Please vote on which logo you like best.

****Please note – minor changes will be made on the logos (i.e. whether letters are capitalized, etc.) and these are not final versions (one or two may look a little fuzzier than the others). Any of those issues will be fixed with the final logo design.

Thank you for participating.

Dr. Kenny

p.s. Please feel free to join ADHD World – a growing social network which is helping people from all over the world to connect about ADD/ADHD

©2010 ADD ADHD Blog.com. All Rights Reserved.

Technorati Tags: ADD, ADHD, adhd world, Logo, Poll, Social Network

This is a movie about a young boy (10 years old in the book, but 17 in the movie), who struggles with school, and often gets into a lot of trouble.
Why? Because he has ADHD and Dyslexia.

While he feels like he’s a ‘misfit’, he finds out through the story that he is actually quite gifted. The dyslexia is just because when he sees words mixed up on the page, it is because his brain is ‘hard wired’ for ancient Greek. And his ADHD is just a hyper-awareness that will keep him alive on the battlefield.

This story has the power to change how kids with ADD/ADHD and Dyslexia view themselves. This is the first time that we have a ’super hero’ with ADD/ADHD and Dyslexia. This is very positive, as I see it. In my clinical approach, I take a strength based approach – i.e. I love to help kids/teens and adults with ADD/ADHD to get their ADD/ADHD symptoms out of the way so that they can build on their strengths, and improve their functioning. Once we get the most problematic symptoms out of the way, it is important to ‘reframe’ the ADD/ADHD – i.e. to see it in a different light. Percy Jackson’s story will help younger kids to do this.

I think this is a great step toward awareness of ADD/ADHD , and decreasing stigma.

The story actually came to be because the author – Rick Riordan would tell stories of Greek Mythology to his son Haley. Haley has ADD/ADHD and Dyslexia. Once Rick had finished telling all of the stories he knew from Greek Mythology, Haley asked his dad to make a story up. This story became the basis of the Percy Jackson stories.

You can read more about Percy Jackson, and the story behind it here: Percy Jackson: My son’s own adventure, Lightning Fingered.

I’d love to hear your perspective – particularly if you’ve taken your ADD/ADHD son or daughter to see the movie (or you’ve read the book), and you can share how they responded to the movie and its ideas.

Best,

Dr. Kenny

©2010 ADD ADHD Blog.com. All Rights Reserved.

Technorati Tags: ADD. ADHD, Percy Jackson, Stigma, Superhero

Vyvanse was launched in Canada officially on February 1st, 2010. Even though it was officially launched, there have been some issues with the ability of pharmacies to get Vyvanse on their shelves.

As of February 12, 2010 – the following pharmacies have access to Vyvanse (i.e. if they don’t actually have it in their pharmacy, they can order it from their wholesalers and have it in within 24 hours)

• Shoppers Drug Mart
• Jean Coutu
• Main Drug Mart
• People’s Drug Mart
• Pharmasave
• Total Health Pharmacies
• Wal Mart Pharmacies

I’ve been informed that by Wednesday February 17th, 2010, 80% of pharmacies will have access to Vyvanse from their wholesaler.

And by Friday February 19th, 2010, 100% of pharmacies will have access to Vyvanse from their wholesaler.

So, if your doctor gives you a prescription for Vyvanse (and you’re in Canada), you can go to one of the pharmacies above (which already have Vyvanse), or ask your doctor if it’s OK to wait until your particular pharmacy can get the medication in.

To be clear – there is nothing wrong with the Vyvanse supply or medication. The reason for the delay has to do with the paperwork and regulatory aspects which the wholesalers have to complete to be able to store and ship a stimulant medicine. This will be resolved quickly (and hopefully easily for you!).

Best,

Dr. Kenny

©2010 ADD ADHD Blog.com. All Rights Reserved.

Technorati Tags: ADD, ADHD, Canada, Medication, Vyvanse

Cool, isn’t it?

