Dr Rachel V Gow Inside ADHD

Raising awareness and disseminating information and knowledge surrounding ADHD

Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Instagram

  • Home
  • Biography
    • Testimonials
  • Nutritious Minds – my charitable trust
    • An Invitation to Sponsor the Launch of Nutritious Minds
    • List of Sponsors for the Charitable Trust Launch
    • Rachel V. Gow Charitable Trust Launch flyer
  • Campaigns
  • How I can help you
    • Teachers, Social Workers, Youth Offending Teams, Police Officers
    • Industry and Non-Profit Organisations
    • Parents of children with ADHD
    • Adults with ADHD
    • Play Therapy – Dee Cracknell
  • Blog
    • Real Life Stories
      • “Why do you work with ADHD…?”
      • Surviving College as a Student with Disabilities
      • My Life with ADHD
      • Back from the Brink – by Connor Jordan’s Mum
      • Life with Louis – an ADHD Journey
      • “Good luck Michael – you’re going to need it!”
      • Defeating Depression and Anxiety
    • ADHD
      • Let’s begin with the basics: So what is ADHD?
        • Assessment and diagnosis
        • Stimulant medication
        • How stimulant medication works; mechanisms of action
        • Side effects and limitations of drug treatment
        • Education
      • Interventions and behaviour management
        • Tips on structure, routine and reward
        • Communication
        • Designing creative posters
        • Communication in the classroom
        • Occupational Therapy
        • Reiki
      • The adolescent brain
        • Unmanaged ADHD and risk factors
        • Criminal behaviour and gang affiliation
      • Parenting: Tips on how to stay sane
      • Myths and early medical citings
      • ADHD in adults
        • ADHD and the risk of addiction
        • Substance-use disorders (SUDS)
          • Chris Hill
      • Basic stuff about genes
        • ADHD and genetic influences
        • Heritability
        • ADHD and me: Radio 4 interview
        • Epigenetics (The interplay between nature and nurture)
    • Neuroscience & Nutrition
      • Structural and functional neuro-imaging in ADHD
        • Brain regions implicated in ADHD
        • Reward processes and the role of the ventral striatum
      • Brain maturation
      • Neuroplasticity
      • Nutrition: The brain’s requirement for fuel
        • Western diet and so-called diseases of civilization
        • Omega-3 and cell signalling
        • Nutritional deficiencies and brain development
        • Developmental outcomes and dietary patterns
        • DHA and brain function
        • Nutritional influences on anti-social behaviour
        • A word of caution: Not all PUFA’s are the same
        • School meals
        • Back to basics: Nutritional sciences
        • Gut and Psychology Syndrome
        • Food advice by Dr. Jocelyn Weiss founder of an unprocessed life
        • Some useful web links
    • Education
      • ADHD: Why change is necessary in education
      • Inclusion, inclusion, inclusion
      • Special educational needs: the current miserable state of affairs
      • The need to better integrate clinical research into educational policies
      • So what is the answer to the ADHD question?
      • Creating a new model of education: A translational curriculum
  • Links
Dr Rachel V Gow Inside ADHD > ADHD > Let’s begin with the basics: So what is ADHD? > Side effects and limitations of drug treatment

Side effects and limitations of drug treatment

Although, stimulant medication is considered relatively safe, children and young people need to be monitored for side effects. Some of the reported and publically known adverse side-effects of stimulant medication include:

  • Slowing of linear growth
  • Anorexia
  • Sleep issues
  • Irritability
  • Headaches
  • Abdominal pain
  • Emergence of tics
  • Rebound effect (when the dose wears off) and subsequent heightened effect of ADHD symptoms, e.g., emotional lability and depressed affect [17, 18]

The use of non-stimulants such as Atomoxetine, particularly during the initial months of treatment have been linked to increased irritability and agitation, self-harming and suicidal behaviour, reduced appetite, resulting in weight loss and increased blood pressure and heart rate. There is also the rare potentiality for liver damage which usually presents as unexplained nausea, darkening of urine or jaundice along with abdominal pain (NICE, 2008).

