Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional ADHD and caffeine

Is it really true that giving a child caffeine is a good way to confirm whether or not he has ADHD?

I recently gave my son a cappuccino and he bounced off the walls for the rest of the day and couldn't sleep that night.

I'd like to believe this means he does not have ADHD.

I don't know if this is fact or myth because I am not ADHD however, I was told caffeine and/or stimulants "relax" those who are dx.

I can see an instant change in my son's behavior when he is on meds and he describes it as numeral messages constructing thoughts in his mind are quieted just to the ones he wants to focus and concentrate on. Without meds, he says he has difficulty concentrating very long on one particular task especially if it is boring.

I googled on this, and found a good bit of chat about it but not too much science. It was a quick look though. If it helps that would be nicer seeming than other drugs. I found almost nothing on using this as a test for adhd, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be. I would love to see/find a study on it.
A cap might be overdoing it! 2 cups of 'american coffee' (too weak 4 me) seems recommended- by some, and you have to figure on weight being a factor...I'm not saying try again, but there is some info on dosage on the web too.

I can honestly say that caffeine puts me to sleep. A small amount works great for me at work when I have to do a lot of focused repetitive tasks for periods of time.

Yes. About 2 cups seems to work for DS6 - and helps him for about half a day. Or half a bottle of non-sugar Mountain Dew. I used to give him a couple of sips - afriad he would bounce off walls - and concluded that it "didn't do anything". I didn't give him enough.

I did confirm the caffeine thing with the pscyhologist before trying it. I try not to post "any old opinion" on these boards -because there is no much rubbish out on chat boards in general. We need to try extra hard to keep integrity on this one! If your son is bouncing he probably does not have ADHD - but I said coffee - NOT expresso (!) (Kidding). That's probably a good thing. Besides - I thought we'd already concluded on previous chats that your son's Basal Ganglia (sp) was being affected by his infection? So sounded like you already had the science on that one. In addition - I don't recommend anyone just try coffee to come up with their own diagnosis. It's just something a parent an do if they SUSPECT ADHD and want to test their theory before getting proper medical advice on it. After all - medical tests are often not covered by insurance - so maybe you want to be pretty darn sure before paying for the doctor.

If anyone finds anything reliable on the net about caffeine though - please do post!

Hey Ironmom,
Yeah, I initially thought-- great, he has this PANDAS things and not ADHD. ADHD is a dx I have been very resistant to. But now it turns out the ADHD-ish behaviors are a big part of PANDAS and may not resolve that easily... so I am not sure anymore whether one excludes the other.

There are just so many behavior patterns with no many different causes that can all be called "ADHD" just like there are many different kinds of "headaches."

My BIL has ADHD/Dyslexia and was diagnosed back when I guess they hadn't studied appropriate med doses for kids. Instead they put him on coffee. He says he would go to school each day with a thermos of coffee, while the other kids were drinking milk at lunch. He still continues to drink coffee throughout the day and my sister claims he gets really 'weird' when he doesn't get his coffee. He is both mathematically inclined and a poet. I've tried it with my ds and haven't really noticed a difference in focus but then again he has ASP with some ADD like qualities. We've never thought he was ADD and certainly not the H part, but the caffeine is good for his asthma!

Brownie

How in the world do you get your dc to drink coffee? I'm tempted to try the coffee thing, but I'm sure my ds wouldn't drink it. He also won't dring anything carbonated, so cola and mountain dew are out.

I know adults with ADHD who self-medicate with coffee.

I've heard of 18 yr olds self-medicating with the soda. DS6 likes coffee with Splenda. Make it sweet enough - he'll drink it. Also we've tried Chocolate Velvet coffee.

The downside is of course, you don't want them to get a coffee addiction - where they act weird without the coffee - so we certainly aren't "over doing" it.

The Omegas seem to work. He's only had about 53g of EPA in the current. We've been told to up it to 200g EPA - and the EPA is the part you need to look at.

I'll report back if I see some improvements. I've started taking 2000 mg of Omega Fish Oil myself and so far feel loads better. I think sleep deprivation and stress caused a lot of my previous symptoms - but now that I suspect my own giftedness and ADHD too - I figured I should try to cure myself too - as I was getting very forgetful, having trouble concentratining - but then - I have other medical issues that bring these symptoms with them - so its hard to separate them out sometimes.

Hi,
Our son was a Coca Cola addict up until grad school when he quit it. I suspect he felt it calmed him. Was the cappucicno artificially flavored? ADHD kids can be set off by additives.