I’ve mentioned previously that I now use herbs for my ADHD. This was for a number of reasons, and I’m very happy to report that things are going well with it. I would also like to remind you that I am in NO WAY bashing ADHD medication. It wasn’t what I needed, but it doesn’t mean it’s not what others need. Also, here’s the obligatory mention that this is not to be used as medical advice; see a real herbalist and your regular medical professional (not some a-hole on the internet) before changing anything about your medical care.
Of course, you can watch me talk about it here, or listen to it below or on your favorite podcast platform if you so choose.
So now, let’s get into it!
Lion’s Mane – 5/10
Technically a mushroom, Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus) is still pretty widely suggested for ADHD care in herbalist circles.
I first found out about it through the company Four Sigmatic (who I’m not in any way affiliated with), a group that specializes in mushroom-based coffee. At the time, I was starting to get sort of sick of the cost of my meds, and I’d also been working with some herbal answers to my chronic fatigue with minor success, so the company’s ad was practically a mind read.
I found Four Sigmatic’s “Think” blend, which boasted some coffee, chaga mushrooms, and good ol’ Lion’s Mane.
I did a bit of searching around on Lion’s Mane, and found that official research on the mushroom’s effects on ADHD is spotty and mostly anecdotal. That said, a study in Malaysia did suggest that it might also promote neurogenesis, which is a fancy way of saying that it can rebuild brain cells, making it something of trophorestorative, or herb that nourishes as well as aids a particular area of the body.
Also, I had a coupon code so I mean…YOLO and all that, right?
Results
I was actually very impressed at first with my results with Lion’s Mane. My first day drinking the coffee, I did feel more focused. In fact, it seemed to help me feel a little less tired in the middle of the day, too, so I was all about it. I bought, like, four more bags and tried to drink it every morning.
But then, a few things started to occur to me.
For one, I wasn’t entirely sure that this stuff wasn’t giving me the extra focus because of the coffee. Granted, coffee didn’t usually make me feel more focused or awake, so I’m sure the Lion’s Mane helped, but I wasn’t sure how much.
For another, during certain points in my cycle, I didn’t feel anymore focused or motivated than I did while taking my meds or drinking water, or taking a nap, so it wasn’t particularly strong for me.
And lastly, it turns out that my body is one of those who apparently doesn’t really like mushrooms, so after a while, all this coffee did was give me gut cramps and explosive diarrhea, so I wouldn’t really say that it’s an option for me anymore.
I still have a full bag of it, too. I’m waiting until I can randomly gift it at a birthday.
Mucuna Pruriens 2/10
Mucuna, also called Velvet Bean, isn’t an herb you’re going to hear of quite as much as the others on here, and that’s kinda for good reason. The reason being that it’s really strong, with specific usage, for specific people.
Usually, you’ll have this suggested by a clinical herbalist, but I’ve also found out that some people use it as a pre-workout, which makes me want to bleed out of my eyeballs.
Lemme back up here and explain with a little bit about how dopamine works in the brain. Basically, there’s a chain of two different amino acids that are considered precursors to dopamine: L-tyrosine and L-dopa. L-tyrosine can be pulled from a lot of high-protein foods (Niki Carr does an amazing explanation of this when we talk), and it’s also available as a supplement; it’s pretty mild stuff for the most part.
L-dopa, being the direct precursor to dopamine, is much stronger, and isn’t anything to play with. To give you an idea, there’s a medication called Levadopa that’s regularly used for Parkinson’s patients because the ensuing dopamine can help the brain to send messages to the nerves to stop shaking.
If you don’t have a dopamine issue, or even if you do but you’re taking the stuff for anything other that Parkinson’s, you also shouldn’t take this stuff for longer than six weeks at a time unless you want your dopamine receptors to possibly down-regulate and rely on the stuff.
And you wanna take that to help you work out better?!
Anyway.
Mucuna contains a fair amount of L-DOPA, and can be bought pretty easily as a powder that you stir into your drinks. I was pretty all-in on the herbal ADHD treatment by this time, and I was also dealing with anhedonia, which is an inability to feel joy. A clinical herbalist suggested this for me, and after some very careful reading, I decided to get it and try it.
Results
So something you have to understand about most herbs: if you’re using them for general use, for example, wanting a nice little cup of chamomile tea before bed, you need much less than if you’re using the herb for clinical purposes. So, while most people generally take about 200-500 mg of mucuna, I was told to take about 1 GRAM a day.
I felt nothing for a few days, which is pretty common when working with herbs, and then I had exactly one day of pitch-perfect energy and overall elevated mood before I was hit with a nasty migraine.
