ADD and eating disorders | ADHD Information

I had an ED, I think it was a combination of anorexia and bulimia, from the age of 18 to age 22.  It was 5 long years of confusion.  I recovered when I got pregnant at 22 and it just might have saved my life.  During the pregnancy I was able to focus on eating regularly and eating very healthy..for my baby.

When I was diagnosed 18 years later with ADHD, I told the psych. about the ED I had years earlier.She told me that it's more common for AD(H)Ders to suffer or to  have suffered from an ED than those without ADHD.

Wow, I would tend to agree with some of you that suspect there is a link between e.d. and adhd.  Now why would I think this?  Because the first time I did an illegal stimulant in my life, I felt so free and leveled-out.  Surely, counseling and medications but I really believe that stimulant adhd meds, atleast in my case, have improved my e.d., making it a lot more manageable.  I seem to set a lot of precedents, at least with my daily interactions, but I am male with adhd and an e.d. and feel like I'm in the best shape of my life!  I now feel as if my body is beautiful and dilligiently exercise daily and with gladness.  Somehow, in some way, the adhd med I'm taking seems to regulate that e.d. mechanism as well as the frontal lobe area.  It seems to work in that same idealogy of the "opposite affect".  Or is it all in the same area?  Not a scientist or doctor so I'm unsure.  The thing I am super sure of is the link.  What do you all think?

who out there knows of or perhaps is an attorney to assist adhd guy with compelling hmos and hospitals in chicago to recognize and use the services of spe cialists in environmemtal medicine?I typed up some info on this wed pm for perusal of belladonna.i ran out of space,had to redo it &lost patience.have books,and some personal experience which tells me they can help,but i get polite bs from my docs.good luck folks tk

Why do you want belladonna?  It's related to deadly nightshade and is toxic even in smaller doses!

It's been known to cause convulsions, stops perspiration, causes severe cramps and many other things.  It's a poison - and they cannot regulate the amount of active ingredient so you could get nothing one day and die the next.

If you're thinking of belladonna for ADHD I would say don't.  There's no proof it does anything but kill.  The only one study that has some minor payback is irritable bowel syndrome but even then it was a small study and there was many bad side effects.

"environmental" medicine is mere quakery in many cases.  Find someone who knows your illness in the regular channels is my strong recommendation.

When will people look up herbs and take a real careful thought?!?

to glenn in canada;belladonna is the handle of a 37 yr old who is in distress & needs your,our help,quakery is properly spelled quackery, and clinical ecologists techniques on a lot of patients.see ya
works belongs abovei technically don't have an ED but have trouble eating proper meals because i
can't decide what to eat. so bits and pieces and i don't know when to stop.
i'm also a big fidgeter, so i think it's also the ACTION in eating....If you look at the neurobiological factors related to eating, eating disorders, and AD/HD, it would make sense if they were somewhat related.I think that binge eating is a part of ADD and ADHD. I had that problem myself  and so does my daughter and we are both ADD and currently on Adderall. I think I binge ate because I could not focus and I stayed so confused - like where to start on cleaning the kitchen or doing laundry.  My eating was also an impulse control problem.  I ate because that was a mindless thing to do in my case, sometimes I didn't even realize what all I had eaten that day. Also food serves as a comfort for some people and with my ADD I always felt different and not worthy because I realized I was not functioning like everyone around me. I have been on adderall for about a year.  My eating is under control and I can focus and concentrate. I wake up in the mornings with a plan for the day which I am usually able to follow, before being diagnosed I was not able to do that.  I don't know if anyone else has or had this problem but I know I sure did.  I agree and it the concentration only gets worse with the more junk food we consume so its a cycle.  I have 4 different sizes in my closet and my weight goes up and down so much and so fast that people notice it.  I was in tears the other night because a pair of pants I bought only 2 weeks ago are now too tight on me.  Isnt that crazy.  My father put me down a lot and called me a waste of space my whole life he though (and had me beliving) that I was very very stupid.  I still need reasuring somtimes.   I just got the highest test in my math class (ged) so i feel good right now. I am interested in everyones oppinion.  Does anyone here think that a binge eating disorder or any eating dissorder is associated in any way with having ADD.  I feel like my impulse control problem contributes a lot to my ED.  I have known a few women with ADD or ADHD that have the exact same problem.  Thanks guys

Binge eating (a form of bullemia) is a specific disorder.  It isn't to my knowledge a comorbid or associated with ADHD.  However, if you had both it would be a harder thing to keep control of anything as was said due to the lack of urge control.  That's a nightmare situation.

Bullemia, anorexia, etc. are successfully controlled now with a run of antidepressants and heavy therapy sessions.  I would imagine that they would shy away from using the amphetamines due to the inhibition of the hunger reflex.  I would hope a decent therapist would know better however.

Eating disorders are complicated.  Nobody is sure how much is nature and how much nurture but by looking at families with eating disorders they've determined that it's partly genetic with an additional factor of social training.  In other words the gene will determine if you actually can get it - and the social part is the trigger and control mechanism.

If anyone here does have an eating disorder for goodness' sake GET HELP!! It's genuinely life and death and extraordinarily hard to self-maintain without the help of someone trained and perferably medication as well to help ease the compulsion issue.

Best wishes and know my concern is with you all.

There's a great new book out called "Pieces of a Puzzle: The Link between Eating Disorders and ADD.EDs are commonly associated with OCD type behavior, control issues, and/or a skewed self-perception.

I don't believe that ADD would cause anorexia or bulemia, although the general mental health of a person could make the possibility more common.

I had ADD, and I also suffered from anorexia as a teenager.  I don't equate the two though, and I still have ED issues although I can control them now.  My ADD treatment has not had an effect on my ED as far as I can tell.

Minor binge eating doesn't equate an ED, and really it can simply be a behavior.  A lack of control with eating can be various things, including neurolgical problems with your brain knowing how to regulate your eating habits.  Binge eating as an ED is a serious thing, including overstuffing oneself...it is beyond just eating.

Also, it is a common thing these days for people to eat when bored or upset.  ADDers are often bored (and upset if depressed), and from my experience, have a tendency to love high sugar foods.  And those foods make a person hungry again due to the way our body processes it.

That's just my opinion.  But I don't see "binge eating" itself as being an ED, more of a behavior (as mentioned). 

EDs are very much a compulsion more than an impulse.