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Caffeine and ADHD: Does It Really Help Kids Focus? · Raising ADHD: Real Talk For Parents & Educators

• 0:00
  Apryl: The big question here is then does it actually work in the same way, that is, that those stimulant medications do, and is it worth, you know, handing your child over a Mountain Dew at three o'clock, hoping for focus instead of chaos?
• 0:15
  Apryl: Welcome to Raising ADHD, the podcast for parents and teachers raising ADHD kids.
• 0:22
  Apryl: If you've ever felt frustrated, overwhelmed or just unsure what to do next, you're not alone.
• 0:28
  Apryl: I'm April Bradford, a former teacher and ADHD mom, and, alongside my husband, dr Brian Bradford, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, we're here to give you the clarity, strategies and support you've been looking for.
• 0:41
  Apryl: Every week, we break down the misconceptions support you've been looking for.
• 0:46
  Apryl: Every week we break down the misconceptions, answer your biggest questions and share real tools you can use right away at home and in the classroom.
• 0:50
  Apryl: So if you're ready to feel more confident and less overwhelmed, you're in the right place.
• 0:55
  Apryl: Hey there, welcome back to the Raising ADHD podcast.
• 0:59
  Apryl: I am April and I'm here with my husband, dr Brian Bradford, and we are going to conquer something that maybe you have thought about, maybe you've heard things about and you're wondering hmm, does that really work?
• 1:09
  Apryl: And that is caffeine.
• 1:11
  Apryl: So today we're going to be talking about if it really works.
• 1:16
  Apryl: Some parents swear by it and you may be wondering am I supposed to be handing my nine-year-old a latte before school?
• 1:23
  Apryl: Because it's going to help them focus?
• 1:25
  Apryl: Today we're unpacking all of that the science and what you actually need to know about caffeine and ADHD, so let's dive in.
• 1:32
  Apryl: Why are parents even talking about caffeine in the first place, brian?
• 1:36
  Brian: So that's actually a really good question, and something that comes up surprisingly often is people asking can I use caffeine as a stimulant to treat ADHD in the same way that the more traditional ADHD stimulants?
• 1:50
  Brian: You look at it as like, oh, this could be like a natural alternative.
• 1:55
  Brian: It's obviously like there's a ton of information on caffeine, of what it does and how safe it is, and we're all using it every day.
• 2:03
  Brian: It's very easy to get.
• 2:04
  Brian: So really the question is does it actually work in the same way?
• 2:08
  Apryl: Exactly so.
• 2:09
  Apryl: Parents, you know, handing over their child a Coke at three o'clock when they get home from school and wanting them to focus and do their homework is this really going to help them?
• 2:20
  Brian: Right and the short answer is not really the best.
• 2:26
  Brian: Research shows that caffeine doesn't really move the needle much for ADHD symptoms and when compared to head to head with medications like Ritalin or Adderall or any of these, like the classic ADHD stimulants, caffeine comes out way, way, way weaker.
• 2:41
  Brian: There's a couple of small studies where kids had a slightly better focus on attention tasks after caffeine.
• 2:48
  Brian: The effect was tiny and inconsistent and a lot of these studies will work in anybody, not even people with ADHD.
• 2:57
  Brian: And so once you add in the side effects like jitteriness, poor sleep, it's really not worth the trade-off, especially in kids.
• 3:04
  Apryl: Okay, so walk us through then, because obviously this isn't the same as the stimulants that they're taking, the medication that they're taking.
• 3:13
  Apryl: Walk us through, then.
• 3:15
  Apryl: What's actually going on in the brain, and why isn't caffeine just a mini version of these ADHD meds?
• 3:21
  Brian: Right.
• 3:21
  Brian: So it seems like the mix-up gets placed when we use the word stimulant.
• 3:27
  Brian: When we're using the word stimulant with caffeine, we're saying this is blocking adenosine, which is a sleepy chemical, and it's going to make you more awake.
• 3:35
  Brian: Can it nudge the dopamine a little bit Kind of like a little bit to like an ADHD medication like methylphenidate or the amphetamines.
• 3:47
  Brian: These really aren't a touching adenosine that much.
• 3:50
  Brian: They're really boosting dopamine and norepinephrine in these brain pathways and these are the ones that are more focused or more more set, with focus and impulse regulation and a lot of the ADHD things other than sleepiness.
• 4:04
  Apryl: Okay.
• 4:04
  Apryl: So To bring this back to regular person speak, what you're saying is, like the methylphenidate and the amphetamines are very specific pathways in the way that they work, whereas the caffeine is working on a different, like it works on a different pathway in the brain as well when this is like okay, we're literally targeting these specific, like the dopamine, all of that.
• 4:34
  Apryl: Is that correct?
