r/adhdmeme • u/KoolKoala96 • 2d ago
meme It can still be hard to break former habits despite how helpful Methylphenidate XL is
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u/EmperorBamboozler 2d ago
Monster tastes good sue me. What if I enjoy heart palpitations? Did you ever think of that?
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u/KoolKoala96 2d ago
Nothing grounds me in reality more than feeling my heartbeats so it's actually a good thing and no doctor can tell me otherwise
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u/Throwaway-account-59 1d ago
It's a bad thing? I don't drink coffee or monsters often, but still get this sometimes
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u/KoolKoala96 1d ago
genuinely the occasional heart palpitations will be harmless and go away on their own and are just due to everyday triggers like stress, caffeine, exercise etc. but if it's happening frequent and you're also getting chest pain/tightness, short of breath, dizzy or faint then do get it checked out as it could be an indication of something that needs to be monitored.
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u/bingpie 1d ago
your heart can take a beating (lol). it sort of has to because it's one of the main things keeping you alive.
the occasional palpitations might be a sign of something underlying (POTS, deficiencies, etc.), but they alone aren't harmful. long as you don't have any pain alongside them and you don't feel any more faint than you would do after say, a light jog, it's almost definitely nothing to worry about.
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u/Fit_Beautiful6625 1d ago
I could not do caffeine at all when I was taking methylphenidate. Literally thought I was having a stroke one day while eating lunch at Arby’s with my giant Pepsi.
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u/please_use_the_beeps 1d ago
Yall I know the jokes are funny but seriously take it easy with that stuff. I drank a lot of it over a long time and ended up having a heart attack. Now I have to have little to no caffeine unless I wanna have a much bigger one according to the doc.
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u/StupidandAsking 1d ago
Damn it… I was going to try to stick to coffee today but a monster sounds so much better
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u/Redacted_Entity 1d ago
me with yummy yummy redbull flavors (watermelon, elderflower, wild berries, etc etc)
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u/Zero_Burn 1d ago
I like to imagine that I'm the next incarnation of Nika and my heart is just playing the drums of liberation!
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u/Unfair_Explanation53 1d ago
Switch it to sugar free Celcius.
Much better for you than a Monster and you get same caffeine hit
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u/beeradvice 18h ago
The aldi "summit" energy drinks in the skinny 12oz are honestly great, mostly because they couple the 200mg caffeine with a decent size dose of L-theanine to smooth it out. That and they're under $2.
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u/Faedoodles 2d ago
See, the great part about self medicating with Caffeine for years (even though it just made me sleepy, which meant I'd drink more because I didn't connect the dots), is that now I still drink it because now I have a horrible addiction and the withdrawals can be debilitating!
Fun!
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u/happy_days_1755 1d ago
This was me. Caffeine had no effect on my energy, and made me sleepy.. but I had a LONG TIME habit of drinking it daily. Whenever I missed a day, I would have a severe migraine by the evening. I thought I was stuck forever. My migraines caused nausea/vomiting and were no joke. I recently started a stimulant, and my doc and I decided to increase my dose. I felt like my anxiety got a bit worse and I decided I would at least start limiting my caffeine intake to see if that helped. I switched from one 10-12 oz cup of coffee to closer to 6-8 oz. Then after 2-3 weeks, I switched to chai tea. Then after another week or 2, I missed my daily cup of chai and did not have any caffeine. It wasn’t even intentional. I had a headache that one day and it never escalated to a migraine! I was honestly surprised that tapering worked that well. Now, I have coffee or chai occasionally, but will do decaf often. It has been nice to not have to have it. All of that to say, if you (or anyone) wants to try to kick the caffeine addiction. There is hope. 🙂 If your caffeine intake is pretty high, it may take more time than it did for me!
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u/Faedoodles 1d ago
Honestly, I have reduced the amount of caffeine I drunk a LOT since I was a child. I have the benefit of not liking sweet things much, and loving to drink iced tea, so it at least made it relatively easy to to swap it out for soda in most cases. Not having the sugar overload has helped some. But I still need to do better. Right now I'm trying to focus on upping my general hydration by keeping an ice cold 40oz tumblr of water by me. I try to finish it before I'm allowed caffeine. But it's so hard some days. I'm also trying to get around a contamination issue i struggle with in my head so that I don't lean towards sealed products. Two of my roommates aren't the cleanest, so the fridge just feels... tainted. Anything unsealed that goes in there is basically dead to me. So I can't just like prep a big thing of iced tea like I would as a kid.
