With respect, you are being a bit too condescending relative to the amount of knowledge of the issue you posses.
Extended release is usually preferred by doctors in part because you avoid the highs and lows.
Regardless of what “normal” practice is, if you are getting high from methylphenidate, the dose is wrong, and if you can’t get therapeutic effects at a dose low enough to avoid a “brutal” comedown, you should be looking for alternatives.
Agreed, this is why I no longer use it to treat my condition. The point I am making is that parents need to be aware of these potential side effects, because a child isn't necessarily in a position to articulate the fact that they are experiencing adverse effects like this. The medication is a CNS stimulant first and foremost. These effects aren't exactly rare.
Hello. That's me. I can sleep on that dose. Is that not normal?
If you're one of the few for whom it didn't work out, cool. But with equal respect, your anecdotal experience is not sufficient to call it "legal cocaine". Neither is it sufficient to make generilizations about how medical care of ADHD should be approached.
2. Five minutes of research online shows that my experience is not uncommon. Hell, reading the warning label from the pharmaceutical manufacturer is sufficient to make my point.
3. I am very pro-medication when it comes to treating ADHD, but I also believe many people are not sufficiently educated on the potential consequences of these medications in children.
Part of the process of treating ADHD is finding the right medication, and Ritalin works for most, and if it's working as intended, does not produce the "high" feeling that you got. If you're getting high off of it, it's not the drug for you, or you're on the wrong dose.
Doesn't make it okay to call it "legal cocaine".
> Five minutes of research online shows that my experience is not uncommon. Hell, reading the warning label from the pharmaceutical manufacturer is sufficient to make my point.
Obviously it's documented, but it doesn't make your point. As I already said, it's a thing that happens in the process when finding the correct dosage for an individual.
Though for neurotypical people who don't have the disorder, there's no correct dosage and they'll experience what you did.
It's still a very useful therapeutic, and I strongly believe it should not be stigmatized. But parents absolutely do need to be educated about the sort of prescription drug this is.
I liken this somewhat to the use of opioids for pain control after surgery: they are a fantastic tool that I would certainly not want to forego. But I am grateful that we've become more intentional about educating people on some of the specific dangers around their use so that patients can be more aware. I'd like to see the same thing happen around the use of strong stimulants in children.