10 ADHD Medication Myths Busted: Honestly Discussing the Truth about Stimulant ADHD Medicines #146
Stimulant medication for ADHD is a hot-button topic.
Everyone has something to say -- your friends, your coworkers, your uncle's cousin's brother's barber, and of course, the internet.
They'll tell you about the person they knew who "went crazy" on stimulants.
They'll tell you how ADHD medication will change your personality or turn you into a zoned-out zombie.
They'll tell you, you probably don't need medication unless you're struggling in school or at work.
SO when that small voice inside of you asks, "Could medication help?" It's hard to hear it through all that noise.
And while most people are well-meaning, most of the negative stories you hear about stimulant medications for ADHD are utter nonsense.
It's "Medication May" (and June) on the Motherhood in ADHD podcast, and we're continuing our series with an episode dedicated to busting myths about stimulant medication. And boy, are there a lot of 'em!
But we're just choosing 10 for this episode, including:
- Will ADHD medication make me a zombie?
- Is medication just for kids?
- Can ADHD medication become addicting?
- Do I need periodic breaks from my medication?
- Is coffee a safer alternative to stimulant medication?
- And 5 more pervasive myths you won't want to miss!
This isn't medical advice. The point of this series is to take away the fear and shame of taking ADHD medication and to arm you with quality information so you can make the right decision for yourself and your life.
And hopefully, you can serve as an educator to the people in your circle with mistaken beliefs about ADHD medication.
And we can end the stigma together.
This material is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your doctor or a trained medical professional to find the treatment plan that best fits your personal situation.
Would you love a more peaceful morning as an ADHD mom? How about some help to navigate ADHD time blindness, so you can finally get your kids to school on time? You can get these in your inbox TODAY by visiting patriciasung.com/resources.
Patricia Sung 00:00
You do not need to try harder to fix the problems. You need different methods you need different strategies. Are you overwhelmed by motherhood and barely keeping your head above water? Are you confused and frustrated by how all the other moms make it look so easy. You can't figure out how to manage the chaos in your mind, your home, or your family. I get your mama, parenting with ADHD is hard. Here is your permission slip to let go of the Pinterest or the visions of organization and structure fit for everyone else. Let's do life like our brains do life creatively, lovingly, and with all our might. When we embrace who we are and how our brains work, we can figure out how to live our lives successfully, and in turn, lead our families. Well, at the end of the day, we just want to be good moms. but spoiler alert, you are already a great mom. ADHD does not mean you're doomed to be a hot mess mama, you can rewrite your story from shame spiral to success story. And I'll be right here beside you to cheer you on. Welcome to motherhood in ADHD.
Patricia Sung 01:14
Hey there successful mama. It's your friend Patricia Sung? Well, it is medicine may and probably a little bit of June. In this month, I'm dedicating the episodes of the podcast to sharing quality information, debunking myths and helping you figure out what you want to do about taking ADHD medication. Now in three years, I have avoided this topic because I was scared. As soon as you start talking about medicine, all the haters show up and start trolling. So I want to be clear, this material is not intended to be medical advice. This series, the entire goal is not to tell you what to do, or you should do this, you should do that. I can't decide that for you. I don't know your medical history, or your values or your coexisting medical conditions. And even if it did not matter. I'm a girl with a lot of personal experience who does a mountain of research. And I want you to do the same. Investigate research, don't take my word for it. Find a trained medical professional who has experience with ADHD to help you consult with your doctor and find the treatment plan that makes the best sense to fit your situation. Because you are the only one who can decide what's best for you. When we have ADHD, we have spent a lot of time in our lives and being told that our perception of reality is wrong. And that leads to a lot of self doubt and lack of trust in our own decisions, then I want to change that.
Patricia Sung 02:43
My goal is to arm you with as much information and knowledge and confidence that I can. I want you to decide to take or not take medicine because you are fully comfortable and competent in your decision. So many people with ADHD are not getting the best treatment out there because of lack of information, misleading information, or quite frankly, straight up BS on the internet. And by word of mouth. On top of that there is so much shame and embarrassment about having ADHD and treating ADHD. And that includes taking medicine for your mental health. So when you show up at your doctor's office to ask about what your medicine options are, I want you to know what kinds of questions to ask. When you're talking to a provider that maybe doesn't know as much as you had hoped that you can recognize that lack of experience or knowledge and know that you will be better served to seek out a second opinion. I want you to feel empowered when you talk to your doctor to set up your treatment plan. So with that being said, let's dive into today's episode about ADHD medication.
