Weight loss injections and ADHD

[Samuraipizzacat]

Ok hear me out, I appreciate I’m only on week 1 of WLIs but I swear my usual ADHD symptoms have diminished.

My brain is like I’ve taken a limitless pill or something. I’m so productive, barely looking at social media, no food noise, not getting burn out etc.
Maybe it’s the change in diet, maybe it’s the jabs. Maybe it’s all in my head - who knows but I’m going to keep an eye on this as it’s a pretty wonderful turn of events if that is the case.
Anyone else noticed an improvement with ADHD?

I did a Google and it might be a thing!

Yes, I feel the same. I feel calmer and much more focused. It’s like it’s not just the food noise that’s gone, it’s all the noise. Feels amazing! I also realised today that my rosacea’s entirely gone, so frankly just those two things alone make it worth it for me - even before the weight loss!

Yes! You’ve nailed it! All the noise has gone! I no longer have the cacophony in my head! If this carries on, it’s way bigger for me than weight loss wow!

I have mild rosacea so I’ll keep an eye on that also

I always wonder what people's diets were like before Mounjaro when they say this. A healthy diet and higher protein can help many with adhd.

But no I don't believe all the neurotransmitters involved in adhd can be treated with mounjaro.

Hope it continues to go well for you. You may not notice any proper adhd until you are over the honeymoon period of mounjaro.

Mounjaro causes my neurotransmitters to go out of whack and I have had to drop to a really low dose below 2.5mg.

A quick google shows emerging evidence, a lot of articles and a heck of a lot of other people experiencing the same thing. I’m on wegovy not mounjaro mind you and they are slightly different drugs.

my diet is the same incidentally, just eating less food.

It definitely changes something. All my impulsivity is gone. I’m more likely to complete tasks - it’s cut out the distracting thoughts that usually pull me away from what I’m doing. I even emptied the washing machine yesterday as soon as it was done, hung out the clothes, brought them bs k in and put them away!!! Usually they’d still be sitting in the machine right now!

Yes I asked the same question recently and lots of people have found the same effect. Mounjaro affects the dopamine receptors (the very same receptors that are problematic for people with adhd). In my case, I find I am far far less impulsive but also less motivated! The sun even had a story about someone claiming their adhd symptoms disappeared with Mounjaro about two weeks ago.

I’ve never done so much laundry in my life and managed to dry it and put it away. I feel like a laundry goddess of clean clothed organisation

Oh this is interesting! I’ve read it before too. I am undiagnosed but feel I have adhd. I have my first wegovy pen in the fridge ready to start tomorrow. Hope it does with the brain overwhelm 🤞 as a
neat side affect

My ADHD prescriber told me that she's seeing those on mounjaro reducing their ADHD meds.

This is fantastic

It's more than just dopamine receptors. There's two other main neurotransmitters also involved.

For me it’ll be more cost effective to stay on MJ for long term rather than pay for the ADHD meds, assuming I continue to experience the calming of symptoms.

its definitely a thing, in my experience.

@Mj2025end what I've understand is that gio and glp 1 hormones (which regulate appetite with Mounjaro) also affect dopamine pathways specifically those associated with reward - the kind ADHD Ers are always trying to activate! . Hence less feeling of impulsivity and being prey to addictive or compelling urges. Also that 1) there might be an overal health impact due to less body inflammation, as well as 2) improved cognitive function (many adhd-Ers have terrible working memory).

my experience is that I am overall flatter and not yanked about. I don't medicate my adhd generally so I'm a bit worried that I'll get too used to these calming effects and will find my normal personality quite hard to deal with when it resumes!

This is very interesting. Thanks for mentioning

Same. My rosacea of thirty five years that pretty much destroyed my life is gone 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️. Unbelievable.

Brilliant post, OP. I've been wondering this for a while because I take adhd meds and they do reduce appetite a bit.
I'm tempted to try mounjaro or wegovy but am just under the BMI threshhold to start it.

This has just own my mind I've got ADHD and have been so organised since starting mounjaro. My house is spotless and my brain has been less chaotic. I thought maybe I was finally just getting my shit together in life but now think it did start around the time I started mounjaro. Actually mind blown

It definitely disrupts the dopamine pathway which is great for addicts and adhd but for me it's the opposite, I have no interest on anything anymore, going out, socialising, any activity, food etc and it has gotten worse on higher doses, i have little joy or enthusiasm for anything but i dont feel low or depressed. Im wondering if I had lower levels of dopamine before and it's worsened.

It made me feel worse too. I have to take a dose below the starting dose.

ADHD is more than about the dopamine levels as I'm sure you know and I still don't believe monjouro helps ADHD. It helps people who are obese and have ADHD and now also those with sleep apnea but obesity can affect so much of our lives in so many ways.

I don't believe mounjaro would help someone at a normal weight who happened to have adhd. And if someone was underweight and had sleep apnea mounjaro is of course not going to be prescribed for them.

I think anecdotal experiences are to be taken at face value but I think there should and will be some peer reviewed studies flying into the science journals soon as it’s clearly helping some. Arguably though, there’s a lot in it for the creators of these jabs if they can help ADHD - it’s a huge financial win, so they will be incentivised to look into this.

Regardless I guess we are all individual, and just as ASD is a spectrum, ADHD certainly is too. And then there’s AuDHD, PDA and all the other spices that make up people’s wonderful brains! So I am sure it’s not ever going to be a blanket cure all.

I am mfeeling emotional about how different I feel though. But it’s week one and I’m trying not to get excited. If it stays like this, it will be life changing for me.

As I understand it, the research into the us version of Mounjaro which led to it being prescribable for sleep apnea in the obese was primarily about weight loss - but also mentioned the drugs affect on high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), which is. a marker of systemic inflammation. This was flagged as secondary to weight loss I have terrible snoring and was not obese when I started Mounjaro (a BMI close to 28 but with high cholesterol). The reduction in snoring happened within a week, before any meaningful weight loss, and the effect on impulsivity was similarly speedy. I mentioned these effects on Mumsnet and others immeadiately chimed in (ie i had no idea it was a potential effect).

You are right that there haven't been any clinical trials into adhd and wld, but it's presumably only a matter of time given the anecdotal evidence (the drugs only recently got approved for weight loss). There is no conflict between people feeling both calmer and less motivated - it's a similar mechanism - I feel both and it's disconcerting. However there clinical trials on the related topics of GLP-1 drugs and memory and focus; executive function in people with diabetes/obesity/ and the impact on the drugs on addiction and memory - all of which are related to ADD.

@Flamethrowersthanks for bringing the science! It’s really interesting to see how this will evolve especially around inflammation and executive function. In the meantime, my kitchen is cleaner, my laundry basket emptier and my work deadlines managed and my weight is slowly creeping off. Win win!

I am not diagnosed with ADHD but i have two kids that are on Medikinet and sometimes i wonder if i am too… anyway, i started MJ about 10 days ago and i am shocked at the energy i have, in a good way. I am more morivated, clear headed and more organised too. I just love feeling this way.