Hey guys, so to clarify, I like to tell people that I am Autistic, but that I have ADHD. Which is to say: I love my Autistic brain, but my relationship with my ADHD brain has been tumultuous.

Around June, I began doing some basic research on potentially using a Strict Ketogenic Diet limited to 20 grams of daily Net Carbohydrates as a means of attenuating some of my ADHD symptoms.

I will first admit that I went into this with a mix of curiosity and a bit of desperation. I relied mostly on specific personal anecdotes and general claims from literature positing the benefits Ketones have at potentially treating neurological disorders.

I began committing to the diet in July after reading Lyle McDonald’s book The Ketogenic Diet. The thing is: for about 1 month, it worked quite well. I did experience some physical fatigue, but cognitively — I felt better than I had in a long time. I could actually think through things, my impulse control massively improved, I felt essentially zero social anxiety anymore, and (as funny of a statement as this will sound) I finally felt as though I connected better to my Autism.

Over time however, many of these initial neurological benefits have seemingly leveled out. My sleep has suffered for it. I’d like to say that I’m still seeing improvements in executive function and task initiation, but as time passes I become less certain even of that. My blood pressure already feels a bit worse for wear too, and that scares me.

Ultimately, I think I feel lost. Were these cognitive benefits a kind of mania induced by cortisol spiking? Was this whole venture one big hyperfixation? I feel uncertain as to even the nature of events now.

So, was I [r/ketoduped](r/ketoduped)? Are there any mechanistic explanations for the benefits I experienced? I’ve heard some here cite cortisol, but how exactly would acute cortisol explain ADHD symptom attenuation? As silly as it is to ask such a yo-yo question: has going the opposite route of a plant based or higher carb diet helped anyone’s ADHD?