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Am I an Addict?

Is my prescription controlling the disease, or controlling me?

Fact: Narcolepsy stimulants can make you feel better. But they can't make you better. In fact, stimulants might make you worse.1

What are stimulants doing to me? Many people with narcolepsy don't know that their medications can be addictive. In fact, your medication can add serious new conditions. Your medication might even worsen your condition.

>>>Example 1: Stimulants increase the chance of getting Parkinson's Disease by 60%!2

>>>Example 2: Stimulants can cause your teeth and gums to deteriorate.3

>>>Example 3: A King's College study finds that stimulant effectiveness drops over time.4
Art: Pill bottle

Take our informal quiz below (just 30 questions). See if you might be an addict to your medications.

Instructions. Before each statement that applies to you, click the “TRUE” box. At the end of the quiz, click “SUBMIT.” The system will assess your questions and provide an analysis. Until you click “SUBMIT,” you may change your answers. After you click “SUBMIT,” the form resets.

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Addictive Substance Quiz

A. How I Feel

  1. I'm extremely talkative and I seek listeners. Other talkers just get in the way.

  2. My meds sometimes make me nervous.

  3. My meds sometimes make me iritable.

  4. After taking my meds, I feel unusually good.

  5. I feel exhausted, and it's only lunchtime.

  6. Sometimes between pills, I sweat and shiver. My mouth is dry. I sort of tingle.

  7. After the meds wear off, I ache all over. I'm blue. And the indigestion!


B. How I Perceive my Associates

  1. I worry that I can't pass for normal.

  2. People treat me as an “outsider.”

  3. People gossip about me behind my back. I can tell by their expressions.

  4. Someone suggests a different therapy. This person infuriates me.


C. About My Doctor

  1. The doctor thinks that I may be seeking drugs.

  2. I fear that my doctor won't renew my prescription.

  3. My condition entitles me to my medication.

  4. A dependency isn't an addiction. My doctor prescribed this drug.


D. About My Prescription

  1. The price is too high. But some things are more important than money.

  2. I can't wait to try the new prescription. The medication is one of my secret thrills.

  3. Medications help me to focus. Now I love to organize my things.

  4. Each pill seems to do less. Once these pills did the job. Not now.

  5. I can take my prescription and still have sleep attacks.

  6. Sometimes I have to “double up” on the meds.

  7. When the meds wear off, I can't bear myself. I ache all over and can't think.


E. About My Experiences

  1. Small bonus of the meds: A slimmer me!

  2. I'll never have perfect skin. Sometimes I can squelch a boil if I preen it a bit.

  3. Once I ran out of pills. That was the worst day of my life.

  4. Drug holidays make me feel terrible. I can't feel normal without my medicine.

  5. Now and then, something trivial sends me into a tirade. I completely lose control.

  6. Sometimes I just black out. Either that, or I lose all memory of an event.

  7. The hallucinations are worsening. Sometimes I mistake them for real events.

  8. Shopping used to be so difficult. Now with the meds, shopping is a thrill.




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Footnotes

1 Nicolas Rasmussen, On Speed: The Many Lives of Amphetamine (New York: NYU Press, 2009), Psychosis, hallucinations: 47, 80, 137-43; German WWII tests find addiction potential (methamphetamine): 54; British test (amphetamine): 60; Distraction / visuals / paranoia: 66, 90-91; Combat errors: 71; Ivy study, Benzedrine vs. caffeine: 74-75; Reduces performance: 82; Stereotypical behavior: 195; more.

2American Academy of Neurology. “Using amphetamines may increase risk of Parkinson's disease, study suggests.” ScienceDaily, 21 February 2011. See More information from ScienceDaily

3Tooth and gum decay as a result of dry mouth from narcolepsy stimulants. Suggests treatments to hydrate and disinfect the mouth, gums and teeth.

4Fusar-Poli, P. et al. “Striatal dopamine transporter alteration in ADHD: pathology of adaptation to psychostimulants? A meta-analysis” (February 1, 2012) American Journal of Psychiatry doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2011.11060940

Dr. Paolo Fusar-Poli and Professor Katya Rubia at the IoP at King’s College led the research. Says Prof Rubia: “There is currently no evidence for the long-term effectiveness of stimulant medication. In fact, there is evidence that the effect of medication diminishes over time...”

Click for more information: Go to site.

Recommended Reading

  • Rasmussen, Nicolas. On Speed: The Many Lives of Amphetamine. New York: NYU Press, 2009.

  • Breggin, Peter. The Ritalin Fact Book: What Your Doctor Won't Tell You. New York: Da Cappo Press, 2002.

    See...
    • “How Stimulants Cause Psychiatric Disorders,” Ritalin Fact Book, pp. 30-42.

    • “How Stimulants Cause Withdrawal, Addiction, and Abuse,” pp. 67-76.

    • p. 115: “The stimulant labels wholly neglect to point out that animal studies confirm that the drug works precisely by crushing spontaneity and causing apathy, submissiveness, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.”

    • p. 115: “Finally the labels say nothing about the numerous studies showing permanent brain damage in animals from exposure to clinical doses of amphetamine.”






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