Does caffeine work for adhd

How Does Caffeine Affect ADHD

Caffeine and ADHD

Caffeine is found in coffee, tea, and chocolate to name a few, and it’s one of the world’s favorite drugs. But what impact does it have on your brain? The right amount of caffeine can help you focus, but too much might make you jittery, anxious, or irritable.

Because caffeine is so prevalent, it’s important to know how it affects individuals with ADHD.

Caffeine is considered a stimulant. It stimulates the body’s central nervous system, and boosts the brain’s production of a neurochemical known as dopamine, which controls the ability to focus and maintain concentration. This stimulation can cause a person to feel energized and not to feel the effects of fatigue as strongly.

Sometimes the effect can be negative, however. For example, people who have trouble sleeping can experience further sleep disturbances or insomnia due to caffeine.

Reduced sleep

Sleep deprivation can cause ADHD-like symptoms. These include:

irritability
increased forgetfulness
trouble focusing or sitting still
difficulty controlling emotions

Sleep deprivation makes these symptoms worse in people with ADHD.

People with ADHD should only use caffeine in the morning and should avoid consumption of coffee, tea, soda, or chocolate in the evening or late at night.

Reduced blood flow to the brain

Caffeine is also a vasoconstrictor. That means it makes blood vessels smaller and reduces blood flow. This reduced blood flow is why caffeine helps headaches. Amphetamine medications used to treat ADHD also make blood vessels smaller. Caffeine may have some effects similar to those of common ADHD medications.

Although the exact reason is unknown, reduced blood flow may help treat ADHD by reducing the activity of brain regions that are overactive, allowing them to better function and cooperate with the rest of the brain.

Dopamine levels in the brain have to be within a very narrow margin in order for a person to be able to focus on their work. But in ADHD, dopamine levels are too low. Stimulant chemicals such as caffeine or amphetamines tend to increase dopamine levels.

For most people, adding stimulants will push dopamine levels too high, causing agitation and anxiety. But for people with ADHD, adding stimulants can get the levels just right. A few cups of coffee throughout the day can make a real difference.

Some studies have found that caffeine can boost concentration for people with ADHD. Since it’s a stimulant drug, it mimics some of the effects of stronger stimulants used to treat ADHD, such as amphetamine medications.

However, caffeine alone is less effective than prescription medications. Adults can use caffeine safely for their ADHD, but caffeine consumption can actually harm children and teens.

When caffeine and amphetamine medications like Adderall (amphetamine and dextroamphetamine) combine, they cause an effect called synergy. Synergy occurs when two drugs have additive mechanisms of action, making their combined effect more powerful. Caffeine makes amphetamines more effective, so a person taking Adderall, for example, would likely feel a stronger impact, including greater side effects.

The Mayo Clinic defines heavy caffeine use as four or more cups of coffee per day, or 500 to 600 mg. Too much caffeine may cause:

sleeplessness
rapid heartbeat
irritability
anxiety
insomnia
muscle shakes or tremors
upset stomach

Since medication combinations are very hard to control, a person taking both amphetamines and caffeine will also get a double dose of their side effects. Both drugs can cause anxiety, difficultly sleeping, nausea, and stomach pains.

If you’re experiencing anxiety or difficulty sleeping, you may be ingesting too much caffeine. Make sure to always take both your medication and caffeine with food to control stomach pains. Talk to your doctor if nausea persists.

Although emerging research is finding that ADHD has a genetic component, it’s also finding that ADHD is not just one thing. Rather, people with mutations at any number of points in their genetics might get classified with ADHD. For developing children, some brain regions might develop at different rates than the other regions that regulate them. Because ADHD has different causes, treatments can affect people differently.

Some people find that caffeine helps their ADHD, while others find that it doesn’t offer any benefit at all, or even makes their focus worse. Pay attention to your body and work with your doctor to find out what is best for you.

How Do Caffeinated Drinks Affect ADHD

Written by Michelle Konstantinovsky

The most common treatment for ADHD is stimulant therapy. These drugs can improve your focus and attention span and help control impulsive behavior.