Since many people with ADD/ADHD or ‘learning disabilities’ can be visual learners – I wanted to share this resource with you.

You can make word images like this, using the tool called: Wordle.

I think this is great for presentations and explanations.

Enjoy wordle!

Best,

Dr. Kenny

©2010 ADD ADHD Blog.com. All Rights Reserved.

Technorati Tags: ADHD blog, wordle

‘Alternative’ or ‘complimentary’ treatments are used very frequently, and most of the time, people don’t talk to their doctor about it. Yet it’s important for both the doctor and yourselves to be aware of the up-to-date research in the area of alternative treatments.

I was recently approached by the organizers of the first ever ‘Virtual World Yoga Conference‘, to speak about Alternative Treatments for ADD and ADHD. I happily accepted.

While I’m not sure if there is any solid research on Yoga helping ADHD, this conference goes far beyond the idea that most people think about when they envision yoga. Most people imagine a thin man or woman, stretching gracefully on a yoga mat (usually in some position that most of us could never imagine getting into!). However, this Yoga Conference goes far beyond that. It is all about wellness, and holistic health.

When I do my session on alternative treatments for ADD/ADHD, I’ll be discussing the research behind neurofeedback, diet changes, omega 3 fatty acids and much more.

The other speakers will cover many health topics, including:

• Relaxation
• Meditation
• How to overcome technology overload
• Nutrition/ healthy eating
• ‘Energetic Wellness’
• Supporting children through Yoga and Creative movement
• Stopping Procrastination
• Intuition
• Meditation for Mood Management
• Business advice for Coaches
• And much more…

In total – there are over 57 sessions!

Don’t worry – if you can’t attend all of the sessions you want to (there are actually two tracks – i.e. two lectures at each time slot). You’ll be able to listen to the recordings in the member’s area for up to 2 weeks after the conference.

How You Can Participate:

Participation in this virtual conference normally costs $197. That works out to less than $4 for each of the expert sessions…

However, because I’m participating in this conference, I’ve been able to get a special coupon code – which will give you a full $100 off the price of admission.

That means – when you use this code – you only pay $97. All you have to do is enter the code at the time of checkout.

Here’s the link to sign up: http://www.contentabout.net/adhdyoga
Here’s the discount code: KNY219

I got this coupon code for you – my blog readers and subscribers.
You’re also allowed to share it with your friends and family (or even your support groups).
This is a unique opportunity for those of us in the ADD/ADHD area to get exposed to so many experts in alternative health and wellness. So, feel free to use this coupon code and share it with your network – i.e. the people you care about.

Do You Want to Attend This Event for Free?

When I agreed to do this event, the organizers were kind enough to give me a coupon code for you – my blog readers and email subscribers.

But I wanted more…

These are tough economic times, and I’m very committed to making sure people get the health information they need – when they need it. (that’s why I run this blog, my podcast, my newsletter, etc.).

So, after some discussion - the organizers gave me THREE (3) free passes to the event.

I’d like to give you a free pass to go to this breakthrough event.

After some consideration – we’re going to have a little ‘contest’ here on this blog – so you can win one of the free passes.

Here are the rules to win a free pass to the ‘Virtual World Yoga Conference‘:

1. You must enter a blog comment below (on this post) – and it must be entered before Monday February 15th, 2010 at 11:59 pm eastern time. If your comment is entered later than that, you’re disqualified – no exceptions. Please note – all comments on this blog are moderated – so if you enter a comment, please don’t re-enter it – give us some time to review and approve it – we do this to block spam, not to censor legitimate comments.
2. Ensure that you enter your name, and proper email address in the blog comment form. The email address is how we will contact the winners. Please note – no one else can see your email address except for the blog administrators.
3. Answer these questions:

• Where do you live?
• Are you interested predominantly in child, teen or adult ADHD?
• Have you tried any alternative treatments before for ADHD? Which ones?
• Did they work well?
• Of the sessions available on the Virtual World Yoga Conference, which one will you be sure not to miss, and why? (you can’t say my session on ADHD, please pick another one – no ’sucking up’ LOL) — You can access the schedule by visiting here.