Patricia Sung 03:52
Today's episode is about Mythbusters. If there's something strange about ADHD, please gonna call Myth Busters. There are so many myths about ADHD medication and ADC as a whole. But today I'm specifically focusing on ADHD and Mythbusters. About medication. Now, I also could probably name like 47 of these, but I'm hitting a main 10 today and who knows maybe I'll circle back one day and do another group. But let's get in here and debunk some of the poor information flat out wrong information or totally ridiculous BS information that I have heard about ADHD medication and perhaps you've heard these two. Remember the entire point of this medicine series is to take away the fear and the shame out of taking medicine and arm you with quality information to make the right decision and that includes addressing a lot of this ridiculousness that we hear about ADHD medication. Now, I do want to put a little disclaimer on here that most of what I'm talking about in the struggles usually has to do With stimulant medication, there's not quite as much stigma around the non stimulants, and there's a lot less hoops that you have to jump through in order to have a prescription for the non stimulants. So just bear that in mind as I'm talking that a lot of the struggles that I'm talking about have more to do with the stimulants so much as the non stimulants.
Patricia Sung 05:18
So Myth number one, ADHD medication is going to make me a zombie. No, it's not. If it does, Mama, that is not the right medication, we all have to find the right medication for us. And in some cases, it doesn't work for us, it stinks. There are some people about 20 to 30% of ADHD errs, who do not do well with medicine, either it just doesn't work or the side effects are so bad that it's not worth it. If that is you do not take the medicine, there is no reason for you to be taking or for your child to be taking ADHD medication that makes them a zombie. That means it's not the right medicine immediately, no, immediately. No, you need to stop and talk to your doctor and figure out what another option is. Yes, there will be some side effects. Generally speaking, the recommendation from my doctor, Dr. Don Brown, who is a fabulous ADHD expert. She works with ADHD people all the time. That is her specialty, and she has ADHD herself. So obviously she knows what she's talking about. Her recommendation is to take your medicine for three weeks before you make any adjustments. I hated that advice. When she told me I'm like three weeks, I don't wanna wait three weeks, I want to fix it.
Patricia Sung 06:32
Now, yes, we do not want to wait three weeks. But here's the thing, because she's well experienced, she knows that when you take your medicine for about two weeks, that's when your body is adjusting. It's getting the hang of things. It's figuring out how to do things in a different way. Because now there's a support here that it's not used to right, we have to get used to it. And you don't really see how it's going to work until that third week is when he really settles and your body's like, Oh, this is what I do with us. This is how I function. Okay, great. Here's how this is going to look. So most of your side effects will fall out in those first two weeks. If they're still sticking around through week three, and you're pushing a month and it's like, okay, this is clearly sticking around. Maybe not forever, but enough that like, is this worth it? And this is when you're making those decisions, like Hmm, do I want to stick with it? Do I now want to stick with it? Shall we adjust? Do we need more? Do we need allies? Do we need to change dosing timing? The type of medicine generic namebrand? I know it's a lot of things right? That first two weeks is when you settle out through a lot of the side effects. And that third week is where you see the benefit. Now, the caveat to that is, if you have a problem right away, that is like a glaring Foghorn will will we'll problem like, No, do not stick with it immediately stop, and then check with your doctor, figure out what your plan B is. Because there's a good chance that when you're deciding to go down the route of medicines, you rarely get lucky and plan A or even B usually you're trying em LMNOP you're down in that range before you figure out what works for you. Some people do figure it out on C and D at the beginning. That's great. And some people get all the way to z and realize it's not for them. But if you feel like a zombie on your ADHD medication, then that's not the right medication for you. In this same vein, when I was asking you all like on Instagram in my Facebook group, and I'm saying you Hey, what are your questions? Correct? Oh, my worries, like, what are you worried about me like, well, I'm worried that the medicines just like pushing it down. I'm just numbing my feelings. And I really should be dealing with the problem on its own. So one, it sounds like you're feeling like you need to try harder to fix your ADHD. We do not need to try harder to fix our ADHD, we're not fixing our ADHD, we're working with it. We are not to be fixed, we are not to be cured. We figured out how to make it work for us with a solid treatment plan of many different types, many different facets to figure out how to work with it. That's number one.
