ADHD Eating and Exercising

Last week, one of Husband’s doctors ordered routine blood work. Then she phoned with a recommendation for him to see his primary physician.

High blood sugars. Low calcium. 

I still don’t quite know the implications of low calcium. I read what I could find on the Internet, but I don’t like what it says.

“What did the doctor say about the blood sugars?”  I asked this morning after Hubby saw his physician.

“He said all the cokes I drink and the apple juice are likely reasons why my sugars are so high.”

Like I didn’t know that, right? So I pressed onward. “Did he make a comment about the low calcium?”

“No, he ordered more blood work,” Husband said as he showed me the bandage on his arm and handed me the appointment card with a date three months from now.

I slid the card into his wallet, but I did make note the date in my personal planner.

Getting information from that man about important details is like pulling hens’ teeth.

At breakfast, which was really quite healthy, I continued. “So what should we do?”

He responded by asking me how often I check my own blood sugars, and I admitted I no longer bother with it. “So, my care plan is not your responsibility,” he said.

“In a way it is. I can help you remain accountable.”

I waited to hear him outline new life changes. He didn’t say it.

We know both of us could write a book on healthy eating and how to discipline eating habits. However, neither of us feels up to being a hypocrite about the issue.

“I visited a new exercise gym with Oldest Daughter yesterday. It’s noncritical, and I think we could use it three or four times per week. They have great treadmills,” I told him.

“What about the bikes? Do they have bikes?”

“Oh, yes, and they have many other choices in equipment. You know we are not going to ride or walk in our neighborhood. It isn’t the place to do so.”

He nodded. He didn’t make a firm commitment, but I interpreted the nod as a positive.

A more disciplined diet and an exercise schedule would benefit blood sugars, calcium deficiency, and ADHD. Frequent diet recommendations include: a high-protein diet, fewer simple carbohydrates and more complex carbohydrates, such as vegetables and some fruits, more omega-3 fatty acids, such as is in fish, walnuts, Brazil nuts, and olive and canola oil, or even in supplements.

“Do you think we really have a choice?”  I asked.

“No.” he simply replied.

I am merely laying this on the table. I’m just saying it. Our children will read this blog and use it as a justification to keep us accountable. Together. This is a together thing.

At McNay&Voth, our primary mission is to encourage and support all persons with ADHD.

We aspire to help adults realize and develop the skills they will need for moving forward in life. That would include knowing about eating and ADHD.

If you are an adult with ADHD and who struggles with life issues, we invite you to contact us THIS WEEK.

Set up an appointment for a free consultation. Reach us at www.coachadhd.com, or 316-655-9807.

We will help you set effective goals and build skills.

Because we care about you,

Dr. Atha McNay and McNay & Voth Gateway Community

The Sleepiness of It All

A colleague said: “Sure teens with ADHD like to sleep 11 or 12 hours. So do my own kids.”

“So does my husband,” I retorted. “Does that make him a kid?”

Maybe not, but it does make him a person with ADHD who has sleep problems.

For a long time now, ADHD has been linked to sleep difficulties. Actually I’ve heard that as many as 55 percent of person with ADHD complain of some sort of sleep problems.

For Husband that means he wears an apnea mask, and like many people with ADHD, he often has restless leg actions and jerky movements in his sleep.

Personally, I appreciate the apnea mask. I can actually get a quieter night’s sleep. Before he got it, his snoring kept me awake or on edge each night. The sound often caused me to dream I was driving a truck.

Seriously.

I appreciate the mask for him, though, more than I do for me.

He sleeps better. A rested Husband is less sluggish and moody. Some days, he is even more clever, witty, and funny.  It is well-known that sleep problems can lead to mood disorders and intellectual impairment. Treating sleep problems in children and adults with ADHD may improve symptoms and quality of life.

In the early days of our marriage, I noticed he slept with his lips tightly together. “How come? I mean you don’t snore or drool or anything.”

“I work at not snoring. My Dad snores,and it’s terrible. He also has the worst breath when he sleeps.” 

Honestly, I really didn’t want to hear this about my Father-in-law.

