Mucuna pruriens Protocol for ADHD: What to Expect
The natural supplements for ADHD essentially cured the problem of hyperactivity and a lack of concentration in Alexander within 48 hours of beginning the treatment, but getting rid of these symptoms of ADHD didn’t immediately change the family dynamic. When the ADHD goes away, the family dynamic seeks to maintain itself for lack of other scripts to follow and crises to manage. Other members of the family who are in need of attention and resources suddenly cry out in pain, often several family members at a time. When ADHD symptoms are no longer a major part of every day life in the family, other needs can be addressed as long as the family, as a whole, can move forward together without becoming angry with each other about any neglect that may have happened in the past.
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There are different stages to the healing process. All families have issues to overcome. No family is perfect. ADHD is a challenging situation that can use up a lot of resources very quickly in a family. In families with an ADHD child, trauma-informed therapy is essential for this reason. Parents should consider working with something like psilocybin microdosing and macrodosing to promote their own fast adaptation to positive change within the family. As the ADHD symptoms disappear, psilocybin can help family members develop new neural connections individually so that interactions within the family can change in a positive way.Below, we discuss the overall trajectory of healing for Alexander to give readers a sense of what to expect during the initial stages of healing.
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Day 1
On this first day, Anne told me that she was no longer giving Alexander the Atomoxetine because she felt like it made him violent. He was still taking Focalin twice a day.At first, Alexander refused the natural treatment for ADHD that I had prepared for him. I let him refuse it, but told him that he didn’t know what he was refusing and that I wouldn’t offer it to him again that day. He would have another chance the next day and I told him that I would happily tell him about the medicines that I would be offering him and that he and I would talk about what he was taking and he’d have some control over the process.
We went out to dinner with the family, and around 5:00 PM, about an hour after a rib-eye dinner, Alexander saw a toy that he wanted at a market stall. At that time, he had a meltdown. My husband, John, and I put Alexander in a SuperNanny-style “Time Out” (see a full episode of Jo Frost’s work at YouTube). Alexander stayed where we put him on a bench in a quiet area of the market, but instead of getting calmer over time, Alexander’s screaming got louder and louder over time. Eventually, he became destructive toward a vine growing on the wall and John and I decided that it was time to move toward the family’s Home Base.
On the way to our vehicle, Alexander began thrashing around and screaming violently. He was angry. His father, Tim, John, and I restrained Alexander gently while standing in a crowd of tourists. My daughter, Lydian, and her husband called a taxi. I observed Alexander’s thrashing and the screaming as a mix of emotions or trauma. I felt like Alexander wasn’t really “there” anymore during this fit. He was in a state of dissociation. He was no longer fully conscious of what he was doing. Sometimes he cried as though he was sad and when he cried in this way, I stroked his hair and whispered in his ear that we all loved him and that we would take care of him. When he screamed angrily and thrashed in a destructive way, we held him gently and I told him that “these are his choices, and these are the consequences.” I was very careful with my words because I felt like Alexander wasn’t fully conscious so I was speaking to his unconscious mind. My words, as such, would be powerful.
Later, Alexander confirmed that he had indeed heard what I said to him during this time and he responded by trusting me.
After the taxi came, Alexander continued to scream and thrash around inside the taxi. When we arrived back at our vehicle however, he suddenly became okay again and said that he’d seen an “ocelot” outside the window. The switch from thrashing and destructive behavior to being “okay” was dramatic and swift, but it made sense to me. When we arrived back at our vehicle, Alexander’s brain released a bit of dopamine after having eaten that rib-eye some hours earlier (the meat contained the amino acids, vitamins, and minerals that his body needed to manufacture dopamine) and he was able to come back to himself again.
It seemed to me that Alexander’s brain was completely starved of dopamine due to the drugs he’d been taking. The Focalin and Atomoxetine had literally squeezed every bit of dopamine out of his neurons that had been available and I could see that his diet wasn’t providing the necessary amino acids for him to produce adequate levels of dopamine for Alexander to function throughout the day. He wasn’t producing very much dopamine because the drugs caused Alexander’s appetite to be significantly diminished--so he wasn’t eating enough foods or the right foods to make dopamine naturally. And the drugs artificially caused his brain to release dopamine at inappropriate times to keep him docile for strangers or people who aren’t as closely related to him.
One of the functions of dopamine is to help us make decisions in relationships and close relationships are decidedly more rewarding than relationships with people who are more distant to us. But Alexander only had dopamine available during the day when he was with teachers and friends. By the time he made it home at the end of the day, his dopamine stores were all used up. This is a complex topic, but the point I want to make is that Alexander didn’t have the necessary dopamine available in his neurons in the first place, and then, his brain wasn’t releasing the dopamine in response to normal rewards like when he feels loved and accepted by his family, or when he completes a project well, or when he’s having fun playing. Indeed, Alexander’s brain didn’t release dopamine very often at all because he was deficient in dopamine, but also because close family members (normally a huge source of dopamine release) had given up on him. Most of his interactions with his parents were negative.
On the way back to the Home Base, Alexander told me that he’d decided that he would like to try the supplements that I’d offered him that morning. I promised to teach him about each one so that he could take control of himself. I didn’t make a big deal of it, but I did tell him that the supplements would help him a LOT and that he could look forward to that.
