I've read this for years that it would work and it makes sense, considering it's a stimulant. Well, I tried a little experiment the other day with the Coca-Cola Blak (which has coffee in it!!!) and DS(9) (who loves coffee-flavored things) drank the whole 12 oz bottle. (He was on holiday from his Ritalin that day). OMG. Not good. I have rarely seen him so hyper! The Ritalin usually makes him somber, but the Coke/coffee combo did not help at all!
I would like to try the experiment again someday, but not for a while! LOL
Mom2Bean
I use coffee to help me stay on task (and puts me to sleep if I have too much), but I am an adult and am careful not to over do. I drink very little on the weekends. This helps me monitor for rebound and "reset" the body so the caffiene does not lose effectiveness. I also use to use it (along with a decongestant) to stop pre-menstral migraines back when they were a problem.
I tried caffeine on my youngest just as a quick check to see if it would help at school. This was very short term and based on my observation that drinking a coke in the evening actually helped her fall asleep better (this happened on a few of those special times when the whole family is here for a visist). I would not use this for a child long term because of the higher peripheral effects (racing heart, jitters, headache) caffeine has compared to stimulant meds and because the body adjusts to it easily and needs more and more to be effective.
There are studies (small, uncontrolled) that show caffiene to be as effective as methylphenidate for ADHD symptoms and some that indicate caffeine can augment stim meds for better effectiveness.
yes, caffeine works, and then thier tolerance increases, and pretty soon they are drinking an adult dose of caffeine or more to get the same result ....i guess I didnt stop to think of the side effects especially for girls. I was looking for an easy solution and I was grasping at any straw. Thanks for all your thoughts.Can you ask the doc for a short acting pill for the afternoon? My doctor was very understanding about meds wearing off before homework's been done and she considered this to be as important as being medicated for school.I just came back from the Doc and we are going to try Focalin XR 10mg (we were on 5mg regular focalin) I absolutly love my doctor and while I felt like a totally bad parent for saying I need some help in the evening she understood and said there are alot of things we can try and to just try and hold on. I guess we will see what tomarrow brings.Just a thought when I saw your post.... caffeine can cause other problems along the way. I use to drink caffeine 2 to 3 times a day... it builds up in your system.. I had lumps in my breast at 20 because of this. I never drank caffeine until I was out of my parents house... so it was only a couple of years. Just imagine what it would do to a small child if you give them 1 can of soda a day. That is a lot of caffeine.... Just wanted to put that out there. Not to mention the large amount of sugar that is in soda as well.
Like abbymaker, I agree with children avoiding caffeine and the sugar.