Husband went on to say, “I once asked Mom: can you imagine sleeping with that noise and breath all the time? She got this hurt look on her face. ‘Yes, I can’ she said.  I thought oops, that was the wrong thing to say to her. But I don’t want to be like Dad.”

Of course, as I mentioned, Husband got over his resolve not to snore. Our children used to complain about his loud snoring as he once did about his Dad’s.

“The worst thing about your sleep problems is how they affect your daytime functioning,” I once told him.

“What do you mean?” he said as he looked at me with a drowsy expression.

“The defense rests,” I retorted.

“But I want to tell you, I continued, “Some researchers think ADHD symptoms are caused by sleep deficiency. I know there is a link between sleep problems and ADHD, but I don’t see that sleep problems cause your ADHD symptoms. I think it may be the opposite.”

“Me, too. I used to wet the bed until I was 12 or 13. Maybe that was part of the restlessness.”

“I thought you were going to say one of your smart-aleck comments and say you wet the bed until you were 20 or 21.”

“Well, you know that I can say some really clever things.”

In case you or a loved one is a person with ADHD who has sleep difficulties, I recommend you see your physician or psychiatrist with a description of your sleep problems and a discussion of sleep hygiene.

If you are a person with ADHD, and you experience any type of problem associated with ADHD, we invite you to visit McNay & Voth.

We can meet by phone, face-to-face, or across Skype or Gmail Chat.

Contact us at www.coachadhd.com or phone 316-655-9807.

We sincerely care,

Dr. Atha McNay and McNay & Voth Gateway Community

VBS 10 Months Early

“Hmmm, I guess they haven’t changed that sign for a while,” I mentioned to Husband as we drove past a neighborhood church.

“What sign do you mean?”

“The one on that church we just past. It says VBS June 9-14. Today is August 8.”

“What makes you think they haven’t changed it? Maybe they are 10 months early,”  he said with his characteristic smirk.

I took a few seconds to pause and ponder what he said. OK, this was one of his jokes.

“Oh, my goodness! I guess you are right. I always fail to think that far ahead, “ I teasingly agreed.

“I know. That’s because you aren’t blessed with ADHD.”

“True,  I ‘m not. I don’t think outside the boundaries like you do.”

“I concur. It’s part of my ADHD creativeness. I just see things from a different perspective than you and most people.” He said it with a stoic blank expression, but he couldn’t hold a straight face for long; he laughed at his own wit. 

I readily agreed with him again. He often thinks in totally different directions than I do. Maybe it’s a male v. female issue. Maybe it’s because he has a quicker sense of humor.

No, I think he was right. His ADHD processing skills gives him a completely different capacity and perception.

It’s inconsistent that he mentioned planning ahead. Here is the man who seldom plans 24-hours ahead other than for going to work or church.

“How peculiar that you would see it as planning ahead.”

I saw that familiar grin cross his face again.

“Well, yes. That’s because it wasn’t I who was doing the planning. I merely reacted to their planning.”

“Does that mean I shouldn’t get my hopes up that you have seen the advantage of planning ahead?”

“Who said they had the advantage for planning ahead? I am the excuse-maker. I know all the comments for justifications or explanations. It’s one of my ADHD talents.”

In essence he said, after all these years, don’t get hopeful that he has improved his planning skills, and as I think about it, I would be foolish to ask him to reinvent himself. He wouldn’t be himself.

If it’s a choice between planning ahead or being witty, I choose the latter. I certainly don’t want him to stop being clever. We’ve endured many months of depression when he looked at me with a blank affect or expression, and during which times he had little humor and didn’t even laugh at our humor. I choose his comic, off-handed comments any day over struggling, pushing, and upholding him while in the depths of despair and despondency.

“So” , I asked, “Are you telling me it is far better to justify an out-dated sign with the explanation that it is actually ahead rather than behind?”

“Sure. I learned that from Mother. When she didn’t get her Christmas cards mailed before December 24, she waited until the following April or May to mail them. Then she told people she was merely early with her cards for the next Christmas.”

You do know, don’t you, that ADHD has a strong genetic link?