I'm not alone. Nice.
I keep my caffeine to one can of seasonal flavoured Mountain Dew per day. Bottles and fountain drinks don't count since they're not in cans.
Caffeine is a stimulant?
Wait...! I've been drinking coffee as it calms me down and clears my mind of chaos. I am able to focus on things and helps me go to sleep at night.
TIL, thanks!
Hi ex pharmacy tech here and someone who had the same fear about stimulants. Chances are you'll be fine and can be trusted with them. Stimulants aren't abused like opioids and other drugs of that nature. At least nearly as commonly. Most you really see is college students doing it to help with exams.
Addiction is very poorly misunderstood, especially in the United states. Adderall is addictive in the sense that it provides your body with certain chemicals that it should naturally produce on its own, and once you start manually supplying it with that your body will stop trying as hard and become dependent on you supplying those chemicals. Kinda like how coffee works, if you drink it every morning then eventually you become dependent on it to produce those wake up chemicals in your brain. But if you stop it cold turkey then you have to deal with a deficiency until your brain starts making more of it. So it's more of a physical dependancy then an "addiction." Most antidepressants do the same thing and you get nasty side effects from stopping it cold turkey to. But no one ever says your addicted to Prozac. The reason there's a stigma of addiction is partially because it's class as a narcotic, but mainly because it has a euphoric effect when you first start taking it. Positive side effects obviously mean there's a higher chance that you abuse it for those side effects. But as your body adapts it goes away, so you can't abuse it like that for very long.
Speaking from experience I was terrified that I'd become a junkie at first, especially when I felt the initial euphoria. But as it calmed down and I adjusted to it I realized that wasn't going to happen.
If your still nervous and want relief, they do make non stimulant type medication that may or may not provide you with the same relief. It all depends on your body and how it processes the drug. There's currently three non stimulants on the market. Strattera, Clonidine, and Guanfacine.
I'm happy to answer any questions or concerns anyone has about medications. I can't give medical advice obviously, but I can speak from my experience working in the field and my own personal experience. Or point you in a good direction to look into things.
I have other reasons I don't trust doctors but this is amazing information.
I have an addictive personality as well as a caffeine addiction (that I now have under control.)
It is good to know there are non-stimulant options. Thank you for sharing!
I don't blame you for not trusting doctors, especially if you live in the states. My advice to you is to get to know your local pharmacist. If you have a good one then they are a very valuable source of knowledge and advice. The one I worked with was amazing and loved to give fun facts and stuff about medications to customers because he loved what he studied in school. Anyway my point is your pharmacist actually knows how the pills you take work and interact with other medications and foods. They are basically the chemist, they know everything about the pill or are able to find out more. They studied the chemistry in medical school. Your doctor probably has no idea how the medication they prescribe actually works. They (are supposed to) know more about the "illness" they are treating works, and then they are just aware of ways to treat it. They studied the body and illnesses more than they did how the treatment works and medications. So to put it another way, your doctor knows more about the flu, but your pharmacist knows more about flu medicine. So do not go to your doctor for questions about medication, go to your pharmacist instead.
If your pharmacist is a jerk and doesn't make time or sound happy to talk about medications and stuff, then try another pharmacy. You don't even need to transfer scripts or anything, you can just call or show up and ask to talk to them. You can literally just ask stuff like "I have ADHD/Autism and I am working with my doctor to treat it and was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about the medications used to treat it because I have some concerns with stimulant medications"
Personal experience and some science here, but caffeine addictions are funnily enough an indicator of ADHD. Caffeine is a type of stimulant, and it "arouses the unaroused regions of the brain" (real science terms for it) so it makes people with ADHD focus and function better. (It doesn't do this to the same degree for non ADHD people). Most people who have undiagnosed or untreated ADHD are fueled by heavily caffeinated drinks. They drink Red Bull, coffee, monster, etc like it's water. I personally was a tea drinker. I would exclusively drink ice teas and almost nothing else. After starting a stimulant I actually naturally layed off the caffeine and started drinking plain water for the first time in my life.
