| One of the most common medicines for treating | | | | about. Apart from that, the range of side effects can |
| ADHD in both children and adults is amphetamines in | | | | range from mild to downright nasty. I know of some |
| various forms. What do Concerta, Ritalin, Adderall and | | | | children who actually have to take up to eight pills a |
| Dexadrine all have in common? They are all | | | | day to reduce side effects and all these eight pills will |
| amphetamines. What are the risks and long term | | | | have their own side effects. One alarming effect of |
| effects of these drugs used to treat ADHD? This is | | | | the use of drugs to treat ADHD is stunted growth. The |
| the first question any concerned parent will ask. | | | | side effects of the drugs used to treat ADHD can |
| As regards long term effects, nobody is quite sure. Not | | | | range from nausea, vomiting, irregular heart beat, |
| even the drug companies that manufacture them | | | | sleeping problems, blinking and tics. That is not the way |
| because they do not seem to have spent much | | | | to treat a mental disorder, in my humble opinion. |
| money on research. Certainly there is not much | | | | One of the main side effects of these drugs used to |
| literature out there on the use of drugs to treat ADHD | | | | treat ADHD is that appetite is mainly affected. It usually |
| except all the positive reports. Some of their sites say | | | | means a much reduced appetite so the child begins to |
| that they have studied the long term effects for only | | | | lose weight. I know one little girl who lost so much |
| about two years yet the drugs have been on the | | | | weight that she had to be put on a different drug. |
| market for at least forty years, like Ritalin, for example. | | | | Others have problems in sleeping and have to given a |
| That means therefore that we could be giving our | | | | sleeping pill. There are also reports of hallucinations |
| children a drug which is going to compromise their brain | | | | here children are upset by insects or snakes crawling |
| development in the long run. The brain goes on | | | | over them and also suicidal thoughts. |
| developing until the child becomes a twenty-five year | | | | Now parents are seeking alternatives and the reports |
| old adult. | | | | from parents using homeopathic remedies for ADHD |
| The second crucial question parents will ask is if the | | | | contrasts sharply with those of parents who are |
| side effects are going to interfere with the child's | | | | flooding the ADHD forums on the Internet with |
| development. The sad truth is that while amphetamines | | | | anguished stories about the nasty side effects of the |
| will give some relief from symptoms and help to | | | | conventional drugs used to treat ADHD. The |
| improve concentration and control impulsivity, | | | | homeopathic remedies are despised by the medical |
| interference with the child's development is not known. | | | | community in general but they are much more |
| The FDA does warn about prolonged use so there | | | | effective and safer than the ADHD drugs which can |
| must be problems that they do not want to tell us | | | | ruin a childhood. |