How does caffeine (or other stimulants) REALLY affect you?

I've heard that for people who have ADHD, caffeine doesn't affect them like it would for a person without ADHD. The doctor who did my assessment and diagnosis asked me if caffeine kept me up at night. I told him I didn't know because I couldn't remember a time when I drank caffeine at night/before sleeping. He told me that because I have ADHD, caffeine wouldn't keep me up at night.

Now, sometimes, in the past (before I was diagnosed with ADHD), I've had caffeine and got "the shakes" (felt jittery and whatnot). I was never really a regular coffee-drinker, so I wasn't ever dependent on it. Anyway, more recently, since my diagnosis, I've tried having caffeine to see if it would really make me jittery or if it would help me focus more and be calmer, thinking that maybe before my diagnosis I only felt jittery because of the placebo affect. And my results have been this: At first it did seem to help me focus more at work. But again, I was kind of expecting that, given my diagnosis of ADHD, caffeine would calm me down and help me focus as opposed to get shaky and whatnot. So maybe this was placebo effect again? But a couple days ago, I took my first ever red-eye flight. Didn't sleep on the planes and was getting tired so I had a couple cups of coffee during the 36 straight hours that I was awake. I managed to stay awake, but of course I was still exhausted as time went on. But after my last cup of coffee around my 32nd hour of no sleep, then I started to get really jittery and anxious and people could tell. I wasn't falling sleep then though (until a couple hours later when I finally did "crash").

But anyway, long story short, what is the truth about how caffeine affects a person with ADHD? I've read mixed things online. Does caffeine keep you awake and hyper-alert? Or does it have the opposite affect and calm you down? I feel like I've experienced both of those effects, but maybe as a result of the placebo effect.

***Also of note, I have the predominantly inattentive type of ADHD. Sometimes I've felt that I've had some hyperactive symptoms, but the inattention is the biggest struggle for me. Do you think the effects of caffeine varies for people with different sub-types of ADHD?

***And lastly, I take Focalin and it does help me focus and doesn't make me feel like "high" or anything. Granted, it is a very small dose. I also don't experience a "crash" from this stimulant.

I have ADD and take Metadate CD. The Metadate CD doesn't make me feel "high" and has a "crash". When I don't take it, I have caffeine. Caffeine helps me focus and can keep me from sleeping.

Caffeine doesn't affect me. I can drink coffee at night and still go to sleep and I don't take sleep meds. I would like to be on Adderall but my PA hesitates bc I also have Bipolar and he's afraid I'll get manic.

I just recently got diagnosed with ADD. I'm 45 and have started every day since I was twelve with a liter of coffee (like the whole 8 cup French Press) lately I've been having eight shots of espresso in the morning. Keeps me calm and helps me focus and doesn't appear to interfere with my sleep.

Caffeine helped me, once. Now I've gotten used to it. BUT if I don't drink my coffee, I can't work, because my brain uses it as an excuse to slip away. How do I know it's just an excuse? When it's time for sleep, no amounts of caffeine will keep me awake anymore!

Lately, I've found that the energy drink "hell" helps me. I rarely drink it, though, because I don't want to get used to it, too. But it's probably one of the few things containing sugar that boost me instead of turning me full ADD.

Are there any other good, easy-to-get stimulants around?

I’ve always bragged about how caffeine does nothing for me. I can go right to sleep. Another clue that I have adhd along with the bipolar I guess.

I don't take medications for my ADHD, I control it enough on my own. Caffeine makes it harder to control but not impossible, if I have too much I can no longer control it and become overly fidgety and rambunctious. I drink coffee daily.

I just get the shakes. Never been a caffeine drinker. I used to chew no-doz and could still sleep, I'd just wake up with major headaches.
Caffeine is a diuretic which I believe leaves me feeling dehydrated (my own personal theory) so aside from the stimulant effect I believe the side-effects get in the way of it being useful for my add.

I'm quite sensitive to caffeine... I have to be especially careful with it because too much can exacerbate my anxiety.

