This blog carnival features some of the best blog posts on the topic of ADD and ADHD in the past two weeks.
It’s a great way to help to get great information about ADD and ADHD out there to people who want to learn more.

1. Dr. Ned Hallowell and Melissa Orlov: ADHD and Marriage
2. Dr. Kenny Handelman at ADDADHDBlog.com: Vyvanse, Now Available Across the USA
3. John MacKenzie at Adult ADD and Money: September Deficit
4. Jeff’s ADD Mind: Lost Time and The Fog
5. ADD or ACE: Abundant Creativity Effect and Ultrasensitivity
6. Jennifer Koretsky, Experiencing ADDvantages: Trouble Saying No
7. Tara McGillicuddy, My ADD Blog: Men with ADD
8. Phil Marsosudiro, editor: The ADDexecutive: Hyperverbalism
9. Kristen at Addled and Accentuated by ADD in Academia: The Master Task List

Thanks for our current contributors.
To submit your blog article to be featured on the next blog carnival, visit here.

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Shire Pharmaceuticals has announced that its new ADD ADHD Medication, Vyvanse is now available in pharmacies across the US.

Vyvanse, also known as lisdexamfetamine dimesylate, is the newest addition of medications available to treat the common Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (or Attention Deficit Disorder).

Vyvanse is a ‘pro-drug’, which means that it is inactive unless it is swallowed, and it goes through metabolism in the liver. This means that vyvanse cannot be abused, and there is no addiction with Vyvanse.

Vyvanse is similar in action to Adderall, and works for up to 12 hours. The capsule can be opened and sprinkled for children who cannot swallow pills.

Currently, vyvanse is approved for children aged 6-12 with ADD or ADHD. Shire has also applied to the FDA for approval for use in adults with ADD or ADHD.

Is Vyvanse right for you or your child?

The best thing to do is to speak to your doctor - because it is available now across the US.

In my ADD/ADHD Membership site, I taught an in depth lesson of how Vyvanse works in the body. To learn more, visit: ADHD M.O.R.E. (Member’s Online Resources and Education).

Technorati Tags: Vyvanse, ADHD Medication, ADD Medication, Vyvanse Addiction, Vyvanse Abuse

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Although many people are recommended to take medication for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), the costs of the medication can be too high for some people to take advantage of their benefits.

I found a resource online which shows you the US costs for all of the ADHD medication.

In general, the older ADHD medications are much cheaper. These include: Ritalin, Ritalin SR, Dexedrine, Dexedrine Spansule, and any medication which is old enough to be a generic ADHD medication.

In general, the newer ADHD medications are more expensive: These include: Concerta, Metadate CD, Biphentin, Adderall, Adderall XR, Focalin, Focalin XR, Methylin, Daytrana.

You can find the chart listing the costs of ADHD medication here. This chart is updated as of November 2006.

At the time of writing this report, Vyvanse is not yet released, and thus its cost is not listed.

I have taken some images of the chart, just to preview it for you here:

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A new study was reported on in the Syndney Morning Herald, discussing how Melbourne researchers have done brain scans to show how differently children with ADD or ADHD’s brains process information. The story is here.

The article reports:

Researchers at Flinders University in Adelaide tracked the brain activity of 150 children and teenagers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to build a neuro-cognitive profile of their behaviour.

The researchers found that children with ADD or ADHD without their medication - struggled with memory and avoiding distractions. With their medication, they improved.

On this blog, I have wondered what is going on in Australia with ADD/ADHD. There seems to be a significant bias against this disorder. One of my blog readers posted a very insightful comment on my previous blog post, helping me to understand why new reports seem so biases against ADD/ADHD in Australia.

That is why I am happy to see that a good brain study was done, demonstrating that children in Australia with ADD or ADHD have brain differences, which improve with their medication. This is an important study to help to clear up misconceptions about ADD/ ADHD.

Well done!

