It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent – but the one most responsive to change.
One of the many reasons so many deny ADHD as a biologically valid medical entity is the simple observation that too often the ADHD stimulant meds simply don’t work predictably. The methods, the practice of using ADHD stimulant meds, the current standard of care is remarkably, almost universally, imprecise – often quite inaccurate, and most often [yes, more than 50% of the time], not measured.
Most remarkable: this isn’t news to anyone.
ADHD meds work unpredictably because too often no predictions about expected medication duration [DOE = Duration of Effectiveness] are given to patients in the first place. No prediction = unpredictable.
What do you say to the doctor about effectiveness, when you don’t know the Rules of the game [I know someone who writes about these matters]? How can meds be adjusted when the ADHD targets, specific brain function objectives, are not carefully reviewed? Looking for details matters.
But Why So Unpredictable?
No current standard of measurement for the effective use of ADHD meds exists. Yes, it feels like 1937, but it’s actually 2012. We’ve seen remarkable advances in the development and use of stimulant medications, especially since 1996 when Adderall first came on the market – but just look around, ask your neighbor about their personal ADHD medication instructions. Ask them how the person writing for the meds instructed them to take the medication, or how they learned about any criteria for adjustment using the medication for their children. It’s spotty at best.
Why?… because many don’t think about the specific half-life of ADHD stimulant medications – nor do they take it one step deeper and think about those neurotransmitter chickens in the synaptic ranch.
Digging just a bit deeper: Those neurotransmitters are gathered /collected by ADHD stimulant meds. Stimulant meds don’t put neurotransmitters in the synaptic ranch, they gather, they catch, those existing neurotransmitter chickens. Neurotransmitter chickens must regularly be replaced – and balanced in the first place for ADHD meds to work properly. Enter chicken denial – the denial regarding neurotransmitter imbalances beyond ADHD symptoms. Those chicken deficiencies abound, yet remain pervasively overlooked as contributory to recovery. But neurotransmitter biomarkers are measurable in 2012. Why overlook measurable neurotransmitter details?
If neither the DOE nor the specific amount of neurotransmitter chickens present in the synaptic ranch receive appropriate attention and measurement, the entire situation becomes quite messy, often very quickly.
The outcome: remarkably commonplace unpredictability. The available science remains in the closet, overlooked, – and the response to meds looks like non-science – nonsense.
Dr Charles Parker
Author: New ADHD Medication Rules – Brain Science & Common Sense
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