caffeine | ADHD Information

Thanks so much, i totally agree kids will be kids, up until a month ago i just thought he was being a normal boy doing normal boy things lol i haven't tried anything yet but he use to like drinking his grandmothers coffee. but i'll have to try and see is either will help at least until we get the results. thanks so much for responding.

Holly

I've not personally tried this...(not a diagnosis of adhd yet) however there was a guy here that gave his son a Mt. Dew every morning and I do think it helped. Can't hurt...but then you have the whole thing to go through about soda also. Try it and see if he responds to it. Coffee? our son doesn't like the taste...I've also heard that here as well though. G'luck. Hang in there...kids will be kids...but some kids are just a lil' more than a handful. (extending my hand...)I've given my kids coffee before in the morning,,,my son gets up first and has a can of pop when we are still sleeping he sneaks it.

My son was dignosed with adhd and are awaiting the lab results before he starts adderal xr. but he is driving us crazy i just wanted to see if others on or off meds do this at all. I have been told give him coffee before he leaves for school. but i am a newbie so i am unsure.

Holly

grandkids doctor told me to give mine coffe to help settle them down,,he said that it would not hurt them,,,just don't give them expresso coffee,,,and it helps them,,,but soda,,,would make them go to the bathroom all the time,,,lol,,,and i give them coffee all thru the day

I bought some "Turbo Truffles" online and I give my son 1/2 before school and send the other 1/2 in his lunch. He's not on any meds and we're doing everything totally alternative and with a lot of success recently. He's in 2nd grade and finally getting some control (but it's still a daily effort).

i was told by my childs psych dr that mt dew will or will not work depends on the person...works on me, and both my kids. she also told me that a full can when his meds are not in his system is ok, only a half of a can if his meds are in.

try it for a week and see if you notice a change. the only side effect is he'll have to brush his teeth more.

I was just wondering is it a good idea before School to give them a soda, coffee? my son starts at 5 am and just don't settle down. i am ready to pull my hair out. i just don't now what to do with him.

Holly

first of all is he on meds and is he diagnosed with anything?Omalley, What's a "turbo Truffle"?

Hi my son is 11 and is on meds., but I've lived 30 years not medicated. I have to have my coffee, or mt. dew or coke if my coffee supply is gone every morning. This has worked as a drug for me, i only wish i was given it when i was younger and maybe it would have made a difference when i was a kid. But my son knows oh mom hasn't had her coffee yet, so don't bug her.I Explained it's just like your mood changes with the medicine mine changes with caffeine.

We sometimes use cafe-au-lait here. Lots of milk, a little sugar, a little brewed coffee, heated in the microwave. DS loves it, and it seems to help.

He loves Mountain Dew too, but I have worried about the coloring in that stuff. We're not a Feingold family by any means, but I try to have less and less artificial color entering his system.

I don't now if it works for all kids but i went out an bought a case Of Mt Dew but it didn't settle him down at all. maybe after a week or so i'll keep trying it or see if coffee works better.

Holly

They say Mountain Dew has the most caffeine in it of all the soft drinks.

I see the chocolate truffles have 150 mg of caffiene ...how does this compare to a cuppa coffee...anyone know the mgs???

I doubt if i could get my kiddo to drink coffee...he does not even drink soda

my daughter won't drink coffee so I tried the "mountain dew' this morning and she gave it to her non-ADHD 3 yr old sister (who in turn was bouncing off the walls all morning) - maybe I will try iced tea?

I think i will try the Mt Dew before school. i'd try anything at this time. nothing seems to clam him down he is just like a normal boy when he gets up, but then after first period the teachers say its a different kid.is Mt Dew the best one to give him?

