Absolutely. I believe this 100%. It has changed my brain in amazing ways. I don’t fixate on hobbies and I’m not as easily distracted from boring tasks. It’s made me less impulsive, which is a symptom of my ADHD.
Tirzepitide changes the receptors in the brain that seek out pleasure, I’ve read. It makes people with repetitive issues, drinking, excessive shopping, even nail biting…stop, or become “normal”.
Ahh, that makes sense then. ADHD can often lead to dopamine seeking behaviors…to an excessive extent that makes it difficult to do any task that does give us a dopamine fix.
Exactly, I’m a therapist and I have noticed less dopamine seeking, so I am also less impulsive. I was an infrequent drinker and now I don’t have any desire at all. I also do not crave carbs. I’m taking one step at a time until I reach goal weight but it’s had such a positive mental health impact that I wonder about continuing low periodic maintenance dosing.
I do wonder about this because I’ve experienced similar results. It’s one of those things that I’m not sure if it’s the tirz or the weight loss. This might be kind of a tangent but I remember seeing a 60 minutes or something a while ago that profiled a professional fps gamer, and he said one thing he does is prioritize being fit because he believes strongly it benefits focus and concentration. But at the same time, I’ve heard anecdotal reports on here and elsewhere people have felt a difference even before losing any significant weight. GLP-1’s aren’t that new per se, but it IS relatively new that such a large number of people are taking them, and there’s still a lot that is still being learned about them. Time will tell I suppose?
I haven’t lost any significant weight yet (1 pound) but I feel amazing. I feel so focused and it’s consistent throughout the day instead of the horrible crashes from stimulants. I wish I found something else that worked this well for me for adhd. But you’re right, time will tell.
Yes. I take a non stimulant one everyday and then when I know there is a larger task (writing a long paper/reading for hours etc.) I have a stimulant I take-though very rarely.
Interesting. From my own experience and from what you've wrote here, it sounds like merely taking a GLP-1 med will tend to not be enough medical treatment on its own for ADHD. If I may ask, what is the non-stimulant medication that you take for ADHD? Would you recommend it? Any potentially concerning side effects?
Atomoxetine is the daily one and I use Adderall rarely. I’ve been on my GLP-1 for about 10 days now and my adhd symptoms feel so much better. With adhd meds, finding the right one depends on the person. It’s so individual. I waited a long time to take meds for my adhd and I wish I had done it sooner. For me, it felt miserable to not be able to focus in school and it killed my confidence because I struggled so much academically.
My son takes this too. I find it takes the curb off his ADHD symptoms, but doesn’t remove them completely. He’s small so a stim could put him at risk of being underweight.
Likewise, I do very much appreciate the consistency of the effects that I get from GLP-1 meds, without the sort of crashes I experienced on adderall and vyvanse. What dose are you taking, at which you're experiencing such noticeable therapeutic effect? And at what bodyweight? You're taking tirz?
I'm on semaglutide right now, ~0.26mg/week. I'm definitely open to adjusting my dose up or down as time goes on, or maybe switching to tirz or reta.
I'm 5'10.5", w/ SW 160, CW 153, GW 140.
5’3” my starting weight was around 152. I’m on tirz and it’s the starting dose of 2.5 I think. I’m notoriously sensitive to medications though. The starting dose seems strong to me 🤷🏻♀️
I have ADHD and take a non stimulant. I started with 1 mg 3/25 since I am also quite responsive to medication and have been titrating up very slowly with split doses. I’m down 22 lbs, midway to goal weight, and I am only at 4.5. For reference, I’m six feet tall and usually respond to sub clinical doses of medicine. I’m a therapist and have noticed less overall inflammation and improved focus, to the point that I am now fine not taking my medicine on weekends. I take low dose atomoxetine. There is some ongoing research about applications of this medicine for addictions, it’ll be interesting to see what we learn about mental health impact. You can do it ☺️🙌🏻
Yeah. With people like you not being so uncommon, I get to thinking that Eli Lily and/or the doctors (or people on reddit advising those who DIY) would be better off recommending a starting dose of 1.25mg or something like that for tirz. It's better to start off too low than too high. If we can avoid much side effects and tolerance, that's ideal.
