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metabolism

ADD/ADHD medications at first seems simple – if you have ADHD, “Here’s the script for meds.”  Yes, I am suggesting we modify our scripting process.

ADHD Worries

The truth is that ADD/ADHD medications do require specific, precise thinking with clear guidelines – or the entire process of medication management can become dangerous, frustrating, or disappointingly ineffective - with disastrous long term consequences. Problems arise much too often. And they are correctable!

Hey, this is not hype – we see these challenges everyday in my office and have for many years! I have seen literally several thousand second ADD/ADHD opinions, heard responses from dinner meetings with hundreds of medical folk, and find that some things just are not done in the offices they way they should be.

And the Paradox is Simple: We’re treating Attention Deficit Disorder without Paying Attention!

Getting the meds right takes some forethought, careful planning and ongoing operational guidelines. I’ve been discussing this ADD/ADHD Medication subject since the first post here at CorePsychBlog back in ‘06, and really haven’t changed my tune.

We should not find ourselves asking the patients what to do next, we should be teaching everyone what to look for, what the targets are, and evaluating progress by specific measurements – instead of simply “Is it working?” Duh…

And I am certainly not blaming anyone, any docs, any academics. We simply don’t have a book, a reference, a set of guidelines currently available that provides a simple structure for medication management. My simple take on it: we are so research driven that too few are actually developing feedback loops with the patients in the offices.

Providers themselves are vertically challenged! Just see what my old friend Dr Edward de Bono says about the changes in management systems:

“TELESCOPE TO KALEIDOSCOPE: The management metaphor has moved from telescope to kaleidoscope. Where once top managers could focus on their own concerns, with little need for peripheral vision, they now view a constantly changing pattern of shapes, sizes and colours, from which they must try to make sense. It sounds like an awesome task. It would have been impossible save for the advances in IT, which animates and accelerates the agile corporation, setting it free to move from control to coordination of collaborative effort, from the status quo to the future.” From Thinking Managers.com

Sound familiar? Medicine for my entire [almost] 40 years in practice has been delivered vertically, from the top down – with a cross between a microscope and a telescope, both of which miss the ADD/ADHD kaleidoscope. It’s now time to provide a more inclusive, more horizontal operational grid with specific measurement systems.

Your heard it first here: yes, feedback loops [Jack Welch on feedback here] with specific parameters.

I’ve been talking about these issues for months now, and to make this discussion more convenient for you, I will link some of my previous posts on some of the important ADHD medication management topics, and will tell you quickly about this new project in just a moment. Here are just few of the many topics I have been writing about:

  1. On metabolic problems with ADD: Specifically gluten sensitivity
  2. On internists using SPECT imaging for diagnostic evaluations showing PFC evidence
  3. On the controversy regarding the use of SPECT imaging for psychiatric diagnosis
  4. On immune testing as it relates to ADD symptoms and obvious immune dysregulation
  5. On using precise guidelines with the “Therapeutic Window”
  6. On the importance of breakfast multiple posts, with this one on school breakfasts

So what is the point?

Very simply, I am in the process of writing a book-map to help us out of this confusion – and I want you, my trusted readers, to be the first to know. The book I’m writing:

The Patient’s Guide For ADHD Medications: What To Do When Nothing Is Working

  • I have changed the audio here to tell folks about this new book, and have created a special gift
  • I have added an opt-in box over there just below the email update box to go after that gift
  • The deal is simply this: you sign up now, just to let me know you are interested in the book
  • And on the Thank You Page for signing up you will find a 1200 word article/checklist: a pdf file outlining The 10 Biggest Problems with ADD/ADHD Medications with some brief notes on basic solutions.
  • There is no obligation to buy the book when it is published, this simply gives you a big bonus benefit: a preliminary look at the contents, and a significant discount when the book comes out near the end of August
  • Also, special savings/benefits on forthcoming teleconference training regarding *The Details* because you expressed that early interest

So sign up for the discount and goodies if you haven’t already.

If you have and didn’t get the bonus, just let me know, I will get you the checklist. Then think of two or three people who would like the checklist who are troubled by their progress [this will likely be easy] and send them the CorePsychBlog link so they can get into this offer. Time is short, so get it done now.