Patricia Sung 08:59
Number two, when you take medicine, you still have to deal with all the problems, the medicine doesn't take away the problems. So your medicine is creating an environment for you to work on those problems easier or more smoothly. But it's not taking away the problems. I still got problems, even though I take medicine. It just makes it easier to work through them. And then the other part of me is like, that's not how ADHD medicine works. It doesn't numb your problems. It doesn't push down your problems. That's not what it is. We're not taking anxiety medicine, like this is not a Xanax. It's not muting the problems. So that's also not how it works. So you don't have to worry about that. Because it's not how it works. That's not what it does. So if you are worried and beating yourself that that you need to try harder instead of taking medicine. No, no, no, no, no, those three reasons right there that I just told you. You do not need to try harder to fix the problems. You need different methods, you need different strategies. That's not how medicine works. And the medicine doesn't take away your problems. Okay, so that's myth one. Your ADHD matters. Same will not make you a zombie because if it does, that's not the right medicine and you need a different one. That means something's wrong. I've worked part time for option two.
Patricia Sung 10:06
Alright, Myth number two, ADHD medicine is just for kids. It's not for adults. I don't know who said, I was like, even chive and do this episode, so I'm gonna get real hyped up about this ridiculousness. Many many ADHD adults take medicine that's including stimulants and non stimulants. A lot of times medicine for anxiety or depression will help your ADHD like, there are so many ways that ADHD adults take medicine. It is not just for kids, I think this stems from just my guess, is it because people think ADHD is a kid problem, non adult problem. So they're like, Well, I just, you know, I think that ADHD is only affecting kids or the adults don't have to take any medicine. What? No, ADHD affects you your whole life. It's how you were created. It doesn't go away, you figure out strategies to make it work better, like you figure out how to run your life, but it doesn't take your ADHD away, you don't grow out of it drives me nuts. When I hear that I'm not even putting it's not even to this myth pleasure because it's all about medicine. I'm I'm doing I gotta alright, and Patricia, because this episode got real long if we're talking about every myth I ever heard, okay, so medicine is not just for kids, is for adults, because your ADHD stays throughout your life.
Patricia Sung 11:16
Okay, Myth number three, you shouldn't be taking that much of a stimulant, it's too much. That's too high of a dose, oh, it might be too high of a dose for you, or for that person. But it's not too high of a dose is a blanket statement. Now, the stimulants are different in that they are not dosed by your size, or your weight or your age. When you have ADHD and you're taking a stimulant, it is totally tailored to you. There are tiny people who need a large dose and there are giant people who need a tiny dose to make a difference in their lives. ADHD medicine is not dosed like Tylenol, or you take this much when you weigh this much. That's not how it works. That's why it has to be a trial and error process because there is no magic formula to figure it out. Now, generally speaking, most people will do okay with the amount that's like, quote unquote, approved to be prescribed. But there are some people that actually do need more than that recommended amount. And without getting on like a whole tirade about history of medication and fear based decision making. Basically, they've said a cut off and arbitrary cut off does not necessarily dictate what people need. They keep it low because they're trying to keep people safe. Unfortunately, stimulants for ADHD are widely abused. And those of us who are taking it in a medically sound way are the ones who take the heat and the repercussion for all the people misusing it. We're the ones who have to jump through the hoops because other people make poor choices. This is how it works. And I got to just I gotta be okay with it. Because I used to get really upset about it, isolate, really upset about it. But I can't change the policy today. So the range in which this medicine is prescribed is going to work for most people, they have a cut off because they're trying to protect the people that are misusing it. But there are some people actually do need larger than the prescribed amount. And that's okay, you work with your doctor to figure out the amount that works for you. But there's no like magic number that says, here's the amount for you.
