Not everyone has ADD with hyperactivity. You may have the inattentive ADD. I have read some articles that mentioned some connections between ADD and obesity. They think that it may be harder for individuals with ADD to follow diets , esp. when you consider the amount of planning that goes into shopping and meal preparation.

I am overweight and so is my husband. He has ADHD and I have the inattentive ADD. I know lots of individuals with both types of ADHD and some are thin, some average and some overweight. I happen to love carbs as well.

Elaine

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I have the non hyper ADD and have taken Ritalin for years and the one big side effect I hear is weight loss. I am not sure but I have not loss one pound while on medication and wonder if this is the case with other people.

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There is a Canadian study that found 26.7% of morbidly obese women are either ADD or ADHD.

Part of the theory is this, we forget to eat because we're distracted. Then when we do, we overeat, because we eat fast... and we haven't felt "full" yet.

We also need stimulation, and food gives us a form of stimulation. We eat when we're hungry, we eat when we're bored, we eat when we're upset.

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Food is my drug of choice. I've been self-medicating with carbs for my dopamine boost since I can remember. And my favorite carbs also have lots of fat. Lucky me. I've always had a weight problem, and while I haven't lost any weight since starting Adderal XR, I haven't gained, either, which is a big plus. My second vice is caffeine. Diet soda and coffee every day. I can lose 40-50 lbs at a shot, usually with Weightwatchers. But I lose interest or get distracted and I lose momentum. My personal belief is that while it is all connected, there are other issues which aggravate and exacerbate my overeating. My biggest problem right now is forgetting to eat when I'm "therapeutic" with my med, then as it wears off, I'm really tired, and it is very hard for me to make good eating decisions when I'm tired. I also tend to overdo it and not rest or time-out when I could really use it to re-charge. I've been keeping trail mix or other small, calorie dense snacks with me so that I can fuel up a little before I get hypoglycemic and cranky during the morning and early afternoon. I have now added the following to my task list, daily: take multivitamin and dietary supplements, 20 minutes of exercise, Bible study/meditation, take my meds, drink water, eat fruits and veggies. I'm concentrating on the little things that increase my health right now.

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FrostinGal, I hear you loud and clear. The interesting aspect of the Canadian Study is I'm in Toronto and one of the doctors involved in the study has just become one of my "team." I like his approach to weight loss - deal with other things first, then focus on the rest.

He told me today that without adequate sleep, Concerta does not work properly. The first step is for me to go on a sleep study (I'm a restless sleeper, with some issues of insomnia). Once he's got the data from the sleep study, we can assess what needs to be done so I can get enough sleep to allow the meds to work.

Everything has been lightening fast with this particular stage, I've been waiting for the referral to this doctor since Sept., got the call yesterday and was told it was a 2.5 month wait for an appt unless I was "short-waited" and got in on a cancellation. I asked to be short-waited... and got the appt. this morning at 8:20 a.m. The sleep study was next, and I had to call to see if I could get in on a cancellation... and the sleep-study is tomorrow night. (I'm having trouble keeping up with the changes but its all good to me.)

It will be interesting to see what comes of this. I'll share the journey if anyone is interested.

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For what it's worth (I'm not what anyone would call overweight at this point in my life) -- I find that when I am sleeping a whole night, getting exercise, and taking my meds, my sugar cravings go away. If those other things are in place I find it much easier to eat on schedule, reasonable amounts, healthy food.

Otherwise, I forget to eat, then eat sweets, which work (sort of) but then later of course crash, and aren't as good as real food anyway for concentration and getting things done.

Also I do better eating small amounts, meal-snack-meal-snack, and absolutely eat healthy breakfast (protein, whole grains).

For guidelines (as opposed to rules) -- I like concepts, not counting things -- try one of the glycemic index books (like the explanation in south beach diet), and also have a look at Daniel Amen's chapters on food in his ADD book (sorry, I forget the title now).

I'm pretty convinced my sweet tooth was quite heavily a form of self-medication (I was past 40 when I was diagnosed).

hope some of that helps someone... lupin.

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Bear with me as I am new to the whole ADD experience and I am only reporting on what I have seen in my own children.

In the last 6 months, all of my children 19, 15, and 13 have been diagnosed with a form of ADD (apparently there are several). My children started getting a little on the puddgy side around 3rd or 4th grade. I always attributed it to the onset of hormones. But I have 2 girls and a boy, so their hormones don't kick in the same time. My oldest (who was first identified with ADD last June) had battled Hypoglycemia her entire life. She was placed on a very strict diet at the age of 11 (No sugar, No flour, No white potatoes, no white rice) and she had to take a product called Ultraglycemx to help control her blood sugar. Despite her complete dedication to this diet for the last 8 years and the fact that she was a competitve swimmer spending 10-12 hours a week in a pool, she still remained on the bordeline of being overweight.

Then came the diagnoses of Attention Deficit Disorder. She is extremely bright, but gets board and frustrated with tasks that are relatively easy. When she does, she looks for other sensory input. Hence the distraction. Sometimes for her that was food. She was eating healthy and sticking to her diet, and she was exercising, but she had been told by her pediatrician to not gain anymore weight. Easier said than done. When she was diagnosed in June, she was immediately placed on Aderal. Subsequently, she dropped about 15 pounds. and is now considered to be the appropriate weight for her age and height. She didn't change her diet or exercise plan. But she is less distracted, and therefore tends to snack less and is more satisfied with smaller portions.

The same thing is happening with my younger 2. They were only diagnosed this fall (September and October) and they are both on different drugs (focalin and Daytrana). They were both very active athletes. They were not on restrictive diets, but after their sisters nutritionist told us what should and shouldn't be in our house, so unhealthy foods were not easily available to them. Not that they don't love doughnuts and sugary cereal, they just don't have that much access to them. My 15 year old daughter has been on meds for about 5 weeks and is no longer suffering from muffin top in her jeans. She hasn't been dieting or changed her exercise. My son has only been on meds for 2 weeks, but I am already noticing that he is getting slimmer. With him, I have noticed that he is snacking less often. His nightly bowl of ice cream with his father is slowly disappearing. They still sit and chat, but my son is less likely to share the treat.

My husband and I, are not overweight, although our Dr's would like us to lose a few pounds. We do however, work very hard at not being overweight.

If there isn't a correlation between ADD and body weight, I would personally be shocked. I may even go get tested myself. After all my kids inherited it from someone in the family tree.

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