Holly

My son started drinking coffee at the age of 12, when he could no longer take the meds, because of a low white count issue,small growth, ect. He drinks one small 8 oz cup of coffee each morning. I use 1 TB coffee + 1 TB of Nesquik, and water to the 2 cup marker in my coffee maker ( it only seems to make about a little more than a cup. Even with a couple extra teaspoons of sugar added after it has perked only adds 15 grams of sugar. 9 grams per TB in the Nesquick and 8 grams in two TB of sugar. A can of Mt. Dew has 46 grams of sugar. My son is 16 now and will drink coffee with or without the Nesquik, but a younger child would probably prefer the Nesquik added. You can get headaches from drinking it daily and then suddenly stopping, but if you can skip weekends that will stop that problem. My son has not had to increase the dosage in four years. We skip weekends (unless there is a big family function or something really important) He has never had any headaches or other side effects.

http://www.cosic.org/ Here is a site about coffee/caffeine

our psych dr said it will or will not work but does the adverse reaction with those that have adhd....it works for me and my two kids....mt dew works best or coffee as it is hi in caffiene

Hi,

Well several months ago I read about the caffeine in the morning helping so I decided to try it one day. Happened to be a day with no school and headed to the dentist...8yo son with adhd by the way...anyway he went pretty nuts, wild, wasn't good. I wish it worked, may give it another shot (he had coke). I really keep both kids off caffeine now but maybe on another non school day I'll try it with him...but different things work for different people so who knows?!

why does mountain dew work,,,,can't you use other pop

This is the website:

http://www.xtz.com/

My son has never been on meds. I give my son the minature can of Mountain Dew every morning before school. We notice a remarkable difference in his behavior at school. For a week we gave him the minature can right before school started and a minature can at lunch. He did great. We then stopped the can at lunch and he still did good, so we now only give him the one can right before school.

Caffeine is still like giving him meds, but for some reason, I feel a little better about it. All I can suggest is that you try it for a week and then talk to the teacher to see how the week went. It definitely worked for my son. Oh, OK, so they are chocolates with a heap of caffeine. Probably would work for many of our kids...I had never heard of them. Thanks, Omalley.

found this just now....thought it might be helpful to some.......