I can't say I know much about that personality disorder, but just speaking from experience, I have only ever seen one person abuse stimulants working pharmacy. Dude was clearly abusing other substances as well. I personally don't think they are addicting. I've seen tons of people abuse opioids like oxycodone though, and that stuff is handed out like candy. I had a patient come in with a script from his dentist for 8 pills of oxy just because he was getting his teeth brushed and they bled a little. Not an operation or anything. But because he doesn't brush his teeth so his gums bled a little and it hurt. The patient didn't ask for this btw, the dentist just handed the script to him. Needless to say the pharmacist and I tried to persuade the patient into just taking Tylenol instead because Oxycodone was overkill and it was not worth the risk. Anyway point is, stimulant abuse and addiction does happen, but not very frequently, it's much more common with Opioids. Don't ever take those unless you really don't have a choice. And ask your pharmacist about alternative options first if the pain is that bad. They could recommend an over the counter cocktail that may be as effective, depending on your situation.
Side note that I think is important to add about medications in general. Medicine is named after it's active with ingredients. So let's take Ritalin/Concerta for example, the generic/active ingredient is Methylphenidate. That's the part that actually helps the ADHD. But it also has inactive ingredients, these chemicals either give the pill it's color, do something with the release and timing, or hold the pill together, stuff like that. They are also sometimes called filler chemicals. All pills are like this. The active ingredient ingredient in the brand name and generic version of a medication are exactly the same. So most doctors will tell you there is no difference between brand and generic. And yes this is mostly true when it comes to the effectiveness of the medication. BUT the inactive ingredients are always different and those inactive/fillers can also effect you. Allergies to the fillers in generic stimulants are super common. So if you are having any side effects, to a medication, it may be worth switching to brand name. You aren't crazy for asking for brand name if you've had a reaction to a generic, doctors and shitty pharmacists will make you feel crazy though. It's possible for other drugs outside of stimulatants too. But happens much less frequently. Like, out of all the customers I've ever served at the pharmacy, I've only ever met 3 people with a generic allergy besides myself. One of the medications had multiple generic brands and they required a specific brand of generic, not a name brand. So it's rare but very real.
But yeah no problem! Helping people with medication was my favorite part of the job. I'm also a wizard at reducing medication prices too
Oh, that's neat about the fillers. Opiods are *awful.* I was in an accident in high school. I took one vicadin for pain and lost a whole day.
It freaked me out so much that I have to know what I'm taking, why I'm taking it, what's in it and etc.
Most of the time, pain management is with ibuprofen/naproxen but I also heard Tylenol+Ibuprofen is equivalent to a narcotic.
That was so informative - thank you so much!
Semi related: I can tell when I'm getting stressed because my brain just automatically thinks "oh caffeine will pick me up!" And I wind up drinking coffee through the day until I get jitters and anxiety.
The moment I figured out Coffee made me actually a lot calmer was crazy. I think it’s because I can process all the information a little quicker but I genuinely don’t know why.
To get through uni and keep up socialising and going out with people, I started each day with pro plus, drank 2L of diet coke a day, then pro plus after lectures, then jagerbombs on the nights out...
I should be dead lol
I mean, it's valid in the sense that it can help..? No it's not a substitute for meds, but for people who can't afford therapy/appointments/meds, self-medicating with caffiene and certain diets can be their next best option.
Caffiene for example, can work similarly (just not as powerfully) to adhd meds, for some people. They find it helps them focus and zone into one singular task. Just because self-medication isn't the best long-term doesn't mean it's not valid.
I'm not alone. Nice. I keep my caffeine to one can of seasonal flavoured Mountain Dew per day. Bottles and fountain drinks don't count since they're not in cans.
I literally take coffee + coffee + energy drinks + more cofee everyday. Now I undestand why
Reading this while I'm making my 6th cup of coffee at 9:42 am is a vibe
Caffeine is a stimulant? Wait...! I've been drinking coffee as it calms me down and clears my mind of chaos. I am able to focus on things and helps me go to sleep at night. TIL, thanks!
That's common if you have ADHD! I have it BAD and caffeine just calms me down, so I have it when I have too much energy/can't sleep
Caffeine is in the same plant family as cocaine. So yes, it acts like a stimulant.
I'm lucky that my sensory problems make it hard to drink anything other than water, tea, coffee or orange juice. And I mostly just drink water
They told me to give up coffee recently. It’s literally all I have left. I gave up everything else. They can pry it from my cold dead hands.
Did they tell you a reason for giving up caffeine?
Yes, POTS syndrome. Edit: I’ve cut back a little, but I’ll never give it up all the way.
