Discover the unbelievable impact of weight-loss injections on ADHD symptoms and body fat. Unveiling the surprising benefits of this treatment beyond weight loss.

When I began using weight loss injections last year, I was thrilled to see the pounds come off after struggling with impulsive eating and unsuccessful dieting for so long. However, I experienced an unexpected secondary benefit.

For quite some time, certain aspects of my life mirrored the chaotic nature of my connection with food due to my ADHD, a condition I was only diagnosed with at the age of 49 in August last year.

I have a tendency to forget things, I am frequently late, constantly misplacing items, make impulse purchases, and find it difficult to focus, making it challenging to complete routine tasks.

Then I took the weight-loss jabs and suddenly the symptoms I’d lived with for so long eased – and even disappeared.

I first noticed the change when I became unusually efficient with household chores. Pre-jab me would spend all morning wandering around gathering up laundry for the wash and sorting things into piles, but then I’d get distracted and start clearing out a cupboard. 

Within a few minutes of that I’d lose track again and do something else… then spend the rest of the day surrounded by chaos, wallowing in guilt and self-recrimination.

But to my surprise, within a few weeks of taking the jabs I developed a degree of efficiency I’d never known before: I became a de-cluttering queen with laser-like focus.

 I was also super-organised about planning nutritious meals. I ‘got stuff done’, which was completely new to me.

Confused by this, I put up a post on one of the Facebook jab support groups I was following, asking if anyone else had noticed their ADHD had vanished along with their appetite. 

A surprising number commented that they were seeing similar changes. One woman said she had ‘clarity’ for the first time in her life, and that word really resonated with me. 

I remember thinking ‘Gosh, I’m not going mad! This is really happening!’

I’d always been scatty and clumsy, and it made life difficult, not just for me but for my family too. I was that mum who accidentally sent her son to school in uniform on mufti day. 

My poor husband, Jason, regularly had to eat lettuce sandwiches in his packed lunch because I’d forgotten to put in the cheese or ham. I was a terrible procrastinator, always thinking, ‘Oh, I’ll get on to that tomorrow’, but never doing it.

ADHD can make you crave the buzz of trying new things, and you could open up a craft shop with the various hobby kits I’ve accumulated. I’d get such a rush of dopamine (the feel-good hormone) from the prospect of learning how to crochet or sew or do calligraphy, but then completely lose interest once I’d bought the kit.

Although, with hindsight, the signs were clear, I was only officially diagnosed with ADHD last summer after four years on an NHS waiting list. 

The consultation was a three-hour phone interrogation, and the consultant confirmed my diagnosis of ‘combined-type ADHD’ characterised by impulsivity and risk-taking.

Medication was discussed but I said ‘No’ because I’d heard the drugs can alter the way you think and behave and, besides, Mounjaro was making me feel so much calmer, I didn’t think I needed anything else.

The official diagnosis gave me an overwhelming surge of relief. Now everything made sense. I’d always thought I was a bit weird, never quite fitting in. 

At school I had misbehaved, frequently ‘bunking off’ (the ‘risk-taking’ the ADHD consultant was referring to), leaving school after GCSEs to work as an office junior. Aged 24, I married Jason in 2001, setting up home in Basildon, Essex, where I helped him run his business and stayed at home to look after our son, Luke, now 20.

In my mid-40s I started training to become a counsellor, taking courses at the local adult education college. We often worked in small groups, practising our new skills on each other, and I started to realise I sometimes thought and behaved differently from the others.

Someone mentioned I could have ADHD so I asked my GP. She ran through an initial screening questionnaire which confirmed my suspicions and put me on the waiting list for a proper diagnosis.

During this time my weight started to really spiral out of control.

In truth my eating had been a problem for years, and I’d always been ‘well-built’. I’d regularly skip breakfast and lunch because I thought that would help shift some pounds, but then become so consumed with hunger by 3pm I’d reach for a biscuit with my cup of tea and eat the entire packet.

I’d always had terrible willpower, which filled me with shame, and I had developed a habit of secret eating in my childhood. If Jason popped out or nipped upstairs for a shower I’d think, ‘Quick! Grab a

biscuit!’, trying to convince myself that if no one saw me eating, I wouldn’t have to acknowledge or admit to being ‘bad’.

There was a thrill in getting away with this and, with hindsight, I can see that sneaking food gave me the dopamine hit that people with ADHD search for. It felt addictive.

Over the years I must have tried every diet fad going. I’ve been size 14/16 for most of my adult life, but by January last year I had reached 16 stone, way too heavy for my 5ft 2in frame. My BMI of 34.5 put me in the obese category and I was wearing size 18-20 trousers.

Then I heard about weight loss jabs. When I asked my GP, she said the surgery wouldn’t fund them, so I contacted an online pharmacy instead. I started on the lowest possible dose of Mounjaro, and kept my GP informed about my progress.

I have to confess, it was a revelation. I remember doing the first big food shop the week I started. I was on autopilot, following my familiar route up and down the aisles which habitually culminated by the sweets, where I always bought something – a bar of Dairy Milk or a Wispa, even if I wasn’t hungry. 

