this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2025
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ADHD

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I’d like to know what anyone is using that they really think is helping them that isn’t taking traditional prescription medication for ADHD. Please make sure whatever it is can be found “over the counter” or readily available commercially. Please keep it to simple items that are easily found separately - i.e. a B vitamin of B6, 12 and vitamin C along with Magnesium glycinate or something. If you notice it helping in a specific area, please say what it is.

I have to throw in a couple caveats, just to make sure we can get a decent picture of what is actually helping, so…

  • Please nothing illicit or illegal.

  • Please no blends or other proprietary herbal combinations. If a blend helps you, great…but we don’t know what is in the blend that is helping, and someone may not have access to that product where they live.

  • Please be specific, like making sure to differentiate between magnesium glycinate and magnesium L-threonate.

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Edit: “votes” so far:

1 - Creatine monohydrate - short term memory

2 - Lion’s mane (a fungus) - brain fog

2 - Omega 3, 6, and 9 - brain fog

1 - exercise. Not really a supplement, but it’s a great idea for overall health.

1 - keto diet - brain fog

2 - N-Acetyl-cystein (NAC) - anxiety/hyperactivity

2 - magnesium glycinate - ?

1 - Magnesium carbonate

Stimulants:

2 - Coffee

1 - caffeine (via energy drink)

1 - Guarana

1 - Green tea (caffeine and L-Theanine)

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[–] Ceedoestrees@lemmy.world 20 points 6 days ago (6 children)

Omega 3-6-9 fatty acids. There's been a fair amount of research done on its role in mitigating ADHD, specifically. I take them and notice a decline in mood and overall presence of mind when I've forgotten to take my pills for a while.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4968854/

[–] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago

Interesting, thanks for the paper link, I'll have to come back to that!

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[–] SplashJackson@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 days ago (7 children)

Weed helps, in edible form, when taken with ritalin and adderall

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[–] iPlayTheKazoo@feddit.nl 6 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Creatine monohydrate helped for me. It's usually taken by athletes and gym-goers but there's a study saying that it may improve short term memory and intelligence/reasoning

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[–] Zoldyck@lemmy.world 12 points 6 days ago (1 children)

The best supplement is regular exercise imo

Added. It’s not really a supplement, but improving one’s health can do a lot for stress and sleep. That can take some of the edge off the related ADHD issues.

[–] double_quack@lemm.ee 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Coffee, fasting during mornings, and lowering carbs

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Another upvote for coffee!

[–] JGrffn@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Coffee makes me crash, I don't understand how it works for you guys. I fucking love it still, but boy can it send me back to bed in a jittery mess as soon as I get a strong morning cup of if I haven't eaten breakfast.

[–] Avg@lemm.ee 1 points 2 days ago

Before taking meds, I'd drink it twice a day pushing the crash until after work. Now that I'm taking strattera, it's just too much and I can barely handle one cup without going mad with anxiety.

[–] double_quack@lemm.ee 1 points 4 days ago

I make it rather mild, one table spoon (fairly loaded) of light roasted coffee for a liter of water.

[–] theneverfox@pawb.social 4 points 5 days ago (4 children)

Magnesium glycinate. Made every difference in the world for me - I still need my meds to perform at my best, but I can muddle through without them with magnesium and a good night of sleep

[–] voidspace@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

I used take other forms of Magnesium, but recently found Glycinate has made a massive improvement in my sleep.

Best sleep I've had in years.

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[–] Son_of_Macha@lemmy.cafe 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

What does this do? Do you have any research indicating this has potential benefits?

[–] UniversalBasicJustice@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (5 children)

NAC - N-acetyl-cysteine. Psychiatrist recommended it for weaning myself off a THC dependency, but after reading a few PubMed-available research papers I found data supporting further research into its effects on ADHD.

Additionally, I kept researching in an attempt to improve brain fog and sleep issues I suspect are from long COVID. I found studies indicating NAC combined with guanfacine may help those symptoms.

