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    I'm Fart and I'm SmunnyEllie Shechet
    5/23/16 3:19pm

    Yeah, agreed that controlled substances shouldn’t taste like candy. That is asking for trouble.

    But at the same time, I want to add the disclaimer that taking ADHD medication isn’t automatically a bad thing. When I first started high school, I had no idea why I was doing so poorly in my classes and I didn’t understand why I kept forgetting everything or why I randomly zoned out in the middle of a math lesson without even realizing it. And when I finally went on Adderall, things slowly started to improve, though I still had difficulties because our school system is standardized for kids who don’t have ADHD. And now in college, I’m finally getting all A’s because it is the right combination of a structure that works better and the right dosage of medication.

    Having ADHD is hard in this culture when so many people treat it as a joke or don’t understand how difficult and frustrating it can be, and taking medication for it shouldn’t have such a stigma attached to it.

    And just to add in a little brag here, if any of you are interested, my mom is a reading specialist and one of her former students published a book about what it is like to be an 11 year old with ADHD, and she actually dedicated it to my mom (which made my mom cry a bit).

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      darleeeeeene aka deraaiilleeeeeeneI'm Fart and I'm Smunny
      5/23/16 3:31pm

      I was coming here to say basically all of this. ADHD SISTERS 4 LYFE!!!!

      My life changed when I got diagnosed (which didn’t happen til i was like 29)

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      I'm Fart and I'm Smunnydarleeeeeene aka deraaiilleeeeeene
      5/23/16 3:39pm

      That is late holy smokes! That must have been so difficult to deal with without knowing what it was.

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    ZhiBaChu: Awkward DetectiveEllie Shechet
    5/23/16 3:06pm

    EVERYONE PANIC! They flavor most kid’s meds. Lock up your scripts, problem solved.

    They are many, many people who do need ADD meds.

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      wearecorgZhiBaChu: Awkward Detective
      5/23/16 3:25pm

      I think it’s funny how people who don’t need medication to function normally are so eager to demonize it (not necessarily calling out Ellie here). Yes, the pharmaceutical industry is problematic as HELL but that’s more a result of combining capitalism with medicine than it is something inherent to the concept of medical drugs. If kids need these drugs and flavoring them helps them take it, I don’t see a problem.

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      darleeeeeene aka deraaiilleeeeeeneZhiBaChu: Awkward Detective
      5/23/16 3:32pm

      and who wants low level extended release amphetamines anyway?! that shit does NOTHING to get you high...

      (i mutter this every time they need ANOTHER formal doc to fill my script for 12 hr slow release ADHD meds)

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    weebleswobbleEllie Shechet
    5/23/16 3:06pm

    This sounds great to me. If they’re marketing it directly to kids burn it to the fucking ground. If they’re just marketing it as an alternative drug, as long as it’s properly prescribed and monitored I think it’s great for kids who can’t take pills.

    Getting a child to take pill form of any medicine is a pain in the ass — there’s a reason they made vitamins chewable. Making it not taste like chalk is a good idea for the same reason (many kids meds do that already). I hope all medications follow suit, tbh.

    Also, Adderall pills are about 1/4-1/2 the size of a dime — I don’t think a chewable version is going to have a substantial impact on how teens or adults use this as an illegal substance.

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      Country Mac's Ocular Patdownweebleswobble
      5/23/16 3:16pm

      I mean adderall instant release already has a sugary flavor. In theory you could chew them. I wouldn’t, but you can.

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      EatAllTheCakeweebleswobble
      5/23/16 3:18pm

      I’m currently opening a pill into a spoonful of whipped cream every morning, so this sounds like a lovely alternative. I’m not saying there won’t be consequences to making a drug that is often abused more palatable, but this does address an actual issue for the intended parties.

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    potatoesmolassesEllie Shechet
    5/23/16 3:28pm

    You do realize that ADHD is a real neurobiological developmental disorder, and that stimulant medication has been shown many times to be the most effective treatment? Sure, stimulants may be over-prescribed, and idiot college students will get high on whatever they can get their hands on, but whatever personal experience you had does not change the fact that stimulants have been life-changing for many people, including me, and including children with the disorder.

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      I'm Fart and I'm Smunnypotatoesmolasses
      5/23/16 3:36pm

      Amen! I don’t get why people treat ADHD so lightly. No, my mom did not give me Adderall because she didn’t want to parent me. She gave me Adderall because I was failing school for reasons that had little to do with my intelligence. Luckily I had good doctors that kept me at a reasonable dosage (25 mg), and I’m still on the medication because it helps.

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      noepotatoesmolasses
      5/23/16 3:42pm

      All of this. My parents didn’t allow my doctors to prescribe stimulants when I was in school, partially because of the pearl-clutching that surrounds ADHD diagnosis and treatment in children, and I straight up suffered for it. At 26, I’m finally on the right stuff, and it’s a game changer. People who want to side eye my medical treatment for a legitimate problem can fuck right off.

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    House Milkshaker of DaftbollocksEllie Shechet
    5/23/16 3:06pm

    So amphetamines are not age restricted? I assume there are guidelines but nothing in law.

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      I'm Fart and I'm SmunnyHouse Milkshaker of Daftbollocks
      5/23/16 3:21pm

      You need to be over 18 to get it from the pharmacy, but it can be prescribed to kids with ADHD.

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      AllisonHouse Milkshaker of Daftbollocks
      5/23/16 4:45pm

      Ironically, my insurance won't cover my Adderall XR because I'm over 18, and adult use is not covered by their formulary.

