Caffeine??? | ADHD Information

I've been over 30 years without medicine for add, and have been drinking coffee since i was 2, and yes i can see a difference when i don't have that or a mt. dew. My son is 12 and on meds, but when he starts to come off the pills he drinks a mt. dew to help him stay on the mellow side.

I can tell you coffee seems to work wonders for some kids.  I started coffee at about age 12/13 without knowing I had ADHD.  All I knew is I felt good when drinking it for about a half an hour.

The side effects of caffeine in drink form are so mild.  Sleeplessness, stomach upset (it's acidic), jittery feeling are the worst.  It's mildly addictive but the worst any kid would get from months of overuse is headaches and withdrawl.  And it goes away quickly.

There is caffeinated diet drinks (to avoid sugar sensitivity), mountain dew energy (available in sugar-free and contains 100mg of caffeine), coffee, tea (black tea contains nearly as much as coffee and has tannic acid which is beneficial for many reasons), cocoa, and energy drinks like red bull (though I worry about the other additives there).

It's easy to gauge if it works.  Give the child a drink with an adequate amount of caffeine in it (if coffee give it hot - the hotter it is the more active the caffeine is).  Wait about 10 minutes.  There should be a calming and focus for about 20 to 30 minutes for one cup.

Think of it this way - noone can physically overdose on natural caffeine (impossible to do), it's safe (proven not to cause more than temporary symptoms) and reasonably cheap.  If the kid loves it and it means less meds then I say great!

My son is 5 and his dr. feels that he has adhd, but has not yet officially diagnosed it.  We have to go through the behavioral and educational assessments, but she wants him to drink a diet caffinated coke every morning before school.  This just does not make since to me.  Has anyone tried this and if so did it help?  I want to do whatever I can to help my son.  We are working to get the processed foods out.  Any other suggestions to try.  Thank you so very much.

 

Caffeine is a stimulant -- as many meds that help control ADHD are as well.  Try the search option on this board for "caffeine" -- there is a lot of info and many people have tried this before.  You can also check out the Alternative to Meds board for other "non medication" approaches to treatment.  Welcome!

I never had a doctor suggest it to me but yes, caffeine is a stimulant so it was actually never a problem for my son to drink a coke and it make him hyper.  It actually had the opposite affect. 

So many parents keep their kids from caffinated drinks - as my sis in law did with her 2 boys - whenever we used to get together my nephews couldn't drink cokes at night but I never had to keep it from Justin!

Think of it this way, Ritalin, Focalin, Concerta are all some of the meds that help with ADHD.  They are Stimulants.  So is caffeine.  I tried it with my son, it didn't work  but I have heard of it helping with others.   With my son we gave him coffee as he likes it.

Hello there...

Have never talked to the doctor about this...but I am planning to after experiencing something this weekend. My son has ADHD and is not on meds. But, this weekend he asked for some coffee with breakfast. He mentioned that he had it before and like it. I gave him about 1/3 of a cup. Now after reading the posts I realizie that he did seem to pay attention more and seemed to connect better. Never thought of the coffee.

Thanks