The most widely used stimulant, and the most popular drug in the world, is caffeine. It's in coffee, tea, chocolate, soda, and other foods.

A few studies have looked at how caffeine can affect ADHD symptoms, but the results have been mixed. Even though caffeine is a stimulant, it's not generally recommended as a treatment for ADHD because it hasn't proved to be as effective as prescription medications.

How It Works

Stimulants, including caffeine, raise the amount of specific chemicals that your brain uses to send signals. One of these is dopamine. It's linked to pleasure, attention, and movement.

When you have ADHD, doctors often prescribe stimulants to help you feel more calm and focused. Some researchers believe that because studies show the caffeine in tea can improve alertness and concentration, it might work for ADHD, too.

Some scientists think caffeine has potential as an ADHD treatment because of its effect on dopamine levels, which improved memory and attention in rats. In another study, when hyperactive rats were given caffeine before they went through a maze, they got better at it. This suggests caffeine can improve spatial learning. While these studies are interesting, rats aren't people.

The Downside

More than 400 milligrams of caffeine is more likely to cause problems including:

Migraine headaches
Insomnia
Irritability
Upset stomach

A study found that caffeine was much less effective than dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine) and methylphenidate (Concerta, Ritalin), two kinds of medication commonly used to treat ADHD.

For Children

Experts don't recommend giving caffeine to children, especially if they're taking prescription medication for ADHD. Kids may be more vulnerable to the side effects of caffeine. And it's possible that it can affect brain development in growing children.

While an older study found that high doses of caffeine (600 milligrams) every day helped control hyperactivity symptoms in children, there were many side effects.

Kids with ADHD generally have more sleep problems and have trouble staying alert during the day. Caffeine can disrupt sleep, which could make these issues worse.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that no children should have energy drinks, since the high levels of stimulants -- including caffeine -- can cause serious health problems.

Is It Right for You?

Caffeine, like ADHD medications, may affect one person differently than another. Talk to your doctor before you start to use caffeine to help your symptoms.

If you're taking a prescription stimulant, also taking caffeine could cause more or worse side effects.

benefits and harms for ADHD in children and adults

Caffeine - in a glass to go, in a rustling chocolate wrapper, or in a can of forbidden Coca-Cola intercepted on the run - is a natural stimulant that causes the brain to produce more dopamine. This is the explanation why children and adults with ADHD literally cannot live without it. But how safe and effective is caffeine for ADHD symptoms? Here you will find research on the effects of caffeine on children and adults with ADHD and expert opinion.

Alla Rezyapova

Pawel Czerwinski | Unsplash

Coffee, tea, soda, energy drinks, candy bars - many of us use caffeine throughout the day to get a quick energy boost. Caffeine excites the nervous system and increases the production of dopamine, and it becomes easier for us to move, focus on important tasks and maintain concentration. The internationally approved ADHD treatment protocol often includes stimulants that work in a similar way. But can caffeine help manage ADHD symptoms? Is it safe for children and adults to consume so much caffeine?

Contents of the article

Do not self-medicate! In our articles, we collect the latest scientific data and the opinions of authoritative health experts. But remember: only a doctor can diagnose and prescribe treatment.

How does caffeine affect the brain and body?

Everyone has their own relationship with caffeine. Most experts agree that this natural stimulant is perfectly safe. But only in moderation! If you overdo it with coffee, you may experience side effects:

nervousness,
anxiety,
palpitations,
indigestion,
increased anxiety,
migraine,
sleep disturbance,

But it can be the other way around: instead of side effects, you will get a lot of benefits from coffee. Studies say that this drink not only improves concentration and alertness, but helps ease headaches, improve memory, and even prevent cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

“Overall, caffeine improves our performance,” notes Ari Tuckman, a psychologist and author.

However, he adds that when combined with ADHD medications, caffeine can have an unpleasant effect: increased nervousness and anxiety. Some drugs do not mix well with caffeine at all - be sure to discuss this point with your doctor after receiving a prescription.

