Does coffee calm adhd

How Does Caffeine Affect People With ADHD?

Caffeine. Many of us crave it. Coffee, tea, soda, energy drinks—even chocolate.

Rumblings on social media ask about using caffeine to counteract attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Legitimate medical studies have also investigated the topic.

“I drink lots of coffee, and I’d kind of be a mess without it all. I can see how coffee does help with a whole range of things,” says Jennifer L. Temple, PhD, who has both a personal and professional relationship with caffeine.

“It is the most widely consumed drug in the world, but it’s still a drug,” says Temple, who has studied caffeine and its psychological and physiological interactions among those ages 8 to 17 as director of the Nutrition and Health Research Laboratory, University at Buffalo, New York.

“One of the challenges that we ran into with our work in teens was that they were required to be withdrawn from caffeine. They were required to not consume caffeine for several weeks in our studies, and we lost parents,” Temple says, “because they said they use caffeine to manage their children’s ADHD, and they weren’t willing to take them off of it for the time they were in our study. That is not scientific, even remotely, but that was something we ran into anecdotally.”

How Caffeine Stimulates the Body

There’s a brain chemical called adenosine that produces a calm, drowsy feeling as a signal to take it easy or wind down.

Caffeine works as a system override. It blocks adenosine, so that sleepy state isn’t produced, because caffeine takes its place. Voilà—alert instead of groggy.

Using Caffeine for Concentration

What's most consistent in caffeine studies is their inconsistency. Mixed results for those with and without ADHD. A May 2021 publication reviewing several studies stated: “Studies do not support caffeine as having any significant effect on attention, but it does seem to play a role in enhancing processing speed…Most of the data suggest caffeine having significant positive effects on both short-term and long-term memory in the adult and elderly population, but not in children.”

Authors of a large study of children ages 9-10, using guidelines from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox, suggested worse overall cognitive performance with long-term caffeine use in all areas but two: reading decoding (the ability to apply knowledge to letter/sound relationships which helps with pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary comprehension) and inhibitory control (the ability to suppress behavior, thoughts, and emotion).

That means about an equal number of boys and girls scored worse in the ways we process, use, and remember information.

A UK study featured in Nutrients (2020) of adults ages 37-73 (who did not have ADHD) showed lower performance with recent caffeine use (within an hour) during specific tasks: prospective memory (the ability to remember to carry out actions in the future), pairs matching and fluid intelligence (being able to use knowledge we have to solve a new problem in front of us)—which suggested impairments in reasoning and memory.

“Caffeine doesn't really work on the system in the brain that helps you focus it. It just makes you more awake. In general, people are able to focus better when they are awake,” Temple explains.

An interesting study on university students contrasted daily use: caffeine only helped the students’ productivity during the morning hours—referred to as the students’ “suboptimal times” of the day—when they were more likely to be sleepy. Caffeine administered in the afternoon didn’t have the same effect.

“When you're tired, you might have a more difficult time attending to things. Caffeine could potentially help with that,” Temple says. “Not being tired, being more alert—being more awake, feeling more energized can help you focus more, but they don’t work the same way.”

Caffeine and ADHD Medications

Medical experts do not advise using caffeine as a treatment or replacement for ADHD medication. Caffeine doesn’t target ADHD symptoms as effectively as proven prescriptions. And caffeine plus medication “can result in dangerously acute jitteriness or out-of-control impulsivity,” according to CHADD, a national resource for children and adults with ADHD.

Besides, other challenges arise. Sleep can be lost to both ADHD meds and caffeine, creating insomnia that can elevate ADHD symptoms and complicate its use as a fatigue fighter.

“I think there are some people who feel like caffeine could act as an enhancer of the effects of the ADHD medication—so the caffeine can make you feel more awake, and the ADHD medication can help you focus more—but they work differently,” Temple says.

Before combining medication with caffeine, check with your doctor. Certain medications—including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), antipsychotics, and cardiac meds—and medical conditions don’t mix with caffeine and can cause reactions or intensify negative side effects. Parents, teens, and kids should discuss typical caffeine use—and sleep onset and quality—with their pediatrician.

While both caffeine and the most common ADHD drugs are central nervous system stimulants, their main targets differ.

Prescribed stimulant medications even work differently for the neurotypical adult or child versus those with ADHD. ADHD medications calm hyperactive and impulsive ADHD traits, targeting dopamine and norepinephrine activity of the brain. A theory is there are lower levels or less efficient processing or release of dopamine with ADHD, and those neurotransmitters help with messaging in the brain.

While ADHD meds attend to brain chemicals by optimizing their levels, this is not caffeine’s primary goal. Caffeine works on the adenosine system which is responsible for the sleep-wake cycle.

“When you're tired at the end of the day, the adenosine system gets you ready for sleep. It helps your body shut down and makes you feel sleepy," Temple explains. "So caffeine doesn't really directly impact your ability to focus. It just helps you be more awake."

Medication and caffeine work in different systems in the brain with separate receptors and different outcomes. "That's not to say that there aren't ways in which the systems interact, but caffeine's not going to have the same impact,” Temple says.