I think it's absurd that the doctor made such a blanket statement and said it won't keep you up because you have adhd.

Yes, it is true, it may help calm and focus some people with adhd. But there are a lot of factors. I know lots of people who are not kept up by caffeine, and lots of people who are.

It depends so much on the individual, comorbidity, etc. Any doctor who makes a blanket statement like that would make me uncomfortable, personally.

Although I used to think the same way, and I had a fear of medication, I was proven very wrong when untreated ADHD tore my entire life down.

Once I got on medication, it was like getting glasses for poor vision, bringing my mind into a semblance of focus and calm I never had before. I could actually do prolong stints of work or keep myself listening and not interrupting as bad, ect. Those coping tools we use before medication only go so far. But tack meds with them, and you can do pretty good. The medication is safe for the majority of us and I would recommend considering trying it. Most ADHDers do not become addicted to stimulants or have the other negative side-effects. Our brains are physiologically different.

To answer the OP, coffee didn't ever affect me until a drank a ton of it and then I got the shakes a little bit. I could drink coffee and sleep. Coffee actually soothed me too. Stimulants are similar but much more steady and don't put you in the bathroom like coffee can.

With that said, I agree with Llama Llama 44, it depends on your comorbid traits. If you have anxiety or are manic, caffeine is probably going to adversely react with those traits still.

I'm ADD Inattentive and using Venlafaxine. I was diagnosed within this past year and so I haven't been using medication for very long.
I find that caffeine typically has no effect on me whatsoever- good or bad. I can sleep immediately after without any problems. Occasionally I have good focus after caffeine, but these instances are very rare. I usually consume caffeine in the form of tea, because coffee makes my stomach upset. Generally, I've observed very little if any effects of caffeine.
Something I've also noticed, which may or may not be relevant, is that I'm also very minimally effected by morphine and anaesthasia. I received the first during a hospital visit following a horse riding accident and the latter for two dental surgeries. I expected to get 'high' off morphine like people always claim happens, but apart from pain removal I wasn't otherwise experiencing anything unusual. In the case of the aenasthasia, I woke up each time pretty much ready to go for a jog. No grogginess, nothing. During one of the procedures I woke up early while they were still tying the sutures and thought very clearly to myself, "Oh. They're not done yet. I guess I'll just wait." and sat back while the doctors realised I was conscious and discussed my wakefulness among themselves.
The only reason I mention this is because perhaps my lack of reaction to caffeine has more to do with my individual metabolism of substances than anything else. I really have no way of knowing.

Hello, I am new to this forum. I too have ADHD, mainly inattentive type. I had been on Adderall for about 10 years 10mg morning and another 10 in the afternoon. About a year ago, the doctor put me on 15xr. I began feeling depressed sometimes and experienced foggy brain. Now I'm on Wellbutrin 300xr (began with 150xr but too low a dose). The Wellbutrin does work for most symptoms, but not all. Coffee does calm me and helps me focus somewhat, especially in the morning... I love that first cup of Java.

Caffeine doesn’t do anything for me. In fact, I can take it before I go to bed and I’d have a great sleep. It helps me do my online school honestly.

I did take Ritalin 20mg IR for awhile, and it worked awesome for a couple of days, but it ended up making me manic (I have Bipolar I).

I usually avoid caffeine. I believe it can have different effects on different people. So I'd say it depends. Sending many hugs to everyone

Caffeine does nothing for me. Never has. When I was a kid I used to get so jealous of my friends because they would drink a Mountain Dew and take a few No-Doz and be bouncing off the walls. I did it and was still fell asleep no problem.

20mg of adderal and a large coffee can make me feel sort of jangled for an hour or so. Because of that I don't drink the stuff much when I'm on it. When I'm not taking adderall I don't seem to notice caffeine much at all. A large does nothing but taste good. It's always been like that.

I don't think caffeine has any effect on me. I try drinking coffee when I'm really sleepy, but it really doesn't do much. When I was struggling with insomnia I gave it up completely, but I still couldn't sleep. At least I didn't get withdrawals though, so I'm not physically addicted to it.