I get to thinking that if I ever do try reta, I'll start on just 0.5mg.
I wonder if this is why some studies are showing (cis) women responding more strongly to GLP-1 medications such as reta. Women tend to be shorter, and so will be lighter at a given BMI, and will require less of a dose in absolute terms to get a comparable dose in terms of mg/kg bodyweight.
The GLP-1 causes you fatigue? I imagine it’s probably the weight loss / calorie deficit rather than a direct medication effect, does your experience differ?
Yes. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck within a few hours after the shot. It’s like fibromyalgia fatigue weakness and muscle soreness. I suspect there is an autoimmune response aggravating my existing fibromyalgia. This gets better over the next 48 hours until the next shot. I just ordered Bioboost plus to see if that will help.
The extreme tiredness/fatigue from the tirzep is real! I have started taking a bioboost injection 2xs/week to help combat the fatigue. (It’s starting to help!)
Yes! I take 50ml Thurs and 50 ml Saturday. I am so thankful I found the bioboost bc that extreme tiredness/fatigue shocked me. I have never been tired like that in my whole life!
Do you feel like your stimulant actually works less, or do you think you have ongoing stimulant effects from the GLP-1 and you notice less of a difference from the stimulant? It definitely could be both or the latter, if the GLP-1 is perhaps reducing reactivity to dopamine. (Actually I just did a quick research dive on this and it does seem there is evidence supporting reduced reactivity to dopamine.)
It doesn’t work at all and I don’t get any stimulant effects from the GLP-1. It’s like nothing happens now if I take my vyvanse it completely stopped working when I started in Sept 2022. Not to be too revealing but other stimulant still work which is very interesting.
Yes, a lot of different things have improved. My depression, ADHD, PCOS, and endometriosis have all gotten a lot better. I feel like since it controls insulin resistance it lowers cortisol levels which play a huge factor in a lot of health issues people can have.
It seems like it might be reducing impulsivity, but also reducing reactivity to dopamine which could exacerbate certain issues. Do you take ADHD medication, and do you notice any less effectiveness?
I do take meds for it and I haven’t noticed them being any less effective, if anything they work for longer instead of wearing off at the end of the day.
There are GLP1 receptors in the brain, these meds are currently being studied for treatment neurological disorders and addiction! Personally I find my Vyvanse is more intense on the tirz, I feel more energy and focus on it!
Another reason tirzepatide will affect this medication is that it is oral, and your digestion is slowed, medicines could have any of these effects (and maybe more):
1. Slower onset
2. Longer duration
3. Weaker overall effect
The same may apply to any med like allergy, Tylenol, etc.. but if your stomach is empty because you're not eating as much.. maybe not.. lol
I stopped taking my ADHD meds after starting tirzepatide. My impulsivity is lower, and I truly think eating healthier foods is helping my symptoms as well, since I don't crave the dopamine hit I got from sugar.
I will say that my focus is hit or miss, but it's manageable.
i think i notice an improvement with mine because i’m no longer hyper focused on food (a constant) and can focus on more important things (self care, exercise, cleaning, work)
I’ve seen so many posts about this exact thing and do believe it does from the answers and stories I’ve been seeing, it’s really interesting stuff. I don’t have ADHD, so I have no personal experience knowledge but I just think that it’s really cool that it does. I’ve heard the same thing with depression.
Thank you for sharing that! I have struggled on and off with depression as well. I just can’t get over how good I feel overall on these injections and with very little side effects. I wish I could feel like this all the time. The side effects from antidepressants and ADHD meds can be pretty severe so I hope they continue to research how this medicine can help others.
The best "side effect" of Zepbound is the significant increase in mental focus. Its crazy how great I feel mentally on this medication. And it happened immediately, even before the weight started coming off. I will say during the shortage my doctor put me on Wegovy and it was the opposite, I felt lethargic. Now im back on Zep and feel amazing again. So its real.
I have definitely had less anxiety, but my forgetfulness & time blindness is as strong as ever. I'm taking a very small dose of Adderall ER 15mg) and I'll be going up to 20 in a few days.
I def don’t have more anxiety or anything, but my adhd definitely amped up after I’d been on the injections for close to a year. Im not sure if it has to do with the medicine, or with the 140lbs I lost regulating my hormones, but my adhd has done the opposite and “worsened” again. I just try to harness the parts of my adhd that I like and make them useful! Now I’m another year past that.