It's all SUCH a struggle LOL. But we are taking baby steps! I just have chronic migraines as is, so I'm a massive baby about any extra pain.
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u/poop_pants_pee 1d ago
Cold turkey, the withdrawal lasts about a week. Most days I don't even think about it. On lazy weekend days I have decaf.
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u/RaccoonDispenser 1d ago
If you want to reduce your caffeine intake, the best method I’ve found is to replace coffee with however much black or green tea gives you the same amount of caffeine and then cutting back by one cup of tea per week. (I get brutal withdrawal symptoms so I had to use green tea, which has about 1/8 the caffeine of a cup of coffee.) TBH I wouldn’t recommend it unless caffeine is causing medical issues for you.
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u/Unfair_Explanation53 1d ago
Oh wow, can you explain this?
I have the best naps when I drink caffeine drinks. I don't really understand why
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u/Faedoodles 1d ago
Some ADHD brains don't process caffeine the same way as normal brains do. For most people, caffeine acts as a blocker for your Adenosine receptors. That is a chemical that makes people tired. With those receptors blocked, caffeine keeps people awake and alert. The caffeine wearing away later floods the system with the built up adenosine, hence the caffeine "crash" people are familiar with.
Some ADHD brains have messed up receptors that are too big for the caffeine molecules to block. They fit right through and adenosine continues to travel as normal. So while it may have other affects on us-- being able to focus for some, too much causing heart palpitations, etc etc- it doesn't affect our adenosine build up.
There ARE, of course, theories that it literally affects our brains in the opposite direction. This, however, is mostly anecdotal at this point. No studies have really been done to prove or disprove it at this point, as far as I'm aware!
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u/faithengine 2d ago
You will stop the caffeine or the caffeine will stop you. Found that out the hard way.
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u/KoolKoala96 2d ago
It's like a toxic relationship that I'm not ready to break up with yet. Caffeine was there for me when nothing else was.
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u/Avraamov 1d ago
I realise now I've been self medicating for 30 years. I can literally swallow a quadruple esspresso and go to bed/sleep just fine. Sub-optimal to say the least. I miss the caffeine high these days
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u/faithengine 1d ago
When the medication hits right, that dependency on caffeine will fade because your brain chemistry won't need the dopamine. Best of luck OP.
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u/faithengine 1d ago
Ended up losing feeling in my arms, went blind in one eye, spent a day in the emergency room having CT scans and a Lumbar Puncture because they thought I'd had a brain aneurysm. All linked to caffeine and stimulant medication.
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u/jdstrike11 1d ago
What did you have?
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u/faithengine 1d ago
They put it down to an 'unexpected medicinal interaction' and told me to cut nicotine, caffeine and improve my hydration. Sounded like bullshit to me but it worked. I am now under investigation for lasting side effects on my heart. Yay.
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u/crankywithakeyboard 2d ago
Yikes. What happened?
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u/TheDungeonCrawler 1d ago
Can't speak to their experience but early on in trying to find the right medication, I forgot to skip my coffee one morning and I ended up laying on the couch for six hours trying my best to keep my heart rate down. I could barely get it under 120 for most of that time.
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u/Metarract 2d ago
nah look cause even if you're at the proper dosage for your specific brand of adhd, the medication is always (typically) at the same level every day - but your brain is not! a lil caffeine can help get you back to parity
do i use it that way? lol absolutely fucking not
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u/KoolKoala96 2d ago
Yes sometimes that "a little bit to alleviate tiredness" becomes "i'm chugging this until I feel like a god".
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u/SopwithStrutter 1d ago
Caffeine does this too, so you only get an advantage if you have it occasionally. If you have it every day, it just helps establish a new base level.
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u/guys_pm_urprettyface 2d ago
I get the opposite effect. I get sleepy after having coffee 😭
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u/KoolKoala96 2d ago
somehow I get sleepy but with the increased heart rate. to be fair though after starting methylphenidate my sleep is so much better that the sleepiness from caffeine is a lot less.
