Caffeine and other stimulants | ADHD Information

I drink energy drinks all of the time they do nothing for me! No energy at all!! Anyone else that I know that drinks them it makes them have allot of energy. My best friend has ADD too. She gets nothing from them as well. It may just be a "person" thing, not an ADHD thing. My mom says caffeine doesen't affect her but it DOES affect my dad who we think may have ADHD as well.

I'm actually very sleepy right now and i finished my fourth cup of coffee about three hours ago. Crash maybe? Or it never affected me in the first place?

I don't put sugar in it so it can't be a sugar crash.

When I started stimulant meds, it was the first time in my life that I ever felt relaxed.  Funny, I take enough stimulants to keep other people up for a week and all I want is a nice nap.

Coffee doesn't really make me jittery.  I am not sure if it wakes me up or just helps clear the fog though.  I do know that I am not at all functional until either the meds or the coffee kick in in the morning.  I give new meaning to "not a morning person."

I drink at least 2 full potts of coffee every morning, by noon im usually making a 3rd. I take Adderall, 30 mg in the morning and afternoon, and i feel nothing from the coffee. Never have. Its just a "like" that i have, it certainly doesnt give me a boost, i can drink it all day, usually do, and sleep just fine. My hubby swares by Starbucks coffees, cappichinos etc. when i go w/ him i get a latte or something with an extra shot or two of caffeine and still, nothing, so, dunno what is what in regards to that, but i am ADD/Inattentive and i sure could use a "boost" but nothing works.

Didnt someone post about how caffeine affects the medication so it isnt as effective?? God, i hope not!!

christi

I am deeply addicted to caffeine. Focuses me. I do get a little rush from it as well.
I think I am just depressed or something and not adhd ........... maybe adhd IS a myth - for me.

Thoughtful, I like it!

This morning I took my Adderall, had a pot of coffee and fell asleep on the floor for 2 hours straight. One of the greatest naps ever.

I remember in high school wondering why the Jolt Cola wasn't doing anything (after drinking 6) and why do people buy these white cross and pink heart speed pills? None of it does a thing!

Then it took 20 more years to figure out I have ADHD. Ugh!

The theory of the stimulants is that they stimulate
the brain that is involved in control - so that
we pay attention.

So In theory if you give a stimulent to every child
on the first day of school the - kids that calm down are
ADHD. LOL! (Not a serious suggeston.)

It appears that caffine, a stimulant has a similiar effect.
So people with ADHD will calm down with coffee,
while 'normal' folk will get reved up!

Comments?My wife has discovered Vault and so I've been drinking it along with her because its easier than having two different drinks in the house. But we get the calorie free version and I notice no difference in it and other drinks.

I seem to get more energy if a drink has sugar, whether or not it has caffeine.

Wonder if there have been studies along this line.

Actually, it does break down into neurotoxins in the digestion process though.

Nevermind that the taste will kill you anyway, blah!  *grin

My doctor encouragd me to stay away from all diet drinks including cordial when I was pregnant.

Protein vitamin shakes is what is needed between meals.

Bee pollin is good.

Energy drinks linked to heart trouble. don't over do them.

 

Bee alive products are good energy increasers. I have tryed and love them.

 

RN

Caffeine calms our son and me both.

Believe, or not believe,

I invented an artificial pollinator.

A ,000.00 machine, that made me millions.

And ADHDer Suckers took it away, hey hey, ho ho,

And put me in a white jacket.

I been stung by more bees than when my ma got her tit stuck in the wringer.

OMG!...I'm not ADhD, I'm beestung!

(DAvidornadog, sniffing a round:)

Dost I smell tri-methyl xanthine being discussed hear?

[Shakes head to get thought of Dave's mom gone]

Anyway...

Drank six cups off coffee between 8am and 1pm yesterday and was so sleepy I had to lay down. Napped for 2 hours and then made another pot because family was coming over for my son's 3rd BD. I drank  2.5 more cups and went right to bed at 11pm (after moving to the couch due to comfort issues).
Wow, my wife has a lot of the symptoms that are reported. I think we might just avoid this stuff regardless of whether or not its a hoax or not. Better to be safe than sorry. And it's not really necessary to consume it anyway.

THanks for the info. I'm gonna keep reading for sure.
Interesting point. It's one I'll definitely look into. I wonder if this is the source of the rumor my wife heard that Diet Pepsi causes short term memory loss.

