What's your dopamine hit?

[Manifestsleep]

I'm late 40's and recognise that many of my behaviours seeking out that dopamine hit are negative. I have strong ADHD traits and have suffered from eating disorders (bulimia mainly). I still have a very disordered relationship with food but I recognise this and am working on it.

I also like "buying" things. Again I have got much better at this but I've just cleared out 12 bin bags of clothes (my drawers were bursting) some of which are barely worn.

Ironically my other vice is my phone and specifically Mumsnet!

I'm want to try and find other more positive behaviours to replace my current negative ones and retrain myself. I do exercise regularly and I try and read but it's not quite the same.

What healthy habits do you have that give you that positive hit?

Get your dopamine hit by selling all of that stuff on vinted! Then you can fulfill the dopamine need by buying clothes from vinted using your sales money. Ask me how I know…

Colouring
Making lists
mood boarding
planning things
Starting new degrees 😂 4th time round at university for my career.

ADHD here and intrigued to hear others dopamine hacks. I also like to buy and am having to clamp down on my habits.

Shopping 100%

I have recently discovered vinted so it’s not costing me as much as previously, but due to the fact you can’t return stuff I have accumulated a load of stuff that doesn’t fit/I don’t like. I really need to find the motivation to start selling in there tbh.

Read this while uploading things to Vinted…..

Dexamfetamine, coffee and alcohol

I need to reset tbh

Just started uploading today. I have some fabulous items of clothing but I just never get to wear it and it stresses me out that my wardrobe was so full. I've set myself a goal to save for a Dyson air wrap with any earnings.

Ice cream and shopping.

Ha ha ..I've got three degrees and just started on my 4th vocational qualification!

I do love making lists and planning. Just never have any money because I fritter it away on shite.

Walking.

Pre ADHD diagnosis:

Coffee
Triathlon
Sugar
Chocolate
Shopping (online - I do not like physical shops)

I'm now too ill to exercise so triathlon is out of the question. I am on ADHD meds, which are incredibly effective.

Last week, I decided to not take my meds for a few days to see what it was like. On say 2 of the experiment, I had a slice of DM's delicious homemade cake. As soon as I had eaten it, I decided it was so good that I needed a second slice I ate that and decide to tidy the remainder away (into my tummy). I was so shocked by my lack of impulse control that I immediately stopped the experiment and went back on the drugs.

OP, if you think you have ADHD, I would strongly urge you to seek out diagnosis. It gets worse as you get older and the menopause plays havoc with ADHD becuase estrogen boosts dopamine availability. Even if you don't go on the diagnosis path, I would strongly recommend HRT as early as possible. There are some
Forms of HRT that are better for ADHD so mention that when you discuss it.

One last thing - try a creatine supplement. My. ADHD psychiatrist suggested it. It helps with concentration and reduces brain fog. It works! Creatine is usually associated with body builders and gym bros so it is also helpful for muscle building.

dizzydizzydizzy thanks for your post. What is your ADHD medication? I don't have a diagnosis but I have very classic traits and this has definitely been exacerbated by menopause although HRT has helped. I've just started taking creatine, magnesium, omega 3 and vit d to see if that makes any difference too.

So what I do now it sell things on Vinted to fund purchases, so for example I’m a bit obsessed with coats. I wanted yet another coat (and luckily I can afford it) but instead I sold 4 old coats on Vinted to fund the new one. Even more fun if you make it a challenge, like can I sell enough of the old thing to fund the new thing? Coats for coats and gym leggings for gym leggings are 2 I’ve done recently! (The new thing can be brand new, doesn’t have to be off Vinted!)

I'm on Elvanse. It's obviously a bit of art for psychiatrists to decide which one to recommend- she said something like "based on what you have told me, you sound more like an Elvanse person." For the sake of thoroughness, she thought it also a good idea to try Ritalin, which I didn't like as much.

Magnesium is another supplement my ADHD doctor told me to take.

Vitamin D - everyone in the UK needs to take that, except in summer, due to our lack of sunshine.

Phone, food, alcohol, amazon

Sadly exercise.

ADHD diagnosed here. I am exactly the same. Need better dopamine hits than phone and shopping 😬

Only buying from second hand shops. Still get a dopsmine hit, but much cheaper and eco friendly. Sea swimming. Walking. Doing for little day trips and having coffee and cake somewhere nice. Baking something lovely. Organising something in the house.

Writing in my diary/journal - done it since I was 12 (now nearly 60.)

Feeding the birds/watching them eat (and drink the water I give them.)

Getting new birds on my Merlin bird app!

Watching a new TV drama (usually a thriller one!)

Going for a nice walk in the countryside/woodlands.

Walking along the beach (it's a treat to go as I live 65-70 minutes drive away... and only see the beach/sea 4-5 times a year...)

Seeing any cat! (Seeing dogs make me happy too, but cats moreso.)

Feeding the hedgehogs (and watching them eat the food/drink the water.)

Going to meet one of my DC (or both together) or have them around at our house. They live 20-ish miles away, so we don't see them every week. (More like twice a month.)

Being in the garden in the summer. I love my garden, and spend HOURS in it when it's nice. I love seeing all the plants and flowers I've been growing all blooming and thriving. DH hates gardening and CBA with it, and I love it, so that works out well.

Growing plants and flowers from seed. And seeing the little baby spider plant cuttings I get off the larger plants, growing into big healthy plants.

• Jigsaws.
• Jigsaws while listening to audiobooks (the only way I can listen to them and take them in).
• Crochet/knitting while watching something on telly (to stop me doomscrolling).
• Crochet/knitting while listening to a podcast.
• Go on a photo walk (where you have a theme of things to take photos of, like pink or round or shiny).
• Solo trip to the local cinema.
• Collecting sea glass.
• Sitting on a bench, watching the world go by.
• Day trips.
• Craft markets.
• Coffee with friends.
• Learning languages.
• Watching films/series in a foreign language with English subtitles so I'm forced to pay attention.
• Gardening.
• Making lists/planning things.
• Visiting art galleries.
• Cooking.
• Classes/workshops related to my hobbies.
• Talking to a friend on the phone.
• Decluttering.
• Daydreaming about redecorating.

I keep this list in my phone for when I'm feeling restless, bored or have had too much time on my phone as it gives me ideas of things I could do that I know I enjoy.

Look up "dopamine menus", see what others people's examples.

Walking, I don’t mean like just walking, but like hiking. We live in a beautiful area on the edge of high moorland and when I need to boost myself, I just go out and walk for several hours across the moor.

Also cold water swimming. I don’t actually swim. I just bob around for 10 minutes or so. But it makes a huge difference in terms of my mood.

And having a chat with kind, supportive like minded people. I’m not hugely a people person, but I have a few groups of friends that I genuinely enjoy having a coffee with and a chat…in measured doses. Maybe a couple times a month, no more than that.