Caffine

Caffeine is a stimulant and can be used to self-medicate ADHD. Whilst not as powerful as prescribed stimulants, many people find it helpful. I am not recommending that anyone else should try it, merely sharing my own experience. I was diagnosed as an adult, but from the age of nine, I took a flask of black coffee to school. In hindsight, I realise I was self-medicating my undiagnosed ADHD.  As an adult, I was drinking large amounts of caffeine and energy drinks - each month at work I had to focus on a statistical return, and would get through three or four cups of coffee and four cans of Red Bull in two hours ... a neurotypical would be climbing the walls with 600+ mg of caffeine, but it helped me focus. Your mileage may differ!

I didn't know this was a thing (the anesthetic thing!) I went for some -oscopies (horrible) and apparently they gave me lots of sedatives (which I was excited about tbh as I was dreading the procedure) gave me Fentanyl, gas and air and some others too and said 'after you will have a little sleep and wake up and ask if it is already all over' - no, instead I remember the whole thing, it was agonising and horrible and I felt like I wasn't given anything and I definitely didn't fall asleep afterwards

I don't know in general, but my anecdotal experience is it's a double edged sword. I get a huge huge mood boost from it, occasionally bordering on slight mania, but normally just enough to erase my depression for a few hours. It varies a lot though, and I am not sure why. 

But, it seems to severely impact my sleep so I typically stop drinking it at 11 am. It also ramps up anxiety, so really in lieu of any actual antidepressants, that erm, antidepress, it's an anxiety vs depression tradeoff, and one which usually has me reaching for coffee. 

Context matters though. I have one to 3 moderately strong cups a day, the amount depends on what I am up to. 

Unusual Focus can be applied to anything even caffeine. 

It's no good for me. It used to make me buzz, very hyper but that's sort of passed now. Instead I get terrible stomach problems so I try to avoid it when I can. Sometimes I have a naughty drink moment but I always pay for it after. 

I constantly overspend and like choice.

When it comes to caffeine I have three brands of coffee in my kitchen and two brands of tea, all opened so I have plenty of choice.

Am I insane?

In my experience caffine is not good it is one of the worst substances for maintaining any level of physical or cognative stability , it causes too many spikes and dips it holds no medicinal value if you need to remain consistant and stable and like nicotine it interacts with many medications and has damaging effects on many conditions . Just because some people can consume caffine doesn't mean everyone can and it doesn't mean it isn't poisonus for you just because it's widely available and lots of people consume it . As far as i understand it isn't like alcohol as in any euphoric effects are not due to your brain and body reacting to consuming a poisonous substance but if caffine of any other substances are known to effect any conditions you may have badly then its best to remove the obviously damaging things , it might help . 

Is he drinking it excessively? If not it may be that he is particularly hypersensitive to caffeine. I know my mum is like that, she can become anxious and jittery after a single cup of coffee.

I don't tend to have more than 3 cups a day and usually drink it only in the mornings.

Thank you for this

Thank you.  I think it is actually adding to my sons anxiety

Thank you 

I'd guess we might be prone to being either hypo or hyper sensitive to it. I don't find it usually keeps me awake as such. I usually just drink 3 instant coffees a day but I like the occasional latte. I had an incident once though, in a bookshop cafe, where my now-husband, then bf, bought me a latte and got a large not the smallest one which I always go for, which thus had more shots of espresso than I was used to. Not long after drinking it I felt really super excited by all the books in a less calm way than usual, sort of bouncy and fizzy, and chose loads to buy, then in the queue to pay I crashed hard and turned into a virtual zombie barely able to move or speak. Such a weird experience. I hadn't eaten for a while, so it must have hit me harder than normal too. Since then I make sure to only have a one shot latte and try to have food or water along with it!

I've had instances where local anaesthetics haven't worked properly and I've had to get them to stop the procedure and give me an extra dose. Whenever I need a filling at the dentist I have to tell them to give me a double dose. They tell me they've given me enough to tranquillise a horse and yet sometimes I can still feel it!

I dread to think what might happen if I ever needed a general anaesthetic and wasn't able to stop them 

In terms of caffeine I actually find it has quite a calming effect on me. I can wake up incredibly anxious and calm down immensely after a couple of coffees.

A moderate amount of caffeine is fine for me. However, if I have more than 3 strong coffees within 5 hours or so I get a bit jittery. As a student I did several 16 hour-long experiments overnight, where I was counting cells under a microscope for 15 minutes each hour. I kept myself awake with caffeine tablets. After the finish of each experiment I had mild hallucinations for about 30 minutes, but whether this was the caffeine, lack of sleep, or looking down a microscope for such a long time I could not say.

I think this is highly individual but our neurologies can respond atypically to a number of things. Laura Kate Dale in her book Uncomfortable labels certainly reports she seem to be immune from caffine effect no matter how much she drank. 

I have read one or two accounts of autistic people who like me have not had anesthetics work properly for them, for instance. Some do not derive the expected benefits from some other medical drugs. But it all seems to depend on the individual. 

It would not be recommended for somebody with ADHD. I have autism in general and it is perfectly fine.

It more depends on your biology. Do you enjoy feeling 'awake' after having something caffeinated? Or does it make you feel anxious. 

Anxiety is a different way of thinking, perceiving and understanding the world. Some autistic beings in Italy, for instance, love espresso. And some autistic beings in... Japan might prefer tea. And some autistic beings in America love Pepsi (tho, I'm not sure how good that is for our biology). And then there are other stimulants from, say the Darkest Peru :) Pick your poison. OR - if you feel anxious with it, might be best to steer clear.