Thanks for the tip thoughtful.
[QUOTE=Ascentionist] My wife has discovered Vault and so I've been drinking it along with her because its easier than having two different drinks in the house. But we get the calorie free version and I notice no difference in it and other drinks.I seem to get more energy if a drink has sugar, whether or not it has caffeine.Wonder if there have been studies along this line.
[/QUOTE]



I wonder if diet drinks should be avoided i.e. avoid aspartame in diet drinks.

ADHD, cancer and Epilepsy and memory problems may be due to Asparteme. Some suggest that this chemical like MSG
make the body more sensitive to the effects of other
chemicals the body usually tolerates.

[I apologise if this is a bit off topic - I have considered for a few days if I should post this, and have decided to do so. Simply skip this article if you are not interested.]

References:
http://allergies.about.com/od/aspartametestimonies/

of http://www.rense.com/general67/kentucky.htm
http://www.soundandfury.tv/pages/rumsfeld.html

Aspartame -- History of Fraud and Deception
Free twice-weekly natural health newsletter of top medical news on subjects including splenda, soy, sucralose, statins, insulin, aspartame, prevention and ...
www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/fraud.htm - 41k - Cached - Similar pages

ASPARTAME IS BY FAR, THE MOST DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE
Ironically, in 1987, GD Searle, the manufacturer of aspartame, undertook a search for a ... �Copyright 1997-2002 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved. ...
www.practicalhippie.com/cache/stevia/aspartame.htm - 22k - Cached - Similar pages


Aspartame: What You Don�t Know Can Hurt You
With the large and growing number of seizures caused by aspartame, it is sad to see that the Epilepsy Foundation is promoting the "safety" of aspartame. ...
www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/hidden_dangers.htm - 35k - Cached - Similar pages

Epilepsy the Information - Epilepsy the Information
Epilepsy: The Information is a website dedicated to telling the truth about epilepsy. ... ASPARTAME E951(sweetener) - OFFICIAL STATUS US. ...
www.epilepsyinfo.co.uk/ - 33k - Cached - Similar pages

http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html

Aspartame Side Effects

There are over 92 different health side effects associated with aspartame consumption. It seems surreal, but true. How can one chemical create such chaos?

Aspartame dissolves into solution and can therefore travel throughout the body and deposit within any tissue. The body digests aspartame unlike saccharin, which does not break down within humans.
Additional Symptoms of Aspartame Toxicity include the most critical symptoms of all
death
irreversible brain damage
birth defects, including mental retardation
peptic ulcers
aspartame addiction and increased craving for sweets
hyperactivity in children
severe depression
aggressive behavior
suicidal tendencies

Aspartame may trigger, mimic, or cause the following illnesses:
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Epstein-Barr
Post-Polio Syndrome
Lyme Disease
Grave�s Disease
Meniere�s Disease
Alzheimer�s Disease
ALS
Epilepsy
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
EMS
Hypothyroidism
Mercury sensitivity from Amalgam fillings
Fibromyalgia
Lupus
non-Hodgkins
Lymphoma
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)Bear with me, i am very ignorant about the drugs associated with ADHD and their effects. I go to the doctor for the first time in about an hour about my potential ADHD.

But I have been thinking (DUCK!), I read somewhere that the stimulants prescribed do the opposite in ADHD people than in normal people, it actually helps quiet the "noise".

My question to all of you (if this is true): Does caffeine have an opposite effect on you?

I used to think people were crazy for making a big deal about coffee helping them to wake up or drive for many hours straight. I was never a coffee drinker until about a month ago, but in high school my only liquid intake was a locally bottled caffeinated drink. I think I was addicted to it. The only time i noticed any kind of effect was when I hadn't had it in awhile. I was never jittery, never wired. I could drink a Coke five minutes before going to bed and sleep like a baby.

Last night I drank  four cups of coffee around dinner time and slept better last night than I had in a long time.  I was sleeping so soundly I was having one of those epic, all night long dreams (I was a gangster hit man).

Maybe its just me, but I have never really seemed to be affected by caffeine the way others have. One other instance and I'll end this post:

My first semester of college I was really tired for staying up most of the night and found a sample of No Doz in a freshman survival kit. I took it just before class, but I ended up leaving in the middle of class to go back to my dorm because i could not stay awake. The No Doz had absolutely no effect on me.

