Jump to: What is ADHD? | What is Mounjaro? | Why take Mounjaro if you have ADHD? | Take home message
You can take Mounjaro (tirzepatide) if you have ADHD, and emerging evidence suggests this medication might help to address the unique challenges that many people with ADHD face when managing their weight and eating patterns.
Research reveals that adults with ADHD often experience distinct challenges with traditional weight loss approaches.
Studies show that people with ADHD typically achieve different outcomes in standard weight loss programmes – around 3.3% weight loss compared to 5.6% in those without ADHD.
Think of ADHD’s impact on weight, like trying to follow a complex recipe while simultaneously managing multiple other tasks – it requires extra mental energy and organisation that can feel overwhelming.
Mounjaro’s once-weekly dosing and ability to manage hunger and appetite could help simplify this process by reducing hunger and food cravings to allow for more mindful eating choices.
The relationship between ADHD and weight isn’t just about willpower or motivation – it’s about how our brain’s executive functions influence our eating patterns, food choices, and daily routines.
The complexity of ADHD helps explain why traditional weight loss approaches may not work for people living with ADHD.
What is ADHD?
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition affecting approximately 2.6 million people in the UK.
Rather than being a simple attention problem, ADHD represents a unique way that the brain processes information and manages executive functions – think of it as having a powerful engine (the brain) with complex but different operating instructions.
ADHD impacts executive functions like your brain’s control centre for planning, organising, and regulating behaviour. This affects not just attention but many aspects of daily life, including how we approach food and our eating patterns.
Every person with ADHD experiences the condition differently, but common patterns include:
- Varied attention patterns that can affect meal planning and preparation
- Different approaches to organisation that might impact shopping and food storage
- Unique decision-making patterns that can influence food choices
- Natural variations in energy levels and activity throughout the day
- Individual ways of completing tasks and following through on health plans
- Distinct patterns of emotional regulation that might affect eating behaviours
The relationship between ADHD and obesity
The connection between ADHD and weight management is more complex than previously understood.
Recent research suggests that people with ADHD often experience weight management differently due to how their brains process rewards, plan activities, and manage impulses.
Think of it like trying to follow a GPS with an intermittent signal – you know where you want to go, but the usual navigation system isn’t consistently reliable.
This can manifest as:
- Natural variations in eating patterns that might not align with traditional meal schedules
- Different responses to hunger and fullness cues
- Unique approaches to food choice and meal planning
- Individual challenges with implementing and maintaining weight loss strategies
- Varying levels of confidence in managing eating behaviours
Research shows that traditional weight loss programs might not fully address these unique patterns, leading to different success rates – about 31% of people with ADHD symptoms achieve significant weight loss in standard programmes compared to 61% of those without ADHD.
However, this doesn’t mean weight management is impossible – it just means the approach might need to differ.
What is Mounjaro?
Mounjaro is a dual-action weight-loss injection. It supports weight loss by mimicking two hormones, GLP-1 and GIP, that communicate with the brain’s appetite control centre, the hypothalamus, to lower hunger and food-seeking behaviour.
The drug in Mounjaro is tirzepatide.
By lowering hunger and our desire to eat, Mounjaro helps us eat fewer calories to achieve a calorie deficit.
A calorie deficit occurs when we consume fewer calories than our body needs to fuel its essential functions, such as digestion, blood flow, and brain function.
By creating a calorie deficit, our bodies will ‘burn’ the excess fat stored for energy, and we’ll lose weight.
Mounjaro also slows down the rate at which we digest food so that our stomach and gut send signals to the brain to signal the feeling of fullness.
So, Mounjaro supports weight loss by making us feel less hungry through two mechanisms:
- Communicating with the brain’s appetite control centre
- Slowing the rate that food is digested
Randomised controlled trials have shown that Mounjaro leads to an average weight loss of around 26% after one year.
Why take Mounjaro if you have ADHD?
For people managing both ADHD and weight concerns, Mounjaro may offer several benefits to support weight loss that align well with common ADHD-related challenges:
- Simplified dosing schedule: The once-weekly injection format can be especially helpful for people with ADHD who might find daily medication routines challenging.
- Lower hunger and appetite: Mounjaro’s effect on appetite hormones could help balance the impulsive eating patterns that some people with ADHD experience. Rather than requiring constant conscious control over eating decisions, it helps our body regulate hunger and fullness signals.
- The long-acting effect of the medication: Mounjaro’s long-acting effect may help compensate for the variable energy and attention patterns common in ADHD. It’s like having a steady background support system that works even on days when executive function is more challenging.
- Potential additional benefits: Animal research suggests that GLP-1 medications might benefit brain function. However, it’s important to note that this needs further study, particularly in people with ADHD.
Our recommendations for optimising success on Mounjaro:
- Aim to lose weight slowly at a rate of 0.5-1lb per week
- Make gradual changes to your lifestyle
- Focus on simple recipes with less than five ingredients
- We’d recommend telling your doctor that you’re planning to take Mounjaro
Take home message
Living with ADHD and managing weight involves unique challenges, and traditional approaches to weight loss might not work.
While Mounjaro hasn’t been studied explicitly in people with ADHD, its mechanism of action and convenient dosing schedule could help address many common challenges that arise when managing both conditions.
Remember that your journey with both ADHD and weight loss is unique to you. While Mounjaro can be a helpful tool, it’s most effective when combined with developing healthy habits.
Second Nature’s medication programmes
Second Nature has two medication-supported programmes: a Wegovy weight-loss programme and a Mounjaro weight-loss programme.
Why should you choose Second Nature over other medication providers if you’ve decided to try Mounjaro or Wegovy (assuming you’re eligible)?
For peace of mind.
Second Nature has worked with the NHS for over 6 years, providing weight-loss programmes across the UK.
While our Wegovy and Mounjaro weight-loss programmes are private and not currently used by the NHS, we’ve built the programmes focusing on scientific evidence, patient safety, and data security.
We hope that our 6+ years of working with the NHS and building a track record of effective weight-loss results will give you peace of mind to give us a try.