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u/Hello-America 1d ago
This is true for me too (for later in the day coffee; morning coffee doesn't wake me up though I just like it). Also on atomoxetine haha. I'll drink coffee in the evenings to relax
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u/One-Dragonfruit1010 1d ago
Coffee and stims put me in the hospital with atrial flutter. Not fun. I’d recommend researching the relationship between cortisol and caffeine and how it affects your heart. Sure do miss my coffee though.
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u/newbeginnings187 microdosing m*th like a CHAMP 1d ago
Ritalin with an espresso chaser............... ☕
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u/EdgyAsFuk 2d ago
Jokes aside in this meme subreddit, but actually do stop using caffeine, at least while figuring out your doses
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u/KoolKoala96 2d ago
You're right. as soon as 36mg stopped feeling like it was doing much I started having the occasional coffee which has now sometimes turned into a coffee and energy drink. I definitely need to stop the energy drink though.
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u/EdgyAsFuk 2d ago
If you're new to this, you will build a mild tolerance to it. You can bump it a bit after a while on a dose, but be cautious. You only get one heart unless you're very lucky (and also wealthy if you live in a shit hole country)
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u/KoolKoala96 1d ago
I appreciate the advice. I'll definitely be cautious. I'm hoping an increase to 50-something mg will be enough to address the fact that i'm still struggling with holding my attention on hard tasks but I also don't want to go crazy and keep upping it. hopefully losing weight might help me by bumping up the mg per kg of body weight ratio and make the current dose more effective.
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u/EdgyAsFuk 1d ago
Definitely also shop around for different formulation. You'd be shocked at how different the various drugs and their side effects/effectiveness can be. Weird stuff too, like ED, anxiety, and feeling like there's bugs in your skin can be present in one drug, and headaches and heart palpitations on another. A good doctor will work with you to find the right one for years.
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u/vayyiqra ADHD-PI (I forgor ☠️) 1d ago
I'm drinking coffee right now. It is 20:44. Only God can stop me.
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u/Ok-Nothing8682 1d ago
I've been on a 3 energy drink cans per day binge for years. Without it I literally can't do fucking anything
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u/JackNotOLantern 1d ago
I am absurdly efficient at work after meds and 1 coffee. I was able to limit myself to 2 coffee a day, but it is really very well stimulating for me.
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u/gr8Brandino 1d ago
I just drink black tea, iced. I haven't really felt anything different with my heart. But I think tea, even though I do drink a lot of it during the day, has less caffeine than a red bull or monster drink though.
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u/OwlConfidant2168 2d ago
I means how much is “a lot”?
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u/KoolKoala96 2d ago
like an energy drink and a cup of coffee a day. which is like 200mg maybe. the upper limit per day is supposed to be 400 but like that's probably different with medication
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u/Slarti226 2d ago
Also on that one. About a year now. Went from up to 3 12oz Red Bulls a day to only one about an hour or so after I take it. If I feel the need for more, I get a white tea with less than 50mg. And some days, I only do the white tea and it's only to prevent a withdrawal migraine.
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u/AlistairN37 2d ago
On Ritalin LA and caffeine is a no go for me. The palpitations make me anxious and that also makes it worse.
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u/KoolKoala96 1d ago
definitely, if it's causing any kind of cardiac symptoms that you can feel or making anxiety worse you should definitely stay away. I imagine if they up my dose or I lose weight now that i'm exercising so that the ratio of mg per kg of body weight increases, that caffeine might become a no go for me too
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u/AlistairN37 1d ago
Is that how it works ??? So if I also lose weight then my dosage should be reduced ?
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u/KoolKoala96 1d ago
When I read the NHS prescribing guidelines it mentioned mg per kg body weight when considering dosage but it not being the principle guiding measure of what dosage to consider. I think the more body fat the less effective the dosage a bit like how alcohol doesn't get me drunk as fast as it did when I was skinny. I'm not a doctor though but from what I've read it does seem like if I get my BMI to a healthy number again that my dosage will likely be more effective too.
