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Misc caffeine as an anxiolytic

There is a difference. And it has been observed. That is my understanding from it.
It isn’t that they don’t get high, it that the high is “different”. The high starts off more calmly...
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Except there's not a lot of medical evidence to back this up - stimulants produce largely the same effects in ADD individuals that they do in healthy "neurotypicals". If you give someone a low dose of amphetamine they may not always get hyper stimulated (and if you tell them it's going to calm them down, there's a good chance it will!)

I'm sure you have had days when you feel scattered and cannot focus due to stress, for instance - amphetamines in these circumstances would likely make you feel calmer because of increased executive functioning allowing you to deal with your problems more effectively.
 
sekio said:
Except there's not a lot of medical evidence to back this up - stimulants produce largely the same effects in ADD individuals that they do in healthy "neurotypicals". If you give someone a low dose of amphetamine they may not always get hyper stimulated (and if you tell them it's going to calm them down, there's a good chance it will!)

I'm sure you have had days when you feel scattered and cannot focus due to stress, for instance - amphetamines in these circumstances would likely make you feel calmer because of increased executive functioning allowing you to deal with your problems more effectively.
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I've always been one who doesn't really truly believe in ADD/ADHD either.... It really seems like an excuse for a person to be lazy or even stupid in some circumstances. No motivation ? Here, have some amphetamine...

Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know, either way I DO however know that regardless of someone being "ADD" or not, a stimulant still acts as a stimulant. That person still gets high. I've debated this with so many people. Very frustrating.
 
sekio said:
I'm sure you have had days when you feel scattered and cannot focus due to stress, for instance - amphetamines in these circumstances would likely make you feel calmer because of increased executive functioning allowing you to deal with your problems more effectively.
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Placebo does play a factor in some people I do realize.

I guess an abrupt end to psychological craving can be an anti-anxiety response Sekio?

ADD doesn’t mean lazy or unmotivated.

From my understanding it’s something similar to my problems.

My lack of focus and disinterested indecisiveness is a big hinderance on my life. Most decisions I make are indeed “split-second". Most points I am thinking so hard about doing shit that I end up do absolutely nothing and losing out.

Most stuff that people would call normal is boring and mundane. It fails to create a drive.

I am a heavy risk taker. I gamble. I have tons of unprotected sex. I sometimes re-use needles. I am most times in the “2 or more" substance poly-drug user.

I feel really fucking frustrated and in low mood on task that require extended thinking spells... I am terrible at math. I am terrible at writing anything that takes longer than 30 minutes and the rest is rubbish (That’s fighting it.)

I cannot hold a job without medication.

Most people would say that I have it, But it isn’t hyperactivity. I don’t have a problem sitting still, but I do fiddle (I have generalized anxiety disorder). I have primarily inattentive type if I do have it.
 
That's the difference between add and ADHD. You seem ADD. Not ADHD. Just my opinion, and I'm no doctor.
 
But, I still have yet to understand why coffee is so fucking relaxing to me.

Just a little dab of it and I can go to sleep. I am not a regular user of caffeine either.
 
Psychedelic Jay said:
But, I still have yet to understand why coffee is so fucking relaxing to me.

Just a little dab of it and I can go to sleep. I am not a regular user of caffeine either.
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My friend's dad is like that. Always has a large cup of coffee before bed time and reports this allows for easier sleep... He has never received an ADD/ADHD diagnosis and he wouldn't strike me as someone who should either.
 
twotoomany said:
That's the difference between add and ADHD. You seem ADD. Not ADHD. Just my opinion, and I'm no doctor.
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The only difference between ADHD and ADD is that ADD is no longer a formal diagnosis - it is an outdated term. Other than that, there is no difference.

