Adult ADD

AdultADD.Info is for people who want to learn about the diagnosis and treatment of adults who may have ADHD.  You can page through the site using the menu at the top of the screen.  Or you can use the search box in the upper right hand corner to find something specific that you are looking for.

You may just want to look around using the main menu to see if there is a section of the site that is particularly interesting to you.

Headline News: January 2012

Serious cardiovascular events are very rare among children, and are not significantly increased among current or former users of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications. Cooper WO, Habel LA, Sox CM, et al. ADHD drugs and serious cardiovascular events in children and young adults. N Engl J Med 2011;365(20):1896-1904.

Stimulant shortage alert: Many of you are aware of the stimulant shortage. An article in the NY Times a few days ago explains that it is the result of Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) restrictions on production. Until the problem is resolved, it may save you some time if you call around to find a pharmacy that has a supply of the medication you need and ask them to hold your supply for a day or so until your doctor calls to confirm your request. Once he or she calls, you can go the pharmacy and get your medication.

Because this is a government-created problem, we are urging people to contact their representatives in government about it. The letter may give you some ideas about what to write to you representatives. Feel free to copy and paste, using whatever parts of it you want or altering it as you see fit.

In CT, You can email Sen. Blumenthal at his website at http://blumenthal.senate.gov/contact
You can email Sen. http://lieberman.senate.gov/index.cfm/contact/email-me-about-an-issue

In New York, you can mail Chuck Schumer from his website at  http://schumer.senate.gov/Contact/contact_chuck.cfm
You can email Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand from her website at http://gillibrand.senate.gov/contact/

If you reside outside of New York, you can get your Senators’ contact information at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

The letter:

Senator,

As a patient with Adult Attention Deficit Disorder, my life has been greatly disrupted by the shortage of stimulant medications. In case you are not aware of the situation, a recent article in the New York Times describes what has become a crisis for many of us who suffer with this illness. (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/health/policy/fda-is-finding-attention-drugs-in-short-supply.html?scp=3&sq=attention%20deficit%20hyperactivity%20disorder&st=cse). As the article points out, consumers now lack reasonable access to medications which are essential for our functioning in our professional, academic, and personal lives. The article also describes how the shortage has been created by production limitations imposed by the DEA and which were used by drug companies to restrict the supply only of inexpensive medications, and thereby profiting from the shortage.

Although I respect the DEA’s responsibility to prevent abuse of controlled substances, their policy fails to take into account the needs of patients for whom these medications have been prescribed. I and many others have had to visit numerous pharmacies and often go days or even weeks without medications because of this DEA-created shortage. My insurance will not pay for the higher priced drugs so I have to pay for them out of pocket, and they are very expensive.

As your constituent I would ask that you contact the appropriate representatives from the DEA and urged them to review their policies on stimulant production.  Could you also urge them in the future to include consumer groups, such as representatives of patients with ADHD and hypersomnia, in their negotiations with drugs companies about policy changes that might affect the consumer.

Thank you.

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AdultADD.Info is not designed to provide visitors with a diagnosis or treatment recommendations. Only a clinician who has carried out a personal interview and taken a medical history is qualified to to that.

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Contact a health professional for professional guidance about the diagnosis or treatment of a specific ADD problem.  Do not use the information on this site to diagnose or treat yourself or others.  Please be aware that reading this site does not establish a doctor-patient relationship between you and the professionals associated with it.

We regret that for medical-legal and common sense reasons, we cannot comment on the diagnosis or treatment of someone we have not examined no matter how much detail we are given in an email.   If you are looking for a clinician, we hope the information on the Treatment Resources pages will help you find one.

If you find AdultADD.Info helpful, you may be interested in subscribing to AdultADD Monthly Updates. You will get an email bulletin each month describing recent advances in evaluation, treatment, and research about adult ADD. It will also include additions to the ADD Tool Kit, tips about maintaining relationships, and ideas for getting your work done better and staying more focused.

Subscribe and receive one issue a month for twelve months for $12. Please click on the button below and wait a few seconds to subscribe through PayPal or a credit card. The subscription comes with a 12 month no-questions-asked, full money-back guarantee of satisfaction.  Excerpts from recent issues:

Beyond Stimulants

One of the chemicals that keeps the brain going is epinephrine, also called adrenalin. Just like your car runs best if it has enough gas in the tank, your brain will work best if it starts out with a full tank of adrenalin and gets filled up regularly.  People with ADD don’t have quite enough brain adrenalin or their adrenalin doesn’t work quite right so they sometimes have a hard time getting started. They can sputter long without getting up to speed or run out of mental energy quickly.  They get bored, tired, distracted easily. Anything that reduces adrenalin, like a full stomach, uninteresting tasks, fatigue, or one drink too many, will make things even worse.On the other hand, anything that increases brain adrenalin will make the brain work better and longer    (more)

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Genetics, Brain Cells, and ADHD

ADHD is a disorder of brain development in which some connections between brain cells do not work normally. This is caused by interactions between a number of genes. An analysis of scans done on the chromosomes of large groups of people found that of the 14,000 human genes identified so far, about 50 are much more common in people with ADHD than they are in the general population. Most of these genes are involved in maintaining a chemical network within each brain cell that controls the growth of neurites, little bumps on the outer wall of  the cells that control the strength of signals they send and receive from other cells. Even minor alterations in neurite functioning may affect cognitive development. Several other findings suggest that neurites are important in ADHD    (more)

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