• pjwestin@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Yes. All stimulants treat the symptoms of ADHD. You were self-medicating that whole time, although your results were way worse than you would get with a controlled dosage of a time-release stimulant like Adderall. If you don’t want to go back to stimulants, even under a medical setting, regular exercise will help regulate your symptoms (I personally like 30 to 40 minutes of cardio 3 to 4 times a week).

    • nocturne@sopuli.xyz
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      1 day ago

      I knew the caffeine and speed was self medicating. But I did not realize about the nicotine.

      I hike 8-9km a day over about 2 hours.

      • pjwestin@lemmy.world
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        23 hours ago

        Yeah, nicotine too. Pretty much any stimulant. ADHD is thought to be caused by low dopamine, and exercise is thought to alleviate symptoms by producing dopamine. I know doctors reccomend strength training and aerobic exercises like running or swimming, but I don’t know how hiking stacks up. If it’s strenuous enough that you feel tired by the end, I’m sure it’s helping.

        Anyway, everyone’s different. For me, if I don’t run at least a 5K 3 times a week, my symptoms are terrible, but strength training doesn’t seem to help much.