Hello, I’m hoping to gain some perspective from others who might be in the same boat. Please only comment if you have direct experience with ADHD medication.
I’m on Concerta and I’ve noticed that if I don’t eat when I take the pill, it makes me quite shaky and the day isn’t as smooth. While it also suppresses appetite somewhat, I still feel my empty stomach and by lunch at noon when my break and first meal would normally be, I’m ravenous. When I have a protein-rich light breakfast with my pill, it seems to work better.
Also, when the effect wears off, I’m RAVENOUS. Do any of y’all fast in the morning when you take your meds or do you rather start your feeding window in the morning? How do you feel when the meds wear off, can you handle fasting in the evening well? I’m just having trouble combining the two things.
I take a long acting methylphenidate (generic). Been on quite a few so I can’t remember the brand name. Sometimes I take a 5mg immediate release with it. I take it upon waking, well, within 45 min. of waking. I find it actually makes fasting easier because it reduces my morning hunger. What is your eating window? Can you take it at 11:00A & eat lunch then? Will it last too long & keep you awake? Can you switch to immediate release twice daily? It’d wear off by noon, you could eat when you take pill 2 & be done w lunch by the time it started working again.YMMV, and there are over a dozen other comments here but I’d look at the content of the food pre/post fast (i.e. what you ended the last eating period with & what you broke your fast with). Other than hunger suppression I don’t get any other fasting related symptoms from my Rx. When the meds wear off I go to bed. Idk if this helps but my eating window varies, but roughly 1/2 the week is 18:6 (9:00-3:00), other half 20:4 (10, 11 - 2 or 3) and if I eat late one night (like after 8:00P, I’ll follow with a 38 hr fast. I’m at my goal weight now give/take 3lbs but I’m more relaxed at when I start. I think I’ll have at least 16:8 for life though.
I take a different ADHD med (regular Adderall) and I haven’t noticed any trouble taking it on an empty stomach. I guess it may suppress my appetite some — but before IF, it certainly didn’t stop me eating three good meals a day plus snacks, or stop me gaining enough weight to push me into the obese BMI category. So I truly don’t think all of my hunger signals are related to when the meds wear off.
Of course, Concerta is a different drug and formulation than Adderall. And meds can affect people differently. Maybe for you, the best IF schedule would be breakfast and lunch, and skip dinner.
Alternately, if you want to, you could talk to your doctor about trying a different medication. Maybe immediate-release vs. extended-release is an issue, or the particular kind of stimulant. But I definitely understand how hard it can be to find a medication and dosage that works for you, so I understand if you really don’t want to mess with changing meds.
I’m quite new to intermittent fasting, but I’ve modified my schedule to make sure I can eat with my meds! I might suggest changing your fasting window to make sure you can eat with your meds, if you’ve noticed your body does better when eating alongside taking your medication. Good luck !!
I would recommend eating in the evening but it depends on ur schedule. I was taking Concerta while doing IF but I ended up passing out as a result because the meds already suppress your appetite. When you combine a 16+ no eating window with concerta that makes you not want to eat you end up starving yourself. I went a few days without eating more than a packet of crisps so it can be dangerous.
I don’t take Concerta, I take extended release adderall. I also consume a lot of caffeine in the morning/early afternoon. I’ve been experimenting with L-theanine because it supposedly helps with jitters/shakiness by increasing your serotonin and gamma aminobutyric acid levels. In my opinion, it has helped with my shakiness.
I’ve tried so many different eating windows and protocols. I agree with you on the small, protein rich breakfast. I used to eat a meal very early morning. For a few years now, I’ve been eating later in the day. I’m tempted to try to go back to eating earlier but I may experience the same issue all over again.
When the meds wear off… things can go either way. Sometimes ravenous doesn’t begin to describe how hungry I am. Other times, I’m just fine. For a long time, I was ravenous after the medication wore off. I think that’s why I lean towards eating later in the day. Smaller eating window with bigger portions. I do one meal a day, when I can.
I had to experiment a lot to find what works for me and what works for me changes quite frequently.