• 4:34
  Brian: Right, right, right.
• 4:35
  Brian: Different pathways, different chemicals and different influence that the chemicals actually have.
• 4:41
  Apryl: Okay.
• 4:41
  Apryl: So here's what parents are probably thinking it's just soda.
• 4:46
  Apryl: Or when I taught school, when I taught junior high, I will say specifically I would walk in and like half the kids had like a Starbucks in their hand.
• 4:56
  Apryl: So it's just soda or it's just a latte, what's the harm?
• 5:02
  Apryl: But caffeine isn't risk-free, right?
• 5:06
  Brian: Right, caffeine is definitely not risk-free, and we completely underestimate how long caffeine lasts or not knowing, like, what the actual dose should be if we do use caffeine.
• 5:16
  Brian: And so for kids with ADHD, this caffeine use can actually backfire, tend to be with, or something that people with ADHD already struggle with, and now we're giving them caffeine that can make that worse, especially caffeine given like late afternoon or things like this that you'd use as like a pick-me-up.
• 5:40
  Brian: Well, now this is going to impact your sleep.
• 5:43
  Apryl: Yeah, and here's a fun fact actually Kids metabolize caffeine slower than adults, so soda at 3 pm might still be buzzing in their system at bedtime, where, as an adult, we could drink something at 3 pm and be like, oh, I'm fine.
• 5:57
  Brian: Right, right, and even that I mean caffeine should be a morning thing for adults.
• 6:02
  Brian: Another thing, though, that caffeine does caffeine increases jitteriness, it increases anxiety, and this is something that a lot of people with ADHD already struggle with.
• 6:13
  Brian: The generalized anxiety disorder is one of the most comorbid things that go along with ADHD, and now we're going to take a chemical that drastically can increase that.
• 6:24
  Apryl: Yeah, so actually some of these kids will become more wound up instead of less, which is definitely not the effect that we're trying to have on them.
• 6:33
  Brian: Right Plus.
• 6:34
  Brian: I mean it can affect mood, it can affect appetite.
• 6:37
  Brian: These are things that ADHD kids are already struggling with and things that we can struggle with with the regular stimulants suppressing appetite.
• 6:46
  Brian: Now we've got caffeine on top of it.
• 6:47
  Brian: That's also messing with that.
• 6:49
  Apryl: Ultimately, it sounds like the risks outweigh the rewards of giving the caffeine.
• 6:54
  Apryl: I mean it's not going to hurt them, it just may exacerbate the ADHD symptoms.
• 6:59
  Brian: Right, I mean really like.
• 7:00
  Brian: The take-home issue is this is not a direct replacement for the medications.
• 7:07
  Apryl: Okay, so then are we saying that caffeine is a total no-go no-go, or is there any situation where it actually makes sense?
• 7:15
  Brian: right, so I wouldn't go with a total no-go, especially, uh, some of your older kids like, uh, let's say, high school kids, things like this.
• 7:24
  Brian: You know, small amounts of caffeine may actually give a little bit of a boost, especially if they're not actually taking medications.
• 7:31
  Brian: You just need to view this as not like a direct replacement, and you're not necessarily treating the exact same symptoms.
• 7:38
  Apryl: If we were to try to compare it to something like giving a kid a snack when they're starving, and instead of feeding them a meal, we were like here's a small snack.
• 7:47
  Brian: Yeah, or almost like here's a Gatorade instead of your meal.
• 7:50
  Brian: It's like is it doing the same thing?
• 7:52
  Brian: It's giving a little little calories.
• 7:55
  Brian: It's shouldn't be a meal replacement.
• 7:58
  Apryl: Yeah, you'd see, like a small, like oh, I'm not hungry right now, but the effect is not going to last.
• 8:03
  Brian: Like hardly, it's not the same.
• 8:04
  Brian: Yeah, you're going to be disappointed if you're replacing your meal with Gatorade.
• 8:08
  Apryl: Yeah.
• 8:09
  Brian: Okay.
• 8:09
  Brian: So I would say this one thing one thing with caffeine is, if you do want to try it, keep the doses small and if it's, if it's not having the effect you you want it to be, it's because it's caffeine, it's not because you haven't increased the dose, like doing a double red bull, double monsters.
• 8:26
  Brian: This kind of thing isn't the answer.
• 8:28
  Brian: It's caffeine isn't going to be the answer.
• 8:31
  Brian: Uh, but keep it small, keep it early the day, pay attention to the side effects, because you're going to run into side effects early before you get, probably like a satisfactory effect on the ADHD, and always loop in your doctor, especially if your child's already on ADHD medications.
• 8:48
  Brian: Anytime you're adding caffeine plus a stimulant, some of these things can make things worse.
