ADHD drugs to add suicide risk warnings

Canada is taking steps to warn people, I would imagine especially parents that there are more risks associated with ADHD meds.

Source

Drugs for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD will come with stronger and clearer warnings on the risks of suicidal thoughts and behaviours, Health Canada says.

The new warnings are based on reports of suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts and in a very small number of cases, completed suicide, the regulator said Monday.

The warning is already in place for one ADHD drug, Strattera (atomoxetine), which had the risk information added to its prescribing information or monograph in 2005.

"New information has emerged since to suggest that the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours may apply to all other ADHD drugs," Health Canada said.

"There is little evidence to establish that these drugs cause suicidal thoughts and behaviours, but it is possible that they may contribute to the risk."

The drugs in question:

The brand and generic drugs available in Canada include:

Adderall XR (mixed salts amphetamine extended-release).
Biphentin (methylphenidate controlled release).
Concerta (methylphenidate extended release).
Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine sulfate).
Intuniv XR (guanfacine extended release).
Ritalin (methylphenidate).
Ritalin SR (methylphenidate extended release).
Strattera (atomoxetine).
Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate).

It makes me wonder how many of these teens that were bullied excessively also used meds for ADHD or similar problems?

It's just one more thing that that show me at least, that medicating our children as a first option is nonsense and dangerous.

Now they claim there is very little evidence of this being the case, but won't release that information to the public. Which just leads me to believe it's a bigger problem then they are willing to admit.

~Tenth

The usaf put me on concerta for a bit.. As the side effects started to increase I tossed the pills in the trash and never looked back.

I would rather struggle with focus than deal with the side effects.

a reply to: Irishhaf

My youngest daughter was 'diagnosed' as ADHD by her pediatrician ( her father is also a pediatrician) and he suggested a litany of possible drug solutions.

Me and my husband both disagreed.

We found that actually engaging her and creating an environment where she could learn at her own pace and in ways that interested her, were far more effective.

Trying to shove kids down this narrow path of learning at such a young age is a problem in itself, and then we add drugs to the mix..

It's really ridiculous.

~Tenth

a reply to: tothetenthpower

Yup and what they don't tell you is you immediately lose future job opportunities because the fed regards it as a psychological problem once you've been medicated... Or in some cases diagnosed.

Much better to find ways for coping than to take the pills.

They tried to push that on my sisters youngest about 8 years ago,we pushed back she's 16 now and scary smart.

Turned out she was just bored... And they wanted to pump her full of pills... Still pisses me off.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

Its about time! That stuff screwed up my life for almost 10 years!!!!!! I mean, a 13 year old kid wanting to kill himself due to adhd meds!!! I was that kid, and I hope that no other kid would go down that road ever agan because of meds!

Thanks Tenth for bringing this to ATS!

F&S

a reply to: tothetenthpower

I've seen a little child going from a psychological negative mess from early days to a social success in ten years. The parents involved have always encouraged her and introduced her to new opportunities in sports and social groups until suddenly one day something clicked, she fit right in and outgrew her medication. In her case, the med did help a whole lot.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

Thanks for the heads up--my son has ADHD (along with Asperger's), and we tried him on Straterra for a while, but it was really increasing his anger, and was taking away his drive to do anything active. We weened him off and are back to trying to control it with removing food coloring and a lot of processed foods with preservatives and MSG (something maybe not officially linked to hyperactivity, but we notice his ability to control himself greatly diminishes when eating stuff with MSG in it).

We actually had to pull our son out of public schools (which I wasn't sad about) and homeschool him because his ADHD was so severe that he couldn't sit still in class, always blurted out comments and answers uncontrollably, etc. The school's solution to this behavior was to take away his recess and to constantly punish him, which really drove down his self-esteem. Self-esteem is something tough to build back up when a child always feels like that can't even do the simplest of tasks properly, like stand in line for a couple minutes, but we're getting there.

a reply to: aboutface

I'm not saying that they are completely evil, I'm just against them using it as a first resort as opposed to a last resort.

There is some legitimate need for such things in a very small percentage of children.

~Tenth

a reply to: SlapMonkey

Self-esteem is something tough to build back up when a child always feels like that can't even do the simplest of tasks properly, like stand in line for a couple minutes, but we're getting there.

He's probably been told over and over again there's something wrong with him by everybody else but you guys and that's probably one of the biggest barriers to his recovery. You're entirely right, work on his self esteem, make sure he knows he's not sick just learns a different way.