Patricia Sung 13:26
Myth number four, ADHD medications, cause addictions, you should definitely not try stimulant medication because you're gonna get addicted. Can't you see that the word meth is in the name of the medicine. So you're basically taking math, you're taking street drugs, don't get addicted. Okay, let's be clear here. Your ADHD stimulants are not the same thing. As meth on the street. Yes, you can find ADHD meds sold on the street, you can also find meth there to different things. But when you take your ADHD medicine as prescribed, you will not get addicted to it. You run into problems when you don't follow the instructions when you take the medicine and you don't have the medical problem that the medicine is for. Just like I take Siemens for my blood pressure. If someone else takes the stimulus for their blood pressure, they will get very sick because they are not meant to take that medicine because they don't have a low blood pressure problem. The medicine is prescribed for a specific purpose in a specific amount to treat the person that it is prescribed for. I invite you to go back and listen to the earlier episodes with Dr. Parcells, where we dug into this from like a medical science basis. So I won't get into that today. But what I do want to touch on is that what makes me so sad when I hear this being said is that it's actually the opposite.
Patricia Sung 14:51
When people are well treated for their ADHD, they are less likely to develop addiction problems. There was a study done in 2003. So like 20 years ago, they figured this out and yet people are still talking about it incorrectly, that there is a 50% reduction in later life use illicit drugs by those who have been prescribed stimulants in comparison to their peers without ADHD. And other statistic, adolescents with ADHD who went untreated had three to four times greater rate of illicit substance abuse patterns than adolescents whose ADHD was treated with stimulants. And other statistic individuals of any age receiving the stimulant for ADHD have no greater risk for illicit substance abuse compared to the general population. Why is this? Because when we have undiagnosed or untreated ADHD, we go to find something that quiets the noise and makes us feel better. And where do we go, we go to addictive substances, we go to drugs, we go to alcohol, we go to cigarettes, we also go to a lot of other addictive things in order to numb the pain and try to gain control over our minds escape the noise, escape all the problems we have, because of our untreated or undiagnosed ADHD, it is extremely common for those of us with ADHD, to find some other addictive thing to quiet the noise. And so treating your ADHD well lessens the risk of having addictions and problems later, or not even later, just now, not having those problems now, because you're taking care of yourself. So I get real angry when people make up nonsense, and keep others from looking into medicine as a suitable treatment option, because they're scaring them away with bullshit information, when actually taking that medication would likely help them from not having that problem. So if you hear anyone saying that, please know that it is not true. Your ADHD medicine is not going to cause you an addiction. It is actually protecting you from that.
Patricia Sung 17:01
Okay. Myth number five, here's this test that's going to tell you what ADHD medication you should take. No, there is no test that's guaranteed to tell you what you need to take. I know I wish we had an answer like that. There are tests out there who will take your money and give you some information. But right now, there's not any test that is well researched, scientifically proven to actually be correct. Maybe there aren't it, maybe we just don't know yet. But right now, they haven't been proven. And so you're putting your money into something that's not guaranteed to help you. So you only have so many dollars to spend in one moment, right? Spending on a test that may or may not give you information that you need to me is not a worthy expenditure of money. You could be using that for so many other things that will treat your ADHD but we want the easy answer. We want someone to say like here, here's your answer, just take this one. And unfortunately, that's not an option right now. I sure as heck hope that they can figure that out one day. And if somebody knows of one that has been well researched and tested, please come let me know. But unfortunately, a lot of times when you read the fine print in anything, not just in this case, if you read the fine print on anything, you'll see people will quote or cite a research or an article and then you go and look at it. And sometimes that information is quoting another article that has no scientific backing. It's like, well, I'm going to quote my cousin Sally, because she said this. And then your cousin says like, Well, I'm just quoting my neighbor over here who told me this and the neighbors like, well, I'm quoting my grandma, they told me that it's like, no, you can't just quote anything and say that it's factual. For something to be scientifically researched, it's like you have to have control groups blinds, you have to have a large number of people that have been through it, like a study of 39 people is not a well researched study, you don't have enough people to make an accurate asportation of what happened. It needs to be 1000s of people who have gone through this with controls and blind like, there's so much that goes into creating a scientific research study that is quality. And right now, unfortunately, there is not a test out there that can definitively tell you and has been proven to be correct and telling you what kind of medicine works for you. Right back to trial and error. I know it stinks. Here's where we are.