There are inattentive, hyperactive and combined subtypes of ADHD however.
 
the caffeine has made all the difference! i cut back down though to 2-3 x 200 mg doses per day though because the every 5 hours routine was beginning to make me feel eerily unlike myself. i snapped at my girlfriend, and wasn't socializing or talking to anyone. it was like i was stuck there in my own little world.

i feel fatigued though, it's beginning to drain me of my energy, although this might be because i'm stacking it with clenbuterol to burn off some fat (high dose too, 100 mcg) and i'm on a caloric deficit (more like a regular diet, my usual diet is REALLY high in carbs and protein).

caffeine has a totally different edge to it now. i can feel the addiction setting in though, i know when it's time to take my next dose usually every 6 hours due to a mild headache and feeling really "bleh"-ish. still better anxiolytic than the benzo's i was on which eventually made my anxiety WORSE.

apparently caffeine can increase GABA receptor density in the brain over time. maybe it gets even better? guess i'll have to find out.
 
caffeine reduces adenosine and gaba activity.

it indirectly increases neurotransmission by disinhibiting the brain.

could be good for benzo tolerance maybe?
 
crOOk said:
My friend's dad is like that. Always has a large cup of coffee before bed time and reports this allows for easier sleep... He has never received an ADD/ADHD diagnosis and he wouldn't strike me as someone who should either.
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it's kind of hard to spot ADD in some people. if i legitimately have it, i wouldn't know because i got through school with nothing but a's and b's, and i didn't even try.

i have various friends who seem normal and concerta still puts them to sleep.

then i have some which are all-over-the-place as well.

as for me, whatever disorder is plaguing me (shows up as temporal lobe epilepsy in an EEG but i've never had a full blown seizure, even after doing all the stims i do, so i think it's BS) simply wrecks my emotional stability.
 
There are studies that found caffeine can attenuate symptoms of anxiety disorder and depression btw, just remembered that in my sleep. I might dig those up sometime later today. Personally, being bipolar, i steer clear of the stuff. Makes me switch twice per day, pure poison to my brain. I even abstain from coke and lipton iced tea, two of my former favourite soft drinks. Helped immensely in regaining affective stability, eventhough I did average over 15 hours of sleep per day for a while.
 
high doses of caffeine or amphetamines usually will cauze jitters and cauze more general anxiety ritalin and amphetamines r not better 4 u 2 take long term then benzos really the stimulants r worse.
 
Lopez said:
caffeine reduces adenosine and gaba activity.

it indirectly increases neurotransmission by disinhibiting the brain.

could be good for benzo tolerance maybe?
Click to expand...

That's an interesting theory. I've read that caffeine exacerbates benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms. I always wondered if the general CNS excitability caffeine causes could somehow speed up the healing process in that it would force the brain to adapt to the excitation by naturally increasing inhibitory functions (sort of the same way a direct benzodiazepine antagonist has been shown to reverse benzo tolerance, even reset it to baseline levels). Probably not a recommended strategy for people with benzo dependence issues however.
 
Lopez said:
caffeine reduces adenosine and gaba activity.

it indirectly increases neurotransmission by disinhibiting the brain.

could be good for benzo tolerance maybe?
Click to expand...
It acts as a competitive inhibitor at adenosine receptors, but doesn't reduce adenosine activity. Not meaning to be a smartass, just trying to clear things up. Activity basically means concentration and in no way does caffeine reduce GABA or adenosine levels. Not sure how exactly GABAergic transmission is inhibited though.


Moredopamine said:
That's an interesting theory. I've read that caffeine exacerbates benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms. I always wondered if the general CNS excitability caffeine causes could somehow speed up the healing process in that it would force the brain to adapt to the excitation by naturally increasing inhibitory functions (sort of the same way a direct benzodiazepine antagonist has been shown to reverse benzo tolerance, even reset it to baseline levels). Probably not a recommended strategy for people with benzo dependence issues however.
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I think what he was saying is that long term, high-dose usage of caffeine might lead to an upregulation of GABAr's, while single dose use would indeed exacerbate benzodiazepine withdrawls. That being said, I agree in that I strongly doubt it would be very useful for battling benzo tolerance.

Lopez said:
it's kind of hard to spot ADD in some people. if i legitimately have it, i wouldn't know because i got through school with nothing but a's and b's, and i didn't even try.
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Well if it ain't causing any trouble, there's no justification for a diagnosis.
 
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