ADHD

Coffee is a stimulant, which is known to help people with ADHD. In fact, ADHD drugs are also stimulants.

The productivity effect you describe is what many ADHD folks get with coffee. The brain finds it easier to focus under stimulants so you get more productive, and even relax a bit because of quieting your inner "running commentary" that keeps you jumping from one task to another.

However, that doesn't mean that ADHD makes you immune to caffeine or that stimulants can't have a stimulating effect on you. After 10 coffees, you'd feel jittery like the rest of mortals, and experience a caffeine crash afterwards, or find it harder to sleep at night - all of those are normal effects that caffeine has in the human body.

The other part to what you're describing is just normal caffeine tolerance. All drugs have this to some extent, but I find that it's rather easy to build tolerance to caffeine, and its effect feels smaller and smaller gradually over time. For me, the best way to avoid this is to limit my intake on weekends and/or not have 7 double espressos on workdays (which I've done way too many times and is not a good idea). If you don't have coffee for a month, the first one after that period will really have a strong effect.

I appreciate everyone's brain chemistry is slightly different, but for me, coffee doesn't make me very nervous or "buzz", but the biggest effect is that I focus better. If I start working in the morning and don't have a coffee, even if I feel awake, my brain will keep jumping from one task to another and struggle to maintain concentration and do anything useful. The first coffee makes that go away, it's like my brain "latches" onto tasks more easily. I can actually work on something for half an hour without going on a wild goose chase of "what is the best calendar app that also syncs notes to my phone" or whichever is the distraction of the day.

As a bit of an experiment, I would suggest for a few weeks you pay attention to these things to understand well the effect it has on you, and treat it (i.e. dose it) as a delicious medication. 😄

Many people self medicate with caffeine. It helps with focus and productivity, which is why coffee is incredibly popular. Its not just for the neurodivergent, it helps most people focus, making it a staple of workplaces worldwide.

I have only ever heard people with ADHD describe coffee as calming, but it helps with focus. The problem for those with ADHD is that the mind is too active, so being more calm helps focus.

If coffee helps you do the things you want or need to do, you should use it. Avoid excess, proper dosage is essential for any drug even ones as benign as caffeine.

Diagnosed. Coffe gives me energy, keeps me awake. ADHD meds give me energy and ability to actually do things. They also make me feel normal.

So the calmong sleepy thing not universal. Its also not used for diagnoses, similar to "talking lots" is not in itself a diagnoses.

FYI Ridalin makes me crash in the middle of the day, and if I forget to take it at noon I'm ADHD brain awake by night. Vyvance is much better at riding it out all day and then just crashing.

For me it's coffee + environment. If I'm just at home chilling then the effect of drinking coffee is very mild. If I'm at a business networking event, for example, it can really trigger my hyper behaviours. I get extremely enthusiastic, creative and happy.

By the way, one of these business networking meetings I go to is exclusively for business owners with ADHD and I can't tell you how much fun that is!

It's basically 15 people happily talking over each other and not taking it personally and 5 or 6 who didn't turn up because they thought it was another day. We have one neurotypical person there to try and tether the ballons that we are down into some sort of coherent group but it is wonderfully chaotic :)

It's not a universal rule at all. I know people who are very ADHD who if they drink coffee they have a panic attack. I know people who it makes tired, and I know people who it makes productive. Personally it makes me more talkative.

Basically, it's not a criteria for diagnosis at all. Everyone's brain chemistry is different. There might be a higher percentage of people with ADHD whom caffeine does not affect compared to the general population, but that does not at all mean that to be ADHD you have to have that same thing.

No, it's not. However, you might notice that you develop a dependency faster than others, and to a greater extent. I can't really drink coffee as it will make me slightly more alert, help with concentration and general energy levels, until after 3 days, the effects have diminished so far that I'm at 14 cups to even remotely stay awake.

Given that you can't up your caffeine intake to arbitrarily high levels, what follows is a fast crash and constant exhaustion, while still drinking a shitload of coffee.

