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Comment by iamdbtoo | Hacker News Reader

This is very related to a theory I have that as my blood pressure has gotten higher over the years my ADHD also gets more difficult to manage. Guanfacine has also helped my symptoms more than anything and it was first brought to market as a blood pressure medication.

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I'm another data point that confirms this. ADHD has become harder to manage close to when I was diagnosed with hypertension, almost to the point of complete executive dysfunction.

Guanfacine helps significantly.

I'm also on BP medication, and if I miss a couple of doses and my BP rises, it becomes impossible to think clearly. So the link to cognitive decline seems unsurprising to me.

>complete executive dysfunction

Could you describe that more? As in the sensation?

It's a complete inability to direct myself to do a task, even when it is extremely simple. For example, paying a bill, or responding to a text message. I want to do it, but the task seems insurmountable. I eventually complete the tasks by sheer attrition, but it feels like I'm walking over hot coals. Guanfacine helps significantly.

I have elevated blood pressure and what I suspect to be an undiagnosed case of ADHD. I've never made the connection until reading your comment. I thought perhaps it's just been years of doomscrolling that has destroyed my attention span. Maybe both?

I routinely get blood pressure spikes in the late afternoons. It's hard to describe but when it happens I feel like I need my vision to "zoom out", it's almost overwhelming / fatiguing to maintain what I'm looking at. I feel "spaced out" cognitively when this happens.

Do you have any more information about this? It would explain the challenge I've been experiencing as I enter my early 40s with a family history of hypertension; my blood pressure has been going up, which makes sense, but my ADHD has also been getting harder to manage, which doesn't.

I have a similar issue. Amphetamine gives me more side effects and seems to help less these days despite being a wonder drug thru my 20s. I’ve optimized my diet and exercise regularly, half because of this, but it only goes so far. I’m running out of levers to pull.

Sorry for the late response, but I don't have any more information about it as it's mostly anecdotal based on my experience. The best explanation I have come up with is the high blood pressure lowers the amount of oxygenated blood in the brain making it harder to produce dopamine, which it is already struggling to do.

This is fascinating as adhd stimulants usually raise blood pressure. I am going through the adhd diagnosis process and take a bp med.. maybe I can get guanfacine.

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