Patricia Sung 19:22
Myth number six, you need to take a medication break or a medication vacation. Okay, there are very few reasons, very few people that need a medication break. The very few ways that I've seen that this is actually like something that should be used is one people who are having sleep issues. And in that case, I would be like maybe this isn't the right medicine for you. If it's continually disrupting your sleep, maybe you make a different time. Maybe you need a different formulation. That will be a place where maybe you do need to take a medication break and the other one I've seen that sometimes is medically necessary. Use it for kids who aren't gaining enough weight. Now, again, we have to weigh the pros and cons. I know it is so hard to make decisions for our kids. And I'm actually I pretty much left kids out of this whole medication series, because I want to address that separately. Because that's a different way, as a parent, trying to decide how to make medication decisions for someone else, let alone for ourselves, we have to weigh the difference between a way Oh, wow. But um, we have to weigh the risk. And the benefit for our kids is that lack of growth worth their mental stability. Sometimes it is. And there's other ways to work around it. And I'm not getting in that day because I try to stay on track. So there may be in that way, you might need to take a medication break and get your kid eating some food. But it's not a long term solution. That's something that we need to figure out in the big picture. But overall, it is very rare that you need a medication break. What I always say is that my ADHD doesn't take a vacation. My ADHD doesn't take weekends off. It's here all the time. So why would I take a break from the medicine that helps me function better, if my ADHD is still there and going to have the same implications. It doesn't make any sense. Because ADHD affects all parts of your life. It doesn't just affect school, it doesn't just affect work. It affects everything, your relationships, your finances, your job situation,
Patricia Sung 21:26
school, family, how you eat, the way you take care of your health, how you sleep, like it literally affects everything. And those things don't stop on the weekends, or over the summer, when I was teaching and I would have families like not give their kid their ADHD medication on field trip day. I'm like, Y'all, this is the day the kid needs more support in making better decisions because we're out of our routine. So they don't have the routine and structure there to support them. Because field trip day, and now they don't have their medicine. Like, I know what it is like on the day where I'm like taking medicine and I don't take medicine, it it's not a good day, your body does need some time to adjust. And so if you're constantly in and out and in and out meds, no meds, meds, no, but how does your body adjust and like, know what to do and be on an even keel? You're just making more roller coaster? One reason people say that, like we're gonna build up a tolerance. Listen, is this true for a few people? Sure. But is this a rampant problem? No, no, there are people who have the same medication for years and don't need a bump up, kids might need a bump up because they're growing and their body's changing. And they got new hormones run around. But it's not because they got used to their dosage. It's because their body is changing. It's supposed to change. And then we have to change with the situation, right? If you're worried about the adverse effects outweighing the benefits, then you need to talk to your doctor, have a quality conversation and figure out like, how do you weigh these pros and cons and make the best decision possible. There's no like risk free option, there's no side effect a free option. Like it's not without some effort. Like even if it's something as simple as like, Well, I gotta remember to take it, I gotta remember to refill it like there's still going to be effort involved, is that worth the benefit that you're getting?
Patricia Sung 23:10
Now, usually, I hear this in terms of stimulant medications with the medication break. But just as a side note, like if you're on a non stimulant, it is even more important that you don't take a break, because then non stimulants build up in your system over time. If you're taking breaks like one, it doesn't make any sense because you have to keep it like it stays in your system for weeks. That's why you build it up. So taking a break one day is not going to take it out of your system. And then two, you need to keep taking the medicine to keep the level up or else you don't get the benefit. It's not giving you the full benefit if you're not taking it every day and keeping that level at like the optimal place where it needs to be. Generally speaking, when I hear people saying you need to take a break. Again, it's rooted in some kind of fear or shame. But my ADHD doesn't take a vacation or a weekend break. Like I want to be a patient mom every day, I want to be a safer driver every day, I want to remember to pay my bills and pick up my kids, especially when you've got like teenagers, they already make terrible decisions. On the weekends, they still need to be helped. They need that support to make good decisions. And if medicine is part of that support system, then they need to be making their quality decisions every day. They need all their brainpower, all of that pause that you can give them in their impulsivity, they need it all. They need all of the support to continue. They need their body to be as regular as possible because we all know that teenage bodies are everything but regular felt the hormones and the changes right? Taking your stimulant medication every day allows your body to know what to do and it creates that environment to learn better to implement the skills better. And creating a roller coaster doesn't help in that situation.
