My mother says she was given this drug as a child for hyperactivity and believes this is what caused her learning disabilities. How long does a child have to be on phenobarbital before the drug causes a permanent cognitive disability?
Was phenobarbital ever given to children as a treatment for hyperactivity?
Question posted by sherwand on 28 March 2015
Last updated on 19 August 2020 by SMdougherty
3 Answers
SMdougherty
19 Aug 2020
I was talking to my mother last night about how some medications that might adults drowsy might actually make kids hyper. My mom then told me that when I was a baby but not a newborn because I was able to drink out if a straw, (she couldn't remember exactly how old I was) that the doctor prescribed phenobarbital because I was crying all the time and not sleeping. She said that it was tablets so she would crush it up and put it in a liquid that I could drink from a straw. She said it made me worse and after 4 days, she called the doctor back and they told her that it wasn't unusual. She said that she couldn't believe that they didn't tell her that when it was prescribed because had she known, she would not have waited 4 days to call them. As far as I know, it didn't cause any long term problems most likely because of the short duration that it was given to me.
Missypie
22 Sep 2018
I found out today that my sister was given this drug for ADD for two years, between the ages of 6 and 8. This would have been 1961-1963. She said it made her very sleepy.
She has great difficulty in math and has had issues with abuse of prescription drugs.
BostonDavid
27 Dec 2018
I was prescribed this drug for hyperactivity in the mid to late 60s, i was under ten years old. I stopped in 1975 or 76. The nightmares were horrific. I still remember some of the details to those dreams 50 years later. Since years back i dated a nurse and when she learned i had taken that drug she asked me if I had dreams as a result. That was a scary discussion.
kaismama
28 March 2015
It was used a long time ago. Then they found that it made them more hyper. I don't know that it caused learning disabilities.
sherwand
29 March 2015
Kaismama,
Thanks! I could find nothing on the web saying it had been used for that purpose and yes, this would have been in the early 50's. I have read about studies of children, using this drug for epilepsy, do show diminished intelligence and this lower intelligence level continues to some degree even after they are removed from the drug. My mom has always claimed she was given this and she believed it caused her learning handicap. For the first time I am starting to think she is right.
Jo Fizgerald
3 Nov 2018
My mother was prescribed phenobarbital for me when I was 4 in 1975. I screamed a lot and was labelled hyperactive. I was in fact left alone a lot with two busy parents working downstairs in a restaurant.
Finally, a doctor with common sense to,d my parents to teach me to read and learn poetry. The screaming stopped.
Related topics
phenobarbital, hyperactivity, treatment, children, drug
Further information
- Phenobarbital uses and safety info
- Phenobarbital prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Phenobarbital (detailed)
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