Misc caffeine: is it a sign of addiction, ADHD, or my unique reaction?

[Lopez]

i've been using 200-400 mg of caffeine daily for the past month and a half to ease my depression and ironically my anxiety. it turns out it's my miracle cure. i simply sip some dark roast or an energy drink and within 5 minutes my depression is GONE, and my anxiety and inability to switch between thoughts (supposedly due to my temporal lobe epilepsy) is greatly reduced.

i literally get a mood lift comparable to low dose codeine like maybe 30 mg (i was a big opiate guy about 2 years ago, i know what i'm talking about) and clear-headedness.

i just had my late night dose a few minutes ago and i'm actually ready to go to bed, i feel calm yet wired.

anyone else have a special relationship with caffeine? it used to be my worst enemy back when i had no tolerance to it, now it's somewhat my best friend lol.

 

[sekio]

Yup, some people (yours truly included) actually tolerate caffeine really well.

Just be aware that depression/anxiety/headaches that remits when you consume caffeine may well be a sign of caffeine dependency.

 

[RobotRipping]

caffeine typically affects people with ADHD differently, i for one have ADD and coffee makes me either jittery or sleepy and that's it, i really don't like it. It makes a lot of others with ADHD sleep and others it helps focus but i find many stims make me sleepy as well and relieve anxiety rather than cause it, kind of paradoxical reaction but not wholly. Coffee absolutely makes me anxious while 100mg of dexedrine relaxes me and 40 mg can knock me out most of the time. Same with methamp orally in different doses tho and MPH less so with addy but similar.

sounds like you are just getting normal coffee effects without a tolerance. Some people find it's a great stimulant. I also find with amps and MPH that my focus is insanely enhanced and my ability to switch thoughts or multitask is lessened or dampened quite a bit. But everyone is different i guess.

 

[Lady Codone]

I tolerate amphetamines extremely well but caffeine is awful. Bladder irritation, mood swings and general shitty-ness are guaranteed at any dose. You're lucky. Be glad that something cheap, abundant and legal works for you.

As with any drug, don't overuse it or you risk losing the beneficial effects (not to mention developing dependence/addiction).

 

[MoreFeens4Morphine]

It is odd you say that you drink caffeinated drinks to feel relaxed when several hundred psychiatrists across the country inform their patients with anxiety to stay away from caffeinated beverages. In fact I'm one of those people. I don't drink caffeine - EVER. I drink decaf coffee and decaf/diet coke. I also agree with the post above mine in that you're incredibly lucky something cheap, plentiful, and legal gives you a nice feeling. Coffee has never done anything for me but induce anxiety.

 

[sekio]

Caffeine's side effect profile is no worse than amphetamine; I personally think a lot of people get nocebo because they expect caffeine will make them jittery!

Either way, I don't buy the claim that amphetamines are "less nasty" than caffeine.

 

[RobotRipping]

racemic amps are on par with coffee in terms of peripheral stimulation IMO but d-amp is so much more smooth it's not funny. I find ephederine to be less jittery than coffee. 2 cups of coffee always gives me excess anxiety, 1 cup usually makes me drowsy and any more than 2 gives me a panic attack so i have to be careful with it. 50mg of caffeine is my sweet spot but it doesn't help with my ADD symptoms, it's like taking 8 mg of ephedrine in terms of peripheral stimulation. 16mg of ephedrine actually just made me take a nap this morning lol. I know people argue that the paradoxical reaction is not necessarily an indication of AD/HD but it happens to enough people i know that have focus/concentration/motivation issues.

most of the world runs on coffee/caffeine so it's not surprising most people tolerate it well, it's the odd person that can't.

 

[Lopez]

since everyone is talking about amphetamine...

i used to abuse it, i find it calmed me at low doses, making me a bit uncomfortable but at doses of 60-75 mg XR (adderall) i was high as a kite and kept me extremely calm/relaxed paradoxically. methylphenidate in any form gave me instant akathisia and panicky feelings, nothing else, and as a stereotypical adhd reaction it made me very asocial and irritable. what's odd is that when i was younger it used to get me some mild euphoria and some energy. cocaine did the same as amphetamine, but didn't make me productive at all, just fiend for more coke.

but for me caffeine is like a convenient, cheap buzz. 200 mg worth of an energy drink or some dark roast and i'm up and ready to go, it doesn't make me jitter at all, however if i redose throughout the day (especially passing 600 mg) the crash makes me very edgy and possibly kick-starts some sort of epileptic reaction (real life nightmarish feelings, paranoia), but as long as it's in my system i'm a happy, sociable person. i've found NO tolerance build up to caffeine as well, unlike any other drug i've tried.

 

[Moredopamine]

200-400mg caffeine used to give me amazing euphoria, anxiety relief, focus, and a general zest for life. Nowadays even 100mg gets me pretty jittery, anxious, and all around unwell. It's amazing how much our neurochemistry changes over the years.

 

[Lopez]

well i had to work my way up really, i started with light energy drinks, then half a caffeine tablet, a full one, and now occasional dark roast or more hardcore energy drinks.

it seems i have a reverse tolerance towards its good effects, but i do think i've developed an addiction, i get extremely foggy-headed without it, and i physically feel incapable of doing anything.

it's helped me with my powerlifting a lot too. the reduced appetite has allowed me to drop 15 pounds, i'm 213 now, and with a little caffeine before my work out (powerlifting tradition apparently) i can deadlift 425 pounds even after ACL surgery.

it's just generally brought me out of a deep pit in my life.

 

[Psychedelic Jay]

This depends on the source and amount of the caffeine.

 

[n0warning]

If you have depression and anxiety then maby the caffien brings you to baseline level where as you are not worrying about depressing thoughts but now focusing on what you want/need (sleep) I know I can fall asleep on coffee. Not as easy straight edged but do able none the less. Sounds like an interesting reaction for sure thoe

 

[cpuller]

Caffeine's side effect profile is no worse than amphetamine; I personally think a lot of people get nocebo because they expect caffeine will make them jittery!

Either way, I don't buy the claim that amphetamines are "less nasty" than caffeine.

My feeling is that caffeine is a placebo drug that people drink thinking it will wake them up which it doesnt.
I myself drink several cups a day to get rid of my brain fog that I think is caused by caffeine addiction in the first place.
The first time I ever felt strong effects from caffeine was while allready on modafinil this way I realized that it actually does something to stimulate you.
In addition to not getting strong effects I never had a comedown either from caffeine.


Im aware that some people seem to get great effects from it but come on kids drink that stuff and nothing happens.

With amphetamines I did have the comedowns where I felt that I had done a very demanding task like hours of math calculations and that my brain hissed the white flag so I could just ly on my bed doing nothing.
Coffee never did that to me.

 

[sekio]

My feeling is that caffeine is a placebo drug that people drink thinking it will wake them up which it doesnt.

Caffeine is far from a placebo; even in dependent individuals it restores mental functioning and diminishes the effects of fatigue to an extent.

With repetitive use, physical dependence or addiction may occur. Also, some effects of caffeine, particularly the autonomic effects, decrease over time, a phenomenon known as a tolerance. Tolerance develops quickly to some (but not all) effects of caffeine, especially among heavy coffee and energy drink consumers. Some coffee drinkers develop tolerance to its sleep-disrupting effects, but others apparently do not