ADD Medications, Long Term Effects You Should Be Aware Of
You've heard the names: Adderall, Ritalin, Dexedrine, Concerta.
Need we go on? Did you happen to see the episode of Desperate Housewives, where one of its characters, Lynette, began taking her kids' Adderall so that she could have more energy needed to keep up with three boys? It got a lot of people talking about the misuse of ADD medications.
Take some time to reflect on this account.
Mike is a thriving attorney, trying to make partner at the firm he works in.
To do this would mean contributing more hours and energy.
How will he be able to do this with an already busy schedule? One night, he was having drinks with a pal and complaining about his fatigue but that he can't afford to slow down.
His friend said he'd been taking Adderall for the past 2 months to keep his competitive edge at work.
He was able to convince his physician that he had trouble paying attention at work and staying organized.
He was subsequently diagnosed with ADD and voila - he had his prescription for Adderall! He felt great, maybe a little more edgy than usual, but it was worth it! True to what his friend had told him, Mike found that getting himself prescribed with Ritalin was very easy.
His friend was also right about the extra energy this medication provided him and with that, and for the first few weeks; Mike found himself working like crazy without the need to rest.
He was also winning like mad! Mike also found that he had lost weight in the process; something that was so hard to achieve before this.
Three months later; Mike's happy ending had changed into a nightmare.
He was beginning to loose sleep; spending no more than two to three hours of night sleep.
He had also developed terrible mood swings and was easily irritated by those around him.
His wife tried to reason with him on this but he refuses to listen to her.
Even his working life took a nasty toll.
Colleagues he used to work closely with are now treated like they are his enemies; bent on bringing him down.
There was no way anyone can reason with him.
A visit to a different physician revealed the problem.
Use of stimulants was causing these symptoms and he was taken off the medication.
Just two weeks later, his symptoms had disappeared.
First, you need to know that chemically, the drugs prescribed for ADD are very similar to cocaine.
And like cocaine, they increase the amount of dopamine available to receptors and that translates into a calming effect on the body.
These drugs are dangerous, not only for those who don't have ADD, but also for those that do!! Second, even though the goal of using these stimulants illegally is to get that calming effect just like they observe in those who have ADD, they get the opposite effect.
Can you guess the top two groups of people who use stimulants non-medically? College students and stay-at-home moms! The three major reasons, some researchers say, for this use is to have more energy, more attention, and to get high.
The drugs can be taken as is, or they can be crushed and snorted which increases the effect of the drug.
It is essential that long term effects of these stimulants be made known to all as the number of users of these stimulants are gradually increasing.
One instance of how the drugs can change the brain and its chemistry is that while it is used to increase the receptors for dopamine, it can actually destroy its sensitivity even in a short period of time making it less effective for calming.
Some other side effects are: - Significant losses of grey matter in the brain - what does that mean? This is stuff in your brain that surrounds the corpus callosum, which is responsible for the communication between the two hemispheres of your brain.
- functions like feeding, drinking, activity level, etc will suffer due to deficits in the hippocampus.
- Deficits in early dementia and schizophrenia which is connected to abnormal brain structure seen on MRIs.
What has been mentioned might not be enough to convince you so here are more side-effects: - Paranoia - Insomnia - Extreme feelings of hostility - Anorexia - Depression - Short temper - Poor attention span - A feeling of "being on the edge" - Psychosis - Memory loss - Hallucinations - Severe mood problems Once you are dependent on these drugs, there is no turning back.
You will find yourself taking more and more dose of them to get the same effect.
This just proves that it is not worth it to get involve in the first place.
Need we go on? Did you happen to see the episode of Desperate Housewives, where one of its characters, Lynette, began taking her kids' Adderall so that she could have more energy needed to keep up with three boys? It got a lot of people talking about the misuse of ADD medications.
Take some time to reflect on this account.
Mike is a thriving attorney, trying to make partner at the firm he works in.
To do this would mean contributing more hours and energy.
How will he be able to do this with an already busy schedule? One night, he was having drinks with a pal and complaining about his fatigue but that he can't afford to slow down.
His friend said he'd been taking Adderall for the past 2 months to keep his competitive edge at work.
He was able to convince his physician that he had trouble paying attention at work and staying organized.
He was subsequently diagnosed with ADD and voila - he had his prescription for Adderall! He felt great, maybe a little more edgy than usual, but it was worth it! True to what his friend had told him, Mike found that getting himself prescribed with Ritalin was very easy.
His friend was also right about the extra energy this medication provided him and with that, and for the first few weeks; Mike found himself working like crazy without the need to rest.
He was also winning like mad! Mike also found that he had lost weight in the process; something that was so hard to achieve before this.
Three months later; Mike's happy ending had changed into a nightmare.
He was beginning to loose sleep; spending no more than two to three hours of night sleep.
He had also developed terrible mood swings and was easily irritated by those around him.
His wife tried to reason with him on this but he refuses to listen to her.
Even his working life took a nasty toll.
Colleagues he used to work closely with are now treated like they are his enemies; bent on bringing him down.
There was no way anyone can reason with him.
A visit to a different physician revealed the problem.
Use of stimulants was causing these symptoms and he was taken off the medication.
Just two weeks later, his symptoms had disappeared.
First, you need to know that chemically, the drugs prescribed for ADD are very similar to cocaine.
And like cocaine, they increase the amount of dopamine available to receptors and that translates into a calming effect on the body.
These drugs are dangerous, not only for those who don't have ADD, but also for those that do!! Second, even though the goal of using these stimulants illegally is to get that calming effect just like they observe in those who have ADD, they get the opposite effect.
Can you guess the top two groups of people who use stimulants non-medically? College students and stay-at-home moms! The three major reasons, some researchers say, for this use is to have more energy, more attention, and to get high.
The drugs can be taken as is, or they can be crushed and snorted which increases the effect of the drug.
It is essential that long term effects of these stimulants be made known to all as the number of users of these stimulants are gradually increasing.
One instance of how the drugs can change the brain and its chemistry is that while it is used to increase the receptors for dopamine, it can actually destroy its sensitivity even in a short period of time making it less effective for calming.
Some other side effects are: - Significant losses of grey matter in the brain - what does that mean? This is stuff in your brain that surrounds the corpus callosum, which is responsible for the communication between the two hemispheres of your brain.
- functions like feeding, drinking, activity level, etc will suffer due to deficits in the hippocampus.
- Deficits in early dementia and schizophrenia which is connected to abnormal brain structure seen on MRIs.
What has been mentioned might not be enough to convince you so here are more side-effects: - Paranoia - Insomnia - Extreme feelings of hostility - Anorexia - Depression - Short temper - Poor attention span - A feeling of "being on the edge" - Psychosis - Memory loss - Hallucinations - Severe mood problems Once you are dependent on these drugs, there is no turning back.
You will find yourself taking more and more dose of them to get the same effect.
This just proves that it is not worth it to get involve in the first place.
