r/comics • u/DaveKellett SHELDON • 4d ago

OC Remember that drink I invented yesterday? (oc)

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COME for the acrid taste, but STAY for the lack of caffeine!

14.1k Upvotes

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480

u/StrikeInteresting867 4d ago

When i drink coffe in the morning, it doesnt wake me up. When i drin coffe at midnight, it doesnt prevent me from falling asleep. I drink coffe for the taste, regardles of the time. Every coffe is decaf coffe.

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u/Aryore 4d ago

Do you have ADHD? Apparently for some people with ADHD coffee (and other stimulants) doesn’t work for them the same way

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u/StrikeInteresting867 4d ago

No, i do not. But i wonder why is it that way.

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u/Jackthwolf 4d ago

Basically ADHD brains are starved for dopamine, and so are constantly looking for sources of said dopamine. Which is why you get things like both unable to concentrate (unable to find dopamine, still looking), or hyperfocus (found source of dopamine, not letting go)

And so when you add a stimulant such as caffine into that mix, suddenly the brain has more stimulation, and so is less starved for dopamine.
Making it more "neurotypical", and so calmer.

This is basically how ADHD meds work too, and it's why folk with ADHD typically find themselves self medicating with caffeine, even without knowing.

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u/BoilingCold 4d ago

As someone with ADHD, who is on ADHD medication, I would also add that ADHD medication plus too much caffeine can lead to pronounced tachycardia (elevated heart rate). If I drink an espresso or two within a few hours of taking my meds then my heart rate can hit 120 sat down.

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u/Ixaire 4d ago

Is that a common side effect or your meds or just personal experience? Because tachycardia can be a side effect of excessive caffeine consumption, and some individuals are naturally more sensitive.

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u/ddr4memory 4d ago

They test your heart before giving you certain meds which are stimulants

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u/BoilingCold 4d ago

Both! I seem to be particularly susceptible to it, so I hugely restrict my caffeine intake. But I know other people with the same response, and it's something I was forewarned about when I was first prescribed the meds.

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u/polaroid_ninja 4d ago

I too have this issue, fellow ADHDer! I can have my cup in the morning with my meds, no problem. If I have a cup in the afternoon, I will feel like I've run a marathon and hard lifted weights for an hour: pounding heart, nausea, sweating, etc.

This is what decaf is for. I can get my coffee fix in the afternoon without all the issues.

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u/BluezDBD 4d ago

It's just a natural effect of stimulants, it's why doctors recommend no more than 200mg of caffeeine daily.

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u/mcon96 4d ago

Every day I find a new reason to get screened for AuDHD

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u/crayfishcraig108 4d ago

Nicotine can also be used as self medication, I ran out of meds a few times and resorted to caffeine, b vitamins, and nicotine.
Btw nicotine gum and Coca-Cola taste horrible together

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u/Comprehensive-Fail41 4d ago

ADHD is associated with a lower baseline Dopamine level (with dopamine being associated with the ability to focus and stay motivated, and low dopamine with "brain noise" as it seeks out new sources of dopamine). One of the effects of caffeine is boosting dopamine, which to a brain used to constant low dopamine can be calming

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u/konstantynopolytanka 4d ago

yup, I take caffeine in pills and if I miss a dose I don't get sleepy I have withdrawal symptoms (I used to smoke so I know the difference). I managed to cut my usage by half though, and I am still functioning perfectly fine, it is way way easier to quit caffeine than nicotine.

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u/Rubik_- 4d ago

Because of the receptors in the brain work different compare to a neurotypical person. I won't go into more detail because i forgot those

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u/captainfarthing 4d ago

Nope there are lots of people with ADHD who don't get the opposite effect from caffeine, it's not diagnostic of ADHD. We don't even know if it's more likely to happen to people with ADHD, it's all based on anecdotal evidence.

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u/Hundkexx 4d ago

I'm more inclined to believe that there's a lot of misdiagnosis and a lot of those people are in fact neurotypical. The reaction people with ADHD gets out of amphetamines etc just can't be faked.

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u/captainfarthing 4d ago edited 4d ago

I have ADHD, my meds help, caffeine doesn't. It keeps me awake and makes me anxious but doesn't help me focus. I quit caffeine so I could sleep properly.

I honestly don't believe it helps people focus or be productive as much as they think, IMO most of the boost they feel is withdrawal being alleviated and placebo effect from how it's been marketed. The placebo effect worked on me, I still drink coffee but it's decaf now.

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u/Alvendam 4d ago

IMO most of the boost they feel is withdrawal being alleviated and placebo effect from how it's been marketed.

