adhdblues

[adhdblues]

Sleep supplements that have actually worked really well for me

Before I start, the supplements I’m referring to are:

- Magnesium L-Threonate - Brand: Life Extension

- L-Theanine - Brand: now

- Apigenin - Brand: Liposomal

I’m sure there are other brands out there which are preferred, these are the ones that were accessible to me based on where I live.

——————

I just wanted to take some time to drop my personal experience/success here in case it can help anyone else who is struggling with sleep.

My whole life has been a struggle with sleep and insomnia. Both before and after I started adhd medication (concerta 54mg). I’ve been diagnosed with adhd about a year ago.

- It would take me at least 2 hours to fall asleep.

- I would wake up multiple times during the night.

- Had very vivid dreams, to the point I had to ask people if something happened in real life or if it was a dream. Mostly anxiety inducing dreams.

- I would be wide awake until sunrise.

My partner has helped me get into an evening routine since we met, which I really appreciated. But still, most of the nights I would experience insomnia, evening anxiety and mind-racing, bad dreams or interrupted sleep.

After listening to Andrew Huberman’s sleep podcast, we both tried to implement some of his tips into our night routine. But I still had sleep issues no matter what routine I tried. I.e restrict phone use prior to bed, dim all the lights to kickstart melatonin production etc.

He then decided to get me these 3 supplements that Huberman recommends for sleep because my overall mental health, sleep and anxiety levels were not great. We had both discussed it and thought it would be nice if I tried a different approach to see what happens.

I had mentioned my sleep struggles and evening anxiety to my psychiatrist multiple times, but his response would be that it’s normal because of adhd, as well as stimulant medication.

Since I started taking the supplements just under 2 months ago, they have honestly been working so well for me. I have considered that it may be placebo, but the outcome has been too good that it’s hard for me to ignore.

I don’t even know when I fall asleep anymore. I’m literally gone shortly after I get into bed — but I don’t feel drowsy prior to that. I have such deep sleep that I now wake up feeling fresh. I used to be a light sleeper, where I would wake up with any sound or movement in the room.

I even feel like it’s improved my brain fog a lot more than just concerta on its own (just a personal observation).

My constant vivid nightmares/dreams have gone away, I honestly can’t recall the last time I woke up to a bad dream. I don’t remember my dreams anymore, but I can’t tell you if i’m just not dreaming or if they’re just not as intense anymore…

No interrupted sleep since starting the supplements.

I have tried melatonin and over the counter sleep-aid, but I never really liked the side effects the morning after. Also melatonin never really helped my sleep quality.

I just wanted to mention it here in case it helps anyone else as well, because I’ve honestly been feeling soooo good and keep thanking my partner for getting me the supplements. I know I would’ve never done it myself out of procrastination.

However, these are just based on my personal experience and I’m not at all saying that everyone else will have the same experiences. I just want to give my review of some sorts, as someone who has adhd and has struggled with sleep, in case anyone has been curious about these or is looking to try something different, specifically for sleep.

I would recommend checking out Huberman’s podcasts on sleep, and adhd as well :)

I just wanted to add that I remember him mentioning that Apigenin could cause vivid dreams for some, but I personally haven’t experienced that until now.

Just make sure to drink enough water since they’re water soluble.

Other supplements that I take (in the morning) that may have some effect on this too:

- ashwagandha (short-term) - Brand: Jarrow Formulas —please do look into it and consult with a profession before trying this, since it can interact with underlying health conditions and medication. Recommended by all sources I have looked at to take it short term. I don’t take it for adhd purposes, I just decided to try it out because of stress and mood. There isn’t enough research to prove its benefits though, just a heads up.

- Algae Omega-3 - Brand: Garden of Life

- B-Complex - Brand: Nature’s Bounty

My day supplements are on and off as I forget to take them for a few days every now and then.

But I’ve tried to stay consistent with the sleep supplements in the last month and a half.

I hope this helps!

#adhd #living with adhd #adhd brain #adhd and sleep #sleep #no sleep #sleep insomnia #sleep improvement #sleep issues #sleep problems #insomia #supplements #sleep supplements #sleep support #adhd struggles

[adhdblues]

y'all are absolutely free to use tumblr however you please but I want redditors to know that they could, hypothetically, start a sideblog about a particular topic, add moderators to it, turn on submissions (and asks), make an "about" page laying out rules and such, and create a good tagging system. If you want it to be a bit more familiar.

[adhdblues]

about adhd

it concerns me that people really don’t know that adhd isn’t a personality type or behavioral problem.

adhd isn’t someone who’s personality is driven by fun and disorder.

adhd is someone who’s brain goes all over the place looking for dopamine, because it doesn’t make or register enough of it, and when it finds a source of dopamine, it hyperfixates on it. it’s about deregulation of attention as well as emotions.

it’s not a person who can’t behave. a person with adhd can look like a lot of things. misconceptions about what adhd looks like kept me from even looking for a diagnosis, and it also kept myself and others (professionals, even) from taking my suspicions seriously.

everyone’s encouraged to reblog, but if you don’t have adhd, keep your additions to the tags.