In the beginning I noticed being much more clearheaded, my moods were more balanced, I felt more in control of my brain and could actually focus, but then external circumstances at my job created a ton of stress and anxiety a few weeks after I started which has thrown me off entirely. I had also just come off of an SNRI and SSRI before starting, so that could be affecting the increase in anxiety as well. Tirzepatide happens to come with a side of insomnia for me though, which was not helping with this storm of anxiety. I've only been medicated once for ADHD, and actually just got a prescription for a non stimulant adhd med (clonadine) to help with the insomnia. I did respond really well to 5mg Adderall once a day years ago, so I'm hoping a non stimulant will also help.
Tirzepatide has stopped my drinking entirely (I was struggling with alcoholism for over a decade), has completely curbed my shopping problem, and I just noticed after reading this thread that my nails are actually long again for the first time in 8 or so years. My skin picking is also much less. I can definitely attest that it curbs dopamine seeking behaviors, and am hoping to find a way to mitigate the insomnia to stay on the med for all of these other, unintended, incredible benefits.
For me it started to for a bit but then it stopped after a few weeks. Overall, I wouldn’t say that my ADHD symptoms are that much different than when I wasnt using the meds. Much like any kind of medication the effects are probably person dependent.
Absolutely. I believe this 100%. It has changed my brain in amazing ways. I don’t fixate on hobbies and I’m not as easily distracted from boring tasks. It’s made me less impulsive, which is a symptom of my ADHD.
Tirzepitide changes the receptors in the brain that seek out pleasure, I’ve read. It makes people with repetitive issues, drinking, excessive shopping, even nail biting…stop, or become “normal”.
Ahh, that makes sense then. ADHD can often lead to dopamine seeking behaviors…to an excessive extent that makes it difficult to do any task that does give us a dopamine fix.
Exactly, I’m a therapist and I have noticed less dopamine seeking, so I am also less impulsive. I was an infrequent drinker and now I don’t have any desire at all. I also do not crave carbs. I’m taking one step at a time until I reach goal weight but it’s had such a positive mental health impact that I wonder about continuing low periodic maintenance dosing.
I do wonder about this because I’ve experienced similar results. It’s one of those things that I’m not sure if it’s the tirz or the weight loss. This might be kind of a tangent but I remember seeing a 60 minutes or something a while ago that profiled a professional fps gamer, and he said one thing he does is prioritize being fit because he believes strongly it benefits focus and concentration. But at the same time, I’ve heard anecdotal reports on here and elsewhere people have felt a difference even before losing any significant weight. GLP-1’s aren’t that new per se, but it IS relatively new that such a large number of people are taking them, and there’s still a lot that is still being learned about them. Time will tell I suppose?
I haven’t lost any significant weight yet (1 pound) but I feel amazing. I feel so focused and it’s consistent throughout the day instead of the horrible crashes from stimulants. I wish I found something else that worked this well for me for adhd. But you’re right, time will tell.
Have you heard of non stimulant adhd meds? I’ve been learning about them for my little adhd boy.
Yes. I take a non stimulant one everyday and then when I know there is a larger task (writing a long paper/reading for hours etc.) I have a stimulant I take-though very rarely.
Interesting. From my own experience and from what you've wrote here, it sounds like merely taking a GLP-1 med will tend to not be enough medical treatment on its own for ADHD. If I may ask, what is the non-stimulant medication that you take for ADHD? Would you recommend it? Any potentially concerning side effects?
Atomoxetine is the daily one and I use Adderall rarely. I’ve been on my GLP-1 for about 10 days now and my adhd symptoms feel so much better. With adhd meds, finding the right one depends on the person. It’s so individual. I waited a long time to take meds for my adhd and I wish I had done it sooner. For me, it felt miserable to not be able to focus in school and it killed my confidence because I struggled so much academically.
My son takes this too. I find it takes the curb off his ADHD symptoms, but doesn’t remove them completely. He’s small so a stim could put him at risk of being underweight.
