Side effects of medication

Author: Ulrich Brennecke
Review: Dipl.-Psych. Waldemar Zdero

It is possible that medication can cause or exacerbate ADHD symptoms as a side effect.
Significant effects usually only occur with long-term therapy.
Diagnostically, it is usually easy to recognize that the symptoms have not been present for a lifetime.

Examples:

• Anticonvulsants
  e.g:
  • Valproate¹
  • Phenobarbital²³
• Beta-mimetics¹
• Drug-induced Hypovitaminosis of the B vitamins
  Vitamin B-12 deficiency causes ADHD-like symptoms
• Neuroleptics⁴⁵⁶
• Benzodiazepines⁴⁵⁶
  Benzodiazepines reduce the activity of the locus coeruleus and thus reduce the transport of noradrenaline to other parts of the brain.⁷ Disorder of noradrenaline production in the locus coeruleus is also typical of ADHD.
• Antihistamines⁴⁵⁶
• Antiepileptic drugs⁵⁶
• Isoniazid⁴⁶
• Bronchiospasmolytics⁵⁶
• Isoniazid⁵⁶
• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
  SSRIs (namely citalopram and escitalopram) are suspected of increasing the effect of dopamine reuptake transporters.⁸ Overactive dopamine reuptake transporters are a possible cause of the dopamine deficiency that triggers ADHD symptoms (especially in the striatum) by reabsorbing the presynaptically released dopamine before it has had a chance to have its communication effect at the postsynapse. ⇒ ADHD - Neurotransmitters - Messenger substances