Change Your Brain Every Day - Stimulants & ADD: What You Should Do

Episode Date: June 6, 2019

People with attention deficit disorder are routinely prescribed Ritalin and stimulants to help them deal with their focus issues. But because there are 7 different types of ADD, all with their own characteristics, what can help one person can make another person suffer even more! Thankfully, in this episode, Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana shed some light on some of the various factors involved in ADD, as well as some of the natural treatment methods that can be safely explored to find what works best for you.

Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. I'm Dr. Daniel Amen. And I'm Tana Amen. In our podcast, we provide you with the tools you need to become a warrior for the health of your brain and body. The Brain Warriors Way podcast is brought to you by Amen Clinics, where we have been transforming lives for 30 years using tools like brain spec imaging to personalize treatment to your brain. For more information, visit amenclinics.com. The Brain Warriors Way podcast is also brought to you by BrainMD, where we produce the highest quality nutraceuticals to support the health of your brain and body. To learn more, go to brainmd.com. Welcome back. Skills or pills week. Today, we're going to talk about ADD or ADHD. It's such a controversial topic, but

if you have a short attention span, is Ritalin the first thing you should do? Maybe not. Yeah. Let me read a testimonial really quick. What do you do to focus better? Is it caffeine? Is it scary movies? Is it high-risk behaviors?

What do you do? So I love this testimonial, so I just want to read it. Love Your Brain by Lolo4NYC. Dr. Amen is the man and Tana is the woman. I love all their free content. It just shows how much they truly care and are here to serve. This is a podcast you need to hear. I got a lot out of it, and I'm sure you will too.

Love Your Brain. It's the only one you got. So true. Can't transplant that. It would be interesting if I had your brain in my hand. You would suddenly be taking survival courses and camping out in the Maybe not. Maybe not. So, so many parents of ADD children do not want to medicate the kids. Right. They see it as a flaw in their parenting. They see it as a flaw in their child. They see it as a flaw in their teacher.

Because they think they're taking the easy way out. And often, because they don't, the child will suffer and end up hating themselves and be less effective in the world. It's an issue I've dealt with for a very long time. And I, you know, we own a supplement company, so I'm very much into, well, what are the natural solutions? And I say, we'll do natural solutions for six months. Because if a child really has ADD, they're going to have it in six months. And one thing you've got to do if your kid has ADD, you've got to stop getting them donuts for breakfast on the way to school. I see this so often. When I would used to take Chloe to her elementary school and parents are busy, they're running to work, I get it, but they're running into the store where we'd park and then walk the kids in. They run into that store, grab them a

bagel or a donut, take them to school. And then we wonder why it's not fair to kids because kids get in trouble. Parents are getting calls. We're blaming it on the kids when, in fact, simple things like nutrition make a difference for kids, especially with focus in the morning. So skills or pills, do you know why that happens? It's because their mom has ADD too. And she didn't plan everything. Because with ADD, it's the moment that matters. It's not all of the moments that matter.

And so many people have ADD. They have trouble getting up in the morning. Trying to wake them is like trying to wake the dead. And so kids are hard to get up, but their parents are hard to get up. And so the parents often have great intentions, but they've hit the snooze bar on the alarm over and over and over because it just feels so foggy in the morning. And so every morning is a fire drill to get out of the house on time. They didn't have time to make breakfast, make lunch, plan for things. Because, you know, one of the hallmark features of ADD is they tend to be late.

Or they tend, you know, they actually don't get ready until, oh my God, I'm late. And it's crazy. So the breakfast can be donuts, which only perpetuates the problem. So it's funny. I didn't know any of this information when I was young. And as a teenager, I could relate to what you're saying, right? As a young teenager, I could relate to that. But what's super interesting, I don't know why this shifted, but I figured out at about 16, almost 17, something the opposite switched. And it was because I felt so bad. Somehow I figured out that if I got myself up at four o'clock in the morning, drank a pot of coffee during the day and worked out really hard for two hours, first thing in

the morning. I mean, I was there waiting when the doors opened to the gym. And guess what? There was a whole gym full of people just like me. So there were a whole bunch of people there that are like, I don't feel normal until I work out. I used to hear it all the time. I'm foggy, I'm fuzzy, I have to get up early and I have to work out first thing or I can't function. Now that's better in my mind than the people who were taking drugs to do that, that were doing cocaine, right? But there was a whole bunch of us. So those are two options of those options. Exercise is better.

