Medicating Our Energetic Kids

[micro magician]

in highschool i was prescribed adderall for being "extremely" disorderly. i used to challenge the teachers and the way they tought, i honestly felt and still feel that i would have been a better teacher. they identified this a behaviaral problem and talked to my parents who then put me on adderall. i dont and never have had add/adhd etc...

when they put me on adderall it just pissed me off, so i challenged more and more and started making teachers feel stupid, so then i was put on a contract.


but as far as if we have the right to medicate our children, my thought was always, if they dont like it then dont make them take it. personally when i first started taking adderall i liked it. take it in the morning and it was 20 times as good as caffiene and a way better effect overall. but after awhile i lost weight, broke out, became agressive and a fiend so i stopped. but if your child likes it and its helping them in school, and not addicted in any way, then let them benefit from it. simple, if they like it. YES. If they dont. NO.

with a few exceptions tho, like maybe you feel its making them agressive or its taking a toll on there body

 

[Guest]

In Jamaica the mothers will give their children ganja tea before school, made from the leaves of a fresh ganja plant, to help them concentrate better while they are sitting in class. They give it for hyperactivity too... so why not just do this? There was a doctor from USC recently in the past few years who advocated medical marijuana for ADD... but I remember her saying it might be as simple as using leaves brewed in tea, and thats just what the Jamaicans do.

 

[naga_sadu]

I tend to distrust pills and synthetic shit in general.

Any ayurvedic / natural solution is bound to be better than a manufactured one, at least that's what my experience has shown (that doesn't make it as fact, it's just my personal experience).

 

[Capt. Cannabis]

I thought i would drop in and give some more of my opinion.

I have ADD and have lived with it all my life. I was a "normal" kid and wasn't really hyperactive, and that hasn't changed. People still find it weird when i tell them I have ADD, but that's not the point. ADD effects a lot of things: memory, attention span, emotional state, sleep/relaxing problems and even handwriting.

Ive tried ritalin, concerta and more recently dextra amphetamines and they all gave me a very bad feeling, like I wasn't myself. So I decided to just live with it and make the best of it. It sure has it's downsides, concentration for more than 10-15min is very hard and it can be very frustrating when you know you can do better but you almost always fail. But there is also a plusside, in some cases I can actually focus very well and I have a lot of creative energy.

So is giving your kids ritalin bad? I don't know, it depends on the child. A friend of mine uses it daily and although I sometimes think he looks a little dopey he seems to be doing alright. For me it's just living my live during the day and enjoying a nice big fat joint in the evening to relax and clear my mind.

 

[jaykush]

pills = bad. since when arent kids crazy, cant sit down, sugar hyper. shit thats what being a kid is all about....

 

[Sinfuldreams]

I know this kid who told his teacher that he was going to cut off her head and throw it in the Mississippi, He takes 1 pill a day and is a GREAT Kid.. if you would of seen him before! OMFG

I agree with all of you, i'm not for it.. but it helps with some kids... I don't mean a kid that can't sit still... but more tuff cases it might be whats needed.

Sin

 

[Verite]

Long before the add/adhd craze they were prescribing ritalin for hyperactivity [ since the 1960's ] and in most cases it worked fine and probably the reason they still prescribe it today.

As long as families had decent faculties regarding common sense its not like the recomendation from the doctor is the word of law. Its still up to the parents to say what goes into their kids bodies.

In my case we tried the ritalin route in 1970 and after taking them for 5-6 weeks and them not doing anything for me we decided to stop them. Sorry to disappoint anyone but there were no zombie sessions, no whipped up strung out high, no desire to sell them to high schoolers, etc. Tried em, didnt work, moved on. Fairly traumaless as most things like that were for someone under ten years old.

And since ritalin has been around since it was first developed in 1954 theres plenty of cheap generic versions so theres no drug company making any kind of profit off a drug that old.

 

[GOT_BUD?]

Verite- But would you agree that many of these drugs are being over-prescribed to control "wild" (and I use that term loosely) children?

 

[I Used To Grow]

as RHCP say..."the medicated state of mind you find is overrated"

 

[Guest]

I was put on ritilan in highschool ,it was like speed to me.I actually think it helped me develop the love for the white powder, that I would have to fight later in life(same buzz basicly). As a tweaking highschooler I loved ritilan ,but I know I wouldn't give it to my child.I always believed a good swift kick to the seat of the pants works much better. My brother was hyper-active as a kid, you know ,there is nothing wrong with a kid being a busybody ,that's what being young is all about, but some of these kids let their hyper activity run their lives,There are generally many other troubling behaviors that go along with being hyperactive and Being that I grew up with this in my family, I would challenge anyone to take one of these kids for a week , That'll give you an idea of what we went through everyday of our lives for decades. I'm not saying that I agree with dopeing your kids up , but when you've had to deal with this for years and years and years(and it never seems to change), as a parent I believe you just get to a point to where you've done everything imagiable to reign this kids behavior in ,and finally your at the end of your rope, and well the meds do work quite well.