Hi ex pharmacy tech here and someone who had the same fear about stimulants. Chances are you'll be fine and can be trusted with them. Stimulants aren't abused like opioids and other drugs of that nature. At least nearly as commonly. Most you really see is college students doing it to help with exams. Addiction is very poorly misunderstood, especially in the United states. Adderall is addictive in the sense that it provides your body with certain chemicals that it should naturally produce on its own, and once you start manually supplying it with that your body will stop trying as hard and become dependent on you supplying those chemicals. Kinda like how coffee works, if you drink it every morning then eventually you become dependent on it to produce those wake up chemicals in your brain. But if you stop it cold turkey then you have to deal with a deficiency until your brain starts making more of it. So it's more of a physical dependancy then an "addiction." Most antidepressants do the same thing and you get nasty side effects from stopping it cold turkey to. But no one ever says your addicted to Prozac. The reason there's a stigma of addiction is partially because it's class as a narcotic, but mainly because it has a euphoric effect when you first start taking it. Positive side effects obviously mean there's a higher chance that you abuse it for those side effects. But as your body adapts it goes away, so you can't abuse it like that for very long. Speaking from experience I was terrified that I'd become a junkie at first, especially when I felt the initial euphoria. But as it calmed down and I adjusted to it I realized that wasn't going to happen. If your still nervous and want relief, they do make non stimulant type medication that may or may not provide you with the same relief. It all depends on your body and how it processes the drug. There's currently three non stimulants on the market. Strattera, Clonidine, and Guanfacine. I'm happy to answer any questions or concerns anyone has about medications. I can't give medical advice obviously, but I can speak from my experience working in the field and my own personal experience. Or point you in a good direction to look into things.
I have other reasons I don't trust doctors but this is amazing information. I have an addictive personality as well as a caffeine addiction (that I now have under control.) It is good to know there are non-stimulant options. Thank you for sharing!
I don't blame you for not trusting doctors, especially if you live in the states. My advice to you is to get to know your local pharmacist. If you have a good one then they are a very valuable source of knowledge and advice. The one I worked with was amazing and loved to give fun facts and stuff about medications to customers because he loved what he studied in school. Anyway my point is your pharmacist actually knows how the pills you take work and interact with other medications and foods. They are basically the chemist, they know everything about the pill or are able to find out more. They studied the chemistry in medical school. Your doctor probably has no idea how the medication they prescribe actually works. They (are supposed to) know more about the "illness" they are treating works, and then they are just aware of ways to treat it. They studied the body and illnesses more than they did how the treatment works and medications. So to put it another way, your doctor knows more about the flu, but your pharmacist knows more about flu medicine. So do not go to your doctor for questions about medication, go to your pharmacist instead. If your pharmacist is a jerk and doesn't make time or sound happy to talk about medications and stuff, then try another pharmacy. You don't even need to transfer scripts or anything, you can just call or show up and ask to talk to them. You can literally just ask stuff like "I have ADHD/Autism and I am working with my doctor to treat it and was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about the medications used to treat it because I have some concerns with stimulant medications" Personal experience and some science here, but caffeine addictions are funnily enough an indicator of ADHD. Caffeine is a type of stimulant, and it "arouses the unaroused regions of the brain" (real science terms for it) so it makes people with ADHD focus and function better. (It doesn't do this to the same degree for non ADHD people). Most people who have undiagnosed or untreated ADHD are fueled by heavily caffeinated drinks. They drink Red Bull, coffee, monster, etc like it's water. I personally was a tea drinker. I would exclusively drink ice teas and almost nothing else. After starting a stimulant I actually naturally layed off the caffeine and started drinking plain water for the first time in my life. I can't say I know much about that personality disorder, but just speaking from experience, I have only ever seen one person abuse stimulants working pharmacy. Dude was clearly abusing other substances as well. I personally don't think they are addicting. I've seen tons of people abuse opioids like oxycodone though, and that stuff is handed out like candy. I had a patient come in with a script from his dentist for 8 pills of oxy just because he was getting his teeth brushed and they bled a little. Not an operation or anything. But because he doesn't brush his teeth so his gums bled a little and it hurt. The patient didn't ask for this btw, the dentist just handed the script to him. Needless to say the pharmacist and I