The answers provided on this blog will be reviewed by our own appointed judges, and any decisions made will be final. We will email the winners by Wednesday February 17th at the latest – and we’ll post it on this blog.

**If you’re sure you want to attend this conference – feel free to register even before the contest finishes. The conference has a no-hassle money back guarantee – so you can order, and if you win on this blog, you can request a refund and get into the conference for free because you won this contest (i.e. judges won’t know if you’ve already registered or not).

So – here’s what to do next:

• Take a look at the page on the virtual yoga conference here
• If it’s right for you – register, using the coupon code: KNY219 (to save $100)
• Go ahead and enter a comment below to enter into a contest to win one of 3 free passes to attend the event (make sure to answer all of the questions!)

Best,

Dr. Kenny

©2010 ADD ADHD Blog.com. All Rights Reserved.

Technorati Tags: ADD, ADHD, Alternative Medicine, Complementary Medicine, Yoga

This is very important research. You can read about it here.

If you or anyone you know may be interested in participating in this research, do contact them right away to see if you can participate.

Best,

Dr. Kenny

©2010 ADD ADHD Blog.com. All Rights Reserved.

Technorati Tags: ADD, ADHD, Brain, Detroit, Windsor

Despite having read this statistic a number of times from different studies, I haven’t heard of any actual treatment studies. I wondered why no one had proactively gone into the jails and started assessing and treating people for ADHD to improve their quality of life, functioning and improve their chances of meeting their goals after they are released from custody.

I’ve just read about a study in Sweden which is doing just that. You can read about it here. Although the article is looking at potential financial savings if they are able to get people out of jail and have their ADHD treated – I think this is a great step toward helping people who have ADD/ADHD and have had trouble with the law.

The only question I’m left with is: why aren’t more communities setting up screening and treatment for ADHD for those in the correctional system? Hopefully this will happen more in the near future.

Please share your thoughts and comments below.

Best,

Dr. Kenny

©2010 ADD ADHD Blog.com. All Rights Reserved.

Technorati Tags: ADD, ADHD, criminal justice, Jail, Sweden

Vyvanse has been officially launched in Canada as of today.

This means that it is available in pharmacies (though if you are the first person to take a prescription to your pharmacy, they may have to order it in and it may take a day or two…).

In Canada, Vyvanse has been approved at only two dosage strengths: 30 mg and 50 mg. Health Canada has asked for more data to approve the 70 mg capsule. Hopefully this dosage will get approval soon. When Vyvanse launched in the US, it was approved initially with the three doses – 30 mg, 50 mg, and 70 mg. Later, Shire got approval for the 20 mg, 40 mg and 60 mg. Hopefully, we will get more dosage strengths in Canada as well – but for now, let’s be happy that we have a new medication option in Canada.

Vyvanse is a the first prodrug for ADHD. This means that the medication is inactive until an enzyme in the body works to activate it. To read more about how it works, visit this blog post on Vyvanse.

To read the press release on Vyvanse being released in Canada, please view it here.

This blog has several articles on Vyvanse, but my favorite is the one where my readers have shared their experiences with Vyvanse (almost 700 comments at this time) about whether Vyvanse works.

Please share any comments or issues with Vyvanse being in Canada below.

Best,

Dr. Kenny

©2010 ADD ADHD Blog.com. All Rights Reserved.

Technorati Tags: ADD, ADHD Medication, Canada, Vyvanse

When a new medication is released, the company which produces it has a patent for a certain number of years. This allows them to market the medication exclusively until the patent runs out. This is important for the company to recoup the money invested in research and development of the new medicine, as well as to earn a profit.

I understand that it is reasonably regular that the generic pharmaceutical companies petition the courts to create a generic version of the medication BEFORE the patent runs out. Companies that create generic medicines are able to take the formula of the medication, and produce it. They then sell it at a lower price than the original medication. Often times, the generic is at a price point that is only 20-30% better than the original medication.