Has anyone else noticed this kind of effect from caffeine?
I have no comment nor expertise but to say I just heard some very recent study debunked some myths about the evils of aspertame. I saw it on netscape news - heck you might even be quoting it above, I didn't read it. Diet Soda Cleared of Cancer Link
A huge federal study in people - not rats - takes the fizz out of arguments that the diet soda sweetener aspartame might raise the risk of cancer.

http://channels.isp.netscape.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/stor y/0001/20060404/1526819786.htm
I have a query.

It has been suggested that aspartame, when taken by women shortly before, or during pregnancy may cause ADHD, autism in the children.

If the readers here know of mothers who had children with ADHD and who aspartame (e.g. diet drinks etc.) before or during pregnancy could they PM me.
I would think that forum would be able to help clarify this relationship if there
is one.

Below is some other information on Aspartame.

http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2006/02/lowdown-on-sweet-ramazz ini-foundation.html

The Lowdown on Sweet? (Ramazzini Foundation, M Soffritti proof that
aspartame causes cancers), Melanie Warner, The New York Times

Aspartame is also known as Equal and Canderel, and NutraSweet,

By MELANIE WARNER Published: February 12, 2006



Dr. Soffritti said he was inspired to look at aspartame
because of what he calls "inadequacies" in the cancer studies done
by Searle in the 1970's. He said that those studies did not
involve large-enough numbers of rats and did not allow them
to live long enough to develop cancer.

The Ramazzini study was conducted with 1,900 rats,
as opposed to the 280 to 688 rodents used in Searle's studies,
and the rats lived for up to three years instead of being sacrificed
after two, which is the human equivalent of age 53.
"Cancer is a disease of the third part of life," Dr. Soffritti said.
"You have 75 percent of cancer diagnoses for people
who are 55 years old or older. So if you truncate the experiments
at 110 weeks and the rats are supposed to survive
until 150 to 160 weeks, it means you avoid the development
of cancer at the time when cancer would be starting to arise."


Over the next few years, Searle's petition for aspartame approval
led to much disagreement within the F.D.A.
The commissioner at the time, Alexander M. Schmidt,
convened a three-member public board of inquiry,
which concluded that one of Searle's studies on rats showed
an increase in brain tumors from aspartame.
The board members - all of them scientists at universities - voted
to withhold approval of aspartame until more studies were done.

But yet another F.D.A. review, this one of Searle's tumor tissue
slides - paid for by Searle and conducted by an academic group
that is now defunct - concluded that Searle's studies had
demonstrated that aspartame was safe.

In 1981, a new F.D.A. commissioner, Arthur Hull Hayes,
concurred with this assessment and granted approval to aspartame
shortly after President Ronald Reagan appointed him to run the agency.

And in a move that fueled the conspiracy theories,
Mr. Hayes left the F.D.A. a little more than a year after approving
aspartame and took a job as a consultant to Burson-Marsteller,
which at the time was Searle's public relations agency.
Mr. Hayes did not return calls seeking comment.

Ms. Nabors of the Calorie Control Council said
that there were more than 100 published scientific studies
showing no adverse effects from aspartame, and said that in 2002,
the European Commission reviewed many of these studies and
reaffirmed the sweetener's safety. The bulk of the studies
investigated neurological effects; none were animal cancer studies,
which are lengthy and expensive.

In any case, critics say that most of these studies were financed either
directly or indirectly by manufacturers of aspartame, and that the results
of aspartame studies tend to depend on who paid for them.
In an analysis of 166 articles published in medical journals
from 1980 to 1985, Dr. Ralph G. Walton, a professor of psychiatry
at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
found that all 74 studies that were financed by the industry
attested to sweetener's safety.
BUT
Of the 92 independently funded articles, 84 identified adverse health effects.
"Whenever you have studies that were not funded by the industry,
some sort of problem is identified," said Dr. Walton,
adding that he has not looked at studies performed since 1985.
"It's far too much for it to be a coincidence."

Dr. Walton, who, like some other psychiatrists, has studied aspartame
from a neurological perspective, said he had also seen problems from
the sweetener firsthand. At Safe Harbor Behavioral Health,
a mental health facility in Erie, Pa., where he is clinical director,
Dr. Walton said he had observed that for many people with mood
disorders, such as depression or bipolar disorder, aspartame
exacerbates the condition. "For people with panic disorders,
for instance, we've seen that when we eliminate aspartame,
it's much easier to control their illness," he said.
"The number of panic attacks goes down."