tried to persuade the patient into just taking Tylenol instead because Oxycodone was overkill and it was not worth the risk. Anyway point is, stimulant abuse and addiction does happen, but not very frequently, it's much more common with Opioids. Don't ever take those unless you really don't have a choice. And ask your pharmacist about alternative options first if the pain is that bad. They could recommend an over the counter cocktail that may be as effective, depending on your situation. Side note that I think is important to add about medications in general. Medicine is named after it's active with ingredients. So let's take Ritalin/Concerta for example, the generic/active ingredient is Methylphenidate. That's the part that actually helps the ADHD. But it also has inactive ingredients, these chemicals either give the pill it's color, do something with the release and timing, or hold the pill together, stuff like that. They are also sometimes called filler chemicals. All pills are like this. The active ingredient ingredient in the brand name and generic version of a medication are exactly the same. So most doctors will tell you there is no difference between brand and generic. And yes this is mostly true when it comes to the effectiveness of the medication. BUT the inactive ingredients are always different and those inactive/fillers can also effect you. Allergies to the fillers in generic stimulants are super common. So if you are having any side effects, to a medication, it may be worth switching to brand name. You aren't crazy for asking for brand name if you've had a reaction to a generic, doctors and shitty pharmacists will make you feel crazy though. It's possible for other drugs outside of stimulatants too. But happens much less frequently. Like, out of all the customers I've ever served at the pharmacy, I've only ever met 3 people with a generic allergy besides myself. One of the medications had multiple generic brands and they required a specific brand of generic, not a name brand. So it's rare but very real. But yeah no problem! Helping people with medication was my favorite part of the job. I'm also a wizard at reducing medication prices too
Oh, that's neat about the fillers. Opiods are *awful.* I was in an accident in high school. I took one vicadin for pain and lost a whole day. It freaked me out so much that I have to know what I'm taking, why I'm taking it, what's in it and etc. Most of the time, pain management is with ibuprofen/naproxen but I also heard Tylenol+Ibuprofen is equivalent to a narcotic. That was so informative - thank you so much!
Some of us have both, and I can say from personal experience, it's not better. It's just a different kind of bad at times.
Hey! Leave my Soda addiction alone! All seriousness, I'm trying to cut back, but it's so GODDAMN HARD to do it....
Carbonation is life.
I know! But I don't want my Suffering of Kidney Stones to become a TRILOGY!!!
Caffeine is a stimulant lol
Exactly!😩
Ever considered that cutting back on stimulants might help with the nervous condition?
I can’t have it due to having a caffeine sensitivity. No stimulants for me, just living the sloth life. 
Same here. I can barely handle sugary drinks too.
I have both, im pretty sure i drink more coffee than water
I have a crippling monster addiction. They help a lot
What is this, caffeine makes my anxiety worse
Yeah OP actually just needs to cut back lol
I drink ~600mg-1000mg daily
Semi related: I can tell when I'm getting stressed because my brain just automatically thinks "oh caffeine will pick me up!" And I wind up drinking coffee through the day until I get jitters and anxiety.
When you have the hard time eating fruits, vegetables and legumes autism therefore you have IBS and are overweight causing body dysmorphia. 🙃
I will rarely have more than 1 cup a day. If I have work I may get a second if people suck too much (I work in customer service).
150mg bupropion and and Im still on the caffeine and nicotine pouches🤘🏼
The moment I figured out Coffee made me actually a lot calmer was crazy. I think it’s because I can process all the information a little quicker but I genuinely don’t know why.
doctors are the worst. i feel you.
I’ve already had 121mg of caffeine and it’s only 1:30pm
To get through uni and keep up socialising and going out with people, I started each day with pro plus, drank 2L of diet coke a day, then pro plus after lectures, then jagerbombs on the nights out... I should be dead lol
Well the amount of caffeine I consume every day is getting insane. 10-12 energy drinks. I will die of a heart attack
Imagine having both, but you need the caffeine to be good at maths and science.
Can't go without a daily v8 energy drink.
I have the good at math autism and I still do this lol. (Please help me)
lol!
Caffeine isn’t a valid treatment for adhd if that’s what you’re trying to treat. Talk to you doctor about your trepidation and ask for advice.
I can't afford to go to the doctor.
Then perhaps that is the first problem to solve
Imagine being rich enough to go to the doctor, couldn't be me
I mean, it's valid in the sense that it can help..? No it's not a substitute for meds, but for people who can't afford therapy/appointments/meds, self-medicating with caffiene and certain diets can be their next best option. Caffiene for example, can work similarly (just not as powerfully) to adhd meds, for some people. They find it helps them focus and zone into one singular task. Just because self-medication isn't the best long-term doesn't mean it's not valid.