Risks of Caffeine

A caffeine withdrawal headache isn't fun. Jitters from drinking too much coffee aren't either. Caffeine can cause side effects and drug interactions. Seek medical attention if heart palpitations accompany caffeine use.

In moderate amounts, caffeine is often well-tolerated. Temple’s research yielded temporary changes in blood pressure and heart rate among youth participants. Effects vary individually, like the variable amount of caffeine in a beverage. So do effects over time—a tolerance often develops, requiring higher amounts.

The effects of too much caffeine can include:

Jittery feeling
Restlessness
Nervousness
Increased anxiety
Increased agitation
Hand unsteadiness
Digestive upset/nausea
Habit forming
Dysphoria (a feeling of unhappiness)
Headache/irritability from withdrawal
Medication interactions/interference
Insomnia and resulting fatigue
Disrupts natural body rhythms, sleep-wake cycle (by blocking adenosine)
Dehydration
Temporary changes in blood pressure and heart rate (with moderate use, though variable)

These risks are even more serious if you have heart or blood pressure issues, or are pregnant.

A cup of coffee has about 100 mg of caffeine, but that varies. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises against energy drinks/shots and advises teens not to exceed 100 mg of caffeine a day. For adults without medical restrictions, the FDA advises 400 mg or less of caffeine daily—about four cups of Joe, two energy shots, or 10 cans of cola.

More than that amount for kids and teens can cause harm in some subgroups—like those with psychiatric and cardiac conditions, according to Temple’s caffeine literature review. She says her participants had minor, temporary effects with typical moderate use, deemed “relatively safe.”

Medication does interact and can intensify or amplify side effects, so figure out next steps with a physician, and let them know about herbal supplements you take as well.

Avoid caffeine powders—under scrutiny by the FDA for misuse. Small amounts of caffeine powders contain high levels of caffeine that quickly can be dangerously toxic, and on rare occasions, fatal—a teaspoon of pure caffeine powder equates to 28 cups of coffee.

Beware—supplements marketed as enhancing workouts and muscles often contain caffeine, in ingredients such as guarana and yerba mate.

Caffeine has a proven track record of keeping folks of all ages awake at bedtime if it’s consumed too late—and sleeplessness can mimic and amplify symptoms of ADHD. Growth and development occur while kids sleep.

“I tell parents that the biggest risk is lack of sleep, and it really affects the kids’ sleep-wake cycle—and kids need sleep,” Temple says. “There’s already a lot of things that are competing for sleep time—screens especially—and when you add the caffeine to it, it can just become this vicious shortened sleep duration, and can also impact sleep quality.”

Both caffeine and some ADHD medications affect sleep, so let your physician know about caffeine use and insomnia so they can help stave off the effects of sleep deprivation that exaggerate already significant challenges of ADHD like forgetfulness, difficulties concentrating, emotionality, and behavior including acting out or aggression.

“Don’t drink it later in the day, because you’re going to have a hard time falling asleep.” Temple says. “But because the half-life is short, if you drink it in the morning, it’s not going to keep you up at night, which is a bonus of it.”

Can Caffeine Help ADHD?

Studies agree caffeine is less effective than ADHD medications.

“The combination of the fact that it has a short half-life, especially compared to the longer acting ADHD medications, and the fact that it's not really directly targeting the neural mechanism that underlies attention and focus, it's not a substitute,” Temple says. “It's not a good substitute at all.”

Bodies of research show caffeine is inferior to treatment with stimulant medications prescribed for ADHD, which improve symptoms for 70% to 80% of ADHD kids and adults within a few hours.

“The research is not there to show that caffeine is an effective strategy to manage ADHD. It is a stimulant like methylphenidate [Ritalin], and the stimulants that we give to kids with ADHD, but caffeine doesn't work the same way at all. You get that peak of caffeine, and then you sometimes get a crash, and so it’s just not effective over the long term in terms of helping manage any kind of symptoms,” Temple says.

“If you want to help your kid pay attention in school all day, caffeine with a half-life of about four hours is only going to help them pay attention in first, maybe second period, and that’s about it. Whereas with the ADHD meds, they are formulated so that they are slow release and longer lasting, so that you can get management of symptoms over the whole day.”

Trying to tackle inattention with caffeine, or without an experienced ADHD professional’s evaluation, also leaves out a supportive network that a diagnosis provides. Data shows ADHD symptoms benefit from a combination of behavioral therapy from health professionals experienced with treating ADHD, strong family and school and/or workplace support including 504 plans or an Individualized Education Plan (IEP)—school staff and social workers can assist in their creation—and, if appropriate, medication with frequent check-ins to update or revise plans.

How Caffeine Affects People with ADHD Differently

There’s not a one-size-fits-all for cups of caffeine—it affects everyone differently. One young man with ADHD relayed his experience of medication and caffeine:

"Caffeine doesn't do anything for me. The medication is different, it just makes things click—it's less of a fight to focus and helps me pay attention better."

