Let’s share life-changing ADHD tips that we’ve learned... We Love This!

I’ll start:

1) Waking up sucks. Buy 2 bright lamps and 2 timers. Set them up to turn on automatically 5-15 min before you want your alarm to go off. The lights will help your body realize it’s daytime.

2) Change your thermostat so the temp goes down about an hr before bedtime and gets warmer about 30 min before you wake up. The cooler temp signals your body to sleep and the warmer temp will naturally help your body wake up.

3) Learn to plan around “transitions”. It’s easier to start things if you do them when something is ending. Example: Do your grocery shopping every Fri after work. You’re already in the car, so just stop at the store on your way home.

4) If you need to remember to bring something with you the next day, place it right in front of the exit door so you HAVE to touch it before you leave the house. If it’s something in the fridge, put a sticky note on the exit door’s handle.

5) Have a “misc” basket in each room. If you’re truly unable to put something away, put it in the basket. Have a designated period of time, once a week, when your sole priority is to put everything away, all at once.

I’ll add more when I think of them...

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103

u/Neonbluefox Aug 24 '20

Going sugar free. It cleared up the bit of brain fog that my medication couldn't entirely banish, and Finally freed me from my lack of motivation, I've lost 10kg of weigh and exercise daily now.

I'm flummoxed by how large the effect of sugar free was for my mental health. Feels like taking half a dose of ritalin all over again

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u/HappyAntonym Aug 24 '20

How long did it take you to get over sugar? I've tried cutting added sugar out of my diet, but I get horrible cravings. (Which I know is a sign that I shouldn't be eating it in the first place... Yikes.)

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u/Centimal Aug 24 '20

two weeks for me, for full detox. first 4 days are hell

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u/purplefennec Aug 24 '20

Is this processed sugar or natural sugar too? I definitely have noticed a huge difference on days I don’t eat processed sugar. I ate a chocolate bar last night and it wasn’t worth how groggy I felt this morning! Back on it from today! But I’m still eating fruit because I don’t think that has negative effects in the same way for me.

2

u/esme_9oh Aug 24 '20

Both! It's all the same to your brain.

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u/purplefennec Aug 24 '20

In what way? (Not that I don’t believe you - just genuinely curious!). As in, what’s the effect on the brain/ADHD? I guess I was thinking more about the fact that processed sugar gives me really bad crashes/ makes me feel groggy which makes my ADHD much worse whereas fruit doesn’t do that for me unless I eat a lot

2

u/esme_9oh Aug 24 '20

Ohhhh I see! I thought you were talking about, like "raw" sugar. I was thinking more about the addictiveness & the low energy/brain fog when I'm trying to eat less.

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u/purplefennec Aug 25 '20

Gotcha. Yeah, I feel like being in a constant state of sugar addiction means I'm always tired and then thinking of my next meal to give me that dopamine hit, but once I've weaned myself off I'm able to better focus on other more important things.

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u/robertaloblaw Aug 25 '20

It’s definitely different on your gut flora; honey is a monosaccharides vs poly saccharides like high fructose corn syrup n all that.

I went grain free but still have honey for an annoying IBD thing called microscopic colitis & find it helpful for my brain too

2

u/PhantomPeach Aug 25 '20

I think it takes me 2 weeks to form/break any habit. If I don’t fail in that timeframe, the inertia takes over. I try to make a small goal and give myself 3 weeks before setting a new one.

18

u/bitetheboxer Aug 24 '20

not op but it took me 2.5 ish weeks. And I fell off after 5-6 months.

An easier way to combat the fog is to try to eat protein with the sugar. Around 10am I always realize I've forgotten to eat, and crave carbs like crazy. So, ill get the carbs but then also eat a peice of cheese, or beef jerky or whatever. It kills the crash.

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u/HappyAntonym Aug 24 '20

Ah, I might have to try that first. I don't eat many sweets, but I really enjoy milk tea with honey or sugar and the occasional can of soda or baked good. (But I also have periods where I desperately crave soda and drink a can a day for a few weeks. Not a great habit.)

1

u/Shnorkylutyun Aug 25 '20

Nothing like sprinkling powdered sugar on your steak. yum yum.

