I've heard that for people who have ADHD, caffeine doesn't affect them like it would for a person without ADHD. The doctor who did my assessment and diagnosis asked me if caffeine kept me up at night. I told him I didn't know because I couldn't remember a time when I drank caffeine at night/before sleeping. He told me that because I have ADHD, caffeine wouldn't keep me up at night.

Now, sometimes, in the past (before I was diagnosed with ADHD), I've had caffeine and got "the shakes" (felt jittery and whatnot). I was never really a regular coffee-drinker, so I wasn't ever dependent on it. Anyway, more recently, since my diagnosis, I've tried having caffeine to see if it would really make me jittery or if it would help me focus more and be calmer, thinking that maybe before my diagnosis I only felt jittery because of the placebo affect. And my results have been this: At first it did seem to help me focus more at work. But again, I was kind of expecting that, given my diagnosis of ADHD, caffeine would calm me down and help me focus as opposed to get shaky and whatnot. So maybe this was placebo effect again? But a couple days ago, I took my first ever red-eye flight. Didn't sleep on the planes and was getting tired so I had a couple cups of coffee during the 36 straight hours that I was awake. I managed to stay awake, but of course I was still exhausted as time went on. But after my last cup of coffee around my 32nd hour of no sleep, then I started to get really jittery and anxious and people could tell. I wasn't falling sleep then though (until a couple hours later when I finally did "crash").

But anyway, long story short, what is the truth about how caffeine affects a person with ADHD? I've read mixed things online. Does caffeine keep you awake and hyper-alert? Or does it have the opposite affect and calm you down? I feel like I've experienced both of those effects, but maybe as a result of the placebo effect.

***Also of note, I have the predominantly inattentive type of ADHD. Sometimes I've felt that I've had some hyperactive symptoms, but the inattention is the biggest struggle for me. Do you think the effects of caffeine varies for people with different sub-types of ADHD?

***And lastly, I take Focalin and it does help me focus and doesn't make me feel like "high" or anything. Granted, it is a very small dose. I also don't experience a "crash" from this stimulant.