Other References

http://www.karlloren.com/diet/p40.htm


     NutraSweet, the "good stuff" of sentimental adverts, is a truly insidious product. According to independent trials,
     aspartame intake is shown by animal studies to alter brain chemicals affecting behavior. Aspartame's effects on
     the brain led Richard Wurtman, an MIT neuroscientist, to the discovery, as recorded in _The New England
     Journal of Medicine_ (No. 309, 1983), that the sweetener defeats its purpose as a diet aid, since high doses may
     instill a craving for calorie-laden carbohydrates. One of his pilot studies found that the NutraSweet-carbohydrate
     combination increases the "sweetener's effect on brain composition." Searle officials denigrated Wurtman 's
     findings, but the American Cancer Society has since confirmed the irony-after tracking 80,000 women for six
     years-that "among women who gained weight, artificial sweetener users gained more than those who didn't use
     the products," as reported in _Medical Self-Care_ (387). (Since his battle with G.D. Searle, Wurtman founded
     Interneuron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the producer of a sports drink that enhances athletic performance, and a
     weight loss drug marketed in over 40 countries. Wurtman's share of the company, established in 1989, was
     worth million by 1992. 32

     Even more daunting are the findings of Dr. Paul Spiers, a neuropsychologist at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital, that
     aspartame use can depress intelligence. For this reason, he selected experimental subjects with a history of
     consuming it but unaware that they might be suffering ill effects. The subjects were given NutraSweet in capsules
     of the FDA's allowable limit. Spiers was alarmed to discover that they developed "cognitive deficits.'' One of the
     tests required recall of square patterns and alphabetical sequences, becoming increasingly more difficult. The test
     is challenging, but most people improve as they learn how it is done. The aspartame users, however, did not
     improve. "Some frankly showed a reverse pattern," said Spiers."33

     Aspartame has been shown to erode short-term memory. At the May, 1985 hearings on NutraSweet,
     Louisiana Senator Russell Long related a bizarre anecdote: SENATOR LONG: I have received a letter recently
     from a person who is well known to me and whose word is impeccable, as far as I am concerned. This person
     told me that she had been dieting and she had been using diet drinks with aspartame in it. She said she found her
     memory was going. She seemed to be completely losing her memory. When she would meet people whom she
     knew intimately, she could not recall what their name was, or even who they were. She could not recall a good
     bit of that which was going on about her to the extent that she was afraid she was losing her mind. . . In due
     course, someone suggested that it might be this NutraSweet, so she stopped using it and her memory came back
     and her mind was restored. Senator Howard Metzenbaum replied that he had received "a number of letters from
     doctors reporting similar developments. . . There have been hundreds of incidents of people who have suffered
     loss of memory, headaches, dizziness, and other neurological symptoms which they feel are related to
     aspartame."34 Senator Orrin Hatch, a hidebound archconservative and NutraSweet advocate, downplayed
     criticism of the sugar substitute. "Some people have lost their memory after drinking a variety of things," he
     argued. ''The bottom line is this: The studies supporting aspartame's approval have been examined an

from google news today.

AARP Food Questionnaire Pitted Against Italian Cancer Institute ...
PR Web (press release), WA - 9 Apr 2006
(PRWEB) April 9, 2006 -- The media blitz is on to discredit Dr. Morando Soffritti and the Ramazzini Cancer institute’s 7-year study showing aspartame (Equal ...


AARP Food Questionnaire Pitted Against Italian Cancer Institute Aspartame Study

Download this press release as an Adobe PDF document.

Media blitz by the artificial sweetener industry denies aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) link to cancer. Researcher, Unhee Lin of the National Cancer Institute says: AARP questionnaire was an "unscientific survey."

(PRWEB) April 9, 2006 -- The media blitz is on to discredit Dr. Morando Soffritti and the Ramazzini Cancer institute’s 7-year study showing aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) causes cancer, especially lymphoma and leukemia.

http://www.ramazzini.it/fondazione/docs/aspartame

The AARP questionnaire/study hailed as proof that aspartame does not cause cancer was not an ‘aspartame’ study.

This writer/researcher was a participant (until a sample of saliva was requested) in the study which, although called ‘new’ was completed in 2000. The ‘lifestyle’ survey was interested in how much the participant exercised and the dietary portion seemed mainly concerned about how much fat (as in milk or bacon) one consumed. I do not remember any questions about artificial sweeteners in the 16-page questionnaire or the follow-up survey, some years later. Since I am a reluctant expert on the subject of the chemical sweetener, aspartame, I think I would have noted questions pertaining to chemical sweeteners.