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In this article, you will learn 11 tips for parents of kids and teens with ADD/ADHD to have a smooth and enjoyable summer.
The summer is ideally a time for relaxing, recharging batteries, and building on relationships. These tips will help you to make the summer go well, and improve your relationship with your child.
If you like to learn by listening, you can listen to me discuss these tips on a talk radio show about ADHD in the summer.

1. Create and stick to a summer routine as much as possible
It is important to have a routine even during the summer. While it may not be as consistent as during the school year, children with ADHD need the structure of routine.

2. Prepare your child for changes in their routine
Talk to your child about upcoming changes in their routine and remind them of any upcoming events frequently. Plan your child’s schedule with them and post it where he/she can see it.

3. Summer holidays don’t have to be a drug holiday
ADHD is a challenging year-round condition, not a seasonal problem to be dealt with only during the school year. While many parents consider ADHD medication to be important for academics, it is important to remember that ADHD also affects social interactions, emotional development and psychological development. The summer is a time when children have an opportunity to improvethese areas, but ADHD symptoms can interfere with that.

4. Get your child involved in activities
Talk with your child about their interests, like scouts, art or sports. Locate programs in your area offering an activity your child will enjoy so they will stick with it and build strengths they are interested in.

5. Develop a list of expectations and post them in a central location
Clear and consistent communication about your expectations is key. Develop a list of expectations for the various activities your child will be participating in and be sure to reward your child for appropriate behaviour.

6. Be consistent with consequences for inappropriate behavior
Develop a list of consequences for inappropriate behavior and make them very clear. Be consistent in enforcing them, even though you may feel more lax about enforcing them in the summer. Stick to it!

7. Talk to summertime caregivers about your child’s ADHD
It is important for coaches, camp counselors, and other summer caregivers to know what they can and can’t expect from your child. Parents can download a form on adhd.ca that can be filled out and given to people who will be supervising their child.

8. Develop a travel plan if you will be taking your child on vacation
Involve your child in planning the vacation and ask for their input when making decisions and planning activities. For long plane rides and car trips, be sure to pack fun things to do to keep your child occupied.

9. Focus on social skills
Social skills are often a challenge for children with ADHD. Promote participation in structured and unstructured activities like camp and informal get-togethers.

10. Recognize every accomplishment, no matter how small
Remember that transitioning from school to summer holidays can be challenging for children, especially for those who have ADHD. Be sure to celebrate your child’s successes.

11. Remember to have fun!
Often parents of kids with ADHD have so much to deal with to help their child, especially during the school year, that it can be hard to just ‘let go’ with your child and have fun. Make sure to take some time in the summer and just enjoy spending time with your child. Enjoy his or her strengths, and create great memories that will last a lifetime. Do something spontaneous and out of the ordinary. Build your relationship with your child by just enjoying each other!

I hope these help you to have a great summer!

Dr. Kenny

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Over the past two weeks, many of my subscribers have sent in
suggestions for the name of the upcoming membership site
for parents of kids and teens with ADD/ADHD. I went through over
100 different names!

I am working on the membership site now - and I am
very excited about how it can help you.

I decided on the finalists by narrowing down the list, and then
searching for domain names that would work.
As you probably know, domain names can be hard to get these days…

Now is your chance to have your final input.

I need you to vote on which name you like best.

Here are the finalists:
1) ADHDExcellence.com - Michael Schmidt
2) ADHDMembers.com - Kaley York
3) ADHDMore.com [MORE = Members Online Resources & Education] - Jean Vaux

All of our finalists will get 3 months complimentary to the membership site.
The winner will get a 1 year free membership.

To vote on your favorite choice click your favorite choice:

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Over my time teaching about ADD and ADHD online, I have tested many different strategies, to teach you - my reader, as well as the subscribers to my newsletter.
I have wanted to grow with the newer technologies, but also balance the time of
my medical practice and family/personal commitments.