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Day 2
On the second day, Alexander readily took the supplements in the morning before we went out for the day. I explained each supplement to him briefly one-by-one, and I gave him some choices about how much vitamin C to take so that he felt a sense of control over his own recovery. I also let him decide how much magnesium to take, but encouraged him to take at least 3 gummies to make his body, mind, and muscles feel relaxed. He was distrustful of the pills because the pills he’d been given up to this point made him feel bad. I acknowledged this problem and told him that these pills were supplements and they would make him feel NORMAL...they would make him feel like himself.On this day, I held Alexander’s hand when we went out sight-seeing. He became visibly anxious about going out before we left Home Base and I explained to him that if he had a “fit” while we were out that we would take care of him today just as we had the day before. This made him feel better and we all left as a family, but returned by 2:00 PM to Home Base in anticipation of a difficult afternoon. Alexander worried about losing control of himself. Most ADHD children worry about losing control of themselves and don’t like the feeling of not being in control of their own behavior.
Alexander had asked nicely for ice cream and I let him have some but told him to pay attention to what happened within an hour or so of eating it. Sure enough, his behavior deteriorated and later that night he had another “fit”. I explained to Alexander why this happened. I told him that the sugar causes his brain to use up all its fuel (dopamine) and then he crashes, can’t control himself, and feels terrible after that. I told him that I had honey-candies and healthy sweets like fruit leathers that he could eat instead of ice cream and refined sugar sweets the next day.
Alexander’s mother still gave him his first dose of Focalin on Day 2, but forgot to give him his second dose because his behavior was so much better.
Around 7:00 PM, during dinner that night, Alexander refused to sit and eat his food, so John and I put him in Time Out again and he sat in his time-out square and screamed. Nonetheless though, he stayed put and as the rest of us sat nearby eating, I told the parents that his screaming sounded to me like an emotional release or a manifestation of underlying trauma that needs to be released. I likened it to a balloon that was slowly deflating. When Alexander returned to his seat, I told him (and his parents) that one day soon, he might feel like he just doesn’t need to scream and cry like that anymore. One day soon, (maybe today, maybe tomorrow, or maybe a week from now), he’d just feel like doing his Time Out and be done with it quickly and easily.
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Day 3
Alexander’s mother forgot to give him his morning dose of Focalin because Alexander’s behavior was notably better by the next morning. I told her to not give him Focalin again, but instead, I gave Alexander supplements 4 times per day thereafter. Alexander had to be put into Time Out a number of times during the 2 week visit (which is normal for a 7 year old who is recovering from ADHD), but he didn’t scream or have any more “fits” after this initial 3 day period.Other children may continue to have “fits” for a longer period of time depending on the underlying trauma that motivates the fits. Trauma informed therapy should be sought out in order to deal with underlying trauma.
We avoided refined sugars for Alexander. He was aware that sugar caused him to have fits so, although he loved sugar, he accepted the honey-based candies, fruit leathers, fresh fruit, and other healthy snacks that I gave him. He preferfed feeling like he could control himself over the taste of refined sugar.
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Day 4
By Day 4, I had noticed that Alexander would develop repetitive behaviors in the afternoon if I gave him JUST the Mucuna without mixing it with the Manuka Honey. I speculated that he needed to have a healthy sugar boost regularly throughout the day because many kids with ADHD have insulin resistance issues as well as anemia (which lowers their oxygen level and causes them to become tired and uncomfortable around mid-day). Also, Alexander craved bananas and would eat 3 of them at a time. Manuka honey is a special type of honey that can boost gut health as well as immunity. Alexander was able to mix his own Manuka and Mucuna (with supervision) by the end of the first week and his mom and I discussed sending a disposable condiment cup with 1 dose of Mucuna with Alexander to school in his lunchbox so that he could give himself a dose of sugars and Mucuna in the afternoon without having to involve the school doctor/nurse in the process.Day 5
On the morning of the 5th day, Alexander felt a little ill. I felt like this was perhaps withdrawal/detox from the Focalin and I sat with him for several hours until he felt better. His mom seemed angry with him because, as I mentioned above, she had needs that were becoming more apparent to her. She was starting to be able to address her own needs and she felt maxxed on in terms of her ability to give attention to Alexander even though he’d made huge strides in his recovery.Alexander was small for his age, but by afternoon, his appetite was insatiable and he started eating a lot more. I encouraged this, but the parents had a hard time noticing that their son was hungry. Again, it’s normal for the family dynamic to resist change. Psilocybin microdosing can help parents enhance their own emotional and intellectual flexibility so as to permit change to take shape. Though these parents felt like their son was still just randomly nagging at them, in fact, he just didn’t feel well because his body was releasing toxins after years of having been given prescription medications. It was hard for the various members of the famly to let go of the dynamic and accept that Alexander was doing well now and be able to see that his desire for more food was normal and healthy. I encouraged Alexander to eat and suggested that he would probably have a growth spurt if the parents kept him off the Focalin and Atomoxetine.
We began psilocybin microdosing at this time and this helped the parents be more receptive to their son’s positive changes. The parents were able to use psilocybin microdosing (and later macrodosing / full-trips) release some of their own trauma and get past their own sense of helplessness and depression after having dealt with an ADHD child for many years.
The rest of the two weeks went relatively smoothly in terms of Alexander’s ADHD symptoms. Using the ADHD natural supplements listed below, we had few ADHD incidents, though homework was still a major issue. Though Alexander had no problems with doing science experiments with me, building stuff, and playing normally along with other hands-on learning activities he HATED the worksheets that he’d been assigned to do. Lydian and I looked through these worksheets and the homework with Alexander’s mother and found that much of the homework didn’t make sense (literally). Of course, school systems differ in regard to this problem, but we recommended that the family seek out a Montessori school or some other educational environment with a more hands-on, student-centered approach.
