At 37, I started taking stimulant medicine for focus. This decision came after decades of struggling with what was undiagnosed ADHD. Yet, another struggle arose. I drink raw apple cider vinegar (ACV with the mother) every day. Read about my personal experiment and success with taking apple cider vinegar and Adderall.
Acidic foods and beverages can have possible drug interactions. For example, cider vinegar contains acetic, citric, lactic, succinic acid, and more. Likewise, citric acid and ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) can affect stimulant medicines. Adderall, Concerta, Dexedrine, Ritalin, and Vyvanse are stimulant medicines that help with focus and attention.
Numerous ACV books, herbal medicine books, and other supplement guides all claim that vinegar “could” decrease the effectiveness of certain medications. Although, none of these claims are proven by clinical trials. In fact, there is no study to date proving any interference of drinking vinegar or acetic acid with stimulant medicine.
“Not established” or “few scientific studies” are common phrases medical professionals and books use when speaking about ACV. Therefore, physicians and psychiatrists like mine, urge their patients to “use caution” when drinking vinegar such as ACV with ADHD medications.
To illustrate, lemon juice is 5-6% citric acid. Exact amounts of citric acid in raw ACV are not available. The only area giving advice and information about ACV with stimulant medicine are ADHD blogs by professionals who have studied ADHD for decades.
Apple Cider Vinegar Medicine Interactions
For a few weeks I took my 10 mg XR Adderall with plain water. Then, I took the Adderall for three days with mother-infused ACV water. After I repeated this process once more, my results were inconclusive.
I thought I felt a slight difference, but I cannot say for certain if taking ACV water with Adderall affects my focus. It may not have because XR doses slowly release in the system. A personal experimentation like this is subjective. Individual experiments should not be seen as the case for every one taking the same medication. I did not complete a scan of my brain. No blood work was done, nor did a doctor complete any medical evaluation on me during this experiment.
Are you sometimes not sure if something is working or not?
Soon after, I switched to Ritalin 10 mg because Adderall gave me insomnia. After completing the same experiment with the 10 mg Ritalin, I was sure this time that there was no difference in my level of focus. Although, I realized it was because 10 mg of Ritalin was not strong enough for me. Drinking ACV water with Ritalin 15 mg definitely decreased my focus. Therefore, taking ACV water did decrease the efficiency of 15 mg Ritalin, in my opinion.
After much research, one rule was constant in every medical and ADHD blog I examined: wait an hour before and after taking stimulants to ingest acetic and/or citric acid, so that is what I do.
I have been adding raw ACV to my water daily for over five years. I’m so glad I found a way to still have my daily natural tonic and take my medicine. |
How to Drink Apple Cider Vinegar
Waiting an hour after taking medicine to drink ACV may pose other issues. Some people drink ACV water for weight loss. Drinking ACV first thing in the morning on an empty stomach really drives metabolism. However, stimulant medicines should always be taken in the morning. Some, such as Ritalin, need to be followed with food.
If you take ACV for weight loss, make a plan that works best for you. It is very doable to drink ACV and use a stimulant. Write out a list of options.
- Cut out drinking ACV first thing in the morning if you need to take a stimulant medicine right away.
OR
- Drink raw ACV water first, and then wait an hour to take your medication. Let’s say you drink your ACV water at 6:30 and then take your medicine at 7:30? Or, what if you drink your ACV water at 7:00 and take your medication at 8:00?
In this case, I think everyone should do their own personal experiment. If you take stimulant medicine and want to see if ACV water affects its potency, try it for yourself. Every human body is different.
An important thing to note is, before I started taking Adderall, I squeezed a slice of lemon in my ACV water. Since lemon juice is 5-6% citric acid, I did not add this to my ACV water in the mornings I took Adderall. Never drink citric beverages with stimulant medicine.
Apple cider vinegar and Adderall. Yes, it’s possible.
Don’t give up on ACV. Drinking mother-infused ACV water daily has strengthened my immune system and more. |
Live life dirty. Drink Dirty Water.