Q:

Since caffeine does not stimulate people with ADD like it does with people who don't have it, what can be taken as a replacement? I have recently been diagnosed with it and do not take medication for it.
I also do not know what category to check in if this gets posted, my assumption is general health, so it would be great to be placed there.

 

A:

Caffeine actually does stimulate people with ADHD/ADD the same as it does people without it. It works on adenosine receptors and dopamine (neurotransmitters)- and the reticular activating system which is an area in your brain ( this is the area that keeps you alert and awake). There are also these receptors in other areas of your body as well. With folks who have ADHD/ADD, it is as if their reticular activating system is asleep and needs to be woken up - and that is what the caffeine is doing - it is binding to those sights in the brain. The reticular activating system is more awake in the people who don't have ADHD/ADD and so less of the caffeine is used there and is left to go to other receptor sights in the body and hence you might get more jitteryness, shakey hands, etc. The higher the caffeine intake, the more you will fill recepters outside of the brain and get the other side effects. Seeing as most of the caffeine is used up in the brain of people with ADHD/ADD, they tend to not get the jitterness you might see with a person who doesn't have the ADHD/ADD.

~The Doc