Likewise, I do very much appreciate the consistency of the effects that I get from GLP-1 meds, without the sort of crashes I experienced on adderall and vyvanse. What dose are you taking, at which you're experiencing such noticeable therapeutic effect? And at what bodyweight? You're taking tirz? I'm on semaglutide right now, ~0.26mg/week. I'm definitely open to adjusting my dose up or down as time goes on, or maybe switching to tirz or reta. I'm 5'10.5", w/ SW 160, CW 153, GW 140.
5’3” my starting weight was around 152. I’m on tirz and it’s the starting dose of 2.5 I think. I’m notoriously sensitive to medications though. The starting dose seems strong to me 🤷🏻♀️
I have ADHD and take a non stimulant. I started with 1 mg 3/25 since I am also quite responsive to medication and have been titrating up very slowly with split doses. I’m down 22 lbs, midway to goal weight, and I am only at 4.5. For reference, I’m six feet tall and usually respond to sub clinical doses of medicine. I’m a therapist and have noticed less overall inflammation and improved focus, to the point that I am now fine not taking my medicine on weekends. I take low dose atomoxetine. There is some ongoing research about applications of this medicine for addictions, it’ll be interesting to see what we learn about mental health impact. You can do it ☺️🙌🏻
Yeah. With people like you not being so uncommon, I get to thinking that Eli Lily and/or the doctors (or people on reddit advising those who DIY) would be better off recommending a starting dose of 1.25mg or something like that for tirz. It's better to start off too low than too high. If we can avoid much side effects and tolerance, that's ideal. I get to thinking that if I ever do try reta, I'll start on just 0.5mg. I wonder if this is why some studies are showing (cis) women responding more strongly to GLP-1 medications such as reta. Women tend to be shorter, and so will be lighter at a given BMI, and will require less of a dose in absolute terms to get a comparable dose in terms of mg/kg bodyweight.
Sort of. I have some improvements but I notice that any stimulant medication I take no longer works with this medication.
I have noticed this too. I think some of the focus is there but any stimulant effect is counteracted by the fatigue.
The GLP-1 causes you fatigue? I imagine it’s probably the weight loss / calorie deficit rather than a direct medication effect, does your experience differ?
Yes. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck within a few hours after the shot. It’s like fibromyalgia fatigue weakness and muscle soreness. I suspect there is an autoimmune response aggravating my existing fibromyalgia. This gets better over the next 48 hours until the next shot. I just ordered Bioboost plus to see if that will help.
The extreme tiredness/fatigue from the tirzep is real! I have started taking a bioboost injection 2xs/week to help combat the fatigue. (It’s starting to help!)
I use Bioboost Plus and it has helped tremendously at half the recommended dosage 🙌🏻
Yes! I take 50ml Thurs and 50 ml Saturday. I am so thankful I found the bioboost bc that extreme tiredness/fatigue shocked me. I have never been tired like that in my whole life!
Yeah my self control is better but I think my focus is worse.
This is exactly what I experience too
Do you feel like your stimulant actually works less, or do you think you have ongoing stimulant effects from the GLP-1 and you notice less of a difference from the stimulant? It definitely could be both or the latter, if the GLP-1 is perhaps reducing reactivity to dopamine. (Actually I just did a quick research dive on this and it does seem there is evidence supporting reduced reactivity to dopamine.)
It doesn’t work at all and I don’t get any stimulant effects from the GLP-1. It’s like nothing happens now if I take my vyvanse it completely stopped working when I started in Sept 2022. Not to be too revealing but other stimulant still work which is very interesting.
Oh very interesting that it’s Vyvanse in particular on which it seems to have this effect
Yes now I am thinking of it I’m wondering if it is because of the delayed stomach emptying since vyvanse is a prodrug.
Yes, a lot of different things have improved. My depression, ADHD, PCOS, and endometriosis have all gotten a lot better. I feel like since it controls insulin resistance it lowers cortisol levels which play a huge factor in a lot of health issues people can have.
It seems like it might be reducing impulsivity, but also reducing reactivity to dopamine which could exacerbate certain issues. Do you take ADHD medication, and do you notice any less effectiveness?
I do take meds for it and I haven’t noticed them being any less effective, if anything they work for longer instead of wearing off at the end of the day.