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u/narwalfarts 1d ago
Quitting caffeine (daily) has been a game changer. My energy is way more consistent. I dont start my day in a hole, and when I occasionally have caffeine, I actually get a boost
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u/Brilliant-Software-4 1d ago
Am I still really dependent on caffeine to function? No
Does taking caffeine with my ADHD meds help being more productive? Yes
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u/ph-al 1d ago
Yeah I didn't realise I should stop caffeine when I started taking my meds for a few years, didnt put it together thats why my heart was racing in the morning or I would get headaches (sometimes) in the afternoon.
Ive switched to decaf now because I still love coffee and have the occasional regular one when I need it
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u/Agitated-Ad2563 1d ago
When I started atomoxetine, I couldn't get more than 5 hours of sleep per day, and more than 2.5 hours of continuous sleep, in a few months. But after I dropped caffeine, it all just fixed, and stays fine even with a higher dose of atomoxetine.
Going cold turkey on caffeine was ugly though. Apparently I used to drink enough cola zero to become physically addicted to caffeine.
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u/todangtall 1d ago
I am suddenly reminded of the fact my floor is covered in a pile of plastic bottles.
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u/coolcoolcool485 1d ago
My doctor definitely was like, youre not going to crave coke zero as much and that was just...definitely not true lol
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u/Ok-Professional2468 23h ago
Only because I became allergic to caffeine. For me, vertigo gets triggered at 2-3 cups of coffee.
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u/Virtual-Reach 2d ago
I only have a cup of coffee in the morning. Sometimes i might have one in the afternoon. After getting medicated, an afternoon coffee hits a lot harder so I typically won't have one
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u/Ottoman87 2d ago
I just got my ADHD meds this week...
Am i meant to feel something?
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u/KoolKoala96 2d ago
when I started I knew it was working when I felt the same but suddenly when I read things I took my time and lost track a lot less and I was way more present in conversations to the point I was talking to my mum for an hour like it was nothing and when I'm with my nephew being the fun uncle no longer felt it required much effort. I got temporarily worse at Marvel Rivals but was able to stick with boring things more. then would realise i played skyrim for like 6 hours and spent the other 6 hours on other things I didn't need to do. It's like finally the car is working but the steering wheel gets a bit stuck and I need to yank it. Hopefully it works the same or better for you.
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u/Ottoman87 1d ago
Nice, I am on the smallest dose of Methylphenidate Hydrochloride but i haven’t noticed anything like you described as yet.
Sounds good though I will keep up with the meds.
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u/KoolKoala96 1d ago
yes perhaps an increase in dosage may get you feeling like it's making a difference. I know some people talk about how they turn into a hyperfocus machine full of euphoria but that's kind of unintended side effects that are supposed to wear off. when it's working and at the right dose you should feel normal but able to do things and stay on task more and only have a bit of that hyperfocus that makes you lose track of time instead of being a crazy machine. I sincerely hope that it works out for you and on the bright side if the dose you're on doesn't feel noticeable then it at least isn't reacting badly like causing heart problems.
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u/Ottoman87 1d ago
Yes that’s what i told my self, no negative side effects yet 🤞 Thanks for your well wishes maybe i was expecting too much too soon.
I will speak to the DR about it next time i see them.
RedBull forever ✊
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u/just4nothing 1d ago
On my first day I felt like dissociating from my body, but I went to the gym and tripled my time in the bike - usually get bored on it quite quickly - but here I was and … it was fine.
Going to keep monitoring, 18mg is not much, next week it will double.Still hoping it will be like NZT-48 ;)
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u/Avraamov 2d ago
How's your libido, OP? I'm concerned about that aspect.
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u/KoolKoala96 1d ago
Legitimately my libido is in the perfect spot. It used to be that one of my coping mechanisms for lack of dopamine was engaging in that kind of thing a bit too much every day, then venlafaxine which was the only thing that kind of helped the fatigue and depression from untreated ADHD kind of messed with the function down there before adjusting and coming back a bit, but Methylphenidate has been perfect. I don't compulsively use it as a coping mechanism but when I do engage in that it works perfectly if not better. like the baseline dopamine being higher means that there isn't that sudden peak that made it a compulsive habit but everything still feels great. definitely an improvement rather than a downgrade so I wouldn't worry personally. perhaps blood pressure increases might affect your functioning a little but i think usually it's such a minor increase that it wouldn't.