But I remember once I treated this attorney who did exactly what you said, but he had bad knees because he worked out so much. Oh, interesting. And he said, if I would have had a little bit of medication, my knees would have been better. Well, I had a doctor send me an article on exercise bulimia. I thought he was insane. But he said I was exercising so much that it was a way of purging.

But for me, what I really believe it was, that may have had some truth. And I think it probably did. But really what it was, I became obsessed with routine because I lacked routine for so long. And that was a reaction. Right. But one of the reasons your mom abandoned you in some ways was her own ADD that was never- Like from hell. And because it was survival because we had no money and she was working like nonstop. Right. So there are all these biological, psychological, social,

spiritual factors that go into making us who we are. So what are the things I'm going to do in those six months with a child who has ADD, so I'm convinced, and he got it from his mom or got it from his dad? The two things we said. So exercise. But not like that. Getting them to exercise. Not four o'clock in the morning for two hours. And changing their diet. For sure. It's the most important thing. If you can do it. The problem is, is I'm trying to get ADD parents

to do what can be a bit of a challenge. I mean, that's why you write cookbooks because all of your cookbooks basically fit our elimination diet. So in the hundreds of recipes you have, all of them are gluten-free, dairy-free, corn-free, soy-free, very low sugar. Super low sugar. I mean, there's literally two ingredient, three minute ways to make breakfast for your kid, like the avocado and egg basket in the morning. I mean, they're so simple. So there are ways to do it. What you have to do is wrap your, look, where your focus goes,

where your focus goes, your energy flows. You just have to change what you're focusing on. Just do it for a little while and it will become your routine. So it's a new way of thinking and it will eventually become your, just like with me, I became obsessed with routine because I felt so bad. So you just have to start thinking about a new way of thinking and it will start to stick. So exercise, diet, protein in the morning will actually make your medication or your supplements work longer. You got to get your important numbers checked. We say this all the time, but what's your magnesium level? Because magnesium actually helps to calm down hyperactivity. What's your copper zinc ratio? Low levels of zinc have been associated with ADD and supplementing with zinc can be helpful. Omega-3 fatty acids, especially EPA, they're two main sources. You've heard us say this over and over again, EPA and DHA. DHA doesn't work at all for ADD. EPA has been shown to be effective. And you have to check your ferritin level ferritin is iron stores high iron high iron is associated

with premature aging that's why i have to donate blood a lot because mine tends to be hard i'm never going to age them low iron goes with anxiety and add fatigue oh my gosh, restlessness, restless leg syndrome, and ADD. So get your important numbers checked. It's so important. Well, one thing we have to talk about is risk-taking behavior, right? Because now I have ADD for sure, but I'm not a big risk taker. I like security. I like safety. I like- I can go back through your history. So what I was going to say is, except when I was on Prozac, that's the one time that I didn't care, right? I was impulsive.

But in general, throughout my life, I'm not a big risk taker. But I like variety excitement to some degree. So what I figured out to do, so think about this for you, because for ADD people, they will often take risks that get them in trouble. So what I started to do is think about what can I do that's exciting and that keeps me stimulated? Because you don't want to do it in ways that are going to get you in trouble, like starting fights with people you love or doing activities that are going to get you physically hurt. So for me, I love martial arts, which to me is awesome. I love, you know, training with weapons and I love doing

things like survival, wilderness survival training. That gives me that stimulation and that, that excitement without, but it's also educating me. I'm growing in a way and I'm doing something super fun, but it's safe. One, one could argue that it's safe. Yeah. So doing things you love, coordination exercise, which martial arts clearly is, unless you hit yourself in the head or you let somebody else hit yourself in the head. So think about that. Are you doing activities that are hurting you? Could you make a couple tweaks and instead do things that help you and others, but they're still exciting? I like that. So coordination exercises, really helpful. And then if you do these things and you still have a short attention span and you're distracted and impulsive and a half an hour of homework takes a child three hours to do with you screaming at them to get it done, then medication can be so helpful. And one of my kids, she went from B's and C's working her brains out to straight