Some of you have emailed me that you want to be taught more…

You appreciate the newsletters, and blog - but you have a desire to learn much more… (on a more regular basis)

And maybe even get personalized attention from me about your own specific questions…

After thinking about how to help you with that…

I have decided to launch a membership site about child and teen ADD/ADHD.

I want to let you know all of the details - with a specific request at the end - that could help you win free access…

If you are interested in this at all, I urge you to read all the way to the end of
this post - it will just take a couple of minutes

In this membership site - you will get monthly lessons from me.
I will be able to go into areas in much more depth than I can in the newsletter
and blog.

As a teacher of medical students, medical residents, family doctors and pediatricians,
I can give you advanced information that you need to know, but
I can also make it very simple and understandable - so that it all makes sense to you.
(what good is high level science if you can’t apply it right away?)

In thinking about how you would want to learn on this membership site, I looked to
the recent poll that many of you filled out. An astounding 67% of you wanted to learn by webinars.
(A webinar is where you watch your screen while I teach you live, and listen
on the phone).

So, the majority rules. We will have 1 webinar a month.

That gives you a great lesson each month, but I wanted to give you more personal attention. While the webinar software can allow for Q & A,
it is not the best format for that.

So, I decided the best way to meet your needs is to have a teleseminar/conference call each month - so that you can get on the phone, and ask me your personal questions.

I have decided to launch this in the summer - so that I can work out all of the kinks before the school year starts - and more parents start to worry about ADD/ADHD again.

When I offer this membership site later this month - there are two main reasons that I want you to join right away:
1) There will be a limit on the number of people who can sign up right away
2) I will give a price reduction for you if you join in the beginning

Why is that?

In the software world, there is a term called ‘beta testers’. This means that people
are willing to try an almost complete product - knowing that there may be some
kinks and problems with it.

So, my first subscribers will be the ‘beta testers’. So, if you join right away,
you can expect that there may be some bumps along the way… (not with the ADHD info,
but maybe some of the tech…)But you will get the
lowest price ever offered on the membership site, and I will be putting more
personal attention into your learning to make certain this works.

- Great ADD/ADHD info
- Lower cost
- and more personal attention from me.

That works, doesn’t it?

How you can gain free access to the membership site:

I have put a lot of thought and research into how to set this
up so that you can have the best learning experience possible.

But I am stuck on one point…

I can’t come up with a great name for this site.

I need your help…

I have described the site in detail above, so that you will understand
what it is about - so that you can help me to come up with an outstanding name!

Here’s how this will work:

Please brainstorm 1-5 names that you think will work for a membership site on
child and teen ADD/ADHD.

Email your thoughts to: support@theadhddoctor.com (just copy and paste this email address into your email
program).

I will personally go through all of your suggestions, and narrow it down to 5-10 finalists.

I will then poll all of my subscribers to vote on their favorites
- to see who wins.

The benefit to you of coming up with a great name:
1) If you are selected as a finalist - you will win 3 months free access to the membership
site
2) If your name is chosen as the winner - you will win a full year of membership

So, please take a few minutes, brainstorm some ideas, and then email them to me.

This can be worth a lot for you.

Thank you for taking the time to read - and I hope to hear from you asap!

Dr. Kenny

p.s. To claim your chance to win, brainstorm 1-5 ideas
for the name of the membership site, email them
to me at support@theadhddoctor.com, and if you are a finalist - you will get 3 months f.ree.
If you are the winner, you will get 1 year f.ree. See above
for all of the details…

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Although many people worry about ADD/ADHD medication leading to addiction in children and teens who take it – there is solid research now that shows that when children and teens take ADD/ADHD medication as prescribed, there is a significant reduction in the long term risk of drug and alcohol problems (it is reduced by almost 75%).

However, there are still people who abuse ADD/ADHD medications. In the Toronto area, regular ritalin pills (i.e. 10 mg tablets) can be bought on the street for approximately $5. Why? Because people will crush them and snort them to get high.

