Currently viewing the category: "stimulants"

ADD Rx: Turning Kids Into Speed Freaks II

By On · Add Comment · In ADD, antipsychotics, cocaine, dopaminergic, drug dependence, neurotransmitter, Ritalin, Schedule II drugs, side effects, stimulants, sudden death

So the modern medical solution to ADD is primarily stimulant medication.  And funny that the U.S. is the major consumer of the pharmaceutical Ritalin, a drug compound similar to cocaine.  The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the United Nation’s International Narcotics Control Board both recognize the dangers to individuals and society by the increased prescriptions of Ritalin to growing numbers of children (mostly boys) being diagnosed with ADD.

Despite these facts, and the dynamic nature of the ADD definition (parameters), doctors in the U.S. (not Europe, not Asia, and in fact the full demographics are quite startling) continue to prescribe hard core meds to children.  Even worse is that some doctors have taken the next step to even harder drugs to treat their pediatric patients labeled ADD–antipsychotics.

What are the real dangers of taking central nervous system stimulants, that is, how do they affect the bodies and minds of the children put on them?  First, as I described last post, stimulant drugs like Ritalin, cocaine, and methamphetamine are dopaminergic, which means that they affect the dopamine neurotransmitter system.  Dopamine is involved in the pleasure and reward responses of the brain.  Stimulant drugs, then, create a state of euphoria–they feel good.

Drugs that feel good have a high-propensity to cause dependence, that is why stimulants for treating ADD are classified as Schedule II drugs (some medicinal uses, high potential for abuse, high rate of dependency).  Other Schedule II drugs include cocaine, morphine, methadone, methamphetamine, and opium; yet, only Ritalin can be obtained by a doctor’s prescription.  Think about that.

Stimulants do increase focus and concentration in the short-term, that’s why amphetamines were given to pilots in World War II, but they come with some unwanted side-effects.  The side-effects associated with Ritalin are:

  • nervousness (common)
  • insomnia (common)
  • dizziness
  • nausea
  • vomiting
  • loss of appetite
  • stomach pain
  • diarrhea
  • heartburn
  • dry mouth
  • headache
  • muscle tightness
  • uncontrollable movement of a part of the body
  • restlessness
  • numbness, burning, or tingling in the hands or feet
  • decreased sexual desire
  • painful menstruation
  • stunted growth

More serious symptoms may include:

  • fast, pounding, or irregular heartbeat
  • chest pain
  • shortness of breath
  • excessive tiredness
  • slow or difficult speech
  • fainting
  • weakness or numbness of an arm or leg
  • seizures
  • changes in vision or blurred vision
  • agitation
  • believing things that are not true
  • feeling unusually suspicious of others
  • hallucinating (seeing things or hearing voices that do not exist)
  • motor tics or verbal tics
  • depression
  • abnormally excited mood
  • mood changes
  • fever
  • hives
  • rash
  • blistering or peeling skin
  • itching
  • difficulty breathing or swallowing

And according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information:

Methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta) may cause sudden death in children and teenagers, especially children or teenagers with heart defects or serious heart problems.This medication also may cause sudden death, heart attack or stroke in adults, especially adults with heart defects or serious heart problems.

It must be kept in mind that these side-effects are known with regard to short-term use.  Long-term effects of Ritalin and other stimulant meds is not yet fully known.

One thing we do know for sure is that Ritalin is currently the most stolen drug as listed by the DEA.  Why?  Kids want it.  The highest rate of abuse is among college students–Ritalin helps them stay awake to study (smart drugs?).  Some children prescribed Ritalin sell their pills to others who wish to take the drug recreationally.  Since overdose is possible on Ritalin, the practice of ADD-labeled kids selling their drugs (more reason to question the drug’s necessity) makes this a serious public health concern.

