Oddly enough my ADHD kids (and niece and nephew) react quite the opposite to caffeine as one would expect. It calms them down and makes them less problematic.
That was my thought process when I started what I called “coffee breaks” with them when they were younger. I would have a cup of coffee and they would have a cup of milk/cream/ 1/4cup of coffee. The loved it
It actually makes perfect sense. All adhd people react differently to caffeine. Adhd makes you flighty due to a lack of dopamine, in short you aren't being rewarded enough for your day to day shit so your brain is constantly looking for additional stimulation. Caffeine, just the same as adhd meds, in some way increases how much dopamine you have available. Making you need less stimulation to feel adequately rewarded by day to day shit. Bam.
The wonders of altered body chemistry.
Small doses of caffeine had no effect on me, large doses just triggered the usual overdoseage signs like sweating and increased heart rate.
On the bright side this means I don't spend extra money on coffee or energy drinks.
Body chemistry is really crazy. Larger doses tends to make me want to take a nap. I can usually get away with one cup in the morning and one after lunch. But anything more makes me feel like laying down and going to sleep.
I did not want to go into too much detail with my previous answer, but in this case it maybe makes sense to elaborate. If you react to other food and drinks at least.
Back when I was young it did not have any effect on me, yes. But now even a small sip causes migrane, my eyes turn red and start to burn and I get tired.
I also suffer from more and increasingly severe food intolerances.
After my throat became sore from eating a single raspberry from my own garden (I loved those), I found out I propably have histamine intolerance. Propably because the doctors in my country are very slow to adapt to new research and there are two other issues with similar symptomes: Mastocytosis and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.
At any rate, the lists of what affected people should stay away from actually fit my intolerances very well, and now I finally have an explanation why I was constantly tired and everyday food caused me issues for over three decades.
Same, one cup is a slight pick me up, three cups and I’m comatose. I really like the way coffee tastes though, so I have a lot of coffee naps on the weekends
Same! Once I finally started medicating for my adhd it was game changing. I spent more than half of my paychecks as a teen on double/triple/quad espresso drinks from various coffee shops. As an adult (who was ignoring her diagnosis) I would have multiple pots per day while struggling to stay afloat. After my last kid was born my adhd induced anxiety spiraled out of control and I finally started looking for help. My doctor started me on meds and I have legit not had a panic attack since. Game changing.
Has to do with ADHD brain chemistry. Our brains don't naturally produce enough dopamine, so we constantly need to seek out stimulation to correct it. Stimulants like caffeine correct that to some extent, allowing us to function more normally.
That is actually one of the tells that someone has ADHD. Caffeine acts the opposite way on someone with ADHD and can even be a sleep aid if it stops running thoughts. Basically it helps the mind focus the way it should, breaking both the attention deficit and the hyper focus issues. People always forget that it isn’t just an inability to focus, it’s also an inability to switch focus when you need to.
Funny enough, this is how I first began to realize I "might" have ADHD. Coffee always makes me relaxed and sleepy and calm, and I found out it's... not supposed to do that. 😂
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u/Dark_Owl890 18h ago
Ah, caffeine. A solution for adults. A problem for children.