ASd and caffeine

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I have noticed that some of the people with Aspergers that I know drink unbelievable quantities of caffeine in the form of coffee or cola drinks. Do many people either crave caffeine or find it has adverse effects on them? I was wondering if it is a matter of slightly different brain chemistry?

Hi,

yes, it must be.

However, in my case there's more: while I drink my mornng coffee in mcdonald's I find that I can't stop myself writing erotic fiction on the back of the paper cover of the tray! it's a frenzy of writing even though I just had good sex with my wife in the morning!

And it's about forbidden taboo love! After my coffee refill I'd junk my latest writing on the nearest garbage bin on my way out! This happens daily & I find it time wasting, but I can't stop!

One way to stop writing would be to stop going to Mc for my morning coffee but after years of this habit I'm addicted to coffee!

I hardly ever drink soda anymore. But I do however drink coffee on a fairly regular basis. The main reason, is because I prefer the night time rather than the daytime, so coffee helps me stay up until the wee hours of the morning; in which time I can read, write, surf the web, watch TV, etc.

Yes I have. Its a stimulant people are taking it unknowingily to treat
ADD/ADHD(peope think ASD is related or often co-occurs). The bad thing is
its not CNS selective enough. You get some nasty heart pounding, etc in the dose
range effective for ADHD.

I don't handle caffeine very well.


Now that I've gotten the depression mostly under control, I can handle maybe one cup of tea a day.



Before that, any caffeine would often prevent me from sleeping.

I really don't drink much soda, usually my caffeine comes from my daily 2 cups of coffee in the morning, and tea at other times of the day. I like unsweetened iced tea in the summer when it's a refreshing drink, and hot when it's cold. I just quit my intake after 8pm so I can get some sleep. The only time I have adverse effects is if I have more than 2 cups of coffee, which causes me to get shaky, and if I drink anything with caffeine too late in the day, I have insomnia that night.

I only drink soda very rarely. I drink coffee all day though. I don't know how many cups, but I just drink it all day, like water. I sleep very well. When I wake up at night (which is rare) I feel like drinking a cup of coffee and then go back to sleep without any sleeping problems.

I really hate it when I can't drink coffee, or when the coffee is bad or old. I carry around a jar and/ or sachets of Nescafe Espresso when I leave home longer than one day to make sure I can get a cup of coffee.

I drink way too much soda, not exactly by choice, but because my parents buy it and it's always around. I tend to prefer juice or tea when I go out. I drink constantly, almost like a stim, always with a glass nearby. I tend to drink when I'm not even that thirsty. I'll sort of drink anything that's around, if I like it ... like, I won't drink milk unless flavored.

I drink lots of coffee, but only usually if my parents ask me to get it. And they usually do, at least twice a day, sometimes three, so I drink the same amount as they do.

Does caffeine affect me? I have no idea. I don't see much of a difference if I go for a couple of days without coffee or soda than if I go for a couple of days drinking the stuff. I'm still quite anxious, nervous, whatever. Maybe caffeine increases it, or maybe I stim more when I drink caffeine, but I have never paid that much attention.

- Ray M -

I have stopped drinking coffee during the day sometimes when I was fasting. I felt headaches and after a couple of days when the headaches were gone I felt numb and I couldn't concentrate on tasks at all after a couple of hours. After a day at work I even felt I couldn't talk properly anymore.

I also tried fasting and drinking coffee during the day and then I felt fine. Hungry, but none of the problems above.

I prefer tea, (though that may be something to do with being from the UK LOL!) which apparently has almost as much caffeine as coffee. I drink cups and cups of the stuff-even in hot weather (like the current heat wave.) Soda I don't like much-it makes my mouth feel icky.

Julie

Coffee actually puts me to sleep. Sometimes I'll have a cup, then I'll have a snooze. Caffeine IS supposed to be a stimulant, right? Perhaps it's because I drink instant coffee

I'm self-diagnosed with AS and ADHD. For the ADHD side of things I find that caffeine helps a lot with my attention and short-term memory problems. For the aspie in me, caffeine makes me more sociable/focused on people rather than things, I talk a lot more (usually I'm very quiet), I get the inner side of my personality out more, I'm less prone to overload, and it's a great energy booster too. The only downside to caffeine is that I get jittery if I have too much, and I have problems with overfocus and obsessive thinking patterns (either OCD or Overfocused ADHD) and the caffeine tends to make that a bit worse.

Caffeine: I am a social drinker. It makes me talk a lot (I am otherwise extremely quiet). But I avoid it when I am not around people I need to be sociable with, as I seem to have more frequent migraines when I am drinking caffeine often.

No thats not true, caffeine makes my fellow aspies and austistic friends who are already sleepless, even less sleepy, stay awake the whole night, and feel like a zombie for the next few days.

In addition, all of us on the spectrum, has "heightened senses' in one way or another, either touch, sight or smell. Taking caffeine effectively heightens the already heightened senses.

In short, your posts can get people killed

ok on a lighter note... its not true aspies consume high volumes of caffeine
and it is not true that it helps ADHD. So please.

It would be an interesting experiment for me to actually try posting on WP without being under the influence of at least one strong plunger coffee. I just find that the stuff pulls some kind of rip cord on my brain, resulting in heightened creativity and spontaneity but absolutely no concentration...or subtlety. Hence I tend to go back and check the cohesion of many of my posts at least once.