Hi! Tried meds when I was younger and again as a young adult. I figured more research had been done since I was diagnosed in the early 2000’s, but it seems like the same drugs are on the market, some with different brand names, and they all come with more side effects than they are effective. Especially sleep!! (ironic because we need extra 🤔)
Looking for alternative supplements, healthy diets and helpful daily habits that will support me without the use of prescription medication.
Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks in advance! 😊
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hotgirlshaveadhdtoo
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Once a patent runs out on a drug. A generic can be made. If I remember correctly, parents are usually around 10 yrs or longer.
It is common for patients to report side effects. It usually takes a while for them to wear off. Often changing to a immediate release only or extended release only solves the problem. It is important to eat before taking medication, drink plenty of liquids and get enough exercise. They have come out with one or two drugs that are not stimulants like Adderall or Dexedrine. They can be helpful for some patients when side effects of stimulants are bothersome.
I am a very healthy individual who does exercise, hydrates and I do eat before taking medication. I don’t do well with stimulants because of my anxiety. Most recently, I’ve tried a non-stimulant which caused me to have insomnia and didn’t help my adhd enough to give up sleep. I took it for 6+ months as we tried combining with anxiety medication and thought the insomnia was from external factors. When I ended up going off of the medication I had the best sleep in months. Just getting better sleep seemed to help my symptoms more than the meds ever did. Although, I still struggle so just looking for more medication alternatives.
Realized I may not have been clear. Here is some clarification on what I’m looking for: looking for remedies such as foods and supplements to support brain function, helpful habits to stay on task and follow-through with goals etc. instead of medication entirely.
I wonder if ADDitude website & or podcasts would be useful for you. I’ve found them really informative. I also really like Ari Tuckman’s podcast “More Attention, Less Deficit.” His podcast is pretty concise & short, which is good for ADHD brains! I don’t know much about nutrition except apparently the general recommendations like avoiding simple carbs so you don’t get big changes in your blood sugar, eat less meat, more whole grains, limit alcohol, etc. For supplements, I think Olly vitamins brand makes a focus vitamin or supplement. I know Nordic Naturals brand has some kind of focus or memory support supplements. I honestly don’t know much about any evidence to support them, but I don’t know of anything saying they’re harmful. I would just be sure you check with your doctor to make sure none of the ingredients interact with any medicines or health conditions you may have. I’m sorry about the insomnia. I have a significant sleep disorder & it definitely worsens my ADHD. Ugh. I hope you can start feeling better!
My son was on adderal. It's a stimulent. Am I reading your post correctly? It was horrible for him also with anxiety, and even anger issues. Thats when bad docs start compounding meds to take care of the side effects of the one. We don't see him anymore after 6 years of hell.
Neurofeedback is a drug-free treatment that lots of people speak highly of.
Also therapy, because as much as the meds can help (or not in your case) we have to do all we can. There is always a role for good mental health, especially in anxiety. Since meds haven't helped with your anxiety, how about some CBT, which has a thousand different techniques for reducing anxiety. And since ADHD is such a pain, it pays to clean up all old family pain and dysfunction. ADHD is so big that really we don't want any additional stuff weighing us down.
Meditation and mindfulness can help, with focus and anxiety. There are regular 8-week mindful courses offered around the country--many are online now through zoom. Look for Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) workshops ...
I didn't like methylphenidate (Ritalin, etc) becos it seemed to have the side effects of bad speed, like jaw clenching, restlessness and overconfidence, which usually cut in after a few weeks, when I thought I had things beat.
I know adhd people are supposed to be 'calmer' on ritalin, but I think that's a myth. The Ritalin helped my symptoms, especially impulsiveness, but it also felt 'speedy', which I didn't like. My experienced with it wasn't helped by my psychiatrist prescribing a very high dose to start with. I took about a quarter of it, but the next psychiatrist I saw told me it was still way too much...
Anyway, he prescribed and I've been regularly taking atomoxetine (eg, Straterra) for a couple of months now and I haven't had any obvious side effects. Maybe I'm sleeping slightly less, but not obviously so.
Atomoxetine takes a month to kick in, so I don't have a lot of history to base my opinion on, but I've definitely been accomplishing more and feeling more organised than I was before.
I’m not sure it’s a myth. It might be more accurate to say it helps a significant number of people (methylphenidate) and doesn’t help some. That’s true for probably every medicine for every disease or condition that exists, unfortunately. We are so diverse as humans and have differences in how our bodies metabolize/digest medicines. We also can have symptoms that look like ADHD & are actually other conditions (so methylphenidate would not help & might make that condition worse). So the wrong diagnosis or the right diagnosis and the wrong medication for that specific person can give someone the impression that a medicine, class of medicines, or all medicines are bad.