Patricia Sung 24:48
Myth number seven, ADHD medication is only for school or work problems. So I should only be taking medication if I'm struggling in school. What am I Kids should only be taking medication if they're struggling in school, our ADHD affects every part of our lives, our relationships, our finances, our social interaction, our emotions. So just because you or your child is doing well in school doesn't mean that they don't need support for their ADHD, it's going to show up everywhere else too. And I see a lot of people say like, well, but you know, I did okay in school, or I'm doing alright at work. So I don't really need the medicine, don't discount yourself, you are valuable, and you're worthy to have support, no matter where your problems are showing up. There's no qualification that says these problems are more important to be taken care of than these other problems. So if you're deciding to take ADHD medication, it should be for all of you, not just part of you. So you don't have to have a certain problem like a certain school problem, in order to validate that you want to try medicine.
Patricia Sung 25:55
Myth number eight, I don't need medicine, I'm just going to drink my coffee and it'll be fine. My my, if you're drinking multiple cups of coffee every day, to keep it together, you're self medicating. If you're drinking several glasses of wine in the end of the night to wind down, you're self medicating. Now, there's nothing wrong with coffee or wine in and of themselves. If you're using it to sub in for medication, and you're self medicating with that. My question would be what's holding you back from trying an actual medication? What fears? What questions do you have that are keeping you from digging in to what will truly help you take care of yourself? It drives me bananas. When I see in these different Facebook groups. Parents were like, well, I don't want to give my kid medicine. So I just give them some coffee before school. I'm like, oh, man, coffee is a stimulant. Ritalin is a stimulant, like, instead of having a treatment plan, where you like, know what you're doing, and you fine tuned a plan to do what's best for you or your kid. You're just over here, spitballing and duct taping some stuff together, hoping for the best. Just because coffee is common doesn't mean it's not self medicating. But coffee is very hard to quote unquote DOS, like sometimes you have weak coffee. Sometimes you have strong coffee, sometimes it helps a lot. Sometimes it helps a little like, don't get me wrong, I pretty much lived on mocha frappuccinos and college. That's how I got through study. So I've already done the copy thing. I can look back and be like, I mean, it worked at the time. But there was a much better solution out there if you can take medicine instead of this unpredictable bandaid. Because when I'm taking my ADHD medicine, I know I take it at this time. Here's the timer, I'm going to feel well. Here's the part where it's wearing off. Here's my plan, like I know what works and the coffee is unpredictable. Also, there's a pretty good chance you're spending more on coffee than you could be spending on your medication. It's not necessarily the cheaper option.
Patricia Sung 28:01
Hey, Mama, have you been over to my website and grabbed any of the free ADHD resources I've got, you can make your mornings more peaceful. Overcome time blindness hurdles, learn ways to treat your ADHD beyond the obvious medication options, or grab a copy of all of my favorite ADHD resources on one page, you can snag these all on my website at Patricia sung.com forward slash resources. And I'll email you the PDF or the video. Now don't go putting in your spammy junk email, okay, I'm not going to send you junk. I email you once, maybe twice a week, for sure. I'll send you a note about this week's podcast topic. And if I'm having a particularly organized week, I might email you again about what's working for me ADHD this week, or venting about whatever executive function disaster happened. Your inbox is where I spill more of the beans. And if you change your mind, you can always unsubscribe, right? Plus, I really love hearing back from you. So write me an email back, tell me what's going on in your life or what you want to learn about next. So go grab those free goodies, and I'll see you in your inbox.
Patricia Sung 29:04
But using coffee for self medication leads into myth number nine supplements are a safer option a healthier option than ADHD medication. That's not necessarily true. Stimulant medications have been around for at least seven years. They are the most tested drug category. They have been tested more than any other medicine that you're taking right now. They've been tested more than little things like Advil and Tylenol. And they've also been tested more than serious medicines like chemo, they are very well tested. So now if you're a person who's like well, I just don't take medicines at all fine like this is not for you. This is for the people who are like I'm not going to take similar medication because I don't feel like it's safe but I'm cool with taking Tylenol for my headache or I'm cool with my antibiotics like if you're okay with all those other things that have been less tested than your semblance. Why would you not be okay but trying the stimulants I so often hear if you're like, Well, I'm just gonna take a supplement because it's safer or healthier or whatever, fill in the blank thing.