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    ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILDEllie Shechet
    5/23/16 3:19pm

    I mean, this is something we’ve been doing with kid medicine since forever, because kids don’t like swallowing pills. It’s just a way of making it easy for kids to take medicine that they were already being prescribed anyway (along with extended release, because regular amphetamine has to be taken like every 4 hours). It’s not like they’re doing this with the intent of getting kids hooked and padding their bottom line anymore than other companies are trying to get kids hooked on Flintstone vitamins.

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      acmeindustriesʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILD
      5/23/16 3:23pm

      “anymore than other companies are trying to get kids hooked on Flintstone vitamin”

      Except that I’m sure the makers of Flinstone vitamins *are* trying to get kids “hooked.” I know that I bought chewable vitamins one time, and now my kids beg me to buy them every time we go to the store.

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      KK4Bamaacmeindustries
      5/23/16 3:25pm

      Flinstone vitamins are disgusting and I don’t understand why kids loved them so much.

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    Formica DinetteEllie Shechet
    5/23/16 3:35pm

    I have issues with pharmaceutical companies marketing prescription drugs directly to consumers, but I’m OK with making it easier for people to take the medications they need.

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      MsMymlanFormica Dinette
      5/23/16 3:38pm

      In other countries it’s actually illegal. Only non-presciption drugs can be advertised.

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      Formica DinetteMsMymlan
      5/23/16 3:47pm

      It used to be illegal in the US: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volum.... It was so strange when pharmaceutical ads first started appearing on TV, but now it seems almost normal. I say “almost” because the ads always seem extra wacky to me.

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    LesbionicEllie Shechet
    5/23/16 3:33pm

    You know what this article could have benefited from? Some subtility.

    First: I’m against any public marketing of meds. I’m against lots of ways meds are marketed towards doctors too. This is a serious issue, but it’s not just about AD(H)D meds. Second: pumping kids full of meds to keep them calm because of unrealistic expectations or bad diagnostics - who is not against this?

    But there are still many people - adults and kids, myself included - who benefit greatly from taking AD(H)D drugs. It’s not all bad. It took me years to realize how full my mind was everyday, and that having 17 simultaneous conversations in your head is uncommon to say the least.

    If chewable meds make it easier to take for kids to take their nececary meds, that is not the real problem. We do it with vitamins and antibiotics and cold medicine. And I do we have any evidence that it’s easier to abuse drugs when they are easier to swallow?

    The real issue pertains to the prescription of these meds for kids and adults who do not really need them, and the marketing machine behind it. That is way scarier i.m.o. than the taste of the pills themselves.

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      AltairaMorbius2200ADLesbionic
      5/23/16 4:58pm

      Just FYI- there’s no ADD anymore, so no need for the parentheses. It’s “ADHD primarily inattentive” now.

      I know, it’s stupid, but I do get the desire to combine terms.

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      snarkaeologistAltairaMorbius2200AD
      5/23/16 7:31pm

      I can’t bring myself to use ADHD when I’m talking about a disorder that does not include any kind of hyperactivity. I know that’s technically correct - but, to be honest, explaining that I have ‘Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (but not the kind with hyperactivity)‘ just sounds dumb to me.

      And on a less shallow level, the fact that the Inattentive subtype is kind of hidden behind the general idea of ADHD as a hyperactivity disorder means that people (especially girls/women) have a harder time getting help with those symptoms.

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    BawitabahEllie Shechet
    5/23/16 3:21pm

    LET KIDS RUN AROUND. Let them learn experientially. Let them use and engage their bodies, which are growing and don't like to be dormant. Fucking a! Training these mofos for desk jobs instead of changing how we learn/work is killing us.

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      Memorykid-9Bawitabah
      5/23/16 9:53pm

      Having a bunch of kids running around the class doesn't benefit the rest of the students who'd like to be able to get their work done. We are no longer an agricultural society.

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      cowsharkyBawitabah
      5/24/16 12:42am

      ADHD isn’t the same as having a lot of energy. In some cases, especially with girls, it presents as being inattentive and dreamy, not hyperactivity. Running around won’t do a thing to help them. Read some of the accounts of people who have ADHD and see if running around would’ve helped them: http://the-toast.net/2016/05/19/adh...

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    OurDaisyEllie Shechet
    5/23/16 3:31pm

    I wish adult meds tasted like candy. My current birth control pill tastes gross if I fail to swallow it right away. Same with one of the old buproprion generics. I can understand the concern since you don’t necessarily want kids to associate candy with medicine but if a kid really needs the medicine this would make it a lot easier to the kid and the parent. As for teens and adults abusing it - people who are going to abuse Adderall and similar meds are going to do that no matter what it tastes like. I don’t think making it chewable and better tasting is going to have much of an effect on people abusing it. I can’t speak to whether or not kids are over-prescribed medications other than to say that, sadly, a lot of kids end up on meds because insurance will pay for prescriptions rather than paying for other types of treatment.

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      InquartataOurDaisy
      5/23/16 4:23pm

      Lamictal tastes terrible. Before it went generic, the company that manufactured it made the pills look like little shields.

      These:

      Shields that were hard to swallow properly and would get stuck and start to dissolve.

      Price wasn’t the only reason I was so happy about generic lamotrigine.

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      AllisonInquartata
      5/23/16 4:43pm

      Blech. I used to take brand Lamictal XR, which has a weird tire-like shape and no “slipperiness”, so it was super easy to get stuck in the throat if I had to swallow without water. Now I'm on generic Keppra and thank god for that, from cost and effectiveness to swallowability.

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