Hope you enjoy the checklist and this summary – please let me know what you think in the comments below-

Have a great week!
cp

—>Tweet this post below! For ADHD Medications: Download complimentary white paper Precise Solutions now, – and get ready for the complete version of ‘The Patient’s Guide’ details to follow. Get Neurotransmitter Details Here

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More than just Vitamin D: New Specifics On Vit D3

by Dr Charles Parker on April 27, 2008 · 2 comments

Vitamin D3 is more than just Vitamin D and Sunshine

Sunshine helps

Vit D3 For Psych

Many are recognizing the relevance of Vitamin D3 testing for multiple brain and body applications, but there are some important caveats found in this recent paper:

JJ Cannell†, BW Hollis, M Zasloff & RP Heaney, “Diagnosis and treatment of Vitamin D deficiency,” Expert Opin. Pharmacother. (2008) 9(1):1-12

  1. D3 is not D2, and most of the large doses written for the convenience of infrequent dosing – is D2, and less effective
  2. Pay attention to the dosing based upon the levels found in testing,
  3. Notice the specific test that is recommended: 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25[OH]D), 
  4. Review the multiple applications for D3 levels in a variety of conditions from osteopenia, to fibromyalgia, to depression
  5. Relevance in pregnancy and breast feeding documented
  6. 105 solid references with treatment specifics

We’ve been interested in D3 for some time now, and recommend following Dr Cannell’s work at the Vitamin D Council site and through his newsletter there.

And here is an interesting article on Vitamin D and Mental Illness.

Take a look, see what you think and feel free to comment below-
cp

—>Tweet this post below! For ADHD Medications: Download complimentary white paper Precise Solutions now, – and get ready for the complete version of ‘The Patient’s Guide’ details to follow. Get Neurotransmitter Details Here

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Sydney Spiesel MD: The problem with psych drugs

April 19, 2008 Beyond ADHD

Just back from Hartford and New Haven CT, and met Dr Sydney Spiesel, a busy practicing pediatrician who regularly comments on NPR, is a professor at Yale Medical School, regularly writes a Health and Science syndicated column at Slate, – and on top of all those activities, provides video commentary at Dr Syd’s [video] House Call.

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Tips on Medication Management: Finding The Top and Bottom of The Therapeutic Window

January 28, 2008 Beyond ADHD

Why are having so many Black Box Warnings for the use of psychiatric medications? Simple answer: Many do not aim for, do not measure, and indeed don’t seek that mercurial Therapeutic Window.

21 comments Read the full article here →

Every Brain in Any Recovery: Another Reportable Oversight

January 19, 2008 Beyond ADHD

Everyone here at CorePsych knows that brain function is often overlooked – and nowhere is it more frequently overlooked than in the recovery process – not just recovery from drugs and alcohol, but from any addictive, compulsive, repetitive process, from food to sex.

1 comment Read the full article here →

Mark Hyman on Acne: Canary in the Coal Mine

July 17, 2007 Brain/Body Evidence

Acne can be the tip of an iceberg: Iceberg
Hyman has a great video on Acne and metabolic implications over at his Ultrametabolism Blog, a must see for anyone thinking that pimples are just a developmental problem

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Power Breakfast Recipe 1: Eat Protein

February 25, 2007 Beyond ADHD

The brain, nutrition and breakfast: almost too basic. Herein resides a solution.
Protein…are you kidding me? I don’t eat breakfast, period!
Everyday I have this response from someone, actually from many someones. Amazing how little time we all have in the morning, from kids to adults. Lemme see…do they serve breakfast on the school bus? Could I [...]

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Metabolism and ADD/ADHD

February 11, 2007 Beyond ADHD

ADD/ADHD is often associated with metabolic issues with bowel, liver and associated primary metabolic problems.
Adrenal fatigue, covered in two recent posts here, can look very much like ADD/ADHD.
You may be interested in the audio program over at CorePsychPodcast today that discusses questions we all should be asking in an effort to improve treatment interventions. These [...]

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ADD: The Media, the Meds and the Madness

January 21, 2007 Beyond ADHD

ADD: The Media, the Meds, and the Madness
Episode 1: The diagnosis
If we start with the right diagnosis, and recognize complexity of the spectrum of ADD, we will be much more capable of finding the right solution. This is the first in a series regarding right diagnosis, right meds, wrong meds, and metabolic issues that encourage [...]

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Metabolism Relevance: SSRIs and Depression

January 2, 2007 Brain/Body Evidence

Metabolic irregularities frequently interfere with the effectiveness of SSRIs, indeed any psych meds or supplements.
Two points bear attention:

Eat right: If you don’t bring in the right nutritional components, you simply will not get better. SSRIs are “serotonin reuptake inhibitors.” They rearrange neurotransmitters that are already in your body. If your steam engine is chugging up [...]

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