So I've got a question for people here that absolutely don't have adhd - what effects does caffeine have on you? Particularly in refernce to sleep/tiredness? (I'm trying to work out if i have the paradoxical effects or not)
I know you said people who don’t have the 4K 1080p disorder but the paradoxical effect is what helped me get an adult diagnosis, as prior I was drinking enough caffeine to kill a small bull elephant. I’m on 10mg of adderall XR now to treat my symptoms. I used caffeine to focus, not to gain energy. If I drank like ten monsters and could focus on my work, then it was a net positive for the day. Most people associate the paradoxical effect of caffeine and ADHD with tiredness but truthfully I think the brain takes caffeine, the stimulant, and is so enamored with not having to think about fifty things at once and it’s finally allowed to be quiet that the body equates that to finally being able to rest. On my medication I haven’t touched caffeine (if I can help it), and when I do I get the jitters now (unable to calm/twitchy when I want to relax, “awake” so to speak). There’s more bad than good to caffeine for me now that I just substitute it with really cold water to shock the senses. It’s not always going to be like that for me, I know, and I’m not the audience you asked for, but being on both sides of the question makes me hope this is helpful anecdata.
I'm another data point on the "caffeine doesn't make me tired, but does help me focus" front. (I also have ADHD, to be clear.) I could see how that feeling might be described as relaxed, but I definitely wouldn't call it tired myself—I actually find the mental peace and quiet kind of invigorating, like a runner's high or a weight lifted off my shoulders. In my case, caffeine doesn't have negative side effects while I'm on stimulant medication, it just doesn't do much as far as I can tell. Likely because the difference between the effect of proper medication and the effect of a caffeinated drink is huge.
i dont have an adhd diagnosis, though my psych has said that i do have some overlap in symptoms, what has kinda made me go "eh probably not" is my reaction to stimulants like coffee actually! i have One cup of coffee a day. if i have more than that i get SO anxious, everything goes too fast and too slow at the same time, bounce from task to task and can't focus on any of it
depends on the caffiene level for me. large amounts (like three cups of coffee worth) will have me paranoid as hell. otherwise with more normal amounts, i'm usually a bit wired, more awake. in rare occasions i end up more tired than i started.
