First off: I am still undiagnosed. I’ve followed the ADHD topic for more than a year now since I seem to match a whole lot of symptoms and behavior patterns. An official diagnosis will most probably still take another year. I live in Germany.
One thing that got me wondering was caffeine. As I’ve heard, drinking coffee will make ADHD folks not feel any more awake, maybe even a little tired.
While it doesn’t make me feel awake as well, I very vividly remember my first coffee a long time ago that caused a massive outburst of productivity when all of the time I was known for being ‘lazy’ and distracted. However the effect quickly diminished with each subsequent coffee over the next year.
Isn’t this a contradiction though? If I actually had ADHD, why did coffee have this awakening effect on me back then?
Caffeine poisoning is real, and I almost died from it. Granted, I had A LOT of very strong coffee that day (probably the equivalent of around 30 cups), so it’s relatively rare, but it can happen. Not a fun experience at all, but it almost codified my maximum tolerance levels. Basically, what you’re saying, but with a caveat: if it helps, use it, but be careful not to overdose.
How did you drink that much?!? Were you distilling your coffee?
Super fine ground, almost Turkish. Instead of one teaspoon for 6oz water, I put at least 4tsp per 6oz water, and just kept drinking them. I count my coffees now…