It's not. Caffeine's main effects on neurochemistry are rather simple. It blocks adenosine receptors and lowers melatonin secretion- the sleepy neurotransmitters. In turn it leads to elevated dopamine and glutamate - both having an excitatory effect on the CNS.

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u/MrWeirdoFace 4d ago

Hmmm, glutamates... so if I eat some ramen with coffee I can get a super boost?

Edit. This is the second time in a very short period that my posts have doubled for some reason.

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u/Alvendam 4d ago

No. Dietary glutamate is metabolised and used for other things in your body, besides it does not readily cross the blood-brain barrier. Actually the way the human body is made, the other way is more likely - removal of glutamate from the brain - towards the bloodstream.

Mind you I'm a layman in biology and chemistry and my understanding of this is rather basic.

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u/MrWeirdoFace 4d ago

As a layman's layman, Doh!

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u/captainfarthing 4d ago edited 4d ago

I said most, not all. I'm skeptical that it has as much of an effect as people think.

I'd like to see a study where people try to guess how they'll perform on a test with vs. without caffeine and then get tested before and after taking either caffeine or a placebo.

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u/Alvendam 4d ago edited 4d ago

And "most" is what I disagreed with. It cannot be "most of the boost". It is one of very few CNS stimulants that directly make you less drowsy, instead of pumping you full of excitatory neurotransmitters. Being less drowsy directly correlates to being more focused. You can safely lay your skepticism to rest, based simply on its mechanism of action.

In any case, its objective and subjective effects have been more than widely studied. With thousands of papers published since it's been discovered.

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u/Burger_Destoyer 4d ago

This doesn’t tie directly to ADHD. It’s just a common lineup. People can be less receptive to caffeine while being “neurotypical”.

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u/BlackFranky 4d ago

Well, technically being less receptive to caffeine would make them neurodivergent but not in the way that term is used mostly. ^^

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u/Burger_Destoyer 4d ago

That’s why I put neurotypical in quotes.

There’s not really such a thing as neurotypical, everyone has something going on in their mind which pushes them away from the average.

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u/snokeyx 4d ago

^ ^

german detected

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u/Neverlast0 4d ago

I remember reading a thing saying that if you're dehydrated enough, caffeine has the opposite effect.

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u/Environmental_Top948 4d ago

Instructions unclear ate entire jar of instant coffee.

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u/Neverlast0 4d ago

As long as that's normal for you. Caffeine can help suppress appetite.

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u/Neverlast0 4d ago

Oh wait. I just realized this wasn't the subreddit I thought it was. Commented on some weight loss posts where coffee was mentioned. Haha.

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u/Environmental_Top948 4d ago

Sounds like r/1200isjerky if eating instant coffee doesn't bat an eye.

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u/kulot09 4d ago

Maybe you’re a closet adhd. Also, why do you spell it coffe?

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u/Glossed-Lam 4d ago

What are you talking about? Everyone is spelling coffe with two E's, except you. You're the one spelling it wrong.

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u/SomeDumbDoggo 4d ago

now wait a damn second...

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u/curiouslyendearing 4d ago

You sure? Cause every time I've heard of someone who isn't affected by coffee it's cause ADHD...

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u/BeatsAndSkies 4d ago

ADHD can sometimes make Coffee put you to sleep, even. It does the opposite.

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u/bee_wings 4d ago

I have ADHD and coffee works like normal for me. So it can be the other way around too

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u/Elementalhalo 4d ago

Same here

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u/JR21K20 4d ago

Not diagnosed but I suspect I might have some form of ADHD. Coffee doesn’t affect me at all lol

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u/Final_Squirrel_7462 4d ago

I don’t drink coffee, but I can drink 2 cans of Red Bull and a bottle of Coca Cola and still sleep like a Baby. Do I have ADHD? No, by any test I tried so far. All brains are different and one correlation between ADHD and caffeine effect does not mean that there is an inverse causality here.

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u/ApprehensiveSoup2214 4d ago

I always figured the affects must be psychosomatic. I can drink a couple cups then go to sleep. I do so often.

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u/DeezWas 4d ago

Holy shit! Coffee has no effect on me. Weed keeps me wide awake. One time I smoked weed and drunk whiskey and I passed out and shat myself. 3 out of 5 times I've drunk energy drinks I've had migraine headaches. The other two times I never got stimulated in any way.

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u/some_random_nonsense 4d ago

I'd you haven't been tested you probably do. Or some other nuerodivergence. I mean caffeine is a drug. It's doesn't go into system and just not work unless your system is wonky

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u/InviolableAnimal 4d ago

There is genetic variation in caffeine effect independent of other mental symptoms

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u/mistalasse 4d ago

It’s called addiction and tolerance