going all natural (not necessarily voluntarily). You don't need to remember a century ago – there are examples all over the world.

But the thing is, just like anything else involving people, there isn't just one answer that works for everything. To say medicine is never the answer makes as little sense as saying that a pill can solve anything.

I know when I was clinically depressed, the antidepressant helped a great deal, but it would have been less effective if I had still been with my first husband and wasn't actively trying to work through my issues. But a pill won't help a kid that's neglected or abused unless the source is addressed.

Our lives have lasted longer not just because of antibiotics and vaccines (though that's certainly a factor), but also because of hygiene and refrigerator. We are chemical beings, but we also have instincts, are affected by environment, can learn.

And I think it will continue to be forced to weigh and use different methods to address our issues, with no simple answer, no magic solution to all problems. Labels can hide a deeper problem. They can let a parent who doesn't give her child sufficient discipline or attention think she can solve her problem by absolving her of responsibility and advocating a pill. That doesn't mean that applies in every case. Just because a solution doesn't work for everyone, doesn't mean it doesn't work for many.

God, I'm rambling.

Actually, the sad thing is that scientific studies are often misused as laymen media sources pulls out "pertinent" statements without the caveats and assumptions and supporting analysis that make those statements meaningful. And it doesn't just happen in medicine.

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When I was studying in grad school and the tub I was running overflowed into the downstairs apartment , when I took hour-long showers because I was "thinking" and forgot I had class in fifteen minutes, umm Well let's just say I figured out there was a problem. Timers helped . . . but I'm all for the meds.

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It's the same thing with Postpartum depression. There is so much prejudice about mother's who need meds to get over their all of a sudden uncontrollable hormones. My sister had to take them for one year after giving birth to her son but not without the comments from some family members. I saw how it changed her mood and made the hormones more manageable.

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In college worked with a guy who was in his early 20's. He said his parents were advised to give him meds early on but didn't 'believe' in medicating children. According to him, they tried EVERYTHING. Diet, behavior modification, more therapy, supplements, all kinds of kooky stuff for years. Finally when he was 14 he said, give me the damn drugs. His life changed. He then had to enter therapy to get over the anger he had towards his parents for not giving him the medication earlier.

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Without the wonders of pharmacology at my house:
I would never sleep (thank you Ambien), nor breath clearly (thank you Sudafed & Allegra)
My intelligent daughter would go back to failing grades with notebooks full of doodling (thank you Focalin), my husband would still be behaving like a total ass (thank you Effexor) and I would be a mother of 16 instead of merely 6 (thank you oral contraceptives).
Damn, without the chemical help I would probably have my own reality show.

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i heard of the plecebo effect, read an article about it in scientifc american i believe. very interesting.

some of the people i talk to casually say depression and all of these other illnesses are made up in our mind and that we just need to read the bible.

for some, i think it's a little more than that…if a drug helps, take it.

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[...] When reading reviews or synopses of scientific papers, it’s imperative to keep this in mind. Two different reviewers, with two different agendas, can see something totally different in the same study. And they may very well slant their review based on that agenda (remember the ADHD placebo effect study?). [...]

I wish I had something smart to add, but I don't. I'll just say instead that I love your blog.

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