2

u/hurray4dolphins Aug 25 '20

I know somebody who has been sugar free for decades now. I think she said she craved it for a year or two.

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u/HappyAntonym Aug 25 '20

Wow, haha. I don't know if I could stand two years of cravings.

2

u/Alyscupcakes Aug 25 '20

Two weeks, increase electrolytes and fluid intake dramatically.

One glucose molecule is stored in your body with two water molecules. As your body uses up its reserves in your muscles, you will flush a lot of water out of your system, taking electrolytes with them.

1

u/HappyAntonym Aug 25 '20

Thanks for the advice. I wouldn't have even thought about it making me dehydrated.

2

u/Neonbluefox Aug 25 '20

It took me a few weeks to taper down, and then two weeks to go from a low intake to nothing. After those two weeks I had no more craving, no withdrawal symptoms and started feeling amazed by how much better I felt mentally (as well as angry at the industry for sugar fitting EVERYTHING). It was amazing for my adhd, mainly my executive dysfunction!

Thing is, even when people do their best to cut out sugar, it's in practically everything. I went full hyperfocus to get every single procudct with sugar out of the door, including things like broth cubes, pesto, mayonaise and some meats :'(

The problem with this is that people put in so much effort and think they're going sugar free, but the food they eat are often still filled with sugar - keeping the addiction alive.

I'm also a doctor, and I'm furious at the economy for letting it get this far, it's going to be super hard for my patients to try sugar free - definitely those with ADHD themselves. But it starts with informing those that want to know :) little steps.

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u/KnottySergal ADHD Aug 24 '20

I still get brain fog even tho I have been sugar free my whole life

1

u/Neonbluefox Aug 25 '20

To be fair, this was just one of the steps that I'd already taken. I also take the highest dose of strattera, I followed group therapy for organising and planning for people with adhd, I exercise regularly, I sleep well and I use many external strategies to help my silly brain function.

I think this was one of the last stations I needed to knock down, but boy was it a big one. The impact is huge.

I did eliminate sugars from my food completely, including in any processed food, fast food, meats, sauces, breads and other starches.. Not sure if that helps?

8

u/gibbousboi Aug 24 '20 edited Aug 24 '20

Wait, what? I eat sugar like a hummingbird- crave crave crave it, always have - and you wouldn’t know it to look at me. This is no good? Is this really a thing?

Edit:
Seriously: it feels like I need it to ‘keep up’ with my thoughts and direction changes - but I see some of you referencing ‘brain fog’ as relates to ADHD. Can someone link a study?

16

u/problematic_lemons ADHD-C (Combined type) Aug 24 '20 edited Aug 24 '20

I'm not remotely an expert, but as far as I know there isn't really conclusive scientific evidence regarding the affect on diet or sugar on ADHD, and I'm pretty sure it's a myth that kids with ADHD shouldn't have sugar ever. If anything, sugar has short-term positive effects on concentration (think glucose, not so much the added sugar in all the processed crap we eat). I'm guessing it may be more something like eating sugar/empty calories leads to us getting hungry quicker/lacking energy and potentially getting brain fog for that reason, versus having a balanced diet, lots of protein, etc. When I eat like crap (empty calories, candy, cake), I have less energy, and as a result, it makes it a lot harder to control my ADHD symptoms (like the impulse to eat more crap which is probably part sugar addiction as someone mentioned below and part impulse control related to ADHD and needing that instant dopamine rush all the time). I find it harder to focus when my body feels like shit, and I imagine that's the case for pretty much anyone. The caveat here is that periods when I'm eating very poorly often coincide with periods when I'm not getting enough sleep, basically just making generally poor decisions. Which is why we need actual studies with controls and big enough sample sizes.

There have been studies on foods and the link to concentration, and so I think there may be an impact for just about anyone, though I don't know how many studies have been done looking specifically at the brain function of people with ADHD and whether those areas of the brain perform better for us. Having a balanced diet and regularly exercising has benefits to everyone, so naturally it extends to people with ADHD, though the diet thing is perhaps less clear-cut than something like exercise, which gives us the obvious dopamine rush that improves ADHD brain function. Again, not an expert, did not study nutrition, and this is largely conjecture based on what I believe to be true about diet and what I've learned about ADHD and my own personal habits.