More information about the effects of caffeine on the body in the video

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How does caffeine affect ADHD?

The effect of caffeine on ADHD is truly paradoxical. For some, this stimulant calms, for others it only increases anxiety. Despite the mixed effects, many ADHD adults and parents of children with ADHD report that a little caffeine helps increase focus and concentration. However, Tuckman notes that patients who take stimulants as a treatment for ADHD tend to be less likely to need large doses of caffeine.

Larry Silver, MD, clinical psychiatrist, is confident that enough caffeine to affect ADHD is likely to cause arousal.

"I don't recommend drinking caffeinated drinks or taking caffeine tablets to treat ADHD," says Dr.

How much caffeine can be consumed per day without harm to health?

The Mayo Clinic gives these numbers:

400 mg of caffeine is safe for an adult—that's about 4 cups of coffee.
45mg caffeine is safe for 4 to 6 year olds.
85 mg safe for 10 to 12 year old child.
300 mg caffeine is the maximum for a woman who is pregnant or planning to give birth.

What do the studies say about caffeine treatment for ADHD?

Research that looks at the relationship between ADHD and caffeine is not new, but its volume and quality are still modest.

2011 Journal of Medical Hypotheses and Ideas. Scientists have concluded that drinking tea may be an effective treatment for ADHD in adults.
Another study was done on rats and the rats were alert and energetic.
In 2013, scientists became interested in the healing potential of caffeine in improving attention in children with ADHD and normalizing dopamine levels.

What do ADHD patients say about their relationship with caffeine?

Five years ago, Attitude magazine collected 4,000 responses from all over the US about this unusual friendship-hate. Here are some of the answers:

“We are trying to reduce sugar, caffeine (chocolate) and increase protein intake”;
"Caffeine is good, but in moderation," said another;
And another said she uses fish oil, caffeine, vitamin D and exercise to manage her symptoms.

In general, personal experience says the same thing: caffeine helps some people, not others. And your ideal method does not always coincide with the opinion of doctors or the experience of other people.

What other treatments are there for ADHD, and which ones work?

Nootropics

Doctors often prescribe glycine, noopept, cortexin for ADHD in children. And here a number of problems arise.

For example, although glycine is good for the brain, its concentration in tablets is too low to break through the protective layer to those cells where it is needed. In higher concentrations, they can easily be poisoned.
Noopept is indicated for a wide range of brain diseases; it is prescribed for injuries and age patients with vascular problems. In this capacity, it is even used abroad, where it is known by the same name. At the same time, it can also make life much easier for young patients with ADHD: it helps to improve sleep, reduces asthenic manifestations, and improves concentration.
The third popular drug is Cortexin. It has no scientific evidence of effectiveness, but some doctors note that it helps reduce ADHD symptoms in children.

Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors

Another group of drugs used in the treatment of ADHD, more "heavy artillery" - norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. Norepinephrine is a hormone that helps you think better, find your motivation, alertness, and regulate your heart rate when you're stressed. RNII increase the production of this hormone in the body and thereby make life easier for a person with ADHD. In addition, SNRIs help with fibromyalgia.

Transcranial electrical stimulation (TES, electrosleep):

a method invented by Soviet scientists who dreamed of inventing a drug-free pain reliever. As a result, TES began to be used for a wide range of diseases; judging by this list, this method is almost a panacea. TES is used for toxicosis of pregnancy and diabetes, they promise normalization of behavior in children and treatment of behavioral reactions in children and correction of psychoorganic disorders in the elderly. And all this with the help of electricity!

It is difficult for us to judge the effectiveness of this method, but many studies on small samples of patients compared with the control group indicate the effectiveness of this method. At least in the fight against stress: for example, a group of 69 athletes after heavy, exhausting competitions, under the influence of TES, recovered faster than the control group of 37 people. However, this study does not answer the question of whether the accelerated recovery was due to the placebo effect. Of course, part of our skepticism is due to the fact that the author of these lines also underwent treatment for ADHD with the help of electric sleep - and this did not help at all.