Patricia Sung 29:04
Now hear me out, let's be real clear here, I am not against supplements, I take a lot of them, we need to have the filter that if we're putting things in our body that we look at the safety of them in the same way, just because it's a supplement doesn't mean it's safer than taking a prescribed medicine, it doesn't mean it's healthier than taking a prescribed medicine, the supplement industry is not regulated, it means that there's not nearly the amount of testing and checks that go on. So you have to make sure that you pick a reputable company, do your research before you choose to take something, I have far more faith in my prescribed medicine, because I know how much testing you went through than this random bottle of herbs that nobody checked. Like, flat out, that's what we're doing here. And yet somehow people feel like because it's a supplement, it's healthier, or safer, or more natural or fill in the blank, what other adjective. And that's not necessarily true. Like I can walk out into the forest, eat a mushroom and kill myself with this natural thing that just grew. So just because it's quote unquote, natural or organic, or free range, or whatever their label they're putting on it non GMO, whatever, like that doesn't automatically make it okay for you to put in your body. So I want you to think about those questions that you're asking yourself, are you truly looking at the facts digging into the data. Also, medicines were created from something in the earth to like, the ingredients just didn't magically appear out of thin air, they went and got them from somewhere. Granted, I understand once the person accumulates the raw ingredients, and they do whatever they do to it, to modify it to make it into the medicine or the supplement of all pill that the you're eating. Like, yes, there is a wide amount of change that happens in the process, but like they all came from the earth originally. So we're gonna get off my soapbox.
Patricia Sung 29:04
Now, generally speaking, there are certain vitamins that people with ADHD tend to be deficient in, we tend to be low in zinc, we tend to be low in magnesium, but not all of us are. And I want you to think about when you're adding in supplements, does your body truly need that thing, adding in things that you don't need can be equally detrimental, even though it was like a supplement, like having too much iron is not good for you. So if you don't need iron, you shouldn't be taking iron, your body has a fine balance to it. And adding in too much of something can be just as terrible as not having enough of something. So for me, I'll tell you which supplements I take. But know that I also went through some bloodwork to know what I was deficient in before I added these in, I understand that that's a privilege and the luxury that I have. If you do regular checkups, check with your doctor and ask them if you can do a little bit more bloodwork to see if you're low in anything that would help you because we generally do need some extra zinc, some extra magnesium, but like you don't just go around taking any old magnesium, some of them are going to help your magnesium levels. But also, there's some formulations that while yes, you're improving your magnesium levels, like magnesium is also used to make you put more. So if you're not taking the right one, you're going to have some food problems, okay, so we can't just grab anything off the shelf in the health store and throw it in our bodies. This is especially true when it comes to kids. And like the amount of vitamins that they're taking. Truly, truly, truly please talk to your doctor and make sure that these are things that you or your child actually need before you take them. So they're things like zinc, magnesium, fish oils, and your like fatty acids as a whole. The best way to get fatty acids and visuals in is to actually eat fish, your body absorbs it better that way. That's why we know when people talk about changing your diet, your your diet is not going to cure your ADHD. But it will make a big difference if you're eating those foods to put those nutrients in your body than to just be taking a lot of supplements. I know it's a lot easier to get a kid to take a vitamin than maybe eat some spinach. But again, this is where we have to figure out like the risk reward like what makes the most sense in the big picture.
Patricia Sung 34:16
So if you're gonna look into supplements, you would be things like fish oils and fatty acids, zinc, magnesium, the B vitamins, just as like anecdotal information or red tie and grapeseed oil, or I'm sorry, grapeseed extract. I didn't really notice any difference with that. I had somewhere anyway, so it wasn't like buying anything new. I also tried CBD oil that really helps my arthritis but it did not do anything for me. He truly there are 1000 different supplements out there. And some people find that something really works for them, but you are your own person. And the best way to figure out what supplements you need is to actually check your body and figure that out and then go from there. If you see the advertisements for like, this is the natural adderal. And on the step like, do those things help some people, sure. But if anybody's trying to convince you that they have the better solution of something that you can already get, immediately, my ears are like, Oh, really figure out what makes sense for you use the same filter for considering which medications should go into your body as which supplements should go in your body. And make sure that you've done your research and found reputable brands, so that you're not just wasting your money, when you could be spending that money on something that you know, will help you. And I'm not saying that that has to be medicine, I'm saying that could be working with an ADHD coach or seeing a therapist like all those things cost money to most put our money where we know, we're going to make a difference than just throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks. And this is because the research tells us that we don't have a lot of data to blanket statement that people with ADHD would do better with certain supplements, we don't have a lot to go on. And we need a lot more research in this area. Before we can 100% say this thing works.
