Posted by Scott P. on October 13, 1999, at 23:39:26
In reply to Melatonin, posted by Barbara on October 7, 1999, at 21:03:52
> How safe is Melatonin for a 12 year old female, who is ADHD, on Adderall, 20 mg./day? She sleeps 12 hours per day, but is always tired...the psychiatrist is suggesting that she isn't falling into the "deep" sleep...
>
> Thanks.It's a damn shame GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) is being banned everywhere, and for the wrong reasons at that. It used to be sold over the counter, but it was taken off the market.
GHB has the remarkable property of inducing the deep (stage IV) sleep that people with ADHD and narcolepsy are not getting enough of. A person who takes the proper dose of GHB will wake up feeling very refreshed from a good sound night's sleep, and will remain alert through the next day. In Europe GHB is commonly prescribed to ADHD and narcolepsy patients. GHB is nontoxic, has no side effects, and it is non-addictive, which is why it was once approved for over the counter sales. But the problem is that it works TOO good.
By itself, GHB is not a CNS depressant, and an overdose of pure GHB manufactured under tight controls with pharmaceutical grade ingredients will only make you sleep for a long time (24 hours straight). Which is often mistaken for a coma, since the person is nearly unarousable in that state. Unlike melatonin, anybody who takes enough GHB will fall deep asleep, just like anybody who drinks enough alcohol will get drunk. But unlike alcohol, GHB is odorless and tasteless. Which is why it is the drug of choice for date-rapes.
When combined with alcohol, which is usually served at the same nightclubs where GHB can be found, the effect is multiplied and GHB can be lethal because the person becomes so deeply inebriated that they forget to breathe and die of oxygen deprivation, or they die of the Jimi Hendrix effect (vomit in their sleep and choke on it). So officials everywhere banned the over-the-counter sale of GHB.
After being banned, someone has found a way to manufacture GHB using a certain industrial solvent. Since it is for industrial use, it is usually sold in bulk, and very impure, since it is not intended for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals. Since GHB is the "Mickey" of choice for date-rapes, people will brew it up in their garages solely for that purpose, without regards to purity of the ingredients or control of its manufacture. The resulting home-brew GHB often POISONS the date rape victim to death.
So a once wonderful alternative to ADHD, narcolepsy, and other sleep deprivation related mental disorders is no longer legally available in a safe form because of the stink that is now attached to it due to date rapes and accidental deaths of those who unknowingly ingested GHB.
poster:Scott P.
thread:12765
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991001/msgs/13108.html