[Kon5ole]

Seems like a good a place as any to ask this - anyone else feel no effect from either coffee or energy drinks? I can go from 4-5 cups of coffee per day at work (coffee machine) to 0 cups in the weekend and feel no different. Had bouts of doing 4-6 red bulls (or similar energy drinks) per evening into the wee hours as a youngster and still fell asleep at the keyboard - felt no different than drinking water or lemonade.

Maybe related, I ran for an hour a day for a year but never came close to feeling anything like a "runner's high".

Anyone else have similar experiences?

[Lord-Jobo]

I have ADHD and noticed an INVERSE effect of caffeine for years, it would mostly just make me tired. That was before being properly medicated with a stimulant. After that, caffeine works the same as anyone else. It’s very weird.

In the internet age, I’ve learned this is pretty common for people with adhd.

I have 6 or so years experience with serious running, and experienced a runners high exactly 1 time.

[hirvi74]

> INVERSE effect of caffeine for years

It's likely due to some other factor or individual difference. To my knowledge, there is no evidence that stimulants affect people with ADHD any differently than people without ADHD. By differently, I mean having a paradoxical reaction that can only be attributed to having ADHD.

Correlation does not imply causation, but people still try it all the time.

[andai]

I know someone who doesn't have ADHD, but when she drinks coffee it makes her sleepy. Her whole family drinks coffee before bed!

[inigyou]

How come normal people take methamphetamine and go crazy but people with ADHD can take it to feel normal? (One of the less common prescription meds for ADHD is literally just meth but with the government stamp of approval on it)

[AlphaAndOmega0]

I'm a psychiatry resident, and I have ADHD. The myth is, in fact, a myth.

More importantly, the dose of desoxyn (methamphetamine) used therapeutically for ADHD is *much* lower than what's consumed recreationally. That's really it. Use low doses, as prescribed, and the risks are minimal/comparable to most alternative stimulants.

It's like asking why a society where everyone has cups of tea twice a day has a different relationship to caffeine than a frat house where they're drinking 3 cans of Red Bull a night.

[awakeasleep]

If anyone is curious, a medical daily dose can be around 20mg and recreational consumption for a non-hardcore user is around 400mg so they’re commonly taking 20x the therapeutic dose

[amanaplanacanal]

Normal people take way more than that prescribed dose.

[cassepipe]

I must be strange because I feel no effect from coffee until I drink too much which is when my heart beats too fast for too long and I feel anxious

Energy drinks on the other hand ? The taste sucks but they do work and give me what I guess most people get from coffee ? They make me sharp and pumped up

[jay_kyburz]

Sugar

[cassepipe]

Do you mean the combination with caffeine or just the sugar? Cause I've had very sweet stuff before and it is definitely not producing the same effects

[cassepipe]

So a shallow search turned up that taurine in energy drinks and thiamine in tea tends to smooth the effects of caffeine

[neilv]

I'd get runner's high sometimes. If you got it, you'd know it. Personally, I only recall it happening for me at end of treadmill and erg and dumbbells session, not on any of the many runs on streets/waterfront/tracks.

The afterglow isn't confused with feeling good about completing exercise, or accomplishment/confidence. Example of confidence: when on a track, I'd run until I felt like I was out of steam, then sprint the last half-lap, just to know I could do that. (Don't try this if your heart isn't currently conditioned for it.)

I've given up caffeine, and hardly ever miss it.

One problem is caffeine for me seems to shift energy around, not create it. It might make me more energetic right now, but then headachey and ugh later. Also creates a dependence: "I feel like crap; I must need more caffeine".

Can also interfere with sleep many hours later, and sleep is super-important. It upsets GI a bit. And personally it seems to magnify some emotions, and, when caffeinated, I will somehow always find a cause of something that needs someone to fight for it (it's uncanny).

I care enough without chemically boosting things. And I'm fortunate to naturally be energetic and sharp without caffeine.

I don't drink even decaf anymore, because it still has too much.

IIRC, detoxing from caffeeine cold-turkey takes a couple weeks. Or zero-caffeine herbal/fruit teas can help with the warm mug of hot liquids ritual substitute. And exercise, hydration, nutrition, and good sleep.

[jazzyb]

Same. I've been told I'm a "high metabolizer". I can drink a cup of coffee/tea/soda before bed and pass out. No noticable effect.

It's weird that you mention the runner's high, too. I've run 6 miles 3x a week for months on end (PR of 8.5 miles), and I have no idea what other runners are talking about. I've never put the two together before.

[nickspacek]

The runner's high I've experienced comes after completing a long, hard race and finally getting to rest after pushing myself beyond what training was like.

[UqWBcuFx6NV4r]

lol. sounds like it’s time to get diagnosed.