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Paradoxically, while in Russia they try to calm and slow down children and adults with ADHD, abroad they take stimulants for the treatment of ADHD. In our country, most of these drugs are banned or considered drugs.

Do you have ADHD?

Sugar and ADHD: what's the connection?

Sugar and ADHD: what's the connection? - PRO AUTISM

05/31/2021

Updated: 05/30/2021

Reading time: 4 min.

This article is based on research, that is, it has scientific evidence. Numbers in brackets (1, 2, 3) are active links to publications of peer-reviewed studies.

Sugar and ADHD: what's the connection?

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurological disorder affecting more than 6.1 million people in the United States (1). It has been suggested that certain dietary factors, such as high sugar intake, may influence ADHD.

Although some studies have shown that sugar consumption may negatively affect ADHD symptoms, there is no definitive conclusion.

In this article, we'll look at what modern science says about the relationship between ADHD and sugar, and what therapies are available to manage the symptoms.

The Science of Sugar and ADHD

Extensive research has been done on the correlation between sugar consumption and the risk and symptoms of ADHD. While some research suggests that sugar can negatively impact ADHD, studies have shown conflicting results.

Nutrition

In a 2019 systematic review and meta-analysis of studies (2), researchers reviewed scientific literature on the relationship between diet and ADHD.

The results of the analysis showed that "unhealthy" diets, such as high consumption of refined sugar or saturated fat, increase the risk of ADHD . A healthy diet, such as plenty of fruits and vegetables, has a protective effect.

Soft drinks

A 2020 review of studies (3) confirmed an association between sugar and soft drink consumption and ADHD symptoms.

The results showed that increased intake of sugar and sugar-sweetened beverages caused an increase in ADHD symptoms.

Sucrose

Although the results of the above studies show that there is an association between sugar intake and ADHD, not all studies support this. In one 2019 study (4), researchers examined whether sucrose intake was associated with the development of ADHD.

The results of this study suggest that among children aged 6 to 11 years increased intake of sucrose was not associated with an increased risk of ADHD . Although sucrose is only one type of sugar, these results may show that only 90,184 certain types of sugar affect ADHD.

Artificial additives

It has also been suggested that artificial additives, often found in foods high in sugar, may negatively impact ADHD symptoms. However, much of the research on this topic appears to be biased or erroneous.

For example, a 2015 meta-analysis (5) analyzed 24 studies on artificial food coloring and 10 additional studies on dietary restriction in ADHD.

Although food restriction has proven beneficial for some children with ADHD, available research on the association between artificial supplements and ADHD has been weak.

The Mayo Clinic does note that certain food colors and preservatives may increase hyperactive behavior in some children (9). Avoid foods with these colors and preservatives:

sodium benzoate, commonly found in sodas, salad dressings, and fruit juice products.
FD&C Yellow No. 6 (sunset yellow), which is found in breadcrumbs, cereal, candy, frosting, and soft drinks.
D&C Yellow No. 10 (quinoline yellow), which is found in juices, sherbets, and smoked haddock.
FD&C Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine), which is found in foods such as pickles, cereal, muesli bars, and yogurt.
FD&C Red No. 40 (Allura red), which is found in soft drinks, children's medicines, gelatin desserts, and ice cream.

ADHD and caffeine

Research on ADHD and caffeine is extensive, from the effect of caffeine during pregnancy on ADHD risk to the effect of caffeine on ADHD symptoms.

Several scientists in their 2020 paper "Caffeine Induces Neurobehavioral Effects by Modulating Neurotransmitters" suggested that caffeine intake may help reduce symptoms of ADHD. (7)

Other studies have reported that caffeine exhibited neuroprotective effects in animal models by protecting dopaminergic neurons.

