What do you know about Strattera ????? says: they want ????? to try that for a trial period of one month!
Can someone tell me if this drug is better than Ritalin??? I say drugs are drugs. I tell anyone who will listen that here in New Brunswick? Going by the verdict of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission that any kids taking medications as a child will be screwed as an Adult! Any suggestion for the poor Mother????
4 comments:
Check out this link on a study on Strattera and it's link to suicide among children:
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/rapidpdf/cmaj.051474v1
Keep in mind that kids with such disorders do commit suicide, so a child who was 'on the edge' and then was given the drug may have committed suicide REGARDLESS of the drug. However, whenever you have such a link that should send up red flags.
If you don't read the above link then the meat is that 1 in 50 children on anti-depressants have INCREASED thoughts of suicide (how it's measured may be relative though). Although strattera is NOT an anti-depressant it acts in a similar way: "inhibition of synaptic neurotransmitter reuptake".
Another study of WHEN the drug is most often prescribed also appears at www.pubmed.org. The conclusion of the study states "Atomoxetine therapy was systematically preferred for patients with psychiatric comorbidities, contraindications to stimulants, or relatively heavy use of behavioral health care." Although someone should check with a health practitioner, my reading of the above indicates that it should NEVER be the first drug prescribed but a 'last resort'.
Stimulants are the most often prescribed medications, yet these don't always work, which means Strattera (atomoxidene) is the ONLY alternative.
From my quick reading it is clear that the medication MUST be taken as prescribed WHEN prescribed. A downside of medications is that often parents aren't vigilant or can't afford enough of the medication which means the child can fall off the regiment-which is VERY bad.
In a way I do agree that a 'drug is a drug' and very little still seems to be known about what exactly ADD is (much like most neurological disorders). Combine that with the fact that a child's mind is just developing and we really have no idea what that involves.
I'd certainly stop short of saying drugs should NEVER be prescribed, probably far from it, all I know is that if I had a kid who was prescribed medication I'd be reading every study and every medical article on ADD I could possibly find. There are many 'behavioural therapies' which I'd definitely try first.
Drugs are not drugs. Drugs are medicine for those who need it. If a doctor prescribes medication for a child, a parent should seek a second opinion, and if it comes back the same, give it a try. I know for a fact Ritalin helps thousands of kids.
If you know for a fact that ritalin is great for thousands of those kids then you must know where these kids parents got the $1400.00 to be properly diagnosed to be fit for the right amount of ritalin.
Which means these kids you know must have parents with money.
Because we all know this is the biggest arguement on the issue of ritalin or any other drug fitted to our children.
The government WILL cover the pills but NOT the diagnoses for proper balance of medication,be it ritalin or any other behavioral drugs.
The REAL deal is, Drug the kids or keep them home.
We have no time to do a balancing act within the schools as we are far enough back from the rest of this country in the education level of New Brunswick's children.
Just do us a favor drug your child to slow them down and worry about the side effects when it happens.
If your concern is greater than that you should go around your community bumbing your neighbors for $1400.00 which should be enough to get your child properly diagnosed.
This and only this is the message any parent should get from our so called Teachers and Doctors of this province. IT"S CALLED THE QUICK FIX!!..
That's a good post above, and really focuses the debate. And to the poster above that, duh, by definition a drug IS a drug (that's why they call them that!)
If you've got a system which will pay for medications BUT not accurage diagnoses then THERE"S your problem right there. Of course we really don't know yet whether any drug is working, these kids very well could grow up to be homicidal maniacs-we simply don't know.
It's too bad there aren't more parents here, because it would be helpful to get some info 'from the trenches' as it were. First of all, the above post makes the point about a second opinion, however, I'd need some validation here but I"m pretty sure in New Brunswick you can't GET a second opinion. It isn't like Ontario where you can wait a day and go across town to another clinic.
From what I've read even Fredericton's new 'clinic' is set up more like an established family practise.
So Charles is right on the money to point the finger right at government, that should be a motto: "no pay for correct diagnosis-no drugs". Or something a little flashier but along those lines. If you've got a lousy diagnostic system, you've got a lousy system period. It would be VERY interesting to get some parents and some kids accounts of exactly HOW they were prescribed-any ideas how to contact them, is there a support group?
Post a Comment