For background on generic medication, I want to point you to these resources:

• An Article on generic medications in ADHD – Are They The Same?
• An Article on Adderall XR going generic in the US. Take note of the comments that people share – many of them explaining the side effects and difficulties with the generic version, as well as frustrations with their pharmacies and insurance – Generic Adderall XR in the US; and Generic Adderall XR – New Formulations

Concerta Going Generic In Canada:

Concerta was brought to market in Canada by Janssen Ortho. In mid January 2010, Novopharm won a lawsuit in Canada, to be able to start to produce a ‘concerta like’ medication in Canada. The courts essentially overthrew Janssen’s patent on Concerta. Novopharm is planning to market Novo-Methylphenidate ER C, as a replacement for patients taking Concerta.

Let’s Review the Pros and Cons of Novo-Methylphenidate ER-C:

Cons of Generic Concerta:

1) Does this medication work equally to Concerta?

Unfortunately, no one knows the answer to that. For a generic company to get approval for a new medication, they simply have to prove that their medication is absorbed within the range of 80% – 125% of the original compound. That is a huge variance.

The problem with that range? This means that the original Ritalin SR could likely meet criteria to be a generic for Concerta.

If you’ve been around long enough to remember Ritalin SR (or if you have not had insurance so it was the most cost effective medication option), you’ll know that Ritalin SR was widely found to be a very ineffective long acting medication. It often did not last longer than short acting methylphenidate in most of my patients. Most of the doctors in the field considered adding Concerta to the medications available in Canada to be a huge improvement, because we could get away from Ritalin SR and its poor efficacy.

I have been unable to get any scientific data (and neither have any of my colleagues) to demonstrate how Novo-Methylphenidate ER-C works. For all we know, it could work like Ritalin SR – which essentially means that it won’t work very well at all.

Concerta has a lot of technology in each little pill. Each pill has a laser drilled hole in it. There is short acting Methylphenidate on the outside of the pill, and then there is an osmotic capsule (meaning that water can come into the capsule from the gut). The water from the gut comes into the capsule, and expands a polymer, which then pushes the medication out of the pre-drilled laser hole – in a researched process which delivers the medication in a fashion which has been shown to work best for people.

Has Novopharm invested what is needed to develop this complex a medication delivery system?

Unfortunately, none of us know right now.

2) Will you be able to control which medication you get?

Let’s say a member of your family is doing very well with Concerta as a treatment for their ADHD. Now that there is a generic product – can you guarantee that you can keep this product as your monthly medication?

Not necessarily.

There are a couple of things which can impact which medication you get:

• Your insurance: your third party medication insurance may decide that to save cost, they insist that you take the generic Concerta, and they may not cover the real Concerta. If the generic doesn’t work for you, you may have to either pay for it out of pocket, or just stick with the generic.
• If you are on a government provincial drug plan – they may insist on the generic version, and not cover the name brand Concerta any more
• What your pharmacy carries: some pharmacies may order in ONLY the generic version, and stop carrying the name brand Concerta. In this case, you may have to go to another pharmacy to get the medication you need.
• How your doctor writes the prescription: If your doctor just writes the prescription for ‘Concerta’, the pharmacy can substitute it automatically for the generic. If your doctor writes the words: NO SUBSTITUTION on the prescription, then the pharmacy will have to give you the name brand Concerta.

Pros of Generic Concerta:

• If this generic works well, then this means there will be a lower cost long acting medication option for people who can’t afford the more costly brand name Concerta. It seems that the price reduction is only about 20-25%, but this may make a difference for some families.

Overall, as you might have gathered, I feel very uncomfortable with the Generic Concerta at this time (Novo-Methylphenidate ER-C). Most people that I see in my office have had a long and/or challenging road to get to the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. Often taking a medication for ADHD is a huge decision, and arriving at a medication which works well with few side effects is beneficial and often a relief for concerned parents and family. To have that medication changed and become less effective would be very detrimental to my patients – and create a huge disruption to their lives.

