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[Radium]

I'm just going to put this here and run before the critics arrive 

2 Likes Mr. seeds and MRTree like this.

[Mr. seeds]

I'ma add something! Hell yes.. I was on Concerta at the age of 5; caused Anorexia which required a whole 'nother med... which had even more side effects beyond anorexia.. then by age 13 I was on the highest dose for adults... which resulted in some interesting symptoms that looked alot like symptoms of Amphetamine overdose which FINALLY rescued me from my painful medication with all its painful side effects and i never had to worry about severe withdrawal again... until once again, because i was stupid i guess i had to be put on meds.. again.. Which, i eventually escaped from..

To this day; RIMA harmala MAOI's have done more good than Concerta did for me.. sure, for someone with real ADHD the concerta in careful administration and in combination with a real education like the Finnish have... well, hell yeah! But for me? hell no... that stuff just doesn't do me good... Harmalas have been best they have done so much for me <3 though, as always each thing is different for each person... you must be wise when dealing with self medication; and its recommended to talk to a doctor too so that you don't do something dumb or just to generally report side effects, etc.

What meds work for you? I've been told that say for example the one root thing, said to have an anti depressant affect; Jamison root? no... i'm thinking of something else.. well; its an herb; doesn't work because there's no active ingredient and possibly its confused with a different plant considering most refer to it by common name and people don't separate common name from botanical name....

But yes! <3

[Mangrove]

*no drug use talk aloud on forums

[Psylocke]

Radium, are you saying that you wish your mom would have put you on meds? I really struggle with this because my son seems to have serious trouble focusing on anything except his ipad. I always said I would never put my kids on meds, but I feel like he might really benefit from it. Then I have read that kids who are put on  ADD meds have higher chance of developing addition issues later in life. So hard to know what to do.

[oplopanax]

I personally think that changing diet, cutting down on sugar, and supplementing some herbs that are adaptogenic on the stimulating side of things (Panax or Eleutherococcus both come to mind) can really help a kid with ADD. Amphetamines are amphetamines and you are basically systematically addicting young child to amphetamines by giving them ADD meds daily. Adderall for instance is simply racemic amphetamine. Ritalin is methyphenidate which is sort of close in structure to methamphetamine but it has that weird benzene ring on it.

Also, harm reduction always and I do know some people who have really grown while taking amphetamines prescribed by doctors. I think that there are always some negative physical and emotional repercussions to taking such strong drugs daily.

I think ultimately ADD is a result of living in our current very very weird and scary global culture, and not feeling a sense of meaning in, say, going to school. Which makes sense school is kinda boring. Amphetamines do make school more fun which is I think basically what is going on when you prescribe ADD meds to kids so they will perform better in school.

Sorry, I am rambling and this has nothing to do about plants.

I am also really not wanting or trying to shame folks who either take ADD meds or have put their kids on them, we all gotta figure out some way to get through the days and if that works for you then that is great.

2 Likes FewTrueSeed and danzick like this.

[Mangrove]

I wonder if Ma Huang may be an effective ADHD treatment... The entire amphetamine family was derived from it's psychoactive alkaloids, after all. 

1 Like Chicsa likes this.

[MRTree]

There is a lot of difference between those two molecules , enough to not worry , but funny

[bosqueberg]

Radium, are you saying that you wish your mom would have put you on meds? I really struggle with this because my son seems to have serious trouble focusing on anything except his ipad. I always said I would never put my kids on meds, but I feel like he might really benefit from it. Then I have read that kids who are put on  ADD meds have higher chance of developing addition issues later in life. So hard to know what to do.

getting an ADHD evaluation from a psychologist is the best thing to do. there are other issues that can look like ADHD, like anxiety or depression. also, psychological/behavioral treatment is recommended prior to even considering meds, as per the AMA. 

[Mangrove]

I've seen plenty of perfect examples of severe ADHD patients who, after a couple days of taking these meds, seem to markedly improve/diminish symptoms remarkably so. Yes, it does in fact exist. Yes, it is also over-diagnosed. Creativity and making a nuisance are common in childhood. Just because a kid is absent minded in class, or might make a social faux pas ccasionally doesn't mean that their parents should rush them to a shrink to have their children, who are oftentimes between two and 13 years old when diagnonsed, put on a chronic amphetamine regimen. I'd rather put up with a toddler who keeps everyone up at nap time by shouting out stupid questions to the droopy-eyed stalk begging for a lunch break, than prescribe a 2-5 year old child a chronic amphetamine regimen for decades to come.

Meds and therapy may probably do wonders for most; speaking of most, I'd be willing to bet that the better majority of ADHD-afflicted individuals aren't aware of their condition; sometimes it's because they never underwent thorough psychophysiological testing needed to diagnose this conditions. Some are oftentimes very reluctant/paranoid with regards to seeking-out professional help for a heavily stigmatised psychophysiological disorder which can be detrimental to the mental health of millions of individuals.

Many of those ignorant of their condition (and/or other possible ones) may self-medicate via licit stimulants, may be more susceptible to drug abuse/addiction, as well as practice mindfulness/yoga/art/gardening/traditional herbal medicines/non-drug to promote attention, control over impulsivity, stress reduction and focus I'd also recommend reading neuroimaging studies on the effect of meditation on Brain areas responsible for ADHD symptomologies, as well as their average efficacy at treating symptoms. Feel free to gawk at how jaw-droppingly close the results are between chronic meditators/non-drug treatments vs. chronic schedule 2 drug pharmacotherapies.

A few bad apples on ADHD meds oftentimes abuse and/or divert them illicitly, especially so on college campuses. This Bull Jizz makes it even harder to help patients get the meds they need for their psychiatric condition(s). I hate this swine-bastard Federal Agency, and Nixon, who started the "war on drugs"... those who need these prescription-only pharmacotherapies for their mental health are now having a harder time obtaining their medications (AFAIK there is a shortage of amphetamine/methylphenidate family meds due to draconian DEA quotas and protocols for all controlled substances to be made in each year ATM; this makes matters much worse...) due to the increasingly large abuse/diversion rates of these meds, as well as widespread shortages accross the nation.

TL;DR ADD is real. Millions of Americans need this drug for its therapeutic properties. However, many who do not have the disorder oftentimes fake their way into a diagnosis in order to obtain meds to both abuse and/or sell/divert to others, which only dirties the reputation of this disorder, as well as effectively treating it.

Keeping it Kosher,
Mangrove

PS: if anything stated defies rule #2 in any way in the eyes of the administration, I'd appreciate it if you may be so kind as to edit my rant in order to ensure that it's within the rules (that is, of course, if you consider my mentioning of human consumption to pertain to medical and/or cultural uses, instead of more risquee ones).

[ONandONandON]

many 'wasted geniuses' get 'normalized/zombified' by powerful psychotropic drugs,
forced on them by society, and doctors pushing experimental drugs for big pharma.

i was put on adderal as a young kid, and it changed my personality,
there must be a reason people who love to abuse pills love adderal.