I write these posts because I know that many of you reading this are either being faced with making a decision for your ADD-labeled child now or you may be in the future.  This is a paramount decision, and very likely a scary one.  When a medical diagnosis is rendered, it may seem as if conventional wisdom is as solid the Newtonian laws of gravity (wink, wink).  But in this case it is not.  There are too many holes in the current ADD model, and the solution American doctors are prescribing for their pediatric patients can alter your child’s life forever.

Why not accept that your child is a unique expression of life, carrying his or her own untapped genius?  Why not learn to find your child’s inspiration and nurture it?  Offering your child hard-core drugs may actually suppress that genius from expressing itself.  In the next few posts we’ll discuss these ideas, and look at a few people that have done extraordinary things with their lives, despite being labeled ADD.  But next–the antipsychotics.

Actor Cory Haim Dead at 38

By On · Add Comment · In actor, Cory Haim, drug abuse, drugs, Hollywood, Lost Boys, medications, overdose, sedatives, stimulants

Actor Corey Haim has died at 38. The Lost Boys actor woke up this morning feeling a little weak; as he got out of bed he dropped to his knees. Paramedics took him to St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank where he was pronounced dead.

Although the cause of death is, as of yet, unknown, I suspect drugs were a part of the equation. Haim, a self-reported life-long addict, was taking over-the-counter and prescription medications to battle “flu-like” symptoms. Whether or not drugs shut him down directly by overdose, or the long-term use just weakened him enough to make him succumb to an opportunistic disease, I don’t know; but somewhere drugs played a part–of that I am certain.

Haim discussed his drug abuse with a British tabloid in 2004. “I was working on ‘Lost Boys’ when I smoked my first joint,” he told The Sun. “I did cocaine for about a year and a half, then it led to crack.”

He said that he went into rehab where they put him on a see-saw regimen of stimulants and sedatives. Nice. That’s wisdom.

“I started on the downers, which were a hell of a lot better than the uppers because I was a nervous wreck,” he said.

Drug use, Haim admitted, ruined his acting career and it caused other problems, as well. In 1997, Haim filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing debts for medical expenses and more than $200,000 in state and federal taxes.

In a 2007 interview on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Haim called himself “a chronic relapser for the rest of my life.”

Self-fulfilling prophesy? Mmmhmm. We’ll wait for the coroner’s report, but I think drugs–prescription along with recreational–have claimed another Hollywood life.

If It Seems Too Good To Be True

By On · Add Comment · In dopamine, drug, Modafinil, Provigil, side effects, sleep, smart drugs, stimulants
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a drug that could decrease the need for sleep, allow more time to work and study, and essentially make you smarter…without side effects? Well, if you remember my post on the subject last year, you’ll recall that that drug doesn’t exist. Oh, there are plenty of drugs that’ll keep you up and allow you to study harder–in the short term; but the one without side effects–dream on.

According to a recent study, the popular prescription stimulant, Provigil, has a higher risk of addiction than previously thought. Brain scans taken of people on the drug showed changes in the brain’s pleasure centers, which were similar to those occurring with the more frowned upon stimulants coke and meth. The study which is due for publication in this month’s Journal of the American Medical Association may break the myth that Provigil is safe for healthy people.

Provigil, or Modafinil, is known as a “smart drug” for its ability to keep people up for hours, thus making it popular with students and other academia (professors) in search of unlimited knowledge. Modafinil, however, is approved as a narcolepsy drug–that is, to fight off the daytime sleepiness associated with this disorder and obstructive sleep apnea. But why worry about that detail? Speed is speed is speed.

The “controversy” over smart drugs was brought to light last year when several scientists commented in the journal Nature that people should have the right to boost their brain power through the use of drugs like Provigil. At the time of that editorial it was thought that Provigil provided stimulation without side effects. This new study is the first evidence that Modafinil increases dopamine release–the “feel good” neurotransmitter implicated in most forms of addiction.

Well, as I’ve said time and time again, there’s no free lunch. You want to play you gotta pay. You can gain knowledge and be productive through hard work and study. But there’s simply no substitute for sleep. Sorry.