Because I wanted so badly for this to work, I took the stuff again the next day and wound up in bed with a nasty headache again.
That’s when I did a little rooting around and found that headaches are a side effect when you take too much. Which wouldn’t have been a huge deal had I not found that if I took anything more than the 200 mg dose, I would have either a headache or sleep issues, like some sort of horrible Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novel. If I took the regular 200 mg dose, there was almost no effect. I had to stop taking it.
On the bright side, I was able to regain my ability for joy simply by eating a high-protein diet and just not being on the meds for a while, so I had that going for me.
Ginseng – 9/10
A lot of people have heard of ginseng, so I won’t spend too much time on it. I will say that I found ginseng by accident.
By the time I stumbled on it, I was still mostly using Lion’s Mane and testing a number of other things to see if I could find something, anything, that helped my energy as much as my focus. I don’t have good energy, have never really had good energy, and so it was a major struggle to figure out what out there would help keep me steady. Sure, I’d been eating that high-protein diet, drinking water, and so forth. But another problem was messing with my energy-levels.
Specifically, I’d started learning more about my Premenstrual Dysmorphic Disorder, something that affects an estimated 46% of people with ADHD. I was diagnosed with it in 2017, but had never really paid attention to what it meant.
This isn’t a post about PMDD (though I think there’ll be one soonish), but I will explain for those who don’t have it: It’s like PMS on super-mega steroids. Many people can complain about a number of things regarding PMDD, but the thing that affects me most is the pure unpredictability of it. Essentially any time I go through a hormonal shift, my body and brain revolt, which means I can be unfocused, exhausted, and moody anywhere from 11 to 15 days, on and off, within a month. It’s a chronic illness that many don’t know a damn thing about, including those who have it.
I was sick of it.
So, as I was walking through the stalls of a market in a nearby city, I stopped at a pharmacy and asked them if they had anything for hormonal issues. The woman behind the counter immediately passed me a bottle of pills that mixed Maca Negra and Panax ginseng (also known as Korean ginseng), plus a number of B vitamins, Zinc, and Magnesium.
I started taking them the next day.
Results
This blend has been my main help for almost a year now. I’ve been super impressed with it.
The studies regarding ginseng’s effects on ADHD are still incredibly new, but promising, and I most definitely have noticed improved focus when I take it vs. when I don’t. Of course, the Zinc and Magnesium, minerals that ADHD brains are often found to be lacking, probably doesn’t hurt, but seeing how I’ve been eating things that are rich in both, along with taking a Magnesium pill every day, I’m inclined to believe that the ginseng is making a difference there.
I also have much better energy when I take it, with the added benefit of the Maca negra helping my hormonal issues quite a bit (the studies on this aren’t horribly plentiful either, so take this as the anecdotal evidence that it is).
I only take this for about three months at a time because I have found advice in some places saying to do so, though no one ever really says why exactly. It could be because ginseng is an endocrine trophorestorative and you don’t want to overdo it? Or it could also be that you just don’t want your system to become too used to any one thing. I dunno. All I do know is that during the month I don’t take it, my focus and energy are definitely much lower.
Nettle Leaf – 10/10
So one of the teachers at the school where I’m learning herbalism, Commonwealth Holistic Herbalism, swears constantly by Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) . She doesn’t even drink coffee anymore, and instead drinks something called “Not-Coffee,” which is made with a number of herbs, nettle being a great one of them.
When she first brought it up during a lecture, I wasn’t terribly impressed with it. So it’s full of nutrients. So it’s often used for anemia, urinary issues, and fatigue. So what? So are vegetables. What’s your point?
Actually, that last thing intrigued me. Especially since I’d never really tested my blood nutrient levels, at least I hadn’t since the last time someone insisted I might be anemic (I wasn’t) or that my vitamin D levels were low (they weren’t).
On a curious whim, I decided to get some nettle, and to make it as a cold infusion, which is considered one of the better ways to consume it.
Consider my mind blown.
Results
I’ve only been drinking this infusion three times a day for about a week, and I can’t begin to tell you how incredibly different I feel. My energy is steadier. Even without ginseng, I am able to focus much better than I would be with nothing. I feel…healthy. All from this little drink the color of swamp water that tastes like a grassy green tea.
There have been other amazing effects that I really only have anecdotal evidence of, like not even feeling interested in caffeine or coffee most days, or a much simpler period this cycle (though everything I’ve found has said that nettle root aids in hormonal support, not nettle leaf).
But I need so much less to be able to focus, to stay awake, and to stay on task. Obviously, nettle isn’t enough to carry all of this on its own, but it’s been doing a lot of heavy lifting, and a good balance has an amazing effect on ADHD symptoms.
Highly recommend.
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