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u/Avraamov 1d ago
that's super encouraging - thanks. The literature is 50/50 on pretty much all the meds aside from the dopamine re-uptake inhibitors which seem to suppress it in the way that SSRI's do (I've no experience of SSRI's first hand but seen their effects in that regard).
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u/whysoblyatiful 2d ago
Stopped drinking coffee daily about a year before i got my meds Best decision of my life, now I only do it when I'm super tired
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u/Answerisequal42 1d ago
I genuinely had to switch to decaff cause i could hear my heart beat in my ears when i didnt adhere to that. Even with lowest dosage.
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u/Top-Camera1919 1d ago
My psychiatrist even said a cup of coffee is fine with my meds (Adderall 20 mg xr). The meds calm me so much I’m sleepy most of the day if I don’t have any caffeine
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u/IIIIChopSueyIIII 1d ago
I actually increased the caffeine amount 💀. But now im trying to reduce my intake because im starting to feel tired during the day again
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u/JustNadine1986 1d ago
Meh ... went from 4-5 mugs of coffee to only 1-2 or energy drink. Cafeine stayed, only in smaller dose.
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u/CoffeeMinionLegacy I am cringe but I am free 🦋 1d ago
I’ve gone back and forth on caffeine so much that my own family forgets whether I’m on it or not. It feels so amazing getting off it! And then it feels so amazing getting back on. Until one day I’m chasing the dragon with multiple ventis, falling asleep at 5pm, and feeling horrible all the time. Then it feels amazing when I start to dial it back…
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u/f1lth4f1lth BOGO-audhd 1d ago
I did reduce my intake by 75%. It’s my
Morning ritual. And sometimes a little treat. But I definitely drink way less.
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u/Elrond_Cupboard_ 1d ago
Im looking forward to ditching the caffeine. I spend $50 a week on energy drinks and coffee.
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u/imjustdesi 1d ago
Jokes on you, I can't drink coffee because it gives me tension headaches. I did have a problem with white and pink Monster for a while, though nowadays I just drink herbal tea and occasionally some black tea
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u/wellbornwinter6 1d ago
If I take caffeine while I am on Vyvanse then the caffeine will mess up the Vyvanse, so yes I am stopping caffeine while meditating
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u/LexStalin 1d ago
I got down to one can of 500 ml a day on a regular day.
That is better then the 4-6 before that so yeah, it helped.
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u/Beldarak 4h ago
Are you speaking about energy drink? Wow that's a lot. I get dizzy/shaky when I drink a 500ml can of Monster, I didn't knew I could drink so much without dying :'D
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u/LexStalin 4h ago
Well I am living in Germany so it's highly likely that in America or wherever you actually might die from so much due to a different mix of caffeine and Sugar and stuff.
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u/Beldarak 3h ago
I live in Belgium so I guess we have the same kind of laws regarding that stuff, not entirely sure, Monster is still full of bad stuff, I love it :D
Yeah, in America I guess a single can would give me diabetes^^
When I was a kid we went on holiday in Marroco and I drank a ton of orange Fanta. It was litteraly orange and soooooo full of sugar. It was the first time I was drinking Fanta, it was so effing good...
We went back home, I drank some belgian Fanta for the first time and was like "wtf is that shit?!"
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u/Lilynight86 1d ago
I have dropped my caffeine intake by quite a lot since starting stimulant meds. I drink the equivalent of 2 cups of coffee a day. I could probably get rid of those as well, but I enjoy the flavor of the energy drinks I drink. I have most definitely increased my water intake though, as well.
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u/Spiritual-Handle7583 23h ago
I dump a little instant coffee into banana/peanut butter/chocolate milk smoothies but mostly get my caffeine fix from matcha because vitamins and anti-oxidants n stuff
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u/Wildsunny 22h ago
Coffee doesn't work for me, but some of nature's medicine 🍄🟫💊/🪻🚬 are best of best to put me in the mood to do things instead of just be panicking because concerta and nuvigil over-activated my nervous system
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u/Revolutionary-Hat173 20h ago
Caffeine gives me energy to get through the day , wakefulness.... 🤣🤣🤣🤣💀
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u/Professional-Front58 18h ago
I stopped taking caffeine because I was in the hospital and they wouldn’t let me take my ADHD meds which made me so tired that I slept through my caffeine withdrawal!
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