I am currently reading more about the brain, neurotransmitters, and all that stuff. I want to understand which effect drugs (like alcohol, Ectasy, Marijuana, etc), and clinical drugs have on the severity of stuttering. It seems to be clear that they can have a significant effect. Unfortunately, I cannot really comment from my own experiences, because I have never taken drugs (not even alcohol)!! (Of course, even if I had in the past, I wouldnt have told you so! :-)
The same drug can have the opposite effect in different people: for some it makes it worse, for others it makes it better. And some conclude that there must be two subtypes of stuttering. But I am wondering whether it is not possible that fluent speech is dependent on having the right level of certain neurotransmitters in certain brain regions, so not too much and not too little. So stuttering might result in an imbalance, but for some too low for other too high. And this might explain why a drug can make it better for some (i.e. might make a too-low level higher to the right level) or worse (i.e. might make a too-high level even higher).
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This is an old post, so I'm not sure you will notice this comment! My son is 16, diagnosed with ADD/ inattentive or hyperfocused type and has had PDS noticable since age 2. He is using a fluency master, which helps, but not as much as we had hoped. We are trying to investigate medications for the ADHD, but are concerned about upsetting the neurochemical balance for stuttering. He responded poorly to a trial of adderal, and was too lethargic with prozac and really does not like the idea of anti-depressants (like a hammer to hit a tiny pin). Any advice
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