dhsjh29493727 t1_itnpsbg wrote on October 25, 2022 at 12:04 AM

Reply to comment by Ruca705 in Study finds brain changes associated with ADHD remission. As the brains of those with ADHD mature, some individuals may repetitively engage in strategies that compensate for symptoms. These repetitive behaviors may result in the brain changes seen in those who went into remission. by Wagamaga

Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Here's a very telling quote from this article:

>Finally, the sample size was too small to claim cause and effect; there may be other factors that led to persistent ADHD.
>
>These limitations aside, this research provides neurological evidence that consistent use of strategies to cope with ADHD symptoms may be a way out.

tldr; The article invalidates itself as wishful thinking but then assures the reader that it's valuable.

I know that there's been a long-term notion that "most kids with ADHD grow out of it eventually" but anecdotally I've never heard of anyone for who it didn't get worse as societal expectations of adults took the place of the relative ease of childhood.

But isn't this basically saying that if you mask long and hard enough, eventually living a masked life just becomes your normal functioning, so you basically don't have ADHD, you're just expending more energy to be a slightly worse functioning regular adult?

Resentful_in_Dayton t1_ito4nqf wrote on October 25, 2022 at 1:51 AM

I feel that my ADD (I don’t have ADHD) is in remission. I no longer miss deadlines/work to the last moment, or procrastinate. Maintaining my organizational tools doesn’t feel difficult and if I start to slip I recognize it as a sign to lessen my work load and refocus. I don’t have nearly as much trouble finding things or organizing myself, and I don’t forget or loose things as I used to. I feel, generally, in control of my attention and time management.

Repetitive behaviours, positive reinforcement strategies, therapy, excercise, and ayahuasca have been the enabling factors.

dhsjh29493727 t1_ito5rem wrote on October 25, 2022 at 1:59 AM

ADD is an older term for what is now diagnosed as ADHD, with it's sub-variant diagnoses:

ADHD primarily Inattentive

OR ADHD Primarily Hyperactive

OR ADHD Mixed

What do you mean when you say that you have ADD and not ADHD?

Regardless, it sounds like you've put a lot of strategies in place to manage your symptoms and moved forward as a result, so good for you!

Interested to hear about what ayahuasca is like with ADHD if you'd like to share?

Resentful_in_Dayton t1_ito826o wrote on October 25, 2022 at 2:16 AM

I was diagnosed about 15 years ago, and was told I had ADD not ADHD, maybe I misunderstood something. Or has the research/understanding evolved since then?

I couldn’t say much about what ayahuasca is like with ADHD, in the sense that I have nothing but my own experiences to compare it to. That said, I was on Ritalin for about a year when I was first diagnosed and it worked extremely well and I felt amazing (unfortunately it stopped working as well over time and when they increased my dosage it went very badly and I had to stop all together). So I ‘went back’ to having ADD and was too nervous to try another medication (I had heart issues with Ritalin, among other issues).

I’ve been working with ayahuasca almost 12 years now- and if I don’t have too much sugar and sleep well, I mostly feel almost as clear/productive/in control of my time and attention as I did on Ritalin. Not as clear, but close. It’s a really marked change in terms of lateness, lost items, ect.

Ayahuasca helped in a few obvious ways in terms of resolving shame, trauma, and self judgement (which was creating an anxiety cloud that exacerbated procrastination and avoidance). It also regularized my meditation practice, exercise, good eating habits- which all contribute.

I think probably the most significant aspects have been around prioritization and conditioning my responses to impulses. I see now that my expectations of what can be done in a set amount of time are often/have been way way off and this has contributed to over commitment, which leads to overload, then procrastination, shutdown, complete loss of attention control. So, prioritization and time management is now, for me, understood as a more complex aspect of self care. Ayahuasca has helped me to begin to (very much still in process) clear the fog/numbness that ‘traps’ my attention and estranges it from my intention. I can still, intentionally, get hyper focused for long periods of time, but, I remain present in a way I didn’t previously.

It’s hard to really describe… but it’s definitely been a huge change- and one very clearly activated by specific ceremonial experiences.

The specific experiences have been either ‘seeing’ neuropathways being re-wired or an experience of knowing/being told that my neuropathways are being reset and I have an opportunity to reinforce the reset with behaviours. Like, a highway is being built between a and b where there used to be a dirt road- so I can now take that route, but I need to choose to, and I need to maintain it.

Hope that makes sense!!

dhsjh29493727 t1_ito9izh wrote on October 25, 2022 at 2:27 AM

I think 15 years ago ADHD was the term for what is now ADHD hyperactive, vs ADD I think is a closer approximation now to ADHD inattentive - but don't quote me on that. But I know that they grouped them into variations of one disorder, rather than being their own separate issues.

Oh wow, yeah that's really interesting, especially how you've used it as a helping part of a wider sort of process to better balance life and work. I definitely understand what you're describing as far as the brain fog experience etc, as well as my frustrations with medication and dosages having varying effects between success and negative side effects depending on the dose though.

I wondered whether there would be any parallels between yours with Ayahuasca and other drugs such as LSD with ADHD. Which from my own experience can be extremely traumatic.