However, despite the apparent efficacy of psycho-stimulant medication it should be noted that circa 25% to 35% of young people with ADHD may not respond to treatment [9, 19]. Furthermore, some very efficient, short-term, longitudinal studies have reported long-term effects of MPH to be modest [20, 21] and not helpful [22]. One main concern, is that MPH does not alter the underlying disease process [23]. Long-term adverse effects of MPH have been documented including reduced growth, tremor, sleep and vegetative disturbances and irritability [24, 25].

During the past decade prescriptions for stimulant medication for ADHD in the United Kingdom has escalated with a net drug cost to the National Health Service of circa £25, 000, 0003 and approximately £30, 000, 000 for health care professionals including educational and social time. In the United States, the prescribing of stimulant medication is a multi-billion dollar industry. Recent data presented by an official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that 10,000 American toddlers aged 2 or 3 years old are being medicated for ADHD outside established pediatric guidelines.

So, the administration of MPH is not without controversy. Several concerns have been raised about the currently unknown effects of psychostimulant treatment in the developing brain. In animal studies only, alterations in the dopaminergic system with long-term effects such as dysfunction of the reward system, to depression-like symptoms have been reported following the use of psychostimulants [27-29]. There is evidence also for long-term brain sensitisation to psychostimulants which is particularly pronounced in participants with novelty seeking traits [30]. In light of these concerns, some parents are reluctant to consent to their administration and seek instead alternative treatment options. Another extremely concerning consideration is the over-prescription of these psycho-stimulant drugs in young children especially toddlers who naturally present with hyperactive-impulsive behaviours. There have been reports also of the illegal abuse of these drugs in individuals without ADHD because of their alleged cognitive enhancing properties. Ultimately, in the same way, a plaster (band aid) does not heal a wound – these medications are in no way a cure for ADHD and should only be used in the assistance of symptom management in chronic cases and when other options have been exhausted.

A lot of the time I lost my playtime because I hadn’t finished my work. I found written work really difficult. It was so hard to concentrate especially copying from the board. I’d keep losing my place and eventually gave up. Soon I learnt not to bother at all, I felt hopeless. Mum said I had a short attention span and was easily distracted. Sometimes we played that alphabet game to improve my memory “I went shopping and I bought an apple..”. That was really fun especially the further down the alphabet we went.

boy-thinking

Speak Your Mind Cancel reply

WordPress spam blocked by CleanTalk.

Recent Posts

  • Nurture Your Mind, Nourish Your Body: Transform Your Life
  • Rory Bremner and ADHD – first impressions and beyond

Blog post categories

Blog tags

ADHD ADHD Awareness Anderson Award Austin Award awards brain function child development children Christmas DC Neuroleadership diet dyslexia EFA environmental exercise families fundraising genes genotype health infants lead meditation mental health Mental Health Awareness mindfulness NEOM Organic Oils New Year NHS NORAA nutrition Nutritious Minds omega-3 Rachel V. Gow Charitable Trust Rory Bremner top tips UK UNICEF wellness women

CONTACT ME

Your Email (required)

Your Message

SEARCH

LATEST TWEETS

  • about 3 days ago
    Tickets for our iCAN event, Sat 10 June are available via the link below. We will be talking everything ADHD & Neur… https://t.co/9wek9k2umL
     
     
  • about 1 week ago
    I'm going to Wellnergy Festival 2023 and presenting in the Nutrition tent! Grab your tickets this weekend for 50% O… https://t.co/8Gy8xzxF4f
     
     
  • about 3 weeks ago
    https://t.co/J48ME3fUlI
     
     

NEWS AND STORIES

Nurture Your Mind, Nourish Your Body: Transform Your Life

    Nutritious Minds and Lisa Nash Fitness have teamed up to bring you a 1-Day Workshop: Nurture Your … [Read More...]

Rory Bremner and ADHD – first impressions and beyond

In 2011, impressionist, playwright and comedian Rory Bremner was diagnosed with ADHD. In a BBC Radio 4 programme ADHD … [Read More...]

Copyright © 2023 Dr. Rachel V. Gow| Website by RAW Media