Patricia Sung 36:12
And finally, myth number 10. By choosing to take medicine, you have to take it forever, this is not true, you can change your mind at any time. You may need different things in different seasons. And that's okay. But whatever you're deciding is the best choice for you right now, it doesn't mean that that was the best choice for you a year ago or five years ago, or when you were a kid, or that it will be the best choice for you in six months, or 10 years from now make the decision now for what makes sense for you. Now, if that medicine doesn't work, you work with your doctor and figure out how to step that back or wean off or just stop taking it like whatever makes sense for that particular medicine and your situation and you try something different. But starting medicine now doesn't mean you're going to be dependent on it forever. And if you are dependent on it forever, that's okay, too. Like, I'm dependent on my contacts to see, I'm always going to need some sort of contacts or glasses for the rest of my life to see I'm dependent on those. That doesn't mean I'm addicted to it. That doesn't mean that I can't change my mind and be like, Okay, well cool. I'm just gonna like squint from now on like I can, I don't want to, but no decision that you make in your treatment has to be permanent forever. You don't get to change your mind later, when we're wrestling about whether or not we should take medicine. Let's keep in mind that nothing we do is without risk walking out our front door has risk staying in your house has a risk. What you're weighing is your possible benefits and certain benefits against the possible risks and certain risks. And we need to give heavier weight to things that are certain we have the tendency to like what if ourselves down a whole rabbit hole things that may or may not come true, and maybe a very slim possibility.
Patricia Sung 37:55
But let's look at like, what do I need to deal with now? Sure, there's a slim chance that I might have a liver problem in 30 years. But what problems do I have right now? Are you losing your ever lovin mind on your kids right now? Every night at bedtime? Do you have six speeding tickets? Are you using something else to mute the chaos like alcohol or gaming or gambling to chill out every day? Are you late on paying your bills? Is your marriage strained? Are you picking out your nails till they bleed? Are you drowning in anxiety and depression, you have a lot of very real problems right now. So I want to offer you the option that making your life better in those ways now weighs so much more than what might happen one day. And not to say that you don't want to have a plan for that or be aware that those things could happen. But knowing that what's best for you in this moment with the situation that you're dealing with now is far more valuable than what might happen one day. So as you wrestle with what is best for you, I want you to remember that you know the answer best, not what your cousins, neighbors friends, Grandma told you what so and so heard through the grapevine, what op ed piece you read on the Internet, what you even heard from my mouth today, you know the what is best for you. And while you've spent probably a good portion of your life, doubting your own decisions and your own perceptions of the world, your gut deep down knows when you need help and knows what's best for you. So listen to that little voice inside and know that with research and digging in and finding help reliable, knowledgeable people to help you that you can find the option that's best for you. And yes, it might take a few flip flops and trials and switches and tweaks to figure out how it all comes together. Pulling that treatment together into one bundle. That bundle is what's going to get you forward and any one singular thing that you do. It's all the pieces that add up. So if you make a mistake and It doesn't turn out as well as you hope it's okay. You have data to make a better decision next time or a different decision next time. So I hope successful mama that this episode gives you some things to chew on some information to go look for and lessens your anxiety about all the things that are the what ifs, and look at what you truly want in this moment to be the best treatment plan for you. Right now. We'll talk soon successful.
Patricia Sung 40:26
Hey there, Mama. I've got something fun for you. Who doesn't love a quiz? I want to know which mama animal are you because you're not your average Mama Bear. You have a magical ADHD brain that puts a sprinkle of brilliance on everything you do. Sure, you may have forgotten that laundry in the washer for the third time. But what are your strengths? What makes your ADHD parenting style unique to you? How do you use that sparkle to bless your family? So which mama animal are you? Find out by taking the quiz? What's your ADHD mama parenting style because you're not your average Mama Bear? Head on over to patriciasung.com/quiz and find out and then when you do I want you to post your results on social media so we can see that your hashtag, not your average Mama Bear along with the hashtag. I'm a mama and I'm feeling the animal that you get. Again, that's patriciasung.com/quiz. And I can't wait to see what you get. So tag me at motherhood in ADHD.
Patricia Sung 41:30
For more resources, classes and community head over to my website motherhoodinadhd.com