ADHD?

[Chilelover]

I’m a 70+ year old male that has struggled most of my life with poor self image, poor impulse control, bad memory and terrible sleep. I don’t know if I have ADHD or not, although my daughter was diagnosed with it. I’m trying to learn more about ADHD.

[Mamamichl]

adhd has been found to have a genetic component (along with autism/asd within the same families). That is how I found my adhd. My brother and daughter both have it. I just wish my parents weren’t so adverse to admitting they may have mental health conditions, since it is ruining our relationships.

[Quincie]

I think there is a genetic component. I choose not to take meds & muddle along figuring out a holistic approach. This is what I've found has helped me. Holistically you have to understand it's looking at 3 components: mental, physical & spiritual. Mental : you observe patterns of behaviors & learn where you fail & address this by setting routines & small habits to retrain yourself. Eg always losing car keys in the house? The new habit is putting the keys in the same place everytime you enter the house. Link the action of coming through the door + putting keys in same place before you do anything else.

Physical: clean up your diet. Reduce carbs & sugar, eat healthy fats (not seed oils) & protein. Drink enough water. Reducing carbs/ sugar for me got rid of my brain fog. This change in diet may help w/ memory. Are you self medicating w/ caffeine, nicotine, alcohol? All affect sleep - cut back / quit as needed. Staying up late watching tv/computer affects sleep. Magnesium glycinate supplements can help w/ sleep. Exercise: strength training is important for healthy aging as are daily walks.

Spiritual: forgive yourself about past failures. Forgive others who have harmed you. Forgiveness may need to be done daily until you sense the release. Practice gratitude daily - intentionally thinking of what you are grateful for.

These are suggestions only. But try any of them & see what happens. Incorporate them in baby steps building up slowly.

You may get an official diagnosis & choose to go on meds. The holistic steps would still helpful in conjunction with meds.

PS check w/ Dr, whether any other meds you're taking could possibly be contributing to the memory problem. ( Eg statins. )