[adhdblues]

just saw someone advocating for ppl going off their meds so they aren’t reliant on “big pharma” and I’m like. what disease do you have that spontaneously treats itself the moment you feel morally superior to others? I’m dying to know

[adhdblues]

I went many years not realising that something was wrong with me.

Many years of thinking that how I feel and how I process things was normal. Everyone experiences similar things, is what I thought.

School was okay. I ended up with good grades in the end - A, A, B for A-levels.

But I didn’t realise that I was struggling to understand textbook language. I didn’t know that comprehension of that type of text could be a learning disability. I just thought I wasn’t good enough.

I never really did any work in class. I was actively involved in discussions. Always had an idea to share, and my teachers seemed to really enjoy those discussions. But putting them on paper was fucking hard.

And the research never really got any deeper than the ‘contents’ page and half of the ‘introduction’ of a book. I had piles and piles of books to look through, they all intrigued me. But they just sat there, in a pile, looking cute.

They sat there as the guilt (of not reading through them) weighed on me more as deadlines got closer.

If we had to take notes in class, I wasn’t able to focus. Notes were mandatory, as per my teachers’ expectations - that’s the only way they’d know whether we are concentrating or not. But, I would leave the classroom feeling like I didn’t learn anything that day, because it was all too fast.

Now I know why.

I knew I was smart (sometimes I truly believed that), and I knew I could understand everything that was communicated to me verbally. But the classroom setting just wasn’t right.

I never thought that I’d be one to have ADHD, or that disability they called dyslexia. It felt so foreign, so out of reach - I shouldn’t even consider it because I don’t need the help, is what I thought.

I needed that help.

I never thought I deserved extra time during exams - even though I never fucking finished my papers. No matter how fast I tried to get through the questions, I always had 3 or 4 or 5 pages left once the time was up.

I was actually never told about such things existing, I didn’t know what ‘accommodations’ were. Not until I saw a handful of classmates sitting in a separate room, taking the exams at a different time to us. But still, no one really talked about it.

I just wish that my school, one of the ‘best British schools in the country’, would take learning disabilities more seriously.

I wish they had taken the time to educate us about such things, instead of telling us off for the eyeliner or nail polish we wore.

Instead of giving us detention for wearing pants tighter than their liking.

Or the assemblies they forced us to sit through, where they would bring in alumni to talk about all the amazing things they had achieved since they left school.

If only I had been told about what learning disabilities were:

- I would have struggled less in GCSE.

- I wouldn’t have had those multiple breakdowns because I thought I was stupid.

- I wouldn’t have thought that I wasn’t good enough.

I was always so intrigued by learning new things. But the classroom setting just wasn’t right. The teachers never came to me to ask why I’m struggling, they came to me to tell me I wasn’t good enough.

My biology teacher said she’d be surprised if I get a C. Out loud. In front of the whole class. As she gave out our mock exam results.

I got an A in biology when the real exam came around. Because I studied my ass off. At home. In my own space.

She did nothing to help me.

My math teacher told the whole class that I got the lowest score in my mock exam. I wasn’t there, but my classmates told me. It was embarrassing. I fucking cried. But now that I look back, it’s because I couldn’t understand textbook language at the speed they wanted me to.

I got an A in that too, when the exam actually mattered.

I never really cared much for mock exams. They didn’t mean anything towards my final grades, or my future. I couldn’t care less and they didn’t deserve the stress I’d have to go through.

I just knew I would study for the real exams. I knew I could pull all-nighters and study better under pressure.

Now I know why.

I would wonder why it was so hard for me to keep up with deadlines. I would think that maybe I just don’t care enough. But I kind of did, because I enjoyed learning. I enjoyed discussing and sharing ideas.

But the school system just wasn’t right.

I look back and wonder what it would have been like if I got the extra help that I needed. If I knew I was dyslexic, maybe my English teacher wouldn’t always make me read out loud to the class “to help with my reading skills”.

That was torture for me and everyone else involved - (I think she enjoyed seeing students struggle though).

I remember I specifically went and asked her to stop making me read out loud. Because I felt ashamed of all the long pauses, when I couldn’t find the line I was on. Or for saying the wrong thing, or pronouncing the words wrong. I was ashamed that everyone had to listen to me struggle, because I thought I was wasting their time.

She asked me to read to the class, that same day.

#adhd #living with adhd #adhd problems #learning disability #dyslexia #gcse exams #a levels #education #reading comprehension #adhd things #personal #adhd post #actually did #adhd feels