ADHD and coffee?

[~cassie]

My 6 yr old is possibly ADHD.  We are in the beginning stages of possible diagnosis.  Anyway someone mentioned to me that I could try giving him a little bit of coffee to help calm him down.  I was just curious if this really does work and if so how much would I even give him?  I was thinking to try it this weekend while he is home with me to see if it has any impact or not.  Thoughts?

[FarmerBeth]

I've never tried this but I've seen some studies on adults and the benefits of caffeine for attention (not for ADHD, just regular attention).  They showed that caffeine boosted attention span but only for a very short time, so you would have to drink coffee in small amounts frequently to have any effect.  I don't think it is the most efficient way, and caffeine can increase anxiety and decrease growth rate, so personally I would look at it as any other drug and not use it medicinally without talking to a doctor.  Better yet, get a real evaluation done by a developmental pediatrician or clinical psychologist.  Personally, I don't worry about my kids having a half cup of coffee once in a while because they want to have a cup with me, but that's not quite the same as self medicating, IYKWIM.

[insidevoice]

DD does really well with coffee when she's having a flitty sort of day.  I don't wan't to put her on meds she doesn't need on a regular basis when a cup of coffee is enough to help her settle into herself enough to manage. 

In her case, it also helps with anxiety and insomnia. 
 

DD is complicated though- she is profoundly gifted, has aspergers, and has been diagnosed with ADD, but it's not getting in the way of functioning most of the time.   In her case, a lot of our work has centered on things she can do to help herself.  We will use meds if they become necessary, but if we can cope with other options, we lean that way.  

[Emmeline II]

I agree with Farmer Beth.

I would get the evaluation with a provider (personally, I would go with a psychiatrist experience with diagnosing ADHD in children or a developmental-behavioral ped -- we ended up doing both as ds' had significant issues and Asperger's was a question) first, then discuss how you would like to treat it. You may want to ultimately do both. Ds had an eval at the behavior clinic at a children's hospital with a team of a developmental-behavioral ped, a speech language pathologist, and a psychologist -- this report was the key to getting special education testing for in-school services like speech therapy (for social reciprocity and pragmatics) and behavioral support which comes with legal procedural protections. (Though school input is valuable I wouldn't rely on it alone, if possible).

Caffeine should probably be looked at more like a non-prescription medication instead of a non-medication alternative. Caffeine isn't normally recommended for some of the reasons FB mentioned; taking it through food/beverages is also imprecise and can have similar rebound issues as prescription medication. Also, similar to ADHD medications, caffeine can have the opposite effect of what was intended--ds' Dr. had us try a medication for ds tics that is also prescribed for ADHD (in addition to his daily ADHD medication) and it caused ADHD symptoms.

That said, though trying "little bit" is highly unlikely to cause any harm, any beneficial effect is also unlikely to last very long.

Here is a chart of caffeine content for various beverages:

Caffeine Content

A sip...

I did try some some supplements prior to ds being diagnosed. I had read of a couple of small studies of autistic children given magnesium and vit B6 together which resulted in behavioral improvement in 50% of the subjects (though I think I did see magnesium suggested here first). This did have a beneficial effect on ds as it stopped him from literally running circles around the classroom--basically it took the edge of his hyperactivity. Fish oil is another supplement that sometimes helps ADHD children; ds won't take the oil, so I give him Dr. Sears Omega-3 DHA supplement which seems to put him over the top as far as behavior is concerned (in combination with his medication).

Sometimes Dr.'s recommend trying melatonin during the day. Melatonin is a supplement that normally "encourages" sleep and is often recommended for ADHD children to help them get or stay (time-release) to sleep ( so helpful for ds), but sometimes it is effective in "calming" a child instead of making them sleepy.

[SpottedFoxx]

As someone who's a regular coffee drinker and has ADHD - coffee has absolutely NO effect on my ADHD.  Additionally, I allow my son (on special occassions) to have some coffee and it doesn't effect his behavior in any way (positive or negative).

[Rani]

Had a friend that was a special ed teacher for years...retired now...back in the 80s and 90s....She would have a coffee pot in her room.  The kids could come have a cup of black coffee before school, at lunch...and the ones that did it said it helped htem stay even and focused...Of course the school made her take it out after a while even over parent protest that it stayed because medicating kids was a MUCH better option sigh...Meds are good but if that was workign why the hell not, you know?

[Cyllya]

I've found caffeine helps me with my attention problems (suspected but undiagnosed ADHD inattentive type), but it's minor and subjective, so I'm not surprised to see some people haven't noticed a change.

I think it's worth it to see if it helps your son, BUT if it does, think of it as a once-in-a-while thing, because caffeine tolerance comes really quickly. After a few days, you're just staving off the withdrawal effects; you don't get any of caffeine's actual benefits anymore. It might be great to take the morning before test or something though.
 

Originally Posted by Emmeline II 

Caffeine should probably be looked at more like a non-prescription medication instead of a non-medication alternative.

That's true! Just because caffeine is legal, socially acceptable, and included in lots of common food items doesn't mean it's not an addictive psychostimulant drug. (Man, caffeine withdrawal kills me. The only time I could handle it was when I was taking zoloft!)

[~cassie]

Thank you for the thoughts!

I would have to buy coffee lol to have it in our house since we just do not drink it.  Still trying to decide if we will let him have a touch.

[miriam]

A

Edited by miriam - Yesterday at 5:22 pm