These comments are made for the purpose of discussion and should NOT be used as recommendations for or against therapies or other treatments. An individual patient is always advised to consult their own physician.
Mysolin & Dilantin
Question: My son is 14 years old and has a learning disability. While I was pregnant, I was taking Mysolin and Dilantin for seizures. Being on both of these medications, did it have any effect on
my son and his learning problems.
Answer: There has been no direct research done on pregnant women for these two drugs and will not be done due to ethical considerations. There is no direct association between these drugs and your son’s condition. But, there is not particular way of knowing one way or the other.
HDAD & Ritalin
Question: My son turned 4 in July . He was diagnosed HDAD He was put on Ritalin with little to no change. He had an EEG 2 weeks ago, but everything showed normal . He was then placed on Tegretol for his violent temper and crying spells every afternoon at Approximately the same time every day . I looked up Tegretol on the the web. there were no test or research done on children under the age of six years old . When my son took the 200mg. of tegratol He complained about being tired and cried for no reason. We could not reason with him and he could not get him to tell us what was wrong. I took him off the Tegratol and these symptoms disappeared. Could tegratol cause these symptoms? Should a child of 4 be put on Tegratol? My son Ryan Continues to be overly aggressive . He has no fear and has had stitches in his chin twice this year. He cannot interact with other kids without fighting . We have to watch him constantly.
Answer: Hard to tell; but, sounds like the symptoms are due to Tegretol. Tegretol is one of the drugs that can work in DAD and was worth a try since it usually is well tolerated. You will need to try other drugs that work until you find the one that works the best with the least toxicity.
Amphetamine Adderall
Question: The amphetamine adderall is used for ADD and learning problems. Cortisol is linked to learning problems in children and adults. Adderall raises cortisol in patients. Could this rise in cortisol cause memory impairment?
Answer: Interesting question;don’t know that it has been studied. Most studies of ADD children show an improvement in memory on the drug. This is probably due to an ability to concentrate more and dedicate it to memory not a true change in memory. So testing would be difficult.
