Wonderful for you to share this with us. I suffered through ADHD without medication. I certainly feel now that my life would have been very different had I had medication to deal with it. Certainly there are many people who use Ritalin to calm down otherwise normal kids when they should not. A sad example of this is a friend of mine, age 12, who was being molested by a pedophile. He did not have ADD, he had a high degree stress because of the abuse. I know that would now be a doctor, molecular biologist, or rocket scientist had I been medicated. instead, I became a computer guy, because of my ADHD obsession with video games. I'm still happy regardless. I currently take Wellbutrin, which is a newer drug that seems to help. When I stop for a few days, a _haze_ of confusion comes over me. It works well for me. I can do without it, but certain tasks are harder to do. I am an advocate for medication. I have read a lot about it, and I know that there is a lot of controversy. Within 5 years, they will have objective tests to diagnose this. Until then, the risks are too great that your child will miss out on many special things without the medication, however they will only know it when they are adults. Of course, many people would disagree with me. I wish there was a drug that would let them feel how I feel without medication. Nerd From ummmm...ahhhhh..look at that!...Oh,sorry ..Hell > -----Original Message----- > From: Gary Nunn [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Friday, January 19, 2001 4:41 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Ritalin (was RE: 1984) > > > > > Marvin wrote: > > > I don't like our culture's dependency on Ritalin either; > it's evidence > <snip> > > > that in lots of cases hyperactivity is a side effect of sloth--too > > Julia wrote: > > Besides, there are other things you can do for ADD. If I had a kid > > diagnosed by the school as having ADD, I'd take him (or > her, but more > > likely him) to his own pediatrician, and get a referral to > a disinterested > > specialist, if need be. And then I'd look at what can be > done besides > > > Until recently, I agreed with these opinions, and to a point, > still do. > Four weeks ago, my seven year old daughter started taking 5 > mg of Ritalin, > twice a day, on school days only. > > I was not happy about the decision to do this, but our family > doctor felt > that it was worth trying for 6 weeks to see if it was effective. > > There was nearly a year of counseling, testing, classroom > observation and > diagnostics that led up to the decision to try her on Ritalin. In all, > involved was a counselor that specializes in ADHD, two > teachers, a school > counselor and our family doctor. As the doctor told us, it is > virtually > impossible to make a certain diagnosis on ADHD and most of > the time you > usually just have to try the medication and see if it works. > That was not a > great comfort to me. > > She is not a completely obnoxious or an uncontrolled child, > but she tends to > be very active and sometimes aggressive in the classroom and with her > classmates to the point that it was starting to affect her > grades and social > interactions with other children. > > The change at school was immediate and dramatic. Suddenly she > was paying > attention in class, interacting with her friends in a less aggressive > manner, and she immediately started to get literally perfect grades as > compared to the below average grades that she was getting. > > >From what I am reading about Ritalin, it metabolizes out of > the body after > four or five hours - hence the need for two doses each > weekday. There seems > to be two different camps on the dosing only on weekdays > issue. Some doctors > (mine included) feel that it should only be given on weekdays > to take the > edge off at school and not during the summer, and others think that it > should be a daily dose, even on weekends and during the summer to be > consistent. > > I am not happy about the idea that she may need to be on this > for the next > few years. One of the things that we are looking into is the > possibility > that her ADHD symptoms may be an allergic reaction to certain > foods. She > eats very little candy, but it is difficult to get away from > processed foods > that contain additives and preservatives. One thing that I > have noticed is > that if she eats brand name peanut butter, or things that are > heavy with > MSG, she does become very hyper and reactive. If she eats > peanut butter that > is freshly ground at the store, she has no reaction. It is > just a very slow > process of observation and elimination. > > I have heard some horror stories about Ritalin as well as > watched my brother > take it for years when he was younger. Unfortunately, it > tended to be used > as a control factor and threat for him. I hated that and I am > not sure what > role, if any, Ritalin played in his current lifestyle. He is > 29 and has the > responsibility level of a 15 year old. He can't hold a job, > has been to > prison several times and goes out of his way to be worthless > unless it suits > him. Of course he could have turned out this way without > Ritalin, who knows. > > > _____________________________________________ > Gary L. Nunn > Delaware Ohio > > Laurie got offended that I used the word "puke." > But to me, that's what her dinner tasted like. > >