Will Novo-Methylphenidate ER-C work well?

I don’t think anyone knows right now. Where is the scientific data?

I don’t know anyone who has seen it yet. And despite this, pharmacies across Canada can start stocking this and replacing it for regular Concerta (and they don’t even have to get your permission).

What do I recommend you do if you or a family member take Concerta?

• Ask your doctor to write a prescription for Concerta NO SUBSTITUTION (it doesn’t have to be capitalized – I am adding that for emphasis).
• Talk to your pharmacist about this – to check if you can still get the name brand medication
• Look closely at your prescription bottle – to see if the medication is: Concerta, or ‘Novo-Methylphenidate ER-C’
• If needed, check with your third party insurance for medication – to see if you are still able to get the name brand Concerta covered
• If you start to notice that Concerta isn’t working as well as it used to – look closely at the bottle, and realize that your prescription may have been substituted for the generic.

As this is a significant change to medication for ADHD in Canada, and one which came as a surprise – I wanted to provide you with some background. I’ll be happy to update this blog as more information comes out, and I know more about this.

One of the things that has been very helpful to many people on this blog – is that readers like you share their stories in the comments below (as you saw with the link about Adderall XR going generic in the US). So, I ask you to share your thoughts, experiences and comments below. Let’s help one another figure out how this new medication works, as well as what is going on in pharmacies, and with insurance coverage, etc. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this post.

Best,

Dr. Kenny

p.s. regarding dosing – Novo-Methylphenidate ER-C will be available in the same doses as Concerta:

• Novo-Methylphenidate ER-C 18 mg
• Novo-Methylphenidate ER-C 27 mg
• Novo-Methylphenidate ER-C 36 mg
• Novo-Methylphenidate ER-C 54 mg

©2010 ADD ADHD Blog.com. All Rights Reserved.

Technorati Tags: ADD Medication, ADHD Medication, Canada, Concerta, Generic, Novo-Methylphenidate ER-C

So, on occassion, we get people who write in and characterize me as a doctor who just cares about medication for ADD/ADHD.

Suggesting that I don’t care about any other treatments…

My view is actually quite the opposite.

Medication is a great tool for ADD/ADHD treatment, but it is not the only one. I like to see people have a comprehensive treatment plan, that includes ‘multimodal treatment’. This means that it includes the medication treatments as well as non-medication approaches as well.
Which non-medication approaches? Certainly counselling, parenting therapy, family therapy, academic strategies, coaching, and also alternatives.

I am pretty open about alternatives, and I actively engage in discussion with my patients about it.

Why?

Research has clearly shown that about 66% of people try some kind of alternative treatment for ADD/ADHD, though most don’t talk to their doctor about it. I regularly ask about diet changes, supplements, and other treatments that families may have tried. I often recommend that people try some supplements – like Omega 3 fatty acids, melatonin to help with sleep; and that they consider treatments like neurofeedback, cogmed, as well as other options.

So, I acknowledge that many of my blog articles contain info about medications.
That said – I want to point you toward three resources on Alternative Treatments for ADHD in the coming weeks.

The first is a Virtual Holistic Health conference, being run by Jennifer Koretsky. She ran the Virtual ADHD Conference that I participated in last fall.
This conference has several experts, and I believe that it is a resource which can help you out. Go over to their site and see if it’s for you.

It takes place Tuesday January 26th 2010, and Wednesday Januray 27th, 2010. I know that this is short notice, but if you decide to participate, then you can get access to the recordings of any of the sessions that you miss.

Take a look and see if it’s for you: Virtual Holistic Health conference.

I’ll be following up in the coming weeks with two other resources on Alternatives for ADHD for you.

Best,

Dr. Kenny

©2010 ADD ADHD Blog.com. All Rights Reserved.

Technorati Tags: ADHD Alternatives, Alternative Medicine, Holistic Health Conference