[datacruncher01]

Have you been diagnosed with ADHD? Caffeine has a similar affect on one of my children who does have ADHD. Not that we're giving him espressos at midnight, but during the day a caffeinated beverage will slow him down similar to a small booster dose of adhd medication.

[sph]

I am diagnosed with ADHD and ultra sensitive to caffeine. A can of coke at 8pm and I'm awake till 2am. A cup of homebrew coffee and it's 50/50 if it's gonna make me anxious all day. Definitely jittery and faster heart rate.

Conversely, amphetamine relaxes me, lowers my blood pressure and my pulse rate by 15 bpm. Though I am very aware it would not let me sleep if I tried to.

(I do not mix the two. I was a daily two cup drinker until my diagnosis, now it's a coke zero once a week if any)

YMMV.

[datacruncher01]

Indeed, not everyone with ADHD is going to have the same reaction to caffeine so it may not be the strongest correlation. I did look into it in the past and for a number of people with ADHD it has an opposite effect of what it does for other people.

For those folks, it won't give them a burst of energy unless they drink a lot of coffee and a smaller amount can conversely calm them down. Caffeine works through a separate neurotransmitter process than ADHD meds (it blocks adenosine receptors whereas adhd meds boost dopamine and norepinephrine) which may be helping some people by lowering neuron stressors which incidentally helps relieve ADHD symptoms.

[sph]

> it won't give them a burst of energy unless they drink a lot of coffee and a smaller amount can conversely calm them down

That might just be addiction? Nicotine relaxes smokers, but because they're in withdrawal when they do not smoke.

[pmontra]

I'm afraid that I can't help you with this. ADHD didn't exist or wasn't known as such when I was little. I wasn't like somebody with ADHD tough.