One of my dark secrets is that I don’t really understand when people talk about caffeine and think that its all a big con. It has never seemed to have the slightest effect on me when I’m tired, I’m still tired and miserable if it’s the morning, and I can drink an espresso before going to bed without any worries. It honestly surprised me when I first realised people really did take it to feel more awake and believe that it worked, I figured it was like an old wives tale till then. Also don’t know if I’ve never drank enough, but I can have several coffees a day for a weeks or longer, then stop for several weeks or longer with no effect.
I don’t know if I’m kidding myself, or other people are, or I’m some weird freak or what.
I believe people with ADHD take stimulants and it is calming for them. People are different. I took Vicoden for a broken collar bone like 20 years ago and it was like a stimulant for me.
I can go to sleep after drinking caffeine, but I will sleep worse and wake up in the middle of the night even more than I already have to for peeing.
Caffeine has never had a big affect on me unless I consume a whole bunch of it, and then I just feel like shit. Still drink coffee every morning, but it’s the ritual that gets me going more than the caffeine. If I skip it there’s not much difference in my day.
Currently drinking tea, which I usually do if I’m at home in the afternoon. If anything, it makes me a bit lethargic. I’m gonna have to force myself to get back to work in a half hour.
Rarely drink soda anymore. When I do the only thing I notice is my teeth feel bad from all the sugar.
Back when ephedrine was available everywhere it was kinda the same. I’d feel almost no effect from a little, and then feel absolutely awful if I took more. There was never any middle ground where I felt like I had gained any useful energy or motivation.
“energy” is a weird way people describe the feeling. In my experience if you have too much caffeine you can feel a little jittery or wired or w/e, but otherwise the “feeling” is just being a little less sleepy.
For some reason this feels creepy to me. It’s like they took a standard pet adoption promo and swapped in human children. Maybe it’s common, but I’ve never seen “forever home” in any other context than pets. Am I crazy?
Ritalin is basically legal speed for me. I take it when I hike for energy. It does help me focus but I feel like a 50s housewife on dexedrine. I don’t think I have a super severe case of ADHD though.
My father in law was a severe alcoholic and he literally could not function without Ritalin. He found some crank doctor who prescribed like a 5x dose, which he took daily until suddenly kneeling over and dying in his late 50s.
I only take a half a pill most days at midday - except when I go hiking then I take up to two full pills throughout the day.
So far I haven’t noticed needing more. But then again even a half pill used to be very strong and now it just feels normal.
But also I’m on my 3rd manufacturer now - and they’re all different (despite everyone insisting they’re freaking identical - but yeah we’re supposed to know when govt/corporations are and aren’t lying to us). This brand is probably the weakest yet. I saved the strongest ones for hiking. But they give me an anxiety attack at work.
I think my ADHD is a big part of why I use caffeine as aggressively as I do. I’m glad I don’t take ritalin. That stuff makes me much more productive but much less creative/effective in the long run. It’s the kind of thing that helps me out when I’m in crunch for whatever reason… but one of the great innovations of my 30’s has been being my own boss and planning correctly so that I never ever have to crunch.
Aubrey Huff was such a key part of the 2010 SF Giants World Series team that it pains me to see he’s a total dumbfuck who managed to cheat his way into having a couple of decent seasons.
