Isaac.Eiland-Hall.com

For the first time since I’ve been checking, my glucose is under 200!

What’s weird is that I only took it because I was feeling a little shaky – but now that I think about it, it feels more like Ritalin-on-empty-stomach more than blood-sugar-problems, which would be accurate – I took Ritalin on an empty stomach, then went to fix breakfast. And I can feel the Ritalin kicking in… So yeah… Oops.

OTOH, I probably wouldn’t have bothered checking my glucose, so it’s not all bad. heh.

OTOOH, this is “fasting” level since breakfast hasn’t kicked in – so we’ll have to check in a bit to see where it goes… but maybe this Metformin will start working. I hope so.

(For those that don’t know about glucose: Normal people range from 90-130. Controlled Diabetes is 140-150; anything over 200 requires help to control… so my goal is 140-150, but my FIRST goal is to drop below 200…)

News – Fife Today: News, Sport, Jobs, Property, Cars, Entertainments & More

Quote: FIFE’S addiction to giving drugs to kids with ADHD will turn a generation into addicts hooked on presciption medication.

Fortunately, that’s the view of politicians who are misinformed.

Science shows that the drugs are not habit-forming.

But yet again, more irresponsible misinformation goes out.

Makes me angry.

I guess you can tell.

Press Releases – Dr. Dennison offers alternative to ADHD Stimulants

Quote: If you or your child has been diagnosed with ADHD, look for an alternative to the medications that are being too readily prescribed.

Sure.

But:

1) Research completely. Media hype is media hype.

2) Follow the money. Is this “alternative” being pushed by people who stand to make money by the increase in customers? Then it’s just as “bad” as the drug companies hoping for more prescriptions…

It’s usually about money. And if it’s not about money, it’s about someone pushing some cause.

The children drugged for being naughty | the Daily Mail

Quote: Countless children labelled hyperactive are being subdued with drugs like Ritalin. But many experts think they’re just naturally boisterous – and those needless pills are causing terrifying side-effects.

This is just irresponsible journalism.

Attention-grabbing, inaccurate headline – technically hard to argue against, but extremely pejorative… I won’t bother going into it from there, but see this if you’re not convinced yet:

Quote: See related articles …
• Does ADHD really exist?

Come on!

Is is overdiagnosed? Possibly. That’s hard to tell.

People are already afraid about the “drugs” (you’ll notice that’s the word we use for illegal substances – they could have chosen to use “medicine”, which has a positive connotation).

This crappy lack-of-journalism scare-tactic bullshit doesn’t help.

Well… I take that back. It does help sell papers.

CITIZEN-TIMES.com: No shortage of column topics to explore, but alas, my time on this page is over

Quote: the diagnostic criteria for ADHD are so vague nearly all of us fit the descriptions

Only to someone who knows nothing about ADHD.

If you go out and read the symptoms of nearly any disease or condition, you’ll find that many of them overlap, and if you have a cold, you might well fit many of them…. does that mean you have any of them? Not necessarily.

Thank goodness we have doctors to do the diagnoses instead of ignorant column writers.

sigh

So every resource I’ve found so far online about ADHD falls within one (or more) of these categories:

– Lots of people saying “ZOMG I haev ADHD!” “OZMG, meee toooo! lollerz!”—I mean, community is nice, and really, I hope this helps them… but… it’s not for me. – Spam sites. Lots of them. – Medical and Pseudo-medical sites that give basics, like “ADHD is a disorder affecting the brain” or some stupid crap… Stuff I know pretty well by now.

Add to all of that that my Google automated search for “ADHD” has thus far turned up articles about how ADHD is overdiagnosed, medication has OZMG horrible side effects and we should warn everyone, with the occasional misuse or some idiot saying “everyone has ADHD” and crap like that….........

I’m beginning to wonder if there’s intelligent life out there…..

ADHD drug misuse sends adolescents to the ER

I found a little bit of funny in an article discussing misude of ADHD drugs (Ritalin/Concerta and Adderall, specifically). Of teenagers abusing the drugs, some only abused the ADHD medication. But some abused the medication plus something else, an example of which follows:

Quote: For the 68% using on or more drugs in addition to the ADHD medication, 20% reported using alcohol,

Right.

So these einsteins were abusing a stimulant and a depressant.

D’oh!

Utopia MediSpa and Wellness Offers Unique Opportunity to Learn the Facts About Unconventional Treatments for Autism and ADHD Presented by Tampa Bay’s Leading Integrative Doctor, Carlos Garcia, M.D.

Quote: “It is my belief that many children diagnosed with autism or ADHD are suffering from treatable ailments that traditional medicine refuses to recognize.”

Pardon me while I put on my tin foil hat…

I might be more open to believing some of this if it wasn’t for the rhetoric that just makes it all sound fishy and scam-like…

Disclaimer: If it’s legit, and if it helps people, cool. And I hope it is… it just sounds fishy.

The great ADHD myth | News | This is London

Quote: The psychiatrist who identified attention deficit disorder – the condition blamed for the bad behaviour of hundreds of thousands of children – has admitted that many may not really be ill.

So we start out with this hype, but end up with this:

Quote: Mr Graham said: ‘I’ve never met a parent who is happy with the medication. They would all prefer not to use them, but to a man and woman, they all say they can’t believe the change in their sons’ ability to concentrate in lessons.’

The article generally progresses from hype to reality…

Summary: There may be overdiagnosis (possibly upwards of 20%-30%). A handful of deaths (nine since the 1990’s). But yes, it does help those that need it.

Yeah.

So fine – let’s try to figure out how to eliminate the overdiagnosis, but stop this characterization! You don’t know how often I’ve been told “Oh, yeah, everyone has ADHD”. No. No, they don’t.

I’m not “special” – that’s not the point. The point it, Ritalin helps me get stuff done. It’s still not perfect by ANY means, but it helps.

sigh

IOL: ADHD drug use grows dramatically
Washington – The use of drugs to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, has more than tripled worldwide since 1993, US researchers reported on Tuesday.

________________

In other words, the world is beginning to catch up to the US.

In other words, it’s real, folks.