My point was more that, although methylphenidate definitely helped with my symptoms, it didn't make me 'calmer'. It still felt like an amphetamine. I'm much more inattentive type than hyperactive, so maybe that's a difference as well.
Most of us here are probably inattentive ... so that's no longer a "different" thing. And inattentive and "hyperactive overlap hugely. Inattentive folks--you might say we have hyperactive minds ... which can set off a ripple of bad effects.
Methylphenidate or amphetamine-based stimulants can make some people with ADHD feel more calm. The ones I've talked to (on a different forum which has now been taken down), I believe all had Hyperactive-Impulsive traits.
I only have Inattentive traits, and Adderall made me feel better, but not necessarily calmer. I did feel less anxious, because I was finally able to have some control over my attention. I was still somewhat inattentive, and still easily distracted, but was finally able to turn my attention back to what I was doing before I got distracted... and that bit of success reduced my anxiety.
However, Adderall didn't treat all my ADHD symptoms as well as I hoped, and an increase in dosage for not increase the benefits, but added a side effect of tachycardia...so I asked my doctor to try me on atomoxetine. ATOMOXETINE WAS TWICE AS EFFECTIVE AS ADDERALL EVER WAS FOR ME!!! I've been on atomoxetine ever since.
The only side effects that I've gotten from atomoxetine were mild nausea (when I didn't take with food), while on 40mg dosage.
* On a higher dosage of 60mg, I would often experience nausea even after and a sudden sneeze attack (1-2 powerful sneezes), plus a stronger wave of nausea (even if I took meds with food) which would last about 5 minutes.
* The timing of the nausea and sneezing was about 20-30 minutes after taking meds, I'm guessing just when the ingested medication was absorbed into my bloodstream, and then they would stop.
* The benefit of the 60mg dose over 40mg for me was very slight, and the still-mild side effects didn't reduce what 6 months, so I asked my doctor to reduce my dosage back to 40mg. I still do well on it after 2 years on atomoxetine.
When someone responds to Ritalin like me, you always try an amphetamine. Most people who respond bad to one will do well on the other, but it's rare that neither can be tolerated nor that someone will respond well to both.
I take bupropion which is the generic for Wellbutrin because I can’t take stimulants. I also started taking a probiotic called Neuralli which helps a lot with mood. I’m getting ready to start taking a low dose of ketamine which is supposed to help the brain repair itself.
Rodster- can u please keep me updated on your experience with ketamine? ive been following the unfolding of ketamine as a prescribed pharm for absolute years waiting to see what would happen. id love to hear your experience with it!
For me, only the stimulants have worked for the ADHD and they do bump up my anxiety, despite also being on meds for that. Recently I have found that meditation works well. It helps chill me out during the meditation, of course, but I'm also learning to access the calm state when I need it. So, when I recognize that my Adderall is driving up my anxiety, I take two minutes and breathe and center myself. It's not as easy as a pill or supplement, but it is working well for me. Good luck.
I try to use Lumosity, a "brain game" app that helps to sharpen executive function. I recommend it, there's a free version that's okay, but the paid version is better.
I am going to follow this thread as I got diagnosed then, too, and have been on all kindsa things for it since. I am currently on Clonidine for ADHD. I am open to other meds/supplements, practices, groups/workshops, resources, etc. Thank you for posting this!
I have been taking Saffron and Theanine for about a month and it helps a lot. There is a lot of research and Saffron has been found to work better than Adderal
Before my ADHD diagnosis, I was able to improve my focus a bit... maybe as much as 10% of the improvement that I experienced when I was on Adderall, and 5% as much as atomoxetine has done for me.
I was taking a multivitamin supplement, plus extra Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Omega-3s (DHA and EPA), Ginseng, and Ginkgo. Plus, I consumed a lot of coffee. All that, for only a modest improvement over my baseline executive functioning. I had tried various supplements over the years (including some very expensive vitamins), and the best I could do without ADHD meds was a small fraction of the impact that I've had with ADHD medication.
(My doctor put me on Adderall XR first, and when that didn't work well enough, and I asked again about Strattera/atomoxetine, he finally put me on a generic atomoxetine. It has been twice as effective for me as Adderall was, and about 20 times the best I could do before medication.)
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Now, I've also learned that regular exercise can do much to improve ADHD. Healthy dining options (such as green leafy vegetables) can also help.
Meditation/mindfulness, good social engagement, and various other non-medication things can help.
You can see improvement of executive functioning without medication.
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Still, for many of ADHDers, such as myself, medication remains the one most impactful treatment available.
I hope that you are better helped by non-medication treatments than I am.
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ADHD woman
Having a crisis of confidence about treating my ADHD with medication, would value your opinions/ experiences.
ADHD work accommodations