Experts say more research into the long-term effects of caffeine and ADHD medication—including the impact of stimulant medication on ADHD-related structural and functional brain alterations—is warranted.

It's important to point out that caffeine can adversely affect behavior, mood disorders, and is also linked to panic attacks—which can occur with ADHD. Anxiety disorders happen three times more often in people with ADHD compared to the general population, according to a 2019 study. A 2022 follow-up suggested “caffeine-related genes" (that's right, some evidence suggests genetics impacts the way we process and respond to caffeine) play a role in causing anxiety disorder traits among adults and children with ADHD.

Combined or studied separately, the research clearly shows at least one through-line: ADHD stimulants consistently perform better than caffeine and more effectively address symptoms. So consider other motivators to entice you out of bed!

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Notes: This article was originally published November 16, 2022 and most recently updated December 13, 2022.

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.

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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,
muscle pain

But it can be the other way around: instead of side effects, you 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.

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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 studies the relationship between ADHD and caffeine is not new, but their volume and quality are still quite 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;
Another responded that 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?

Energy drink or sleeping pills: why does coffee make you sleepy?

For many, coffee is synonymous with cheerfulness, but still there are many people who drink it to… fall asleep! Moreover, drowsiness after a cup of coffee is a completely natural reaction of a healthy body. But why is coffee an effective energy booster for some, and the best sleeping pill for others? We searched for the answer together with our experts and we will be glad to have a constructive discussion with you in the comments.

Everyone wants to sleep after coffee

Coffee contains two natural organic substances - alkaloids caffeine and theobromine, which affect the central nervous system in different ways. If caffeine, which is located in the upper shell of the grain, expands the renal vessels and narrows all the others, then theobromine from the inner shell acts in the opposite direction: it reduces pressure, dilates blood vessels, etc.

The first thing after you drink a cup of coffee is caffeine, which has a bright and invigorating effect on the body. Caffeine is an antagonist of adenosine, which is responsible in our body for the accumulation of drowsiness during wakefulness. Caffeine temporarily suppresses the accumulation of adenosine, causing a surge of strength and vigor.

But this action does not last as long as you might think. Already 20-25 minutes after caffeine, theobromine enters the scene, also a useful alkaloid in its own way, which relaxes the body, has a positive effect on cognitive abilities and even improves mood. But! Only if your body is not exhausted by endless sleepless nights and does not need quality rest. Otherwise, you are more likely to want to sleep. Some experts are sure that if it is at this time (20 minutes after a cup of coffee) that you drink a glass of water, then this effect can be leveled by restoring the water-salt balance.

That is why, by the way, grain and instant coffee have such a radically opposite effect on a person, despite the fact that both are made from the same grain. The fact is that soluble is made from the inner shell of the grain and there is much more theobromine in it than caffeine.

Effect of the 30th kilometer

Sad statistics. Most accidents on highways were recorded at a distance of 30-50 kilometers from a settlement or a roadside cafe. This phenomenon even has a name: the effect of the trucker or the 30th kilometer. In fact, this is a consequence of theobromine exposure - when half an hour after a cup of an invigorating drink, you suddenly want to sleep.

Many consider this to be nothing more than a myth, but there is certainly some truth to it. With severe fatigue, even a liter of coffee will not save - only quality rest will help here. After all, coffee itself does not give energy, it just helps to cheer up the body for a while. And when the central nervous system is heavily overloaded, the addition of caffeine to the body causes the opposite effect - in fact, the self-preservation instinct works and the central nervous system simply turns you off.

So why not drink coffee at all?

Not at all. Coffee is one of the most effective means to cheer up. The coffee really works. Especially when you need to quickly wake up your brain before an important meeting or meeting. Or when you drink coffee solely for pleasure, and not for functional purposes. To enjoy the taste of this aromatic drink. Coffee has a rich chemical composition and a huge list of useful properties that have made it an indispensable drink, a favorite of millions of people around the world.

But, for example, if you are a driver, give preference to tea on a long journey. It contains more caffeine (especially green) and affects the body much longer than a cup of espresso.

If you have a tough week with endless deadlines, sleepless nights and nervous negotiations, coffee can also be a bad helper for you. You will not even notice how you will consume more and more cups, without experiencing vivacity and a surge of strength, which will completely deplete your body. For an interesting alternative, try brewing shu pu-erh. In tandem with a piece of dark chocolate, this tea will help you focus and improve your mood.

How to stay awake after coffee

In fact, all people have the same receptors, so the effect of coffee is more or less the same. But do not forget that the reaction of each specific organism is influenced by many factors:

you drink Arabica or Robusta;
you ordered an espresso or a latte;
drank 100 ml or 300 at once;
your blood pressure is low or high.

It is also important what time of day you drink coffee. We published an average infographic depending on cortisol peaks a little earlier, we duplicate it again:

Your individual reaction to coffee can only be known through experience. But still, there are a number of factors that can play a role:

Milk or cream greatly weakens the effect of caffeine - therefore, after a cappuccino or latte, a tired person will fall asleep faster.
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