ADD Medication — No comments
04
Mar 10

Concerta Overview – ADHD Prescription Medication

adhd-prescription-medicine Thanks to an ADHD insurance coverage issue that I need to get around to working on (sound familiar?), I’ve been taking Concerta for a few weeks now instead of my usual mega-dose of Adderall (generic). A nice side benefit is that I can write first person review of another ADHD medication from personal experience. You can check out my Vyvanse Review from the time I tried that as well.

As always, the best ADHD tips and tricks are here.

What Is Concerta ADD Prescription Medicine?

Let’s start from the beginning. As it turns out, most ADHD medications are versions of either Ritalin or Adderall in their generic forms. The generic form of Adderall is mixed amphetamine salts, and the generic of Ritalin is methylphenidate. Both medications are stimulants that increase the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain. In a standard brain, this causes overstimulation. In an ADHD brain, this creates the so-called paradoxical affect of being calming and focusing.

Concerta is a methylphenidate based ADHD medication. In fact, in pretty much all respects, Concerta is nothing more than a long lasting form of Ritalin, or if you prefer, a slow-release form of Ritalin.

If you’re thinking, that there is already an extended release form of Ritalin, you are sort of correct.

It turns out that both the extended release form of Ritalin, known as Ritalin LA, and the extended release form of Adderall, known as Adderal XR, are really nothing of the sort. What these ADHD drugs really are is a 50/50 mixture of ADD medication with one-half coated with something that takes approximately 4 hours to digest, and the other half not coated with anything. So, when a child with ADHD takes Adderall XR, for example, they get one-half of the medication right away, and then four hours later, the other half gets absorbed into the body. Instead of “extended release,” this is really more of a twice release. The effects, in other words, are exactly the same as taking one dose and then following that one 4 hours later. The only benefit is that there is no need to take the second pills. (If you or your ADHD child do not have any problems or issues with taking medication twice per day, then you can save money by getting the non-extended release versions as generics.)

Concerta is actually a true extended release preparation of the ADD medicine in Ritalin.

How Does Concerta Work?

A ADHD prescription of Concerta is actually very fascinating. Each Concerta tablet is composed of two parts. The first part is standard untreated Ritalin that get absorbed into the body quickly to produce the necessary therapeutic effect. The second part is methylphenidate that is encased in a shell that prevents its immediate absorption.

With Concerta, the methylphenidate is encased inside a shell that cannot be digested by the body. In each shell there is a single tiny hole. However, the methylphenidate molecule is too big to get out of the hole in any real quantity by itself. Instead, the medication must be “pushed” out the hole. This happens because the shell contains a tiny methylphenidate “pump” that absorbs, over time, water from the body. As it does so, the water takes up more and more of the space inside the pump side of the shell which forces the ADHD drug out of the tiny hole in the shell.

Over the course of the 10 to 12 hours that Concerta is effective, tiny amounts of medicine are constantly released into the bloodstream via absorption in the intestines.

Unlike the Adderall XR and Ritalin LA medicines which basically provide two full doses all at once at two different times, Concerta keeps the amount of ADHD medication in the body at a steady, level, amount throughout the entire day.

One can see the theoretical benefits of such a medication. Most importantly, would be eliminating the highs and lows caused by standard ADD drugs when they hit a peak level about an hour after ingestion, and then a low-level just before the second dose kicks in, either by taking more pills, or in the case of the extended release preparations, when the second set of chemicals is released into the body.

So, how does Concerta work in real life?

Grab the Addessories RSS Feed, or check back on Friday, when I post my first-hand experience review of Concerta.

ADD Medication — No comments
23
Feb 10

Alternative ADHD Treatments Herbal Studies Research

One of the most common complaints about studies of herbal medicine and research done on alternative therapy treatments for ADHD and for other health issues is that scientists typically do not test the full plant or herb. Rather, research scientists identify the "active ingredient" in the herbs or other plants and then isolate that component. Once that is done, they standardize that component in order to test it.

researchThe issue that many alternative health advocates raise is that such research cannot accurately determine the effectiveness of herbs, plants, and roots because it is possible that other components within those natural elements either increase the potency or are necessary for the effects of the natural treatment to work. This is not an unbelievable argument. It is entirely possible that in order to be effective, alternative treatments for attention deficit disorder and other issues, cannot come from just one ingredient in the plant. In fact, many herbalists, homeopaths, and other alternative practitioners are adamant that this is the case, not only for ADD but for all natural treatments.

Faulty Research Studies of ADHD Alternative Treatments or Reality?

Assuming that these advocates are correct, what does that mean for people with ADHD looking for alternative treatments or more natural ADD treatments as an alternative to chemical prescriptions most often used to treat children with ADHD and adults?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t necessarily mean what alternative health advocates think it does. For one thing, just because a study may be flawed in one’s opinion, does not necessarily mean that the opposite conclusion is true. Far from it. Even worse, if it is true that standardized preparations made from a plant’s active compounds is not effective enough to be used in research, it also means it is not effective enough to be used as an alternative therapy.