In addition, caffeine interacts with the dopaminergic system resulting in improved neurobehavioral performance in animal models of depression or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Glutamatergic receptors have been found to influence the neurobiological effects of caffeine. In addition, it turned out that caffeine suppresses inhibitory (GABAergic) activity and modulates receptors GABA . Research has also shown that the modulation of these neurotransmitters leads to neurobehavioral effects.

Interestingly, adolescents with ADHD consume more caffeine throughout the day (8). Increased caffeine intake is likely related to its positive effect on symptoms, but more research is still needed.

ADHD and binge eating

There are few studies on the relationship between ADHD and binge eating.

One 2010 review (6) analyzes the relationship between ADHD and binge eating, which may extend to sugar addiction.

In this review, the author explains that certain behaviors that are associated with ADHD, such as impulsivity or inattention, can contribute to overeating. In turn, overeating can be a symptom of a more serious food craving.

However, it is important to note that research on the relationship between these conditions is very limited.

Other treatments

Treatment options for ADHD often include medications, therapies, and behavioral interventions to reduce the symptoms of the condition.

Medications for ADHD

Medications are one of the most effective treatments for ADHD and are often effective even when used alone. Medications for ADHD may include:

Stimulants. The most commonly prescribed central nervous system (CNS) stimulants, such as Adderall and Concerta. CNS stimulants help improve concentration and attention by increasing levels of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain.
Non-stimulants. When stimulants are not appropriate, non-stimulant drugs such as Strattera and Pamelor (Nortriptyline) are given. Non-stimulants help increase the level of norepinephrine in the brain, which improves memory and attention.

Pharmacological treatment of hyperkinetic disorder (ADHD) in Russia >>

Pharmacological treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the USA >>

Preparations, formulations and dosages for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the USA >>

Therapy

Therapy is an option for people who suffer severely from ADHD symptoms and need mental health support. Therapy for ADHD may include:

Psychotherapy. Psychotherapy can be helpful for both children and adults with ADHD. For example, cognitive behavioral therapy can help you analyze and change thoughts or behaviors that may make symptoms worse.
Behavior and social therapy. Behavioral therapy helps learn how to correct ADHD behaviors, while social skills training can help improve problematic behaviors associated with ADHD.
Support groups. Although support groups often target parents of children with ADHD, adults with ADHD can also benefit from peer support. These groups may also suggest other resources for treating and managing ADHD.

Behavioral Intervention

Behavioral Intervention can help ease the management of some of the most devastating symptoms of ADHD. These interventions may include:

Trigger definition. Certain triggers may cause an increase in ADHD symptoms. Once you can identify these triggers, you can make lifestyle changes to reduce the chance of episodes.
Scheduling. While a schedule is especially helpful for children with ADHD, most adults also benefit from having a set schedule. Scheduling your wake and sleep times, meals, and more can help reduce the stress of making last-minute decisions.
Organization of life. With ADHD, it can be difficult to keep track of responsibilities such as work, school, and others. By organizing your personal and professional life, you can easily cope with tasks.

ADHD Medical Device

A US prescription-only device called the Monarch External Trigeminal Stimulation System (eTNS) indicated for patients 7 to 12 years of age who are not taking prescription medications for ADHD, and is the first non-drug treatment for ADHD to receive marketing approval from the FDA.

"This new device offers a safe, non-drug treatment option for ADHD in pediatric patients through the use of mild nerve stimulation," said Carlos Peña, Ph.D., director of the Department of Neurology and Medicine.

The Monarch eTNS system is designed for home use with parental supervision. The cell phone-sized device generates a low-level electrical pulse and is connected via a wire to a small patch to be attached to the patient's forehead. The system provides low-level electrical stimulation to the branches of the trigeminal nerve, which sends therapeutic signals to parts of the brain thought to be involved in ADHD. While the exact mechanism of eTNS is not yet known, neuroimaging studies have shown that eTNS increases activity in areas of the brain known to be important in regulating attention, emotion, and behavior.

The effectiveness of the Monarch eTNS system in the treatment of ADHD has been demonstrated in clinical trials comparing eTNS as a single treatment or monotherapy with a placebo device.

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