Herbs and My ADHD
To begin, some history.
I have struggled with ADHD my entire life. When I was younger, it seemed to the adults in my life that I was just forgetful, restless, and always on some kind of sugar high. I couldn’t sit still in class, I lost focus very easily, I left coats at school because I forgot I had set them down somewhere, and I had to enjoy what I was doing in order to be able to do it. I would get wrapped up in “unimportant” things for hours and never get around to the important stuff. Once I reached college, I struggled immensely. I called myself lazy because I just couldn’t get past the blocks in my productivity that I couldn’t understand. I thought I was broken when I realized that not everyone struggled with these blocks. I couldn’t pay attention in classes, but I could listen to documentaries for hours on the history of the world. I felt like I was always struggling to keep up with cleaning, remembering appointments and due dates, and just functioning as a new adult. I would write notes for myself that were soon forgotten as they became a part of the normal environment and easily overlooked. If I had something I knew had to be done, it became impossible to start.
As a child, when kids I knew were diagnosed with Attention Deficit, there were usually two things I noticed. Either some adult would say something along the lines of ADD/ADHD not being a real issue and just something said about unruly kids, or that child would show up to school one day having become a “zombie” overnight, presumably being given some drug to “treat” the condition. This meant that I was 28 before I realized that what I thought made me stupid, broken, and lazy was really an undiagnosed mental disorder.
As I write this my legs are bouncing, I’ve stopped to look up something that popped into my head, and I’ve gotten up to do the dishes because I just remembered I wanted to get that done. It may not sound like much, but nothing I do is straightforward. I bounce around from unfinished project to unfinished chore constantly forgetting what I was doing and having to bring myself back. I laughed when I lost my wallet, then found it on a shelf in the fridge, but its frustrating when I lose things every time I turn around. There are boxes still to be unpacked from when we moved in 5 years ago that I keep saying I need to unpack, but every time I have a chance it just seems like an insurmountable task and I can’t seem to explain to my husband why I can’t do it.
That’s not to say it’s all bad. I do have some strengths that I think are attributed to ADHD. I’m really adaptable and I like change, new environments don’t bother me and I learn really quickly when I’m interested in a topic. I am really creative and good at problem solving, coming up with new ideas, and making stuff with my hands. I like to cook, garden, craft, sew, and read, and I get hyper-focused on all of these things really easily. Focusing on these strengths has helped me overcome the feeling of being broken. I’m just wired differently and that’s OK. Instead of trying to live like and take advice from people who don’t think like me, I’ve started working with my brain and the way I process.
That being said, there are somethings that I’d like help with, and for this I turn to Herbs. I’ve been reading about and studying the effects of Herbs on an ADD/ADHD brain and I’ve compiled a list of plants that I know and use already that appear to be beneficial to others. As an Herbalist, I know that herbs can have different reactions in different people and that no one plant will work for everyone. I decided that the only way to know what works for me is to test them in the most scientific way I can manage.
The Experiment
**All information below is intended for educational purposes only. Nothing here should be taken as medical advice.
Please do your own research and speak to a qualified professional before taking herbs.**
Each Herb that I plan to try has some type of benefit to an individual with ADD/ADHD and acts on different aspects of the condition. So there isn’t a clear way to test their benefits against each other. Instead, my goal is to test each one on myself and see what effects it has, record them, and at the end of the experiment be able to put together a blend of plants specific to me, as well as make my experience and thoughts available to others. I will continue to update here as I go.
The Herbs: There is a long list of plants that have nervine, sedative, or nootropic effects that could also be beneficial, but I wanted to start with plants that can all be ingested in the same way, (these are water soluble) and I didn’t want an overwhelming list.
Rosemary- Rosmarinus Officinalis
Lavender- Lavendula Angustifolia
Lemon Balm- Melissa Officinalis
Gotu Kola- Centella Asiatica
Bacopa- Bacopa Monnieri
The Method:
I will spend 1 week drinking only water, occasionally with lemon, to sort of “clear out” my system. No other herb will be consumed, no coffee, no tea, no alcohol. During this week I will record my behaviors and thoughts on my productivity.
