[weresmebike _guy]

hi there em our kid has just been diagnosed with ADHD (ritalin he takes now)the unproven medical condition i know its linked to the dopamine system in our brains and that's why its prescribed but from what i have read on the internet i,e DEA and others that this drug they call ritalin is more potent than cocaine and can lead to alot more complications in life however our sons been on this 1 month and already hes looking like a manpossessedd but seems happy and hes already asking us for his tabletup too more than 10 times a day now i know his body is becoming more dependent on it i know i used to be a drug addict for 13yrs and i know how ur body reacts to drugs is this something we should be worried about and take him off it or would we be better to keep him on it and hope it dont affect him later in life but i know this ritalin is more potent than coke so hes already getting an addiction to this and we all know the more you take the harder it is to get off what should we do?

[englishsetterfan]

No.Better parenting, that's the answer.

[peter.jungmann]

I was a teacher for a number of years, and I'll offer my two cents.I think ritalin can be useful. But I do think it's dangerous for kids to grow up on it. (occasionally on it, okay, always on it.. no.) I think that as difficult as things can be people learn to rely on the drug, and learn to behave on the drug - they have issues with self control when they're not on the drug.So if you use it. (I know it can provide a needed break for a parent or teacher) I recommend that you don't have the child on the drug all the time, so that he can learn all of the necessary self-control and self discipline things that are necessary whether or not you're taking the drug.Good luck!

[cailin]

There was an article the other day in the newspaper about Ritalin and children. The experts now seem to consider that giving a child time out to do something physical in the fresh air can actually help them more than pumping them with an ever increasing dose of Ritalin. when a child is becoming very difficult they should be taken outside to run around for instance. They did say that it should be in a green space if possible, as the results were not the same in towns. who knows, it could be worth trying if at all possible. I think diet comes into it a lot. There are more and more children today with this disorder, there has got to be a reason for it somewhere. diet and pollution are possible causes. Junk food is known to be bad.

[Latanian]

I use to take that when I was a kid.It does not help you focus. It just zones you out so much that you do not disrupt the class. if you do a little more research on it you will find that in many studies,in people that took ritalin as a child a large percentage of them grow up to have drug problems. It is in the same family of medication as methadone. There are other things you can do to help With AD-HD. One of them is complete structure. Have a set schedule for daily activities. Like homework time is from 3:30 to 4:30. Play time is from 4:30 to 6. bath time is from 6 to 6:30. dinner is at 7 tv time is from 7 to 8 and bed time is at 8. This helped me. There are also diet changes and other medications you can try. For one thing adhd makes things take an opposite effect to your child, that is why they are giving him a stimulant instead of a depressant. If you took ritalin YOU would be bouncing off the walls. When I stopped taking ritalin as an adult I started drinking coffee. To most it is a stimulant but it calms me down and helps me focus. As ateenager I had problems with drugs I grew out of it thank god but a lot of people don't. Try something other than ritalin. Take a look at the sites listed below.