A's for the next 10 years and ended up getting into one of the world's best veterinarian schools at the University of Edinburgh. So medication. Now, if you take medication, you should also be doing all these natural things. Right. Because then you will need less medication. And all these things we're talking about will actually help you focus, even if you don't have ADD. We have ADD induced by our cell phones and by the constant negative news cycles and the lousy food that we're feeding our population. And in the end of mental illness, I have this writing device. If I was an evil ruler, how would I create mental illness? And there's all sorts of ways we're creating ADD by the food that we feed, by the toxins they're putting on kids' bodies and so

on. Well, and pretty much everywhere you and I go, someone, because they know what we do, someone will end up telling us their story and they're suffering. People are suffering pretty much everywhere. And yesterday and today, it's so crazy. So yesterday I had this gal, she's so cute. I mean, so cute, just has this amazing energy. She's beautiful. I mean, beautiful. And after talking to her for a couple of hours, all of a sudden she looks at me and she goes, well, I'm just not enough. And I'm like, what? Like out of all the things that I would have thought she would say, that was not the one thing I would thought she would say. So I ended up doing the work with her, the four questions, is it true? Which we've done many podcasts on. By the time we

were done, she's just bawling. And I'm like, has anyone ever taught you to control your thoughts, that your thoughts lie to you? And she's like, no, I can't even believe that that was so powerful. And so she's hugging me and she's crying. And so that's really powerful to know. And then this morning, I'm at home. I'm getting ready to have a bunch of work done on the house. And again, and this gal shows up to, to take some measurements and do some things. And she's, I was trying to run out the door for the podcast. And she says, Oh, what kind of podcasts you have? And I tell her and she bursts into tears and I'm like, Oh, here we go. I literally texted you and said, I'm going to be late. Cause I mean, I care about what I do. So, you know, and here's what she said. I don't want to go to a doctor because all they're going

to do is put me on medication and I don't want, I don't want to be labeled. And he's going to tell me that what I'm trying is dumb because I had a doctor tell me that. And I'm like, well, what are you trying? She goes, I really try to focus on positive things. She goes, it's not really working yet, but I'm really trying. She goes, I got a roommate who I know is really positive. I try to read something positive every morning. I focus on these incantations and I'm like- So she should read Feel Better Fast and make it last. Right. And I gave her that and I gave her Brain Warrior's Way. And I'm like, what you're doing is right, but we need to focus on all of it. We have to get your numbers checked. We have to do all these things. We need to do an assessment on you to figure out what's wrong. Right. And don't hear in this ADD podcast that

I think stimulants are right for everyone. If you read my book, Healing ADD, I talk about, well, there's seven different types. Know what type you have. We have a special discount at Amen Clinics for those who listen to our podcast. So when you call the call center, if you just say, oh, I listened to the podcast and give them the code podcast10, we actually have all sorts of people who listen to this podcast call and make an appointment. You want to know what's going on in your brain. And one thing you can start with is our assessment. So where can they find the assessment? Brainhealthassessment.com. Yeah, it's free. So there's a free assessment that you can do,

knowing the type of brain you have, and then we'll tell you what supplements and ultimately what medications might be best for you. Of course, you should always talk to your doctor about it. So what's the one thing you learned today about how you can have better attention? Write a stat, write it down, send us a review. We would love that. And also that one thing you learned today, post it on any of your social media channels with the hashtag BrainWarriorsWay. Thank you so much. in coming to Amen Clinics. Use the code PODCAST10 to get a 10% discount on a full evaluation at amenclinics.com. For more information, give us a call at 855-978-1363.