The newer and long acting ADD/ADHD medications – including Concerta, Adderall XR, Biphentin, Metadate CD, Ritalin LA, Focalin XR – are much harder to abuse because of their long acting nature. However, in theory, a creative drug abuser could figure out a way to extract the active ingredient and get high, by snorting it or injecting it.

What’s the difference with Vyvanse?

Because Vyvanse is a ‘pro-drug’, it cannot be abused.

A pro-drug means that the active medicine is bound to a protein, so it doesn’t work as an amphetamine when it is first taken. It only starts to work after it is swallowed and goes through the liver (the first step a medicine takes when leaving the stomach). When it goes through the liver, the liver cuts off the protein, and then it becomes an active medicine.

If Vyvanse is taken any other way – snorted, injected, or any other way in an attempt to get high, it will just be inert – i.e. it won’t work at all.

The only way Vyvanse is active – is if it is swallowed and then passes through the liver.

Vyvanse is the first stimulant medicine made available with zero potential for abuse.

When it comes to the other medications with low abuse potential – these include the long acting stimulants – including: Concerta, Adderall XR, Biphentin, Metadate CD, Ritalin LA, Focalin XR, etc.

When it comes to the only other medication with zero potential for abuse, that is the non-stimulant for ADD/ADHD, Strattera. This is also a good option, however if someone needs a stimulant medicine with no potential for abuse, Vyvanse is the medication to choose.

Technorati Tags: Vyvanse, ADHD, ADD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Addiction, Strattera, Adderall XR, ADHD Medication, ADD Medication

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What is Vyvanse?

Vyvanse is a new ADD/ADHD drug manufactured by Shire that was approved by the FDA in February 2007 to treat ADD/ADHD symptoms in children aged 6 through 12. It is a prodrug, which means that it must be orally ingested to activate its main ingredient, lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (the same active ingredient in Adderall). Once it passes through the liver, a protein chain is taken off the medication and it becomes an active amphetamine. Therefore, the abuse potential for Vyvanse is much lower than most ADD/ADHD drugs.

In clinical studies, parents reported that their children’s ADD/ADHD symptoms were consistently controlled throughout the day, even through homework time from 4 P.M. to 6 P.M. Additionally, children taking Vyvanse in the study were able to focus and perform better on tests; in a timed math test, a group taking Vyvanse attempted 51% more math problems than the group given placebo, and provided correct answers 54% more often than the placebo group.

An overall improvement was recorded in 95% of children that took Vyvanse for 12 months.

What are the characteristics of Vyvanse?

Vyvanse is similar to Adderall; its active ingredient is lisdexamfetamine dimesylate. It provides consistent ADD/ADHD symptom control for up to 12 hours. Vyvanse is a capsule that can be swallowed whole or broken up and mixed with water, ice cream, applesauce, or yogurt (for kids who can’t swallow).

Vyvanse is taken once daily and is available in three dosage strengths:

• 30 mg—white and orange capsule
• 50 mg—white and blue capsule
• 70 mg—blue and orange capsule

Three different strengths give you and your doctor some flexibility in determining which dosage is right for your child. The recommended starting dose for Vyvanse is 30 mg once per day taken orally in the morning. The dosage may then be increased by up to 20 mg per day at weekly intervals, up to a maximum of 70 mg per day.

Who is Vyvanse approved for?

Currently, Vyvanse is approved for children aged 6 to 12 years.
On June 29, 2007, Shire announced that they have submitted a supplemental New Drug Application to the FDA for Vyvanse for the treatment of ADD/ADHD in adults. The application is subject to a 10-month review period.

What are the side effects of Vyvanse?

Vyvanse was very well tolerated in clinical studies with children. The most common side effects were decreased appetite, difficulty falling asleep, irritability, and stomachache. Generally, the side effects were described as mild to moderate; occurrence and severity of side effects decreased over time. As with any prescription medication, it is important to remember that your doctor has prescribed it because he/she feels that the benefits will outweigh the possibility of side effects.

