It is worth wading through some slow moving stuff at the start of this post to get to the juicy bits. The Things Drugs Do Drugs do things. Company marketing divides these things into the one good thing the company wants you to focus on - good for a company bottom-line and the ninety-nine other "side effects" that we are doing our best to minimize. This issue came up in … [Read more...] about What a Surprise: RxISK taking entrepreneurs
Dopamine agonists
It’s alright Ma, I’m only Punding: Stimulants and Compulsions
This post by Johanna Ryan touches on the problems of compulsive gambling and other compulsive behaviors that are linked to Abilify, SSRIs and Dopamine Agonists and also to Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome (DAWS). It was Lester Grinspoon’s 1975 book The Speed Culture that introduced me to the concept of “punding”: a drug-induced compulsion for repetitive, sometimes … [Read more...] about It’s alright Ma, I’m only Punding: Stimulants and Compulsions
United States of Adderall
Ed Note: This post is by Johanna Ryan who covers most of our stimulant related topics. Dr. Larry Diller is a pediatrician who specializes in children’s behavioral problems, especially Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). He’s by no means anti-medication; he has prescribed stimulants to kids for decades. But twenty years ago he was already concerned about their … [Read more...] about United States of Adderall
Dopamine & Addiction: Junkies of the Third Age?
The last set of posts have brought stimulants and dopamine into the frame. In the 1960s and 1970s while stimulants were becoming controlled drugs it was nevertheless denied that they caused dependence. It is now clear that the closely related dopamine agonists, increasingly the first line treatment for Parkinson's Disease, cause a host of compulsive behaviors in addiction to … [Read more...] about Dopamine & Addiction: Junkies of the Third Age?
Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome (DAWS)
Editorial note: Renny's story chillingly outlines the misery of Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome (DAWS). Below this we present data from RxISK's SoS Zone showing rates of Symptoms on Stopping and related problems on Dopamine Agonists which fully bear out her personal experience. I was prescribed Mirapex (Pramipexole), a ‘Dopamine Agonist’, in early 2012 for ‘Restless Legs … [Read more...] about Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome (DAWS)