In other words, if an herbal remedy’s compounds are not functional when isolated and turned into pill form for research studies, they aren’t functional when turned into pills to be sold to people either!

If you subscribe to the belief that herbal remedies and other natural medicines must be taken in whole, then you also believe that taking pills is worthless. There is no two ways here. Logic dictates that what is true for one scenario is true for another, not that it is true when someone says something against you, and not true when you are selling something.

What it all boils down to, is that if you are going to subscribe to the idea that natural treatments for ADHD and other conditions cannot be researched by distilling the main ingredients into pill form, then in order to get effective herbal medicines or other natural treatments, you cannot take pills. You must use a different means of taking the medicine.

One popular alternative to pills is teas. Unfortunately, any tea that comes in a bag cannot be brewed to enough strength to be therapeutic. If you are buying teabags of alternative medicines, you are throwing your money down the drain. If you are going to use teas, they must be loose tea, you must get the dosage right, and virtually all of them must be brewed for twenty minutes or longer. Just leaving the tea in there isn’t good enough. The water needs to stay hot, so you’ll also need an insulated container to brew the tea in.

The truth is that chemistry is chemistry and biochemistry is biochemistry and even biology is biology.

If a chemical is required in order for another compound to be effective, that will always be the case. Without discovering what that helper chemical is and also standardizing it, there is no way to ensure that enough of it, or the main active ingredient is present in any treatment. For those of you familiar with drug culture, it is the difference between ditch weed and the kind that you buy. Both of them are the same plant, both of them have the chemical that gets you high, but only one of them has enough for it to be reasonable to expect anything out of it. Unless you plan to have a bonfire in an enclosed space.

When it comes to alternative therapies, be sure to check out all the alternatives, but be smart about it. Understand how peer reviewed medical research works and how pills are manufactured. Also, understand the biology and chemistry behind any argument. Just because someone really wants something to be true doesn’t mean it is. That might be one of the best ADHD tips you’ll ever get.

ADHD — No comments
28
Jan 10

ADHD Coping Mechanisms Blaming Yourself or Them

adhd-coping-mechanism-study-school-graphic One of the things that I have consistently found most fascinating since discovering my ADD and the science of ADHD in general, is the concept of coping mechanisms.

All human beings, whether they have attention deficit disorder or not, develop over the course of their lifetime, a set of skills (for lack of a better term) that allows them to get by in life. These skills range from the most basic, like tying your shoe, to much more complicated ones, like initiating and developing a romantic relationship with another person. Coping mechanisms are a specific subset of these life skills. A coping mechanism is a skill or habit that develops in order to compensate for something, whether it is a some sort of shortcoming, some form of emotional discomfort, or simply to take the edge off of life’s many potential disappointments. One common coping mechanism is emotional eating, where a person eats either certain foods, or large amounts of food, in an effort to make themselves feel better.

Common ADD Coping Mechanisms

For adults with ADHD, recognizing and understanding coping mechanisms is an important component of non-medication attention deficit hyperactivity disorder treatment. True coping mechanisms are mental or behavioral in nature, as opposed to functional. In other words, the constant adjustments and refinements we make everyday are not coping mechanism. The habits, skills, and emotional responses we develop over long periods of time are coping mechanisms.

For example, always placing your keys in the same place is a method of doing something, not necessarily a coping mechanism. That is simply an attempt at perfecting the flow of your current lifestyle.  However, being someone who is always compulsive about keeping everything in its assigned location, is a coping mechanism.

Like everyone, people with ADHD have good coping mechanisms, and bad coping mechanisms. Recognizing the good ones provides a starting point for developing new coping techniques or expanding upon already useful coping methods. Recognizing the negative coping mechanisms provides a starting point for lifestyle adjustments that hopefully, lead to the eventual disappearance of said habit. Detecting and adjusting the mental attitude that often accompanies negative coping responses is also a good place to start when it comes to therapy or ADHD coaching.

Blaming Yourself For ADHD or Blame Others?

One of the most intriguing things about common ADHD coping mechanisms is how they may or may not apply to any one person. Even more interesting is how the same mechanism can be flipped upside in some people that have ADHD.

One of the very common coping mechanisms for adults with ADHD is to blame supposed character or personality flaws for certain things. For example, a woman with ADD who can’t seem to do any job beyond answering phones because she is never organized enough for anything more advanced, may eventually take the edge off of such disappointments by laughingly noting that she is, “just a space cadet sometimes.” Unfortunately, this all too common side effect of ADHD, is not only surprisingly effective at blunting the hurt of disappointment, but also at making one resigned to never striving for anything else.

Reading about this coping method, or its variations, in book after book left me skipping chapters and writing off certain advice, because it never really seemed to apply to me. I’ve always been very confident in my abilities, often getting jobs, projects, and responsibilities beyond my current skill level. Fortunately, I’m also quick to learn with either the interest or immediately looming threat of disaster is strong enough. But, I thought, I’ve never really blamed myself.

