Lifestyle Tip
IGeneral Health Tips
These are general lifestyle tips that many patients have found helpful.
Minerals / Supplements
It is very easy to be deficient in vitamins, minerals and Omega 3 fatty acids (an essential component of our brain and body that can only come from what we eat) - especially if not eating regularly and forgetting/skipping meals.
These are supplements I'd suggested taking with breakfast or other meal (ideally containing some protein and fat - egg is a good choice, or even a protein shake, or peanut butter)
Other supplements people find helpful are Magnesium, Zinc, turmeric and others.
Consider if any medications are causing tiredness or affecting concentration.
Many people find CBD (cannabidiol) helpful - for sleep, anxiety, hyperactivity and pain. It can be tried in the evening starting with a low dose and gradually increasing. There are various options, such as https://www.dutchylabs.com/pro... (Use code THERAPYCBD for 20% discount).
SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) lamps can be good to have on, especially in the morning during winter, to use bright light to reduce symptoms of fatigue/sluggishness. Here is a typical lamp that may help https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/pr...
Activity / Rest
Being active (in moderation) is generally very good for both mind and body. A 20 minute walk outside before midday is a good starting point.
Yoga is very good for mind and body, helps flexibility, mood, improves ability to relax. There are lots of free videos available on YouTube, Yoga with Adriene is recommended. Start here https://www.youtube.com/watch?... and she has several 30 day courses to do each day https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Many people with ADHD find more intense activities like boxing, kickboxing, mountain biking and skiiing/snowboarding very enjoyable. Also fishing, walking and gardening can be popular.
Running is very accessible and almost anyone can build up gradually to running/jogging for 5k without stopping. Couch to 5k is a way of building up from not running at all to doing a 5k (3.1 miles). Here is NHS info about it https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/e...
Once you can run/walk for 5k then find a local parkrun which take place on Saturdays at 9am across the UK and the world. https://www.parkrun.org.uk/
Sleep is very important - caffeine and alcohol both can have a negative effect on sleep. Tips for sleep here: https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-...
Gut Health / Nutrition
Many people with ADHD forget to eat and drink, and tend to go for quick options. As a result they may have too much ultra processed food and not enough fruit and vegetables.
Good tips are protein containing meals (this especially helps ADHD medications work better). Eggs, nuts, beans, meat, fish are good choices.
Eating fruit and vegetables of different colours seems to help our gut microbiome (the 100 trillion microbes that live in our gut!)
Some kind of fermented food is helpful - yoghurt (Aldi 10% fat greek yoghurt is good), kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir etc. Avoid highly processed foods and artificial additives. Supplements as mentioned above can help reduce the chance of deficiencies.
Influences / Social Media / Screen Time
Check your screen time on Android: https://www.lifewire.com/check... and iPhone https://support.apple.com/en-g... - we often can clock up hours staring at our phone which tends to have a negative effect on mood, attention and wastes a lot of time. You can set up limits on time use for yourself (and also use parental controls - Android https://support.google.com/goo... and iPhone https://support.apple.com/en-g...)
Be aware that constant exposure to worrying information or other negative influences will have a negative effect on your thoughts and therefore quality of life - avoid too much news, social media and anything else that you notice is reducing quality of life.
Cognition / Therapy
Clinical Psychologists are highly trained in various therapies and a good place to find them (and a range of counsellors and therapists) is https://www.psychologytoday.co...
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy is a common strategy in therapy for improving and anxiety, low mood and a range of other issues - sleep, ADHD, OCD, eating disorders etc). You can find a CBT therapist https://babcp.com/CBTRegister/... but there are many self help resources - a good free website is https://www.cci.health.wa.gov....