On day 8, I will begin drinking only water and an infusion of the first herb, Rosemary. Each herb will be prepared the same, Boiled water poured over appx 2 tbsp of plant matter and left to steep for ten minutes.
I will drink each infusion (2 cups) every day for 7 days and continue to record my behaviors and thoughts on any effects noticed daily.
This will continue until I am finished with all Herbs.
What I’m looking for:
I want to see how each plant will affect my behaviors, attentiveness, impulsivity, memory recall, and hyperactivity. These are the things I’ll be recording daily. No plant will hit every concern, so what I’m doing is recording what effects they do have so that by the end, I can hopefully pull a few together to create a tea blend that helps with most of these things. I have used caffeine in the past for this and while it seems to help my attention span, it makes the hyperactivity and insomnia way worse.
Week 1- No Herbs
This week was definitely a struggle. I had a very hard time getting anything done in the morning. I had very few focused sessions and a lot of interruptions. I noticed that with caffeine I’m able to at least get some things done in the morning, and occasionally even hyper focus on whatever my first task was for the day. I “lost” things a lot this week. My phone, keys, wallet etc. never seem to be where I put them. Overall I’d rate this week:
attentiveness- 2/10
Low focus, can’t concentrate, can’t seem to even begin tasks.
impulsivity- 5/10
Pretty normal levels. Spontaneous plans, last minute decisions, random episodes of elaborate cooking.
memory recall- 2/10
It seems like I lost everything at least once. A lot of walking into a room and forgetting why I was there.
hyperactivity- 5/10
Normal levels for me. This looks like a lot of talking, leg bouncing, fidgeting, and the desire to just walk anywhere just to be moving.
Week 2- Rosemary
This week was better. I discovered I really enjoy Rosemary tea! Each morning cup was wonderfully soothing and I think I already know I want to drink this more frequently. It seemed to calm me in a way that wasn’t sleepy, but also wasn’t the “focusing” effect that caffeine has on me. I got a lot more done in the mornings, I was easily able to focus, although I still struggled in the afternoons with or without another cup of tea. The most dramatic thing I noticed was in memory recall. I had a few instances of beginning to look for something only to immediately remember where I put it. I didn’t have any noticeable “what was I doing?” moments either. Overall I’d rate this week:
attentiveness- 5/10
Normal levels. I was able to stay engaged in online classes (for most of 2 hours), accomplish my tasks, and do chores.
impulsivity- 5/10
Pretty normal levels. Spontaneous plans, last minute decisions, random episodes of elaborate cooking.
memory recall- 7/10
This is what it’s like to remember things? I’m very happy with this very noticeable improvement.
hyperactivity- 5/10
Normal levels for me. This looks like a lot of talking, leg bouncing, fidgeting, and the desire to just walk anywhere just to be moving.
Week 3- Lavender
Ohhh boy. Why did I think I could drink Lavender in the morning? The sleepiness I feel normally on waking up, just never lifted. I suppose it’s what I get for trying a notorious sleeping herb for breakfast, but I needed to test it’s effects on the rest of my day! I love lavender and I love the calm it gives. Although mornings were rough, I found that my hyperactivity and impulsivity were most affected this round. Less chattering, slower decision making, and more forethought. I even used the calm to update my goals and future plans. Most of all, I slept great! Overall I’d rate this week:
attentiveness- 4/10
Just below normal levels. It’s hard to do anything when you are sleepy but I think I did alright. I got a lot done and was able to focus on most tasks.
impulsivity- 7/10
This scale may be a bit confusing. It seems like a 7 should mean that I was really impulsive but I’m going with a ten meaning that I had complete control and a one meaning that I had none. I found decisions and planning to be very easy this week. I even (spontaneously) meal prepped. I call it a win since it’s looking to the future.
memory recall- 5/10
Back to normal levels this week. Setting things down right where I am, walking away, and forgetting where they went.
hyperactivity- 6/10
Again a ten here means that I had control, and this week I did have a bit more than usual. I felt less antsy, but not drastically so.
