I definitely have all the typical ADHD symptoms you can find in literature. They all look way less acute than many of stories you find on HN. Though I really struggle sometimes and they affect my life and work performance. For this and other more important reasons I prefer not to disclose, Im not able to get an official diagnosis and get prescription in near future.
Other tools aside (lifestyle, sleeping, eating, therapy etc) — what legal prescription free drugs, vitamins and supplements have had even slightest yet noticeable positive effect on your ADHD?
The only thing that was directly effective was prescription stimulant medication (in my case, a low dose of Vyvanse).
The biggest impact outside of that was lifestyle design, self forgiveness, and an array of the "healthy lifestyle" choices you've mentioned.
I truly empathize with your quest for a helpful supplement because I've had the same curiosity and have done the same search, but to no avail.
Even more frustrating is that you'll find some studies that vaguely point to some vitamin that "helps boost focus in those with ADHD!" But once you dig into the data, the "results" are some insignificant "boost" & are generally just a side effect of study participants getting better sleep/less anxiety/etc.
Feel free to email me if you want to discuss/rant/chat about this more: rob [at] adhdpro [dot] xyz
Supplements: magnesium, B vitamins. Vitamin D (from sunlight)
The right dose of phenylpiracetam, caffeine, and Huperzine can be just as effective as low dose adderall in my experience. Although the side effect profile is completely different: less hyperfocus, little impact on appetite, much more irritability.
However I have to say that lifestyle is BY FAR the most effective treatment (even more than adderall, especially long term) and it always bothers me when people ask for advice for supplements and drugs only.
Sleep 8-10 hours per night, eat a good breakfast, don’t use nicotine, exercise every day or almost every day, get some sun. Not only do these help by themselves but they also make medication like phenylpiracetam and adderall (adderall in particular needs a lot of protein to work best) more effective as well.
Also I highly recommend taking a >1mo total break from cannabis if you are a frequent user. I find that as my usage gradually increases so do my ADHD symptoms, until I quit and suddenly have much more energy and motivation in the next few weeks as my body flushes it all out.
Coffee, nicotine and CBD also help, but pls dont smoke.
But my advice for you is prioritizing and managing time. Before the day ends, make a list of what you have to do the next day and the first thing you do IS something from the list.
I feel that fighting the first base-case of inertia early, when you start working, is the key.
Dont be afraid of failing.
Neurotransmitters:
- Dopamine (movement, working memory) ~ Tyrosine ~ Protein
- Noradrenaline (alertness) ~ Tyrosine ~ Protein ~ Cold Showers
- Serotonin (mood stabilization) ~ Tryptophan ~ Protein
- Acetylcholine (memory and learning) ~ Choline
- Glutamate (neuronal "on switch") ~ Protein
- GABA (a neuronal "off switch") ~ Dopamine/Noradrenaline Downregulation ~ Lithium Orotate ~ Anxiety
Inside your cells
- Adenosine ~ GABA Release ~ Caffeine (blocks it)
- Adenosine-Di/Tri-Phosphate ~ ADP + phosphate <-> ATP + Energy ~ Creatine (brain cells are cells too)
- DHA/EPA ~ "machine oil for your brain" ~ https://presse.inserm.fr/en/lipids-serving-the-brain/14416/
So with these, you can look up how medications like LDX (dopamine, noradrenaline) and MPH (dopamine) work and start your research from there with these simplistic pointers/correlations in mind.
The human body has way too many variables f(x1, ..., xn) --> ? ? ? yi ? ? ?
You can only see some output (i.e., yi), but you likely cannot see all outputs (i.e., all y's).
Keep in mind: those correlations stem from a layman's simplistic point of view.
Experts (i.e., medical doctors, biologists) can interpret the correlations better (and also might see more outputs/y's).
I therefore, suggest: Gabor Mate (ADHD ~ trauma ~ modern society), Robert Sapolsky (noradrenaline ~ anxiety ~ amygdala).
However, I've found consistently that high quality saffron (Affron TM) extract has a mild SSRI quality, which when used during the seratonergic phase of your day (i.e. after lunch) can be noticeably effective in normalizing mood, limiting depression and generally getting into "the zone" or flow with certain types of work, like writing etc..
There are some papers on this, mostly from Iran I think.
As for non-medicinal, as cold shower or bath before starting work can really help breaking through the wall.