I've found better results from 600mg NAC (standard daily dose is 1200mg) taken three times a day, and started 1mg guanfacine twice a day recently with plans to increase to 2mg twice a day in a week or two.

I would love to share the NIH papers with anyone interested. Educating yourself about your condition and its particular manifestation will get you far with an invested care team. I'm headed to bed bit will reply to any and every person interested in the research tomorrow morning.

The message I sent to my psych two days after she recommended NAC contained inline citations referring to the papers I had linked at the bottom. That due diligence communicated my dedication not only to my own care, but also to my dedication and respect for knowledge.

Don't take random supplements recommended to you on the internet. Discuss their use with a doctor or, barring that, ground your decisions in science.

[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I personally had phenomenal results with decreased skin picking compulsions after my dermatologist recommended it. May not work for everyone but absolutely worth a shot.

[–] UniversalBasicJustice@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

May I ask what dosage you're taking? I started at 1200mg twice a day for awhile, but ran out and about a week later noticed a worsening of my tics/hand-talking/dropping things issues. Started 1800mg (3x600mg taken morning/afternoon/night) once I bought more, but saw dosages of 2000-2400mg in a study or two.

[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 days ago

600 mg/day. I have a history of responding to surprisingly low dosages of everything, though. E.g. I take the lowest available dose of methylphenidate that my pharmacy stocks, and usually split my sleep aid in half unless I'm really wired and need to knock myself out

I'm not a small or very active human, so it's odd.

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[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

NOS brand energy drink seems to work better for me than any other brand, so it may be worth looking into its ingredients list for things that potentially have a synergistic effect with caffeine

A quick look at the NOS ingredients shows caffeine, taurine, and l-carnitine. Caffeine is a stimulant, so I’ll add that ✅, taurine isn’t mentioned anywhere to be any specific benefit to concentration or mental ability, and l-carnitine seems to just be used to make the stimulant hit faster.

[–] ImmersiveMatthew@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I hyper focused on my gut microbiome and the results are very interesting. No more anxiousness, amazing sleeps, and way better ment focus. Almost never forget things now. There is a lot of scientific support here too as the microbiome really does play a large role in our mental state.

[–] loonsun@sh.itjust.works 5 points 5 days ago (2 children)
[–] ImmersiveMatthew@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

It was not one thing but months of things starting with a 7 day water fast then on to rice porridge and then onto streamed sweet potatoes and carrots and over time more and more options. It was brutal but my circumstances dictated such extreme measures as I had developed a severe histamine and glutamate sensitivity. AI was amazing at navigating it all, but it is not perfect so I used 2 AIs and many other sources to validate each step of the journey. I am honestly shocked it worked so well.

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[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It sounds like you’re improving your overall health. That’s always valuable.

[–] Pistcow@lemm.ee 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I mean, chelated magnesium helps take the edge off of Adderall but no, I doubt you'll ever find anything otc that is effective as something prescribed.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I wouldn’t expect any supplements, vitamins, or similar to be as effective, but to use your words, maybe some things that help “take the edge off.”

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[–] Jtskywalker@lemm.ee 4 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Lions mane extract seemed to help me, before I knew I had ADHD. Just seemed like when I had it regularly I had less brain fog. I used a few ml every morning in stone water.

I stopped using it because it seemed pricey, and I only bought it from one guy at the farmers market because I know a lot of commercially available supplements dont have what they say they do in the US.

I should try to find another good source to see if it helps now that I have other things as well.

Also black coffee but fresh roasted / fresh ground specialty coffee seems to help way more. Grocery store coffee gives me heartburn

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[–] Apocalypteroid@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I find a combination of St. John's Wort and Lion's Mane Extract help with my mood and focus.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Added lion’s mane. Which one do you use for what?

[–] Apocalypteroid@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Lion's Mane is for focus. St John's Wort is for mood but as someone else has correctly commented, SJW should not be used if you are already taking any prescription anti-depressants as it can cause seretonin syndrome.

[–] piecat@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

FYI, St John's wart can affect serotonin, which can be dangerous if you're on anti depressants.

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