Academia on Speed

By On · Add Comment · In addiction, brain, brain-boosting, drugs, Provigil, Ritalin, speed, stimulants

Who are the biggest up-and-coming speed freaks of the 21st century? Academics!

Yes, our nation’s literati are doing legal speed to boost brain power. Or so they say. According to a recent report, the production and supply of “brain-boosting” stimulants like Ritalin or Provigil has increased 300% between 1995-2006. But not all people use these easy to get drugs for intellectual prowess. Some, no doubt, use it simply to get high.

This latest drug abuse trend has some in health care worried–and rightly so. When altered states of consciousness become tolerated, even desired, in our institutions of higher learning, there is cause for concern. Primarily because most controlled substances have the potential for abuse and a high risk of addiction–the last thing we need in our universities, seeing how much power academia yields in politics and public opinion.

The concern has been sparked by a recent commentary in the journal Nature on Sunday that argues for use of the drugs in healthy adults as a legitimate way of improving brain power, much like education, the Internet or other helpful tools. Doesn’t this echo Timothy Leary’s turn on, tune in, and drop out ethos of the 1960s? Damn if things don’t come back full circle. The problem is that these pharmaceuticals have a much higher probability of leading to dependence than Leary’s LSD. And as you know if you’ve ever been dependent, drugs have a way of running one’s life.

So, increased brain power or not, I wouldn’t recommend playing this dope game. But if you must, just remember…I told you so.

Prescription Party at College

By On · Add Comment · In college students, controlled substances, drug abuse, drugs, NSAID, opiods, prescription painkillers, Ritalin, sedatives, sleeping pills, stimulants, Vicodin
Guess which drugs twenty percent of all college students are taking with frightening regularity? Cocaine? Nope. Heroin? Nope. Marijuana? Uh…no. Give up? Prescription painkillers, stimulants, sedatives, and sleeping pills–booyah!

According to a recent study out of the University of Michigan, about one-fifth of U.S. college students are taking prescription pills to get high. And getting them is easy, much easier than getting other illicit “street drugs”. The research findings come from a survey that was conducted looking at over 3,600 college students with an average age of 20 or younger. Students were asked if they took any of the four types of prescription drugs: opioids; stimulants; sleeping pills; and sedative or anti-anxiety pills. 60% admitted to taking these drugs for medical reasons, while a whopping 20% admitted to taking the drugs non-medically.

The students were also asked whether they had done anything illegal to get drugs, whether they had blackouts due to drug use, felt guilty about drug use, or felt sick after stopping taking the drugs. A “yes” answer to three or more of these questions classified them as having a drug abuse problem. Apparently getting the drugs was as simple as going to the dentist for wisdom teeth extractions and getting thirty Vicodin along with one refill. Add a little alcohol and what have you got? A potential habit on your hands.

With the use of ADHD stimulant drug Ritalin on the rise among all teens and this becomes a very scary notion. The problem is that many people see these drugs as OK, since they come from a medical doctor. And if the MD prescribes it, it’s got to be OK, right? Well these drugs are all controlled substances–that is, you can’t buy them over the counter; you need a scrip to get ’em. They’re controlled substances for a reason: They have a high potential for abuse and they can be dangerous if taken improperly.

I think that the real warning here needs to go out to parents, and especially doctors. Parents can’t control everything their kids do, but a doctor can limit what goes out to these youngsters. The truth of the matter is that humans are incredibly resilient, so I’m not sure that 60 Vicodin are needed by many–if any–young tooth extraction patients. I had a cracked tooth and subsequent root canal myself back in January, and I survived on a weeks supply of Motrin (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory [NSAID]). No chance to get high there, and the NSAID did the trick as far as getting me over the hump; so, 60 Vicodin?

I think it’s high time docs started discriminating a bit more before passing out scrips. There’s plenty of other stuff kids can get high on, so why add fuel to that fire. Prescription drugs are dangerous, just ask Heath Ledger and Anna Nicole Smith–oh wait, you can’t. Well, that’s just my humble opinion, anyway.

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