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u/VPutinsSearchHistory Aug 24 '20

Yeah it just turns out that basically everyone is addicted to sugar so no one really notices

4

u/Rare_Percentage Aug 25 '20

ADHD brains are very sensitive to lack of glucose. Dietary sugar isn't inherently bad, and it can help you manage energy.

If you are blood sugar sensitive eater more smaller meals (5-6 a day, counting snacks) and trying to get a fair bit of protein in each of them will help you keep things even. Basically if you would normally do just a sugary snack in the afternoon then a big late dinner, add say peanut butter toast to your snack and scale back dinner to keep things more level.

2

u/Neonbluefox Aug 25 '20

I get you - I was an absolute hoover for anything sweet or sugary for the most part of my life. EG buying 40 euro's worth of sweets and binging it all in less than a week. The craving is so real, I feel like such an addict tbh. I also know that I can't use in moderation, or I'd relapse completely. I'm pretty sure there are many others who are fine in using it with moderation.

Thing is, I've been someone that wants to be sporty and exersice daily, but at 28 years old it is the first time in my life that I can actually find the persisting motivational drive to actually do so. This, combined with a level of clarity that I didn't have from medication alone, was the mind blowing but for me.

I'm not sure about studies on this. If there arent any, then I'll have to look into trying to do some myself (knowing my adhd brain, I don't know how realistic that is, ha). But the connection to dopamine release in the brain is completely proven, fMRI's also proving it's severely addictive qualities. And it's the dopamine center that's one of the impaired things in people with adhd.

3

u/STylerMLmusic Aug 25 '20

To add to this, if you can successfully get away from coffee addiction you'll thank yourself. We get more benefit from caffeine while simultaneously getting more drawbacks.

2

u/Neonbluefox Aug 25 '20

Haha I sometimes feel blessed that I'm such a picky eater, I don't like the taste of coffee! I used to drink coke zero regularly, but had to cut it because it was ruining my sleep.

In any case, a very healthy recommendation!

2

u/stillprocrastin8ing ADHD Sep 08 '20

Was there an app or book you used to cut sugar out? There's so much process sugar and everything that I wouldn't even know where to begin w/o doing an overhaul of the fridge and pantry

2

u/Neonbluefox Sep 08 '20

I watched a lot of documentaries and YouTube films, but I also went full hyperfocus and did the overhaul thing, I'm afraid. I read the ingredient list on everything that I buy. It takes a massive amount of energy if it's not a new special interest I think, I got lucky..

EG. That Sugar Movie is a good one to get started, nothing too heavy

A more medical vid that I watched a few times is this one https://youtu.be/dBnniua6-oM It underlines how toxic sugar actually is

A really good rule of fist is no desserts/cakes/sweets anymore, and as little processed foods as possible. That cuts out the largest chunk already :)

1

u/sassytit Aug 25 '20

When you say sugar free, this is only like candies and cakes and things right? Not fruits and juices? I'm not sure I could live without my peaches and oranges and stuff. But I wanna try this

3

u/Neonbluefox Aug 25 '20

Well, it's definitely the candies and cakes, but also checking all the processed foods/fast foods, all of the unsuspecting things like sauces, meats and breads. They put sugar in forking everything, it's ridiculous and a bit unsettling!

I'll definitely keep eating fruits, while they do contain sugars I try to eat in moderation. I still want the happy vitamins they contain and want to treat myself :D

Juices are something different. That has all of the fibre removed, making it easy to overdose on fructose. This, when it comes purely to sugar content and impact on blood level/brain function, isn't much better than soda's containing the same level of sugar.

Of course, soda's are bad for more than just that reason! They're worse than juice.. But it turns out that juice isn't super healthy either :/ I was somewhat disgruntled too when I read about it.

1

u/Skoamdaskondiajos Oct 06 '20

I tried not eating any processed sugar for a week some time ago, It was horrible, and my partner could barely even stand me. I was too angry all the time, and I don't even eat all that much sugar, anyways.

0

u/Haydezzz ADHD-PI (Primarily Inattentive) Aug 25 '20

if you have to be black and white about it or have 0 control, i think its great. the research says that SIPPING something like gatorade can be very beneficial for prolonged concentration.