Autism and ADHD and food /overeating

[Springpug]

Is there any evidence that autism and ADHD cause issues with food .
Bulimia,and over eating,and crash dieting .
I know I turn to food rather than face my emotions,I use food to push the feelings down.
Has anyone any advice or anything that worked for them .

ADHD definitely - eating gives you the dopamine you crave.

yes this. Sugar and carbs for ADHD dopamine fix. No advice, but following in case someone does.

I've got a fair few books on autism,a d this isn't really covered in them ,so I wasn't sure ..
Maybe ADHD meds stop the overeating

I think Katy Weber has talked a little bit about this on her podcasts.

off the top of my head I would imagine that sensory issues, maybe heightened introspection might play a roll in the discomfort triggers of bulimia. RSD probably plays a part too, heightening shame or self loathing.

adhd-ers often talk about not eating due to hyperfocus, eating erratically, having comfort or safe foods. ARFID gets talked about a fair bit in the context of autism.

ND people are more likely than NT people to be diagnosed with an eating disorder.

Yes absolutely - ADHD is known to influence eating disorders including binge eating disorder and just generally has an association with poor diet/difficulty losing weight even if it's not a full blown disorder. ADHD medication can help both because it treats the underlying problem, and because it is an appetite suppressant.

Apologies if the language used in this video is blunt - I notice Dr. Barkley sometimes is more blunt/less nuanced in his discussion of other health issues. I haven't watched the video so can't say if it happens here but he is normally very good at explaining the why and what to do.

Adhd massively impacts my eating. Dopamine seeking constantly, and using food to stimm, alsp executive functioning (planning what to eat, buying ingredients, cooking and eating) I massively struggling with choose overwhelm and decision paralysis. So deciding what to eat and then planning is so hard. Also I've noticed since taking medication for adhd, that my undiagnosed asd( waiting list for going for assessment). I continuously repeat patterns of behaviour a lot around eating so I will eat same thing even thou I'm not hungry or like it and just get into habits of buying particular food in certain shops and get very bad anxiety if I don't repeat the behaviour so never ending cycle. I am now trying to use the asd repeating eating behaviours as choosing more healthy food and creating new (loops, I call them food loops) and will see how that works , the adhd is still there but hoping medication helps only took upped dose few days. Its Exhausting but I need to change how I use food as I have got to size 22 and I want to be healthy and cannot just keep putting on weight. I'm noticing now it's causing me issues.

Sorry for spelling and grammar I also have dyslexia

I have both and tbh while I know there is a clear link with ADHD and eating i actually think being autistic means I struggle to change and am obsessive about 'sameness' which absolutely does not help when trying to get into a heart eating way.

Yes this is what I've been thinking ! It's exactly it!