Worthless ADHD Herbals and Supplements

I promised that I would post about the herbs and supplements that have been found worthless in treating the inattention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior of ADHD and then I forgot that I said I was going to post about that and posted about homeopathy. It was a typical ADD moment for me when I realized that I had spaced out and not followed the 'plan'.

I actually keep a little note book with my 'plan' for this blog but sometimes if the notes in the little book are not too far into the future, I have this notion that I remember everything in the 'plan' so I do not have to refer to my little book. Luckily, I force myself every Tuesday to look at the little book regardless of whether I think I know what is in there or not. I put this back up into place about 4 months ago, for obvious reasons. Those of us who are inattentive need not only written plans, we also need back-up plans for in case we decide to ignore the written plan. Go ahead and shake your head in disbelief, I do it all the time.

Without any further explanation, I will tell you, from personal experience and from reading lots about it, all about my list of worthless herbs and supplements.

The most consumed herb for ADHD according to a survey performed by the National Institutes of Health is St. John's Wort or hypericum. This herb has been found very useful in the treatment of depression but study after study has found it useless in the treatment of the symptoms of ADHD. If you have ADHD and depression, and several studies show that people with ADHD have a 40 percent chance of also have Major Depressive Disorder, the St. John's Wort may make sense. If there is no depression then stop the hypericum because it is doing NOTHING for your ADHD symptoms.

Valerian root is used by a great deal of people with ADHD. This is an herb that some folks claim is almost as good as Valium as an anxiety treatment. It may work great for anxiety but it does not help the major symptoms of ADHD.

Homeopathic remedies:  There are many on the market that are supposed to help ADHD.  By far the yuckiest is a liquid product called Attend.  It is supposed to help attention, hyperactivity and to improve cognition but the studies do not show that it helps ADHD.

Tyrosine and all the other amino acid supplements have very mixed results for ADHD. The problem is that these amino acids need to go through a very complicated process that involves a million other connections and unless everything is in place in just the correct amount and order, these amino acids will not help. Many studies have looked at the amino acids and they have mostly shown that they may help in the short term but that they do not seem to provide any lasting benefit.

That is the end of my worthless herb and supplement rant. I would love to hear you rant about whatever has absolutely failed in your attempts to treat ADHD.

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