The main problem with caffiene, in this capacity, is that you build up a tolerance fairly quickly so the helpful effects would be short- lived. There are also the withdrawl symptoms when you stop- anyone else unable to function without coffee in the morning?
That being said, I do occasionally "supplement" my son's meds with a bottle of coke. It works in a pinch.
Okay, I just thought it might be worth looking into. I agree with the moderation and withdrawl thing, we all know that caffeine can be addictive. I just thought it might be a nicer alternative than drugs. I'm always looking for the better alternative. lolI'd love to try it... but my son's bladder is the size of a peanut, and I suspect caffeine would not help the whole peeing situation, LOL![QUOTE=granny Fran]Caffiene is highly addictive. I , personally, wouldn't give it to a child.[/QUOTE]
I absolutely agree with you granny Fran, not to mention how the sugar in cola rots away the teeth. It takes a significant amount of caffiene to have any effect at all and its very short lived but to each their own. This is a personal choice but for my son, it wasnt mine. As a side note, if ADHD meds are taken as prescribed there is no risk of addiction. My son is a young adult now and there are times that he forgets to take his meds. Addicts dont forget and for those who go through life with untreated ADHD or ineffective treatment, the risk of substance abuse as a result of self medicating is very high.
thanks for that...i feel much better now.
I just wanted to mention that in soda, it is the carbonic acid (water and carbon dioxide that makes the bubbles) that is responsible for teeth issues in addition to the sugar. Also the phosphates in soda cause issues with calcium.
Just reasons to keep any soda drinks to a minimum.
The caffeine studies done used 100-200mg of caffeine for effect. The problems with self medicating w/caffeine are still an issue.
It works in our case. Every once in a while, we offer him 1/2 bottle of 'coca cola' not 'pepsi' once or twice a week when the meds have worn off and he still needs to do his homework. We also give it to him before his wrestling practice and soccer practice. We don't really care about addiction at this point, since the meds are probably taking care of that already. My son likes tea, and it seems to have a little bit of an effect, so we sit down and have a cup of tea in the morning when he's having a really loud/active/crazy morning. Not sure if it's the tea or the calm time with mom that's helping, but hey, I take it where I can get it!!We have been "trying out" caffeine these past few days, and the school counselor and his teacher are just amazed at the difference in his behavior. She did a systematic on him today, and he was actually on task 95% during that 15 minutes...better than most first graders apparently! Not bad considering he was at less than 10% a week ago.
We just got our official diagnosis of ADHD this afternoon, but either it is an amazing coincidence or the caffeine really does work.
He doesn't like coffee, so we let him either drink a soda or a piece of Jolt gum. I'd prefer he have the gum because it is easier for him to get down and has a lot less sugar.
I tried this over the summer before we got meds and it had no effect. Either he needed to have a much larger dose or it just didn't work. There are enough side effects that I hesitated to do it more than once.
JMHO,
My ds is 14 and is on the patch. In order to help him focus in the morning before the patch kicks in, we give him coffee. He loves it. I think it helps somewhat in the am and we need all the help we can get. We don't give it to him on weekends or holidays, just school days. I think a lot depends on how old a kid is and whether or not he/she likes coffee. JMHO
I tried this also and had no effect. I even tried the caffine pills that work on some children. I know of other mothers whose children this does work on. They usually give the child coffee before school (General Mills) and then a coke for lunch. Those mothers swear by it, but for my daughter, she wouldn't drink the coffee, the soda did not work nor the caffine pills.
I don't think it hurts to try it.
I give my son a diet soda in the afternoon to help us get through homework, on days that it seems he is struggling. Not everyday. It seems to work. The caffeine is fine, I just watch out for the sugar. Diet Pepsi Max with caffeine and ginseng has been very helpful for that 2 hours or so between afterschool and dinner.