I am borderline on wether I am really ADD or not. I have a belief that ADDers are hyperactive and not just struggling with focus. I have been taking Ritalin 60mg per day for about a year and I wonder or not if I am taking it for the right reasons or wrong ones. I filled out a 2 page Q&A paper gave it to my doc and accordingly I am not ADHD but moderately unattentive and ADD. I drink tons of coffee and too much of it, drink a morning energy drink, then also Ritalin 20mg x 3.

My problem is I get nervous, concerned and get thrown into panic attacks pretty severe. I do deep breathing however still struggle with caffiene ritalin stimulation. Can caffiene usage w/water afterwards back and forth all day while being on Ritalin be harmful to health???

If you're questioning whether the diagnosis of ADHD if valid or not, I suggest finding a second opinion. Go find a specialist that focuses on ADHD or mood disorders.

What symptoms do you have?

As for the caffeine, switch to decaf or 1/2 caffeinated! And if you're talking about a red bull or a rockstar when you mention morning energy drink, stop drinking those. I know that stuff is addicting, but too much can cause some issues. Read up on how caffeine can affect mood and the body in general.

If you're having panic attacks, taking in a stimulant isn't going to help that. Anxiety and sleep disorder are possible side-effects when ingesting too much caffeine. No reason to speed up your heart rate at this point.

Make sure you're consistent with taking your medication until you switch or instructed to stop taking it.

Education is your best bet when unsure about ADHD.

-- jolt

I used to drink a ton of coffee, before I started on meds for ADD, and it never made me jittery. If anything it made me kind of alert and calmer. But now that I am taking Strattera, I think coffee is making me jittery, so I am easing off it as an experiment. Try drinking less and see if it helps you not to be so nervous and panicky maybe. There may of course be other things at work, but at least experimenting with coffee intake is free, even though you may get withdrawl headaches for a bit.

-g

Yes it's true ADDers are hyperactive, but there are two kinds. Some are 'physically' hyperactive and others are 'mentally' hyperactive. And some have both. So if you're the inattentive ADDer, fear not... you are hyperactive, but probably mentally! *lol*

I found that I would drink TONS of coffee, and I had this need to always have coffee whenever I went to class. Almost would panic if I didn't have it, because I was trying to self-medicate myself. (Didn't know it at the time though.)

Is the nervousness and panic attacks a side affect of your medication? Don't know, maybe? I would suggest talking about it with a dr. and then take it from there.

I found that I would drink TONS of coffee, and I had this need to always have coffee whenever I went to class. Almost would panic if I didn't have it, because I was trying to self-medicate myself. (Didn't know it at the time though.)

Do you still drink a ton of coffee before going somewhere?

-- jolt

Please note I am most certainly no professional to say the least, on this subject. I come from a background of addictive traits. I found when I got sober I traded one addiction for another. First it was coffee, but I became too jittery. I then felt like I had a demon seed in me prior to crash and burning on the coffee. I now have toned down my intake to two cups of coffee in the morning - if it is Starbucks... just one. I traded my caffeine addition for sugar. I would pop MM's and then slam a coca cola. The sugar altered my mood. One thing I did not trade was caffeine for nicotine. I thought it was a toss up of dying from cirrhosis of the liver or emphysema. I have had one of those energy drinks a time or two and had that racing of the heart and a over all body feeling that I was on a stimulant. I found myself on the verge of an anxiety attack. Thus I try to keep in tuned with what messages my body is giving me, and what I am doing to alter my feeling ~ just sharing thoughts.<O:p</O:p

There are lots of non-hyper ADHD/ADDers. :)

But it is the media and social "stereotype" and those Hypers are the folks who get easily identified in childhood (by teachers, etc).

Most of us who were missed as kids were missed b/c we were not "hyper" and did not have school problems early on (due to the insulating effects of higher IQ; other factors). Same as how 'Gifted/LD' kids get missed by the school system.

Academic problems can come out later, in high school, for example.

I'm mentally and physically non-hyper. I don't have a torrent of thoughts or the constant urge to be physically active; I just mentally drift about, being forgetful and inattentive and unable to focus on things unless I have some special interest in them.

At school, my mum knew something wasn't right, but the school dismissed me as being thick and told her to accept that I'd never amount to anything. My school reports are full of comments about me daydreaming, being slow with work, not paying attention to instructions etc, but because I didn't kick and scream and run up the walls, nobody bothered to look into the reasons.

It is a common misbelief that "All AD/HDers are Hyperactive", or that "Treating the Hyperactivity will make everything better" for someone with AD/HD.

AD/HDers also have working memory problems, auditory memory problems (remembering what they heard), organizational/planning problems, and true neurological deficits in their Executive System.



The Executive System is the Brain's Conductor: now imagine your Conductor is impaired.


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Article on Executive Dysfunction Symptoms, etc.

http://www.tourettesyndrome.net/ef_overview.htm

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I find that I also have sequencing problems, where I have to get multiple steps in the right order/remember ALL the steps required.