4 ms·

The FDA themselves warn Adderrall has a high potential for abuse, not to mention the risks of sudden death or cardiovascular incidents that must be checked for

The FDA themselves warn Adderrall has a high potential for abuse, not to mention the risks of sudden death or cardiovascular incidents that must be checked for before prescribing it. It doesn't sound like any doctor did the proper diagnosing and checking on this kid before this tragedy happened, and those doctors should be held accountable for his death. Not to mention the other potential side effects like Psychosis, Aggression, Seizures... I don't understand why anyone would ever take a drug like this, the list of side effects sounds worse than the problem it's trying to cure... http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2007/011522s040lbl.pdf http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2007/011... I think the scariest thing in the article though is the way he got the prescription: by answering a questionnaire given by a nurse. All the kid had to do to "get his fix" was lie on the form and bam, diagnosed, pills in hand, he walks out and wrecks his life. This for me highlights the bigger issue with mental health care today, that the science is bogus, it's all based on opinion (just like the DSM where disorders are "voted into existence" by a few psychiatrists every year at the American Psych association convention) and not actual science. If I go to a doctor complaining of chest pain, I can get a cholesterol test, and he can prescribe me a powerful blood thinner fully knowing it will save me from having a stroke. If I go to a psychiatrist, he will ask me a few questions and prescribe a powerful psychotropic that could make me go insane and hang myself. Sad but true.

DannyBee 14y ago
I can't vote this up high enough. I'm fairly ADHD (though I realized I was not an extreme case when I met some ADHD people who require hospitalization/safety measures simply as a result of their ADHD) , and I was on ritalin well before it was popular, (IE early-mid 80's). From there I moved to other stimulant variations over the course of 20+ years as they stopped working due to me building up a resistance. Over the years i've seen quite a number psychiatrists for medication management/etc. Every single one i've seen since the age of 7 has required me to do more frequent GP visits to make sure heart rate/blood pressure/etc stayed normal. Nowadays, there are actually non-stimulants like Straterra that can be used (though it depends on your exact symptons,etc). There were definitely blood pressure differences for me after being on stimulants for a very long time, and then moving off them. Yet most doctors try stimulants first (some i've met who claim to specialize in ADHD didn't even know straterra existed). It's clear that ADHD is over-diagnosed, and like you, i'm surprised how easily you can get stimulants. I would have expected you'd at least have to have gotten various learning disability testing done (which an actually quantify your level of detriment). Instead, as you say, you can just walk into an office, and walk out with adderall. The sad truth is that all this seems to end up doing is making it harder for those of us who need treatment to be taken seriously.
sneak 14y ago
> Not to mention the other potential side effects like Psychosis, Aggression, Seizures... I don't understand why anyone would ever take a drug like this, the list of side effects sounds worse than the problem it's trying to cure... http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2007/011.. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2007/011.... Most people don't encounter the bad side-effects. The common ones are sweating and restlessness. The malady that it treats is truly, truly debilitating.

DannyBee 14y ago

I can't vote this up high enough. I'm fairly ADHD (though I realized I was not an extreme case when I met some ADHD people who require hospitalization/safety measures simply as a result of their ADHD) , and I was on ritalin well before it was popular, (IE early-mid 80's). From there I moved to other stimulant variations over the course of 20+ years as they stopped working due to me building up a resistance. Over the years i've seen quite a number psychiatrists for medication management/etc. Every single one i've seen since the age of 7 has required me to do more frequent GP visits to make sure heart rate/blood pressure/etc stayed normal. Nowadays, there are actually non-stimulants like Straterra that can be used (though it depends on your exact symptons,etc). There were definitely blood pressure differences for me after being on stimulants for a very long time, and then moving off them. Yet most doctors try stimulants first (some i've met who claim to specialize in ADHD didn't even know straterra existed). It's clear that ADHD is over-diagnosed, and like you, i'm surprised how easily you can get stimulants. I would have expected you'd at least have to have gotten various learning disability testing done (which an actually quantify your level of detriment). Instead, as you say, you can just walk into an office, and walk out with adderall. The sad truth is that all this seems to end up doing is making it harder for those of us who need treatment to be taken seriously.

sneak 14y ago

> Not to mention the other potential side effects like Psychosis, Aggression, Seizures... I don't understand why anyone would ever take a drug like this, the list of side effects sounds worse than the problem it's trying to cure... http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2007/011.. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2007/011.... Most people don't encounter the bad side-effects. The common ones are sweating and restlessness. The malady that it treats is truly, truly debilitating.