Aspergers & Coffee

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Does coffee affect Aspergers & Autism differently than other people?

I doubt it. I drink coffee everyday.

It can, in a multitude of ways.

It can be beneficial for ADHD and other afflictions as a safe stimulant to kickstart the brain.
It can be detrimental if you're sensitive to some of the acids in it, as many on the spectrum are said to be.
It can be detrimental if it inflames any digestive issues that in turn amplify other symptoms.

But it doesn't necessarily do anything good nor bad for anyone on the spectrum, especially in a broad catch all sense that affects everyone the same. It depends on each individual person & their current state of health.

Personally, I've drank coffee since I was 15 - for 20 years, save for 13 months a few years ago when I didn't have any caffeine or alcohol etc as part of a medicinal diet to heal my digestive ailments of the time. Overall I'm a coffee drinker and I don't think it does me any real harm.

I can't drink coffee because it worsens my incontinence issues. The acids and caffeine have an effect on my digestive system.

I might have to try taking myself off coffee one of these days to see how it effects my autism. I drink a lot of coffee in the morning and can get horrible headaches if I don't have coffee for a given day.

I think I prefer tea, at this point.
I also went a year or two drinking yerba mate. For some reason coffee makes me feel like I'm late for something all day. Rush rush rush.
Don't know what it is about it.
At the moment I'm drinking coffee just because it's easy.

I suppose it's worth noting that I worked for room and board at a coffee shop for a while, where I was the worst barista in the world.

Last edited by elbowgrease on 11 Dec 2017, 10:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It might for some. People with autism can be more sensitive than others. So the way coffee can effect others in different ways, it can have more of an effect for someone with autism.

For me, even though I'm a bit hyper sensitive to some medications and such, caffeine doesn't seem to have much effect on me.

I've never developed a taste for coffee.

I have always found I have a sensitivity to caffeine. I don't like coffee, except for iced coffee. I have experienced a caffeine overdose from drinking a 500ml bottle of it before, I was told I had to drive for a trip and I was extremely tired and I was pressured to drink it...
On an extremely rare occasion, as a child I was given soft drink which contained caffeine. I figured that's why I was sensitive, but I'm starting to think that's rubbish.

I'm a tea person and I find I have to drink decaffeinated tea if I'd like a cup of tea in the evening if I plan on going to sleep.

Coffee does keep me awake, but if I don’t get enough hours sleep then coffee doesn’t work good & I stay sleepy all day, my eyes look half open, I look like I was on drugs, I feel like my eyes are very tired. I noticed if I go to bed before 11:30 & get at least 9 hours sleep, I be very well rested, I don’t know why I need 9 or 10 hours sleep, I’m not a baby. Maybe it have to do with my mattresses, I need to buy new one, my mattresses are 10 years old.

...I don't really drink coffee, but I've to drink lots and lots of - generally diet - soda, though recently I've been switching more to no-cad Diet Coke and Canada Dry ginger ale, when I can get it.

I drink it a lot. It can make me a little hyper, but for the most part, does nothing except for tasting nice.

I am hyper sensitive to caffeine, I have never had even a sip of coffee because I can't drink a black tea without shaking and feeling sick. I get a caffeine high off of green tea, which has the same amount of caffeine as a black tea but releases it differently.

My incontinence issues also become more difficult to manage but only when I drink too much coffee. Tim Horton's coffee in Canada is soooooo good that I've decided to sacrifice the cons for the pros.

It's a never-ending battle.

I've been drinking coffee since I was 13... that'd be almost 50 years now. Love Jacobs and Gevalia when I can splurge.

Fun trivia: caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline are all related compounds (methylxanthines). Coffee, tea, and cocoa all contain them. Caffeine predominates in coffee, theobromine in tea and cocoa. Theophylline is used to treat asthma.

Useful facts: Coffee, tea, and cocoa all have *some* ability to ward off asthma attacks, but coffee is sufficient for maintenance only in extremely mild asthma. It has been used (strong) as rescue/temporary maintenance therapy, though, by asthmatics who forget their inhalers, or are snowed in. This is why I decided to add the extra info; you never know who might benefit.

Both coffee and tea can help shut down migraine, again because of the methylxanthines, if you are a responder to them. Tea is usually best, easier on the stomach.

So there it is: coffee can be good for you. (For my brothers and sisters in IBS/IBD/colitis world, much sympathy.)

I like to drink coffee.