Pepsi Products ( USA ) Other Caffeine-Containing Foods and Beverages

Product

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

AQUAFINA

Purified Drinking Water

Sparking Original

Sparkling Berry

Sparkling Lemon-Lime

FlavorSplash Citrus Blend

FlavorSplash Raspberry

FlavorSplash Wild Berry

PEPSI

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Pepsi

Diet Pepsi

Caffeine Free Pepsi

Diet Caffeine Free Pepsi

Pepsi One

Pepsi Twist

Diet Pepsi Twist

Pepsi Lime

Diet Pepsi Lime

Pepsi Vanilla

Diet Pepsi Vanilla

Wild Cherry Pepsi

Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi

Pepsi Edge

MOUNTAIN DEW

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Mountain Dew

Diet Mountain Dew

Mountain Dew Code Red

Caffeine Free Mountain Dew

Diet Caffeine Free Mountain Dew

Diet Mountain Dew Code Red

Mountain Dew Live Wire

Mountain Dew Pitch Black II

MDX

Diet MDX

SIERRA MIST

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Sierra Mist

Sierra Mist Free

SOBE

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Black & Blue Berry Brew

Black Tea

Courage

Cranberry Grapefruit Elixir

Dragon

Energy

Fuerte

Grape Grog

Green Tea

Lean Cranberry Grapefruit

Lean Energy

Lean Green Tea

Lean Mango Melon

Lean Peach Tea

Liz Blizz

Lizard Fuel

Lizard Lava

Lizard Lightning

MacLizard's Lemonade

Nirvana

Oolong Tea

Orange Carrot Elixir

Pomegranate Cranberry Elixir

Power

Tsunami

Zen Tea

SOBE SYNERGY

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Fruit Punch

Grape

Kiwi Strawberry

Lemonade

Mango Orange

LIPTON BRISK TEA

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Lemon Flavored

Diet Lemon Flavored

Sweetened No Lemon

Raspberry

Twisted Fruit Teazer

LIPTON ICED TEA

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Diet Green Tea with Citrus

Diet Iced Tea with Lemon

Green Tea with Citrus

Iced Tea with Lemon

LIPTON ORIGINAL ICED TEA

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Iced Tea

Diet No Lemon

Iced Tea with Lemon

Diet Iced Tea with Lemon

Sweetened No Lemon

Extra Sweet No Lemon

Peach

Raspberry

Green Tea with Honey

MUG

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Root Beer

Diet Root Beer

SLICE

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Orange

Diet Orange

Grape

Peach

Strawberry

GATORADE

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Berry Citrus

Cascade Crash

Cool Blue

Fierce Berry

Fierce Grape

Fierce Melon

Fierce Strawberry

Fruit Punch

Glacier Freeze

Lemon-Lime

Lime Ice

Orange

Orange Ice

Riptide Rush

Strawberry Ice

Watermelon Ice

GATORADE ALL STARS

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Berry

Ice Punch

Pink Lemonade

Strawberry

MIRINDA

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Strawberry

Orange

QUAKER MILK CHILLERS

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Chocolate

Strawberry

Vanilla

DAIRY DRINKS FRAPPUCCINO

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Caramel

Coffee

Decaffeinated Mocha

DoubleShot

160

Hazelnut

Mocha

Mocha Lite

Vanilla

DOLE JUICE & JUICE DRINKS

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Apple 100% Juice

Cranberry 100% Juice

Grape 100% Juice

Light Apple

Light Berry Blend

Light Cranberry

Light Grape

Light Orange

Orange 100% Juice

Pineapple Peach Mango 100% Juice Blend

Ruby Red Grapefruit 100% Juice Blend

Strawberry Kiwi 100% Juice Blend

TROPICANA JUICE DRINKS

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Fruit Punch

Lemonade

Lite Fruit Punch

Lite Lemonade

Lite Orangeade

Orangeade

Peach Papaya

Pink Lemonade

Strawberry Melon

TROPICANA TWISTER

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

Orange

Diet Orange

Grape

Strawberry

ENERGY DRINKS

Caffeine (mg/8 oz)

AMP Energy Drink

No Fear

SoBe Adrenaline Rush

Adrenaline Sport Supplement Lemon-Lime

Adrenaline Sport Supplement Fruit Punch

Adrenaline Sport Supplement Orange

Sugar Free No Fear

Sugar Free SoBe Adrenaline Rush

Lessons absorbtion in meds.

[QUOTE=dareboys]what's a turbo truffle? [/QUOTE]

http://www.xtz.com/

It has 150 mg of caffeine so my ds gets 1/2 before school and 1/2 in his lunch.

A friend was told to give her 15 yr old adhd son a cappacino evry morning.

thank you so much for clarifying the caffeine thing for me. i do have alot more questions but i'm not sure if need to post them in a different thread? but ill ask anyways. since marry my husband our household has grown. we have 3 kids now. my son is 6, cody is 7 and his brother is 9. i'm basically a stay at home mom, only work while kids are in school. so needless to say i'm home with the kids more than my husband. we only have his boys everyother weekend. my challenge are many! one of my main concerns is the other 2 boys see cody acting hyper, off the wall at times, and not getting disciplined for it or not as severely as they would if they did the same thing. they dont think its fair, you know how kids react to those things right? I've discussed the soda coffee thing with my husband and he's all for trying it but now the other boys are upset because cody gets to drink soda and they cant. he already has a special magnetic bed, pillow and shoe inserts. they are starting to feel that cody is getting all this special treatment because of his adhd. how can i find a balance for all 3 boys and explain to them that they are just as special as cody without making them feel like he can get away with more?

i have alot more questions and if i need to go to a different thread can u lead me to one?

We tried caffeine over the summer with my SD. I noticed some improvement in her compared to being completely off meds, but the Adderall still works better for us.

BTW, she got tired of diet Mt. Dew, so we switched to diet Red Bull. She prefers that one more because it "tastes like a SweetTart."

