Have anyone tried caffeine to treat their ADHD or cognitive advantage?

[NastyNate]

If you tried caffeine how effective is it and if so please explain some of your personal experiences with it?

[tommy10jr]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but caffeine is mainly used for alertness. You can be alert but a person that has trouble focusing may or may not have an issue with being alert. I know caffeine induces hyperactivity for me, so when I want to focus I prefer to stay away from caffeine.

[Nimbus]

I have and occasionally still do use caffeine (either in coffee or a No-Doz pill) when I am really fading energy wise (mentally and or physically). I find it does offer mild assistance in focus however the jitters I get far out weigh the possible benefit for me. Basically I find it useful to keep me on a task when I am just totally burned out by I find Piracetam noticeably more effective for me at increasing focus.

[teresita]

I have been drinking coffee for nearly 40 yrs (started as a young teen) and then it made me burst with energy, now it just takes the cobwebs out of my head and it has become habit upon waking-just head to the coffee pot. But if I take those 5hr energy or stackers, sometimes I get jittery, almost nausuas. I find kratom to give me more focus which I usually take a tsp with my coffee.

@Nimbus is right that piracetam is supposed to increase alertness and focus but it didnt work well with me. Someone here told me to start a "stack" of smart drugs along with the piracetam but I couldnt justify the cost vs the effects.

[lucyp]

I have ADHD and love coffee. I can fall asleep right after drinking a mug of it!
Adderall is my prescription. It far surpasses any effect and benefit coffee may deliver.

[cameronhook]

Caffeine helps me a bit but not like any prescription drug that I have taken.

[bezapper]

My experience: caffine is a trap! It immediately changes they way I feel - so - if it works to increase my concentration (and that's not often), I drink more to concentrate even better. And when I do that, I completely lose it in agitation and anxiety. Other times it launches me straight to agitation. Caffine is for doing stupid things faster. It's great for house cleaning and yard work.
Adderall is the only thing that helps me concentrate (and is not dangerous to health, finances and liberty).

[Dr-Feel-Good]

I tried caffeine in an attempt to alleviate my ADHD symptoms and did receive some beneficial effects. I have taken Adderall for many years and would compare caffeine in this since, Adderall is a dump truck and caffeine is like a wheelbarrow. Albeit many people have had tremendous effects using this stimulant as a treatment for ADHD. I have found on the other hand that a group of naturally occurring herbs called nootropics produce very similar effects to those of prescription amphetamines like Adderall. One I have tried that has worked for me is a tea prepared from Gotu kola leaves. After making the tea and ingesting it, I feel the effects are comparable to Adderall for thirty to forty-five minutes before redosing is required. There are many articles outlying the use of these naturally occurring herbs and their efficacy.

[etinin]

Caffeine is too jittery. The only form of caffeine which I like is yerba matte.
I'm good with my Ritalin: less anxiety, more concentration and, if used properly, doesn't screw up your sleep cycles like caffein does.

[hellotharrdude]

In my teen years I was on and off adderall, and a few years ago I had a stint with Vyvanse. Between those times I was a heavy coffee/energy drink/caffeine pill/energy gum consumer. I went through life in a constant state of tiredness and overall feeling down, nearly flunked out of college, and the caffeine was just barely good enough to get me to go to class. It wasn't very good for focus unless it was something I liked to do, such as writing.

Over time, I needed more and more caffeine, to the point that I was always packing a thermos of coffee and chewing energy gum around campus. When I was in college, I was editor-in-chief of a popular local magazine, fairly famous on campus, so people always sighted me with thermos and gum in hand, thinking I was just a quirky editor who never slept. In reality, it was a pretty crippling addiction. To this day, I can't go through the day without at least a cup or two of coffee or caffeine equivalent or else I'll get a horrible headache.

The whole tiredness and likely depression is the result of having central sleep apnea. Without insurance, caffeine is the only thing I can really afford at the moment unless I manage to find a reliable source of modalert. Remains to be seen. "Item Bagged" in India, lol.

[kcfunguy50]

I have used caffeine, and it has worked reasonably well. As with most things, you build up a tolerance. Also, I've found Adderall lasts a lot longer and provides even more of a boost. Regular exercise helps too.

[lobabe]

in college (i was on president's and dean's list) for the two years i was in anyway.
i'm not that smart, i'm good at taking test though.

before a test i would do this-

take a handful of ginseng with a diet pill (something with ephedrine) like hydroxycut
although now you won't find ephedrine in diet pills in america.
drink a cup of coffee

i could feel my synapses popping before a test.
i could access information better that way...and i didn't study that much. so, i think it worked anyway.

i just wish there was a drug like in that movie 'limitless'. that'd be awesome.

[skir]

In my experience, caffeine only works for cognitive purposes if your tolerance to it is low already. I've done some undergrad research on the cognitive effects of caffeine.

JUST MAKE SURE TO TAKE SUGAR WITH CAFFEINE!

It produces completely different good side effects than sugar and caffeine separately.

The improvement may be huge if you havnt ingested caffeine in a month, but if you use it regularly, it might backfire where you can have caffeine dependence.

[duval76]

Caffeine does not have near the benefits of Ritalin for me in terms of helping me concentrate. Plus it is not very practical as I can't drink caffeine after noon if I want to sleep. That's just my experience.

[Anktopot]

caffeine is just part of my routine now. I don't think it helps at all.. I usually drink about 5 cups of coffee a day and almost never have any noticeable effect. Even when I load it up with sugar and what not.. I might as well as just drink water and stay hydrated instead of running off to the bathroom to take a leak every 10 minutes

[andyli]

I wish caffeine would effect me more; I really don't feel much from caffeine. The only time I can even notice the slightest difference is when I'm extremely tired and sleepy, then drink like 3 or 4 cups of dark coffee with a lot of sugar, and it keeps me awake. It keeps me awake, but I'm not that alert or anything really. You can't compare caffeine to stims.

[pixmax]

I drink coffee 3 times a day. Its honestly the only thing i look forward to Monday through Thursday. Coffee breaks.

[COSGringo]

If I've slept well an energy drink double potency will help a bit. Ephedrine a bit better (TTM only place I've bought it from recently).

I am sure I have a bit of ADD as I an awesome multitasker which is a bit rarer for a guy. I use the stimulants due to insomnia and somnolence from my hi dose baclofen I am prescribed.

The energy drinks don't do anything if I am washed out. I can drink one and go to sleep. I've done that after 2 red bulls.

I find I have to have some decent sleep then the energy drinks work. I may try the provigil one of these days. I hear good things.

[CXR]

I wish caffeine would effect me more; I really don't feel much from caffeine. The only time I can even notice the slightest difference is when I'm extremely tired and sleepy, then drink like 3 or 4 cups of dark coffee with a lot of sugar, and it keeps me awake. It keeps me awake, but I'm not that alert or anything really. You can't compare caffeine to stims.

Same here. I'd be tired, drink coffee and while I get a bit of a "rush" under it all I am still tired. The rush is nothing more than some short-term "high" or "bounce" so to speak. Then, coming down it's even lower or worse. I actually don't like the way it made me feel.

[snoman]

I have been tempted to try the ephedrine from T7+3 it would probably be cheaper than 2 or 3 energy drinks/shots a day.I have heard conflicting reports on the potency but the only way to find out is to give them a try.When I was young we used to buy white crosses,purple hearts and 357 magnums at convenience stores.Probably High School age and we really thought we were doing something.I have heard a lot about the "Black Beauties" that used to be around and heard they were the real deal.Coffee is habit with me as well and I go straight for the pot first thing every morning .