He'll come out fine, sounds like he's got good parents anyway.

~Tenth

In all honesty, I have met kids who's lives were changed for the better with the medication... I agree that mess should be the final option not the first.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

I just read 41,000 people commit suicide each year in the U.S. alone. Which averages out to 112 people taking their lives everyday!! I found that a surprising statistic. Something is certainly going on to cause so many people to commit suicide.

In the coming days and weeks we will hear the media calling for more regulation of the airline industry, likely to be followed by some important congressional hearings to prevent similar tragedies, especially here in the States. However, the reality is, this likely WAS a suicide (and in the United States alone more than 41,000 people commit suicide each year, which would average out to 112 every day). Understanding the heart of a tragedy like the Germanwings crash means we must better understand and respond to suicide as an international public health crisis.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

of course it will make you wanna kill yourself.

Anybody ever went 2 years on meth then quit cold?

That's som gnarly #.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

Abandon the pill pushers. They lie.

If they were telling you the truth, they would tell you, all these chemicals are relatively new and untested. The approval process is rigged to get new pills on the market as efficiently as possible.

Many severe, counterproductive side effects are known but there are likely a few that haven't been properly identified.

The pill regimen is a medical experiment and you are the subject. The pill regimen is not a solution and it was never designed to be. It is only designed to mitigate a small group of symptoms, trading off the introduction of new symptoms.

It's an empty vessel, have a swig.

a reply to: tothetenthpower
Here are a couple issues I see.
Several of those meds are for "adults", not children.

I have been on Stratera for about 2 years now, and don't have suicidal thoughts.

I was raised on Ritalin, the max dosage per day from age 8 till 17. No suicide.

But....I will echo the statement that 70% of docs these days want to just push pills and go about their day.
My kids barely get meds for when they are sick, let alone ADD.

a reply to: SlapMonkey

There is an old post here on ATS that talked about a study that correlated behavior issues in children and their consumption, or lack of, of water.

Co-worker has a sister that adopted 2 girls with issues. Sent her the study. Long story short, they increased the water and decreased the behavior issues.

I was "diagnosed" with ADHD as a child and grew up on Ritalin. It did wonders for me. My grades went from failing to A's and B's through out high school. I was the happiest I have ever been in life.

Heck, marriage has been the leading cause of any suicidal thoughts I have ever had.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

Sadly all this medications have something in common, they are antidepressants and they will and can lead a life of anti depressants dependency.

My son was diagnosed also at age 13, I never felt comfortable with the pediatrician and school so call "experts" diagnostic, I took him to a physiologist, that did tests on him and told me that it was nothing wrong with him and that he didn't need any pills.

In this days and times that we parents do not have enough time to spend with our children because work and too many full schedules a side effect of modern society, we tend to allow the school and doctors dictate our children lives, sometimes with very dangerous repercussions.

My son gave me a lot of hard work during his formative years, but right now he is a 28 year old adult hard worker and productive member of society, with a great job and happy life, his so call ADHD is a thing of the past.

a reply to: SgtHamsandwich

Is interesting that it did wonders for you, it can work in the right children that are actually having real problems, but the problems with the big phama and doctors is that they tend to make and prescribe medications like one size fit all, to me every child and adult are unique in their physiology and one pill should not fit and fix all, when failed cases starts to show up they are either hidden to the public or they are just the exception to the rule.

a reply to: marg6043

That's the issue, is that ADHD is a catch all phrase for hyper, not wanting to sit for 8 hours kids.

And by flooding the market with poor diagnoses we see the drug getting a bad name when there's actually good science behind how they work and why.

But you feed that drug to kids and about 70% of them don't actually need it, you're causing more problems then you're solving.

~Tenth

a reply to: tothetenthpower

Yeah, I'd like to think I'm a good dad, but I really need to work on my patience level. Most things in life come really easily to me and I can become good at activities very quickly--most are hard for him, and he compares himself to me and my abilities quite often. I reassure him that, after 25 more years of practicing, he'll be able to do what I do, too, but it doesn't seem to get through to him. But it's very hard for me to teach him things because of (a) his attention span issues, and (b) my lack of patience. I'm trying to work on it, though.

Hopefully repitition is the key, and just like everything, if I keep practicing, I'll get better, too.

Thanks for the reassurance.