How much does Vyvanse cost?

Vyvanse will cost the same as Shire’s other popular ADD/ADHD drug, Adderall XR: around $3.40 a day. The cost may even be less than Adderall XR because it is estimated that patients who switch from Adderall XR to Vyvanse might need fewer doses.
Ritalin remains the cheapest ADD/ADHD drug; Vyvanse costs considerably more than Ritalin and Ritalin SR. The cost is comparable to the 36mg and 54 mg doses of Concerta, which is around $140 per month

When can Vyvanse be used?

Vyvanse should be taken once daily in the morning. It provides consistent ADHD symptom control throughout the day for up to 12 hours. In clinical studies, parents reported that their children’s ADD/ADHD symptoms were controlled at approximately 10 A.M., 2 P.M., and 6 P.M., and demonstrated consistent symptom control throughout the day.

Vyvanse is a once-a-day capsule that should be taken in the morning, either with or without food as prescribed by your child’s doctor. If your child is unable or unwilling to swallow pills, Vyvanse capsules may be opened and the entire contents of the pill can be dissolved in water or sprinkled on applesauce, ice cream, or yogurt. The entire portion must be finished and should not be stored for later use.

Can Vyvanse be abused?

The abuse potential of Vyvanse is extremely low; the medication is designed to have a reduced or minimal abuse potential. Since Vyvanse requires oral ingestion to be converted to the active drug, the capsule contents are highly unlikely to be sought out for inhalation or injection. Vyvanse is a prodrug; it must pass through the liver where it is converted to an active amphetamine.

How does Vyvanse compare to Ritalin, Ritalin SR, and Concerta?

Vyvanse is a new class of ADD/ADHD medication. Unlike Ritalin, Vyvanse is not an immediate release stimulant. Vyvanse must pass through the liver before it is converted to an amphetamine, so the abuse and addiction potential is much lower. Ritalin SR and Concerta are long-acting formulas like Vyvanse, but Vyvanse has been shown to provide more consistent symptom control over a longer period of time than Ritalin SR and Concerta.

Ritalin, or methylphenidate, must be taken two or three times a day for symptom control, whereas Vyvanse is only taken once. The effectiveness of Ritalin is often inconsistent. It is inexpensive, but abuse and addiction potential is much higher with Ritalin than with Vyvanse.

Ritalin SR is a long-acting formulation of methylphenidate with inconsistent performance reviews. It doesn’t work for everyone and usually lasts up to 6 hours. However, like short acting Ritalin, Ritalin SR is inexpensive.

Of the three, Concerta is the most comparable ADD/ADHD medication to Vyvanse. They both control symptoms for up to 12 hours and are generally well-tolerated. Concerta is not a prodrug, so the abuse potential is higher than it is for Vyvanse.

Where is Vyvanse Available?

At the time of publication of this article, Vyvanse will be available soon in the USA. It is not yet available in other parts of the world. Please check back, as I will update this article when Vyvanse will be available in other countries such as: Canada, UK, Australia, Europe, etc.

The Bottom Line About Vyvanse

Treatment and management of ADD/ADHD requires many components; this article focuses only medication. Vyvanse is a breakthrough ADD/ADHD drug and many doctors and parents will seriously consider switching from their current ADD/ADHD medication for the benefits Vyvanse offers: low abuse and addiction potential, one daily dose, and symptom control for up to 12 hours. For more information on the other treatments of ADD/ADHD: 1) sign up for my ADD/ADHD newsletter at www.TheADHDDoctor.com, and 2) peruse this blog for more articles about ADD/ADHD.

Technorati Tags: Vyvanse, ADHD, ADD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Addiction, Medication for ADHD, Medication for ADD, Adderall, Adderall XR

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