Eliminating gluten from my diet cured my (formally diagnosed) inattentive ADD. Cured it. Took about a day and a half. Beats Adderall.

Eliminating sugar and other starches (which I did later) gave me a somewhat improved sense of mental clarity, but gluten was the clear offender and the effects of its removal were dramatic.

I have adult ADD and require high doses of Adderall on study/research days, which is most of them. When I started paleo about 4 months ago, I stopped taking Adderall to see if I could get by without it. Unfortunately, this resulted in 3 months of low to no progress toward my projects. There were other benefits, like not getting sick easily, and feeling and looking stronger and more healthy. But there were no discernable ADD-related benefits -- and I was very primed to detect or, I feared, project them.

That might not be the end of the story, however. There are typically 1 to 3 topics that I can study with hyperfocus. It is usually just one, though, and the paleo diet has been the only one during the past 3 months. Perhaps, then, I might be able to work without Adderall once my research excites me enough to study in a hyper-focused state (this co-occurrence tends to come and go). We'll see, but I'm not optimistic.

If others with ADD have had similar experiences, and especially if they've found dietary solutions to the problem, I'd love to hear about it. Same if anyone knows about how amphetamine salts affect or interact with nutrition or exercise. I don't know anything about it, but my intuition tells me that it has negative effects. One supporting observation is that Adderall causes an area of my left wrist to get red and dry, which I think is a sign of inflammation.

I was on strattera and hated the way it made me feel. I was never formally diagnosed, but had all of the symptoms of adult ADD. My gp doc prescribed it for me as my insurance deductible was high and the testing was less than my deductible. My symptoms are almost completely gone, so I stopped taking it. For those who are genuinely ADD, it may effect how the meds work. I am a believer that most ADD cases are other misdiagnosed mental or physiological problems. My son was diagnosed ADD and bipolar, but the ADD meds do nothing for him. He takes his bipolar meds only and does much better.

Eliminating gluten grains and sugar will really will eliminate many common chronic illnesses. Give it a try.

Ive been strict Paleo for 1.5 months but still take Pristiq (its for a combo of stuff). I do feel better overall though and hope to get off of it in the next few months. I notice that if my attention is waning or if my mood plummets that a big serving of protein and fat helps alot. Cutting out grains has made a HUGE difference in my mood/energy fluctuations. I used to completely crash after every meal and now Im much more steady. Not where I want to be yet but getting there

Paleo actually improved my moods drastically (Bipolar Disorder, mostly depressive), after only a week or two. However, taking Ritalin negated the positive effects (the notorious "Ritalin comedown," per se). Oh well. I might try to make due without the Ritalin for a wheel and see if my mood improves once again.

I noticed a benefit from Paleo, have tried it high carb and low carb, but still saw the benefit of my medication for my ADD (not ADHD). I tried going off of Strattera for 3 months, and when I got back on it, I really noticed a big improvement in my ability to assimilate knowledge, kinda helpful in college. So although I'd rather not be on medication, the benefit is more than worth the cost.

I've actually found my ADD has worsened since I recently started Paleo--like my mess aren't working. I've been Paleo for two weeks now and am on adderall. I'm hoping the fuzziness is part of the initial "detox" and will pass in the next few weeks. Anyone have any experience with symptoms worsening on Paleo?

I was diagnosed with chronic depression, generalized anxiety disorder and ADD. I hardly get depressed anymore and my anxiety is much better. My ADD is also better but it went from horrible to just bad. Adderall caused me heavy anxiety so I'm hesitant to they it again. I'm in California so I tried medical marijuana. A sativa with some coffee treats me right. There is a German study which states that marijuana is good for ADD. Side effects so far are; lowered anxiety, less combative, flexible thinking, better around people, able to complete mundane tasks,music sounds better and nature is amazing. I actually don't get munchies.

Edit: Here's the study

http://mcforadhd.free.fr/ARTICLE%20ADHD%20DRIVING%20GERMANY.pdf

Here is a USC doc who also recommends it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj72e5q61Fs