Common blood pressure drug shows promise for treating ADHD symptoms
Common blood pressure drug shows promise for treating ADHD symptoms
Amlodipine, typically used for hypertension, may have brain-based effects that make it a candidate for ADHD treatment, according to new research.
This could be a good new option for those with ADHD who are currently on meds for it.
This is really interesting. As I was reading the article I was wondering how they were going to wring money out of it, as amlodipine is off patent. Then I got to this part:
“While amlodipine shows promise in preclinical models, it is not currently suitable for use in ADHD in its marketed form,” Karlsson noted. “Further optimization through chemical modification is necessary to enhance CNS selectivity and ensure a favorable therapeutic index in the context of ADHD.”
Classic big pharma. Slightly tweak an existing drug in an insignificant way so that you can get a new patent on it and charge exorbitant prices.
I have Adha and hypertension. As such I have an unused bottle of amlodapine at home. I'll take it and report back
Update: it's been 5 days and as much as I thought this medicine wouldn't do anything to help my adhd, it has. I'm on the lowest dose of amlodapine possible as such I need to talk with my Dr to see if i can increase. The only downfall is, is that it doesn't help with energy levels like sone of the stimulants do, however it definitely helps with motivation and concentration. I'll continue on until I finish tge bottle and will make a final update in 24 days. Early indications are promising though
!remindmebot@lemmy.world 30 days
There’s no reason to believe those changes aren’t needed to work more effectively though, especially if it’s trying to be classified as an ADHD medication. Changing one molecule really can fundamentally change a drug, if it’s the right molecule changed the right way, it’s not inherently a cash grab, there’s not enough info here about the chemistry and its applications to make that call
Get outta here your nuance and critical thinking. /s
This is correct. Amlodipine is very effective as a blood pressure medication, but it doesn't get through the blood-brain barrier which is one of the biggest hurdles for any psychiatric or neurologic medication. There's an entire special sub-type of brain cells that control what actually makes it out of the blood and to the neurons and getting things past that barrier is quite difficult.
It'll be the same flat, cheap prescription price as all prescribed medication is though, so it doesn't really matter what it is or how it was produced.
It's only countries like the USA that somehow get duped into paying wildly obese financial sums for cheap medicine. I feel for them.
Is it going to still work on blood pressure? I don't like the idea of taking meds because I want to resolve things with diet and exercise when possible, and I'm afraid of side effects. But if I eventually have to start taking a blood pressure medication and the side effect is it makes my ADHD better, I could get on board with that.
common blood pressure drugs are already used to treat ADHD and in my experience they're pretty fucking bad at it compared to stimulants.
Agreed. I used to take Guanfacine, and it helped barely.
I've been on Amlodipine for over a year and it was no help at all towards my adhd, it also made my feet swell up at higher doses.
So uh, what if I already take this for blood pressure. Am I getting a double whammy?
I literally just came off amlodipine because it was making me dizzy. Fffuuuccckk no wonder I feel like shit 😭
I had a doctor try to force me off my atenolol and metoprolol to amlodipine. Ostensibly because she "didn't like" that I was taking such a high dose of two separate beta-blocker meds. Not sure if she thought I was going to take them all in a fit of despair, or what, but it went really badly. My anxiety and ADHD were a lot worse, rather than better, and my BP skyrocketed.
I can't take stimulants. My body can't metabolize them well (or at all?), so I end up knocked unconscious for half the day. Basically, 6-8 hours where I can stay awake only by fighting tooth and nail. Even on fractional doses! Wild stuff. While their results are interesting (especially for those like me who failed every single non-stimulant, hard) this could be helpful. Oooor it could just be more big pharma BS with no up-side. So hard to tell anymore.
The danger with beta blockers is that they can affect a lot more than just your blood pressure. They also slow down your heart and can effect how certain hormones like thyroid hormones work in your body. It isn't ideal to have someone maxed out on 2 medications from the same class and if that's where you are up to, that's kind of an indication that that medication might not be the right solution.
I would agree with you if any of the others I've tried had the desired effect. I'm already not medicated for several things because my body simply cannot metabolize whole classes of drugs. Having my kidneys shut down would suck a lot more, though.
My resting heartrate is fine, 60-70 BPM. BP is well controlled. No orthostatic hypotension.
Two cardiologists have told me it's fine if this is what works for me. I hear you, but I'm not taking something newer just to make my GP more comfortable and me less so. They're my doctor, not vice versa.
I've taken Amlodipine in the past, and while it was effective at controlling blood pressure it basically turned me into a zombie. I didn't feel like doing anything while taking it. I don't see how that could help with ADHD.