Hi everyone. i'm hoping someone can help. i'm alittle overwhelmed right now, ok alot overwhelmed!! i'm a new stepmom to a 7 yr old with adhd. i knew he had this but didn't know exactly know how to handle it. after reading this i'm very confused. i was grown up on the fact that cafiene was bad for any kid especially a child with adhd? can someone explain to me why giving a child with adha coffe or soda may help them? at this point i'm willing to try anything. i have alot more questions and concerns and i'm not sure where to turn! PLEASE help me!stepmomtocody, maybe you should try the coffee or coffee/nesquik. Maybe the other boys wouldn't find it so attractive. You could let them taste it black. They would probably hate it. Sneek in the Nesquik, sugar or what ever in your sons. Maybe explain how caffeine acts on the ADHD verses people who don't have it. They need to know why your son is being given this, so they don't feel left out. It's a good lesson to learn that we all have differences and need compassion. So long as he really isn't getting away with more than he should.

at this point i'm willing to try ANYHTING!! my most recent problem with the children is.... when im disciplpining one of the other boys for something they say "cody does it and its ok. he's just using his adhd for an excuse to get away with things!" i'm finding the kids are sooo close in age that i feel the need to come here and get as much advise from people that have gone through the same situation before this gets out of hand with the other boys.

the boys are 6,7 and 9. even without the adhd our house is pretty crazy!!

stepmom2cody - welcome to the board. We will be happy to help you with any ? you have just remember this is stuff we have gone through too, we aren;'t docs and cant give medical advice. Some people have had success giving their kids caffeine (mt dew and coffee being most popular) b/c kids with adhd have an opposite reaction to stimulants - they are actaully calming rather then hypping them up. It is essentially the same result you try ot achieve with meds. My son doesn't do well on meds and wont touch sodas, i will seriously try the nesquick/coffe idea but my doc also suggested hot chocoalte in the am (may tyr with a dash of coffee). My doc also believe higher protein breakfasts help.

Check out different threads on this board - alternatives thread has options for no meds too - and you will find loads of info. We are here to help each other get through these challenges.

ps - we also have a stepmom2maddy so you may see a little confusion there.

Best wishes to you and your new family post and ask away.

Just FYI, the turbo truffles have 150 mg of caffeine and my ds gets half before school and half at lunch. Here's how it compares to drinks:

Caffeine Content Of Popular Drinks

Soft Drinks 12-ounce beverage milligrams Red Bull (8.2 oz) 80.0 Jolt 71.2 Pepsi One 55.5 Mountain Dew 55.0 Mountain Dew Code Red 55.0 Diet Mountain Dew 55.0 Kick Citrus 54.0 Mellow Yellow 52.8 Surge 51.0 Tab 46.8 Diet Coke 45.6 Diet Coke with Lemon 45.6 Diet Coke with Lime 45.6 Diet Vanilla Coke 45.6 Shasta Cola 44.4 Shasta Cherry Cola 44.4 Shasta Diet Cola 44.4 RC Cola 43.0 Diet RC 43.0 Dr. Pepper 41.0 Diet Dr. Pepper 41.0 Diet Sunkist Orange 41.0 Mr. Pibb 40.0 Sugar-Free Mr. Pibb 40.0 Red Flash 40.0 Sunkist Orange 40.0 Slim-Fast Cappuccino Delight Shake 40.0 Ruby Red 39.0 Storm 38.0 Big Red 38.0 Pepsi-Cola 37.5 Pepsi Twist 37.5 Diet Pepsi 36.0 Wild Cherry Pepsi 38.0 Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi 36.0 Diet Pepsi Twist 36.0 Aspen 36.0 Coca-Cola Classic 34.0 Coke C2 34.0 Cherry Coke 34.0 Lemon Coke 34.0 Vanilla Coke 34.0 Diet Cherry Coke 34.0 Snapple Flavored Teas (Reg. or Diet) 31.5 Canada Dry Cola 30.0 A&W Creme Soda 29.0 Nestea Sweet Iced Tea 26.5 Nestea Unsweetened Iced Tea 26.0 Barq's Root Beer 23.0 A&W Diet Creme Soda 22.0 Slim-Fast Chocolate Flavors 20.0 Snapple Sweet Tea 12.0 Lipton Brisk, All Varieties 9 Canada Dry Diet Cola 1.2 Diet Rite Cola 0 Sprite 0 7-Up 0 Mug Root Beer 0 Diet Barq's Root Beer 0 Sundrop Orange 0 Minute Maid Orange 0 A&W Root Beer 0 Slice 0 Sierra Mist 0 Fresca 0