Ironically, it turns out that I use the blame coping mechanism just as much (or more) than most people with ADHD, the only difference is that I blame other people.

Many ADHD books, including the oft mentioned, Hallowell books, Driven To Distraction and Delivered From Distraction are written by successful individuals who claim to have ADD themselves. In one of the books, Hallowell, who is a successful doctor, describes his thriving medical practice and his extensive work with ADD patients before saying that he, himself, also suffers from ADHD.

As I read that passage soon after being diagnosed with adult ADHD, I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. Hallowell, I figured, was lying in order to boost his credibility in the area of ADD. After all, I thought, he went to medical school, graduated, became a doctor and developed a successful medical practice, just how bad could his ADHD be? Oh, my gosh! Did he have to use sticky notes to keep track of assignments? Oh, the horror!

The truth is, that I despised Hallowell and his success as a doctor and subsequently an author. The reason is that instead of blaming myself, I blame others. When Hallowell, and his “I barely have ADD” colleagues go out and build these big, successful careers, fat bank accounts, and speaking tours, I reasoned, it hurts those of us who REALLY have ADHD.

I’ve thought that way my whole life.

“I’m the smart one. The only reason he is doing better in school is because he studies EVERY NIGHT.”

“I could have started up an Internet business, but I didn’t want to spend every single day working in my basement.”

The tragedy is that until recognizing what I was doing, I took much of it as a badge of honor.

I graduated from High School near the top of my class. I got all A’s except in English where I got B’s. I could have gotten A’s in English, but I never did homework. Literally, NEVER. I did my schoolwork during the class before the class it was due in. So, I did my Algebra homework for second period during my History class at first period. The one thing I couldn’t quite get done like that were long essays. So, every time an English paper was due, I would start it during the class before it was due, but I wouldn’t finish it. I’d have to wrap it up the next day. It was still an A paper, but with the one letter grade penalty for being late, it became a B.

I was proud of that as I left high school. You see, grades or no grades, I was faster, smarter, and better than everyone else. Those kids who left with a 4.0 where the chumps, not me. They were the ones who wasted their free time actually doing homework.

Unfortunately, not recognizing the truth cost me a lot in college where I not only continued the same pattern, but actually expanded it. In high school, attendance was required. Between parents, teachers, and administrators, the path of least resistance was going to class. Coming up with an excuse, sneaking out the door, and then trying to keep my parents from getting a phone call or note about my absence was way more work than just going to classes, so I went.

At college, that was no longer the case. In college, no one called my parents, most professors didn’t know whether you were there or not. The path of least resistance became not going to classes, and I didn’t go. My new pattern became:

  1. Go to class one or two times and get syllabus.
  2. Use syllabus to find exam dates and due dates of essays or projects.
  3. Stop going to class.
  4. Go to the class the day before the exam to get review sheets and any changes about what would be covered.
  5. Hurriedly read through the textbook chapters that would be on the exam.
  6. Take test.
  7. Surf the curve to a B or C.
  8. Start any essay or project the night before it was due. Work on it until it was “good enough.” Surf curve to C.

During my Junior year, I literally attended my Geography class 5 times the entire semester. I got an A.

The only exceptions were the classes where the professor actually took attendance and docked your grade if you missed classes. In every one of those classes, I got an A, because I actually went. Ironically, I seldom paid much attention while I was in the class. I read the student newspaper, worked on other classes’ homework, or just daydreamed. But, looking up at the board and hearing a paragraph here and there was enough to let some of the information sink in. More importantly, it was enough to give me an idea of what the professor felt was important.

For years after graduating, I proudly told anyone who asked that I graduated with a 2.14 GPA, but, I added, I never really went to class or did any of homework. I don’t know if anyone was ever impressed by that. Not that it matters.

The true tragedy is that I didn’t do anything else. There would be some redeeming value in how I spent my 4 years on campus if I had gotten in a 100 day ski season, or spent sunny days hiking, biking, or doing ANYTHING. Instead, I mostly slept in, napped, and messed around on my computer. The only good to come out of it was that in those days, the Internet was a text based Unix system. There were no web browsers, just FTP, vi editor, GREP, UUENCODE, and so on. In the end, I knew a lot about how to use computers, which meant I didn’t have to figure out how to get a job in Chemistry with no professor recommendation (none of them would have recognized me), no summer lab work, and no internships. Instead, I got a job as a computer administrator and quickly became certified in numerous technologies just as the technology bubble started ramping up.

Of course, the blaming cope strategy didn’t go away. I always felt that I should be the project manager or the startup millionaire or whatever, but I never was. The reason was simple, I could have been, but they just worked harder, tried harder, or refused to give up. Not me. Those suckers.

*******************

These days, I try not to blame others for their success, nor assume that I would be twice as successful under the “slightly different” circumstances of me actually busting my butt to make something happen. But, like most attitudes developed over decades, it can be hard to keep up, and even harder to see when it is happening.

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