The AARP questionnaire has not been made available to the public, yet the National Cancer Institute is presenting statistics from the questionnaire claiming the safety of aspartame.

Denial that aspartame causes cancer was circulated to the public in a press release written by the Calorie Control Council, an industry based group whose sixty members include Coca-Cola, Pepsico, Wrigley and Hershey’s sugar-free products. The CCC cites a ‘new’ food-frequency questionnaire study by AARP involving 340,045 men and 226,945 women, ages 50-69*

The campaign to discredit Dr. Soffritti is similar to one directed against neuroscientist Dr. John Olney, of Washington University, in St. Louis, MO. Dr. Olney’s research, released in 1996, showed significant brain tumor increases since the approval of aspartame. When Olney and his colleagues fed aspartame to immature mice, they found it destroyed the nerve cells in the brain.

Marilyn Marchione of the Associated Press writes the AARP study “takes the fizz out of arguments that the diet soda sweetener aspartame might raise the risk of cancer.” Marchione reports no increased risk was found even in those “who gulped down many artificially sweetened drinks a day.” In actual fact, the information released from the study states only…”there was no cancer link to those who consumed 400 milligrams of aspartame, about 2 cans of soda daily.”

There is no federal requirement to list the amount of aspartame contained in any food, drink or medicine on the label; therefore the NCI in whose name the study was conducted has no way to tell how much aspartame was consumed.

NutraSweet was approved in 1981 under suspicious circumstances. Donald Rumsfeld, fresh from the Ford White house went through the revolving door from government to industry to become CEO of the pharmaceutical company, G. D. Searle, owners of the aspartame patent.

In his incisive 1987 UPI investigation, Gregory Gordon reported Rumsfeld told an aide he would “call in all his (political) markers to get aspartame approved.” This, despite the overwhelming evidence aspartame caused brain and breast cancers in Searle’s experimental testing.
Well my mom gets an istant migraine when she ingests aspartame and that would certainly ascerbate everything. I've just started to realize a correlation, but I think I function best with high caffeine intake.

I took 10mg of dexedrine for the first time this morning and avoided my morning coffee because i was unsure of the combined effects. I had a normal day.

I was leery of even taking the dex because I started a new job today and didn't want to be seeing spiders crawl up the wall while signing a drug and alcohol policy agreement. I've never taken a drug stronger than prescribed painkillers a couple times and usually I avoided taking those unless I just couldn't sleep. But I did ok.

The only thing I noticed was at one point everything seemed to slow down to slow motion. It couldn't have lasted more than five minutes and it didn't affect me interacting with other people, I just felt like I was watching a DVD on SLOW.

I think I need to compare a routine day with a day on dex to know if it's affecting me at all.

If there is no effect what does that mean? Too low a dose? I don't really have ADHD? I have it really bad? Aliens have been probing me?

So now I'm trying to bring myself back to normal caffeine levels since I'm back home. Getting ready to hit a second cup of coffee.

love caffeine.

love coffee esp., and lately lots of tea.

for a while, i avoided caffeine after midday b/c i thought it was affecting my ability to fall asleep at night.

after starting to think i was adhd, and learning what stimulants do to adhd, i experimented.

caffeine intake all day= a generally more calm me, and good sleep. the better i control the intake, the better the results. usually.

my adhd is not always predictable. some days are better, some days it's a lost cause, caffeine or no.

increasing my caffeine use has had these effects: i get frustrated less, my sleeping irregularities are minimised, spend less time going in circles, mood is more stable, (more , less .), more laid-back in general.

yay caffeine!!

seeker6338821.2176273148

It could be that you just need time to adjust.  It could be that the dose is too low.  When I started meds, I thought something was wrong or that they weren't working.  Then I realized that I had never actually RELAXED before and I just didn't know how.

It took a while for me to be able to concentrate and be relaxed at the same time.  I would definately give it more than a day (more like a few weeks) before you decide how you are doing on it.  It is a complicated process to re-learn how to use your brain now that it might be working.

I am truely addicted to caffeine, and usually drink 2-3 pots of coffee per day.  It seems to have little effect on me, I usually feel tired after drinking it.  The only time that I can notice a difference is if I don't drink it as much for a few days, then I might feel a little bit jittery if I drink large amounts.