Without Jason or Luke watching me I could polish off three chocolate bars between the checkout and the car.

But on this occasion, I looked at the chocolate… and I felt nothing. This was the aisle that had given me so much pleasure – but now, absolutely nothing. 

I’d read about GLP-1 medication dulling appetite and slowing the digestive system, but people weren’t talking about it silencing ‘food noise’ too. Yet this was what was happening to me.

Intrigued, I bought some chocolate, unwrapping it as I was loading the car. But when I put a piece in my mouth, the consistency and texture seemed wrong. I felt no thrill, no illicit pleasure. I threw the chocolate in a bin. 

I’d never done that to chocolate in my life! With the food noise removed I realised for the first time just how much mental bandwidth it had been taking up. Wipe out all the exhausting chatter about ‘finding something sweet’ and then not having to deal with all the self-recrimination that follows eating it, and you’re left with masses of wonderful headspace.

 I’m sure this partly contributed to the easing of my ADHD. The new me had a calm, subliminal focus I’d never experienced before. Without all the cravings and anxiety surrounding food, I found myself much better able to focus on feeding myself properly.

For the first time in my adult life, I was eating three small, healthy meals a day with yoghurt or fruit as snacks. My secret scoffing stopped completely. The way my eating intersected with my ADHD suddenly became crystal clear to me.

But it wasn’t just food – and this was the real revelation. By the time I moved on to my second Mounjaro injection pen after four weeks, I noticed other ADHD symptoms were softening too. My anxiety levels faded into the background, I procrastinated less, which meant less self-

recrimination. I found I could spend longer periods focusing on my counselling studies. I was less easily distracted, but mostly I felt calmer and more in control. It meant I could complete the counselling course – I graduated last summer – and carry on studying.

I set myself up as a counsellor and created my own website, a complicated task that required so much intense focus, I’m sure I’d never have been able to achieve that before.

And yet… I knew I couldn’t stay on Mounjaro for ever. By last November, after seven months on the lowest dose, I’d lost three stone and my weight dropped below 13st for the first time in decades, which was thrilling. But sadly I felt I couldn’t justify the cost of the jabs any more.

Sure enough, four weeks after stopping, my ADHD behaviours started to creep back. The busy brain and anxiety reappeared, and the volume on the food noise crept up. 

When Jason brought home a big tub of chocolates at Christmas I steeled myself to go nowhere near it, but I found myself dipping in. I also started picking at and biting my nails – an old anxiety habit that stopped when I was on Mounjaro.

 I had stuck to the healthy eating regimen, but without the jabs my weight was going up, so in February this year I decided I wanted that clarity back. My weight meant I still qualified for the jabs, but the truth was I really missed the focus and energy that medication gave me. To pay for them this time, I was willing to sacrifice my regular hair appointments.

Now I’m back in the zone and working to build my business. I love this dynamic, efficient version of myself, and if I could stay on a low dose for life I would. I’ve read about long-term GLP-1 ‘microdosing’, and my hope is scientists will recognise the effect it has on ADHD and make it available in a similar regime to help people like me.

Until that happens, I know I’ll have to stop the jabs once my weight hits the healthy range, so I’m making the most of the focus I’ve got now to set good habits. I am diligent about taking supplements such as Omega-3 and multivitamins, which can help with ADHD, and I’m practising mindfulness techniques to keep anxiety and brain chatter at bay.

While I’m using the jabs to help me lose weight, I am confident it is helping my body and brain achieve a better equilibrium and giving me the mental space to develop good habits that will stick. With this focus and positivity I can get closer to being the best version of myself – a better businesswoman, mum and wife.

And while that lasts I am amazed – and grateful.

• As told to LOUISE ATKINSON

How drugs could rewire brain to help you focus 

Dr Mohamed Najjar is a GP working with Jorja Healthcare, a private clinic offering weight management treatments and adult ADHD diagnosis.

‘One reason people taking GLP-1 medications notice a potential softening of ADHD traits could be that there are GLP-1 receptors in the brain, and many in areas related to reward, which also seem to control addictive or repetitive behaviours.

‘This hypothesis stems from the observation that certain symptoms of ADHD, such as impulsivity and difficulty with focus, may be linked to dysregulation of dopamine and other neurotransmitters in the brain.

‘It is very early days in this area and more studies are needed to better establish this link, but early discussions do suggest a connection.’

Dr Shashi Prasad, a GP specialising in women’s health with the Marion Gluck clinics, adds: ‘Some people have reported better focus and impulse control, reduction in food craving and even dopamine-seeking behaviours, and feeling more stable or motivated.

‘Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) acts on GLP-1 and GIP receptors, which affect the appetite and reward circuits in the brain and possibly dopamine transmission (which is key in ADHD).

‘However, currently there is no direct clinical evidence for this in humans.

Animal studies have indicated that GLP-1 receptor agonists improve cognition and executive function in rodents, but further research is needed.’