14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new report released by US health authorities on Monday, children taking drugs designed to keep their Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) under control are very likely to experience visual and auditory hallucinations, even if they ingest the medication based on a prescription and in the correct dosages. Experts from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) say that some children have reported hallucinations featuring worms, spiders, or bugs crawling on their skin.
The federal agency has analyzed data it has collected from well over 49 scientific studies, conducted by both drug manufacturers and independent researchers, and has concluded that the risk factors are as great for regular children as they are for those suffering from ADHD. In some of the youngsters, prolonged periods of using the drugs have even caused psychosis and mania, which are very serious symptoms, experts say.
Writing in the journal Pediatrics, Dr. Andrew Mosholder and colleagues explain that parents, children and doctors alike need to become aware of the risks involved with using ADHD medication, and add that such episodes are to be expected when children use some of the most famous pills on the market. Ritalin and Focalin XR, produced by Novartis AG's, Shire Plc's Adderall XR and Daytrana patch, Johnson & Johnson's Concerta, Eli Lilly and Co's Strattera and Celltech Pharmaceuticals Inc's Metadate CD are among the drugs that cause hallucinations in ADHD patients.
"The numbers of cases of psychosis or mania in pediatric clinical trials were small. However, we noted a complete absence of such events with placebo treatments," the team writes in the Pediatrics paper. "Two hours after taking her second dose of atomoxetine, the patient started running very fast, stopped suddenly, and fell to the ground. The patient said she had 'run into a wall' (there was no wall there)," the paper reads. It speaks about the case of a 7 year-old girl, who started talking uncontrollably after taking a 18 mg dose of Strattera.
"We know that medications that affect neurochemicals in your brain to increase your attention and make you less impulsive also can have an effect on other neurochemicals in your brain that affect mood. These adverse side effects are rare. Once you stop the medicine, the side effects go away," New York University Child Study Center expert Dr. Harold Koplewicz has told Reuters in a telephone interview.