[schneidmaster]

Coffee consumption was actually one of the questions that I was asked when my therapist first suspected that I had ADHD. I used to drink 5+ cups per day (especially workdays) while feeling fairly little effect from it. I'm now on medication which works an order of magnitude better for managing my symptoms, and I rarely drink more than 1 cup of coffee per day.

It's also worth noting that ADHD often comes with other mental health comorbidities; in my case, it exacerbated my depression. I would often fall into a spiral of inability to focus -> feeling bad about myself for not completing work that I was generally more than capable of doing -> even less ability to focus. I still have depression, but starting on ADHD medication all-but-removed my most frequent trigger.

[madamelic]

> I would often fall into a spiral of inability to focus -> feeling bad about myself for not completing work that I was generally more than capable of doing -> even less ability to focus. I still have depression, but starting on ADHD medication all-but-removed my most frequent trigger.

I had the same issue!

I told my prescribing doctor this same thing and she trusted me enough to try out Adderall before SSRIs again. Turns out my hypothesis of my depression + anxiety largely being tied to my sense of productivity was right.

After going in for an EKG check-up on orders of the prescribing doctor, I found a fairly benign heart issue that the cardiologist believes may be the cause of my "panic attacks" (eg: my attacks may be heart racing -> panic, not panic -> heart racing!)

All of that from just treating "I feel bad because I get nothing done".

[TurkishPoptart]

is it normal to get an EKG in relation to ADHD medication? I'm in your boat too. I've tried antidepressants with no results so I'm going to see a doctor about ADHD this time.

[TeMPOraL]

What's the comparative stimulant power between black tea and coffee?

I've been toying with the notion that I may be having an undiagnosed ADHD for a while now (I've noticed that about 70% of the stuff in any ADHD thread on HN, like this here, tends to reflect my life or at least resonate with me...). I became more confident of that when, at one point recently, I realized - hey, I'm drinking some 10+ cups of black tea every day, and I did that since being single-digit years old. Turns out I may have been unconsciously self-medicating for as long as I remember.

BTW. I suffered from the same type of spiral you described in the past. I've managed to mostly overcome it for now, though I took it from the other end - I've manged to minimize "feeling bad about myself for not completing work that I was generally more than capable of doing", to the point of preventing the positive feedback loop. I wish I could do something about the focus part, though.

[schneidmaster]

Google tells me that coffee has about twice as much caffeine as black tea (depending on the blend) so your 10+ cups of tea are probably similar to my previous 5+ cups of coffee. Obviously I'm not a doctor and I can't diagnose anyone over the internet, but if you're drinking that much and it doesn't have you wired or give you trouble sleeping then you might consider talking with your doctor about ADHD.

[ardy42]

> Coffee consumption was actually one of the questions that I was asked when my therapist first suspected that I had ADHD. I used to drink 5+ cups per day (especially workdays) while feeling fairly little effect from it.

Did you get a big boost when you first started with it that reduced as you developed tolerance with habitual use?

I've always been pretty careful with caffeine consumption in order to avoid tolerance, because I didn't want to get into a state where all it did was boost me back to my "normal" (i.e. feeling crappy until I got my coffee, and having to use increasing amounts to get past my baseline).

[schneidmaster]

Not really. Even when I first started drinking coffee (around high school) I never got much of a boost from it. I think your caution makes sense for folks with neurotypical brains, but even now (drinking 0-1 cups per day) I drink it for the flavor and/or social aspects, not because it does much for my energy or productivity.

[devmunchies]

I would down an energy drink when needing to do long drives and would have a calm, almost euphoric, feeling. Definitely not stimulating.

Similar to the feeling (although much weaker) hydrocodone gave me after I had oral surgery.