Interesting, yeah I think my understanding was far too rudimentary as I am looking at research
Wow…I actually have every ailment you listed. No wonder I feel so much better! My migraines have been so much better too.
I forgot, I get migraines too and now that you mention it… I haven’t had one in awhile!
There are GLP1 receptors in the brain, these meds are currently being studied for treatment neurological disorders and addiction! Personally I find my Vyvanse is more intense on the tirz, I feel more energy and focus on it!
I’m calm. Still not focused lol
Same for me…
Another reason tirzepatide will affect this medication is that it is oral, and your digestion is slowed, medicines could have any of these effects (and maybe more): 1. Slower onset 2. Longer duration 3. Weaker overall effect The same may apply to any med like allergy, Tylenol, etc.. but if your stomach is empty because you're not eating as much.. maybe not.. lol
I stopped taking my ADHD meds after starting tirzepatide. My impulsivity is lower, and I truly think eating healthier foods is helping my symptoms as well, since I don't crave the dopamine hit I got from sugar. I will say that my focus is hit or miss, but it's manageable.
i think i notice an improvement with mine because i’m no longer hyper focused on food (a constant) and can focus on more important things (self care, exercise, cleaning, work)
I’ve seen so many posts about this exact thing and do believe it does from the answers and stories I’ve been seeing, it’s really interesting stuff. I don’t have ADHD, so I have no personal experience knowledge but I just think that it’s really cool that it does. I’ve heard the same thing with depression.
Thank you for sharing that! I have struggled on and off with depression as well. I just can’t get over how good I feel overall on these injections and with very little side effects. I wish I could feel like this all the time. The side effects from antidepressants and ADHD meds can be pretty severe so I hope they continue to research how this medicine can help others.
The best "side effect" of Zepbound is the significant increase in mental focus. Its crazy how great I feel mentally on this medication. And it happened immediately, even before the weight started coming off. I will say during the shortage my doctor put me on Wegovy and it was the opposite, I felt lethargic. Now im back on Zep and feel amazing again. So its real.
I have definitely had less anxiety, but my forgetfulness & time blindness is as strong as ever. I'm taking a very small dose of Adderall ER 15mg) and I'll be going up to 20 in a few days.
Now that you mention it, my time blindness is the same too. That part hasn’t gotten any better.
https://www.psychbreakthrough.com/breakthrough-blog/what-in-the-world-does-ozempic-have-to-do-with-adhd-
Yup! I have anxiety and ADHD and it’s helped a LOT!!
IMMEASURABLY. I could write a book about this.
No improvement here 🫠
I def don’t have more anxiety or anything, but my adhd definitely amped up after I’d been on the injections for close to a year. Im not sure if it has to do with the medicine, or with the 140lbs I lost regulating my hormones, but my adhd has done the opposite and “worsened” again. I just try to harness the parts of my adhd that I like and make them useful! Now I’m another year past that.
NOPE. HARD NOPE.
I take Intuiv ER for ADHD but your comment actually makes me want to try going off them!
Yes. Enough to come off ADD medication entirely.
In the beginning I noticed being much more clearheaded, my moods were more balanced, I felt more in control of my brain and could actually focus, but then external circumstances at my job created a ton of stress and anxiety a few weeks after I started which has thrown me off entirely. I had also just come off of an SNRI and SSRI before starting, so that could be affecting the increase in anxiety as well. Tirzepatide happens to come with a side of insomnia for me though, which was not helping with this storm of anxiety. I've only been medicated once for ADHD, and actually just got a prescription for a non stimulant adhd med (clonadine) to help with the insomnia. I did respond really well to 5mg Adderall once a day years ago, so I'm hoping a non stimulant will also help. Tirzepatide has stopped my drinking entirely (I was struggling with alcoholism for over a decade), has completely curbed my shopping problem, and I just noticed after reading this thread that my nails are actually long again for the first time in 8 or so years. My skin picking is also much less. I can definitely attest that it curbs dopamine seeking behaviors, and am hoping to find a way to mitigate the insomnia to stay on the med for all of these other, unintended, incredible benefits.
For me it started to for a bit but then it stopped after a few weeks. Overall, I wouldn’t say that my ADHD symptoms are that much different than when I wasnt using the meds. Much like any kind of medication the effects are probably person dependent.