• 8:53
  Brian: They can both increase heart rate worse.
• 8:58
  Brian: They can both increase heart rate and a lot of the side effects that you can get from stimulant medications are the same side effects that caffeine adds to.
• 9:04
  Apryl: Okay.
• 9:04
  Apryl: So another clarifying question.
• 9:05
  Apryl: You said a double shot of Red Bull.
• 9:08
  Apryl: I'm guessing even just a Red Bull is probably too much.
• 9:12
  Brian: Yeah, if we're talking little kids, they shouldn't be drinking Red Bull.
• 9:14
  Brian: Don't give your ADHD kid Red Bull.
• 9:21
  Apryl: Alright, so you'd say like a regular soda.
• 9:25
  Brian: Yeah, and for the most part we're talking older kids and small quantities.
• 9:28
  Brian: Alright, let's land this plane.
• 9:30
  Brian: Parents, listen, here are your takeaways.
• 9:33
  Apryl: Alright, so caffeine is a stimulant, but not an ADHD treatment.
• 9:37
  Apryl: Do not get that confused.
• 9:38
  Apryl: Yes, we treat ADHD a stimulant, but not an ADHD treatment.
• 9:39
  Apryl: Do not get that confused.
• 9:39
  Apryl: Yes, we treat ADHD with stimulants, but we're not treating it with the stimulant of caffeine.
• 9:44
  Apryl: The science shows weak benefits compared to meds.
• 9:47
  Brian: There's risk.
• 9:48
  Brian: Sleep disruption is going to be a big risk.
• 9:50
  Brian: It's going to outweigh any small gains.
• 9:54
  Brian: So you've got to be really careful with this.
• 9:56
  Brian: If you do try it, keep the doses tiny, use it early and watch carefully and, most importantly, be talking to your child's doctor before experimenting with this.
• 10:06
  Brian: There's a lot of risk that can come along with this and the benefits are small and you need to know if this is going to be something that your child could even handle in the first place.
• 10:17
  Apryl: Yeah, and I think another important thing to note is when you said, like if you are going to try it, make sure that you're documenting.
• 10:24
  Apryl: You know what you're seeing in your child.
• 10:26
  Apryl: You know, are they more agitated?
• 10:29
  Apryl: Maybe they are more calm and you're like you know, this is actually a good way to start the morning before the meds kick in.
• 10:35
  Apryl: Whatever it is, every obviously every child is different, but just make sure that you're taking those anecdotal notes and making record and seeing.
• 10:45
  Apryl: Okay, is this?
• 10:46
  Brian: really worth it.
• 10:46
  Brian: Right, and I mean, I know this is kind of a running theme, but if you're on the fence about medication, the medications have decades of research.
• 10:53
  Brian: They have way, way, way better results and your doctor's going to be very familiar with these.
• 10:58
  Brian: Don't go at this alone.
• 11:00
  Brian: Go talk to your doctor.
• 11:01
  Brian: Ask them if medications are right and if you're looking for alternatives.
• 11:06
  Brian: Caffeine is not the only alternative.
• 11:07
  Brian: Ask them for alternatives.
• 11:09
  Brian: The doctor will know what other alternatives there are.
• 11:11
  Apryl: And if you're wondering about medication, we actually did a podcast episode on this.
• 11:15
  Apryl: It's episode number three, I believe.
• 11:21
  Apryl: Yeah, three or two, three, I think it's episode number three, so go back and listen to that.
• 11:25
  Apryl: And we talk about you know the difference between stimulants and the non-stimulant medications and you know if you're hesitant about putting your kids on medications.
• 11:36
  Apryl: That's a really good episode for you to go back and listen to so next time that you see you know that Facebook post about caffeine being the magic fix.
• 11:45
  Apryl: Now you know the science behind it.
• 11:47
  Apryl: It's not the latte that changes everything, it's finding the right treatment plan for your child.
• 11:54
  Brian: Right, and it's probably not going to involve Red Bull.
• 11:58
  Apryl: Ah, shucks, definitely not all right, friends.
• 12:01
  Apryl: Thanks for listening and we'll catch you again next week.
• 12:06
  Brian: Same time, same place thanks so much for joining us for today's conversation on raising adhd.
• 12:11
  Brian: Remember, raising adhd kids doesn't have to feel overwhelming.
• 12:14
  Brian: Small shifts, shifts can make a big difference.
• 12:17
  Brian: If you found this episode helpful, it would mean the world if you would hit subscribe, if you would leave a review or if you shared it with another parent or teacher who needs this support.
• 12:26
  Brian: And don't forget to join us next week for more real talk, practical tips and encouragement.
• 12:31
  Brian: Until then, you've got this and we've got your back.