I got diagnosed late in life (in my 50s) and I have stopped consuming caffeine at all due to having access to medication. That resulted in a totally different (read: fixed) sleep cycle and regular energy levels over the course of the day.

Honestly, fuck caffeine.

Hey, Just to let you know: I'm also in Germany and it doesn't need to take a year to get diagnosed. Check your surroundings for neurologists that do ADHD in adults.

Also to your question: it's a spectrum and no hard and fast rules what your brain does. Mine doesn't like caffeine as well, no effects, but with meds, I get massive heart rate and anxiety.

The tired effect coffee has is because your brain calms down and can rest. You just used that calmness to actually get things done. I have ADHD and coffee keeps me up for hours if I have too much. It's definitely not a concrete rule, more just an indicator that you may have ADHD if coffee affects you differently. It's not a concrete determining factor either way. Good luck on your diagnosis journey!

If I have ADHD then it's comorbid with and somewhat masked by my autism (which lets me hyperfocus, but when I'm not, I'm all over the place and switching tracks constantly). My partner though does have a diagnosis, and I've been doing some research into ADHD treatments for her because of the Adderall shortage. I came across a few papers like this: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6574559/

L-Theanine is the main stimulant in tea (also found in other stuff like coffee and mushrooms, but in lower quantities). Maybe coffee would help with your symptoms if it had more theanine? I bought a bag of micronised theanine powder for our morning energy mix (100mg caffeine + 400mg theanine, in about 1L of water) on a health supplement site like this: https://taiyogmbh.com/en/start-en/brands/suntheanine-en/

Dissolves well, and it's working for us as a replacement for coffee. It seems to help her focus even without the Vyvanse, more than when she hasn't had either anyway. I really like that we can add any flavours we like, and we got a carbonator to make it seltzer too. Really refreshing on a hot sunny summer morning.

If you or anyone else in the thread try it, I'd love to hear how it works for you after a few days! Data points, y'know.

caused a massive outburst of productivity

Coffee is a stimulant and can therefore provide a similar effect to actual ADHD meds like Adderall and Ritalin. You may have been unknowingly self-medicating.

Formally diagnosed with ADHD here: Coffee does not make me feel tired, kinda helps me feel more aware, but definitely helps me concentrate on stuff. It can also increase my anxiety so I usually stick to less than 3 cups a day these days.

I’m diagnosed. If I haven’t had coffee in a few days and drink a few strong cups it mainly drives up my anxiety and wakes me up a tiny bit. Then I usually crash hard. If I’ve had it for multiple days in a row, I can barely register any difference in how I feel at all. It definitely affects my resting heart rate though, so I try to keep my intake low. Eating a snack and staying hydrated is more affective at perking me up.

I think it might vary from person to person and over time. Coffee usually has no effect on me, unless I overdose and get all shaky and cold sweaty. But since a year ago I've been having a hard time sleeping if I drink it after 18:00. I used to be able to have a cup right before bed no problem but not any more.

About the effect of caffeine diminishing it might be because brains adapt very quickly to it so you might have high tolerance, you could try going for a couple days-week without any and see if the effect on you changes.

Coffee never felt like it did anything to me.

Stimulants having a calming effect is not an absolute must with ADHD.

I can only recommend to keep going for an official diagnosis & treatment. It's the single best use of your time. Cheapest, even free, is the way from a psychiatrist, with a referral. But you probably noticed that it's nearly impossible to find one.

Very nice and completely remote is GAM medical, but it's not paid for by GKV. I got the impression that it's pretty thorough and responsible. Not fast though; if you start now, it would still take months to get a prescription, if necessary.

Quite shady and only technically legal are sites like expressdoktor.com. They take advantage of the fact that any EU doctor can write a prescription that works in any other EU pharmacy. It works more like a webshop, pretending to include a doctor consultation, and it is certainly not safe. Especially the only ADHD drug they have, Modafinil, would require a thorough consideration and check-up when used for ADHD, because it has significant risks. It's the fastest way, but I don't recommend it.