Comment by zaptheimpaler
4 months ago
IDK if I have ADHD but I started taking Bupropion to help me quit smoking and stayed on it because I feel better on it, and naturally have picked up a lot of this organizational stuff over the past few years like lots of reminders, notes, managing inboxes, calendars, pomodoro. I don't think I've had or have any of the main symptoms of ADHD but sometimes I see a post like this and think maybe? It's also hard because the list of symptoms of ADHD in pop culture seems to be growing out into infinity and it's difficult to separate what's actually ADHD and what's not.
Also there many are other potential factors such as desk-job, sports, sun exposure, and nutrition.
HOWEVER, there are also birth defects such as the MTHFR gene mutation which reduce Vitamin B12 utilization of your cells by as much as 70%. It has far-reaching consequences for every single cell in your body. Modern medicine is mainly symptom-based and things like chronic Vitamin B12 deficiency are hard to diagnose (unlike famous low Vitamin D levels). In many countries you can't even sequence DNA of your own child, and for a hereditary gene defect in a core chemical reaction of the human metabolism this is just staggering.
For example as someone who has the MTHFR gene defect, my organism needs the "bio-available", methylated version of Vitamin B12, because it can only use 30% of the Vitamin B12 in my bloodstream.
The effects of Vitamin B12 (methylcobalamine) supplementation after many decades of Vitamin B12 deficiency is staggering. Within 30 minutes it felt like someone lifted a very heavy baseball cap off my skull. If someone would've told me methylcobalamin is a potent anti-depressant or some illegal drug I would've believed them based on the effects.
If you scout google scholar or NCBI for recent studies on Vitamin B12 you will find recent case studies that use Vitamin B12 supplementation to treat infertility, long covid symtpoms, and autism in children. And if nature gifts you with the MTHFR gene defect(s), Vitamin B12 can be really rare in your cells.
Yet here we are, even in one of the wealthiest countries in the world you need to do gene sequencing on your own if you want to learn about basic genetic defects, because doctors won't touch anything involving "genes" if the disease is not named after yourself. According to Wikipedia roughly 20-30% of all people have this exact MTHFR defect.
Here is some more info: https://www.snpedia.com/index.php/gs192
PS: ADHD is often linked to depression, and I've been discussing with a good friend what comes first. If you have chronic disease, there is first the disease, then comes the depression. But then doctors or others see you and only focus on the depression which - funnily - increases the depression / anxiety even more.
I wish I knew at a younger age that methylated Vitamin B12 / folate supplementation is needed due to a genetic defect.
They even ban things like ancestry DNA tests??
AFAIK in some places your child needs to be 18 in order to knowingly consent to getting a genome sequencing. But of course you can assign a religion to your child before that if you want ;)
Bupropion is an interesting one because pretty much everyone with ADHD is dogged by situational depression. So it helps a bit with that as well as executive dysfunction.
I tried too high a dose once and it worked imo too well. I couldn’t procrastinate if I wanted to, and I found the lack of choice disturbing. I wonder though sometimes if I should be on that dose. But the side effects (muscle spasm) created more intense feelings of loss of body autonomy.
Has anyone talked to you about guanfacine? It reduces RSD, which makes it easier to start things.
Interesting, i might try to talk to a psychiatrist about it sometime.