For those who are curious if ADHD is real? I can tell you, from my personal experience, it is.
I grew up with it all my life. It is hell. Then I randomly decided to try Paleo (cutting out gluten, sugar, grain and caffeine). And my ADHD is gone. I can focus, my mental fog is lifted, my lethargy is gone, I have the ability to enjoy normal activities.
* My personal Proof: In the last 2 years about 15 times I have cheated on my Paleo diet, by eating bread or a decent amount of sugar. About 12 out of 15 of those times my brain chemistry was quickly affected. I had my old impairments and extreme inability to focus.
* I realize the causes for ADHD for me are not necessarily the same as others. It's probably a host of causes that affect the brain in a similar way. However, I am sure there are more people out there who are like me. FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE MY ALLERGY TO GLUTEN: ADHD IS A REAL DISEASE. AND IT IS HELL.
## What it feels like to have ADD/ADHD
Because I can intentionally turn off my ADHD by eating Paleo or turn it back on, like clock work by eating grain or sugar, I can tell you what having ADHD is like in a very exact way.
# Eating Paleo for 3 weeks straight (no ADHD):
I still don’t feel like doing work often time. Some time work sounds fun and some time it doesn’t. Its the same feeling I saw most my peers in college have towards work.
If I don’t feel like doing something I really have to find a reason to make my self do it. (Basically the standard thing non ADD people say).
# With ADHD (eating a piece of bread)
Unexplainable feeling of mental uncomfortableness (EXTREME, HORRIBLE, and PAINFUL boredom) that can only be slightly assuaged with heavy distraction.
Want to know what it feels like?
- Imagine being on a 10 hour flight that just landed, you can’t wait to get up and walk out into the terminal, however, each person in front of you is taking longer and longer to get their stuff. Before you know it you have been sitting in your seat for over an hour waiting to get off. You are sitting in your seat unable to comfort your feelings of boredom and discomfort with the wait. Now multiply that negative feeling by 10. You might start to be rude to people just so that you have something to distract your pain with. You might start making dumb noises so people will stair at you and give you attention. This attention will help distract the unfathomable boredom/pain you are feeling.
(In one of my college classes I would take my rolling chair and go up and down a slight ramp in the class room while the teacher was giving lecture. I knew I was being and idiot. I knew I wanted to pay attention to the teacher and learn. However, the brief and little relief this distraction gave me was incredibly tempting. I would rather do things that made me feel pathetic than feel the pain of ADHD.)
- Imagine your mental capacity to think and remember words is cut by about 20-50%
- Imagine your motivation to work towards your dreams is cut by about 20-50%
- Imagine you can’t think of anything in the world that would excite you. Everything seems so un entertaining and boring. And this is not depression. I can be extremely happy and simply just eat a piece of bread and my whole mental mood changes. I feel like I am under a drug that gives me ADHD. It doesn’t make me depressed. It just makes everything seem so un satisfying (in regards to entertainment). Growing up I couldn’t play video games longer than 20 mins, even for the most critically acclaimed games, I would become mind numbingly bored.
So thats what having ADHD is like, its REAL (well I can only speak for myself).
I’m probably a lot like many people here reading this on HN: I am extremely smart but struggled in school due to my ADHD. I got good grades in physics classes such as special relativity and decent grades in advanced math classes such as calc III. In spite of my ADHD. I wouldn’t study or do homework. Well sometimes I would copy homework. And luckily I took enough a way from lecture to get good grades on the tests.
However, I never ended up finishing my degree because as time went on I couldn’t keep up the good grades as my programming classes depended more on more doing actual work. I remember getting an B in systems programming in C class because I set the curve on all the tests. I finished many of the programs (starting the night before they were do), however I didn’t even turn in the last three programs (I felt so pathetic). But soon the demands in classes start to become greater. They weren’t just programs I could do in a 12 hour marathon the night before. I even tried 5 different ADHD drugs over a 1.5 year period, none of them really helped enough to be worth the side affects. I didn't like not feeling like myself and the ups and downs as the drugs take affect and then wear off. Though, god damn it did feel nice to finally not feel the pain of ADHD for a few hours. I
I ended up dropping out, however, luckily a few years later I discovered Paleo. I now wake up at 5am every morning. I am writing a book in the mornings and I am a lead dev at a great company where I easily put in an 8-9 hour a day every day. (When I was in college I interned at Microsoft I couldn’t work for more than about 2 hours a day and I wouldn’t even stay on the campus for more than 4-6 hours out of the horrible pain of the boredom.) I would arrive at work around 10:30 am, take a 1.5 lunch and then leave by 2pm or 3pm and head back to my company provided apartment. I hated my self and it was horrible. Now, I am proud of my self and love doing 10-11 hour days of work (including the book). And I don’t take any drugs, I don’t even drink coffee or tea! Zero caffeine.
This person’s book http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp7E973zozc and listening to music is my caffeine. If I don’t feel like starting some work, I remember that "doing the things I don’t feel like doing is the only way I will get the things I want". I then put on my headphones and listen to music that pumps me up. After a few minutes I get into my work and have a hard time remembering to stop for lunch.
# Final Words
So if you think you have ADHD please try Paleo for 30 days, then eat a meal with a bunch of bread and sugar. See if you see an instant stark change in your mental make up. The easiest (so probably the most effective) way to eat Paleo for 30 days is to buy a bunch of meal sized Tupperware, each week go to costco and find some cooked meat (chicken, pulled pork, etc) with no sauces or added wheat. Just meat. Buy some different frozen vegetables (no white potatoes), buy some cooked sweet potatoes or squash, buy some fruit for snacks. Make your 14 lunches and dinners on Sunday. Put them in your fridge and bring your lunch to work. I also make scrambled eggs for 7 days on Sunday and put them in Tupperware. If you have prepped food you are much more likely to succeed against the temptations of cheating. Know: the first 5 days of taking sugar and grain out of your diet are going to be the hardest you will be hit with withdrawals. For some people this feels like getting the flu!
A good primer on the Paleo diet http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/paleo-diet-craze-pt-1
More info about Paleo (know this diet has become a fad, not all websites promoting the “pale diet” are actually promoting the real diet. I recommend, at least initially, only using Loren Cordain, PH.D as a source for information. His book “The Paleo Diet" is great. http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/paleo-diet-craze-pt-1