Other Beverages 8-ounce Beverage milligrams Coffee, Drip 115-175 Coffee, Brewed 80-135 Coffee, Espresso (2 ounces) 100 Coffee, Instant 65-100 Tea, iced 47 Tea, brewed, imported brands (avg.) 60 Tea, brewed, U.S. brands (avg.) 40 Tea, instant 30 Tea, green 15 Hot cocoa 14 Coffee, Decaf, brewed 3-4 Coffee, Decaf, instant 2-3

SOURCES: National Soft Drink Association, US Food and Drug Administration, Bunker and McWilliams, Pepsi, Slim-Fast.

what's a turbo truffle? stepmomtocody, sounds like you've really got your hands full! It's generally difficult to parent a child that's not yours, even with no ADHD. I feel for you. Kids with ADHD/ADD need to be able to follow the same rules as any other child. They have to go to school and be out in the world with others that won't make exceptions for them. They just have to learn to cope. The other boys may have a point if Cody isn't being disciplined in the same way. I hated to have to discpline my son for things I knew were hard for him to remember. I felt it was better coming from me in a loving, understanding way, than eventually coming from someone on the outside who wouldn't be so loving and understanding. I hope it gets better for you and your family. Everybody needs to be on the same page. Especially as the children grow into teenagers. I have a friend who is a stepmom to 2 teen daughters. What crazyness! Nobody is on the same page and it is just a total crazy, stressful, mess all the time.

yeah you are right. thank god my husband and i are on the same page. it does make it alot easier. we are going to try the token system. hopefully it will work for all the boys. atleast it will involve all of them and they can put in their own suggestions. just having 3 boys makes our house crazy anyways. ive been in codys life now for 2 years so its safe to say we are very comfortable with eachother. i know when hes lying, manipulating, being smart. it took a while for me to admit that i need to learn alot more about this adhd thing. i thought at first he was doing things for attention or using the adhd as an excuse to behave the way he does. atleast now i can tell the difference. you all have helped me alot in this short amount of time. im sure i need to learn alot more but now i know im not alone and i have y'all to talk to!

Marci

[QUOTE=stepmom2cody]

Marci

[/QUOTE]

marci...i wish u the best with all of your chaos right now....i think doing the coffee thing as suggested b4 but sneaking the nesle in cody's is a great way to start...and if you do the reward system u can do a list of rules for everyone and have each of them help out by making their own punishment cards and making their own reward system that u all agree on...that may help also...

we are here for you and post anytime...we will help out as much as we can...

i am glad u found this board and getting some help that u need...

best wishes to you

Sounds like some good suggestions brig. Gkad you found the board to stepmomtocody.

thank you all again for the suggestions. i cant wait to try them! im rather excited! the support here is amazing i love it. it gives me the encouragement to try new things. its just what i need! thanks again to you all!!

[QUOTE=poodledoodles]Sounds like some good suggestions brig. Gkad you found the board to stepmomtocody. [/QUOTE]

thanks havent been on much and it is hard to respond to all of them from like two or more days ago....i am still catching up and trying my best...especially since my pain meds make me goofy and i cant focus well or read well or type well..

thank u for the compliment poodledoodles...i am glad i found the board to stepmomtocody also...

stepmomtocody...i hope all works out for you....you are a great mother coming here and willing to try anything that will pull your children together...i no it gets frustrating at times...but we are all here for you and you can come here for ?'s, suggestions and even to vent.....or whatever else u need..

pm me anytime if u need someone to talk to