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  1. #1
    WatchingThemGrow is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
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    Default Coffee to replace ADHD meds for inattentive type?

    Has anyone tried giving their kid coffee so they function better when they refuse to take medication? Dexmethylphenidate has been helpful, but DS thinks he wants to go into the military (due initially to some bad grades in Calculus, which he apparently wasn't prepared well for.) ADHD meds are not permitted for a full year before enlisting. He thinks he will enlist AND he thinks he will apply for a service academy. School work/executive functioning has been mostly a train wreck this year, so the latter idea is a reach, to say the least. We're working with an EF Coach weekly, but we really need something more. He's all organized and motivated for 2 hours after that meeting and maybe part of the next day...but then he's back to "meh, it's easier to just take a zero than do the work."

    Some Saturdays, DH has taken him to his office (which he doesn't actually go to) and used it as a study space for both high school boys. He's let him have some type of coffee from a machine there. As much as I don't want to give him coffee, I'm thinking that if we were to give him some it would increase his productivity at school and help bring his grades up.

    Is this okay? Do people do this? Any ideas on how to do it well without issues?

  2. #2
    o_mom is online now Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    We find caffeine helps on non-medication days. Caffeinated gum is easy to keep in a backpack and good when coffee/drinks are not available.

  3. #3
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    I know people with unmedicated ADHD who use things like Celsius drinks or Mountain Dew for focus.
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  4. #4
    smilequeen is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    My HS senior has decided he wants to try without his meds for ADHD inattentive. He?s been drinking coffee in the mornings. Verdict is still out on how well it?s going though.
    Mama to my boys (04,07,11)

  5. #5
    bisous is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    I just got an email from ADDitude magazine that they have an upcoming webinar on caffeine and ADHD. Might want to check that one out!

  6. #6
    gatorsmom is offline Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    I believe the days my older ds1 doesn’t want to take his Concerta he replaces it with Mountain Dew or coffee. He’s in college and on a low dose of Concerta. If he wakes up too late one day and doesn’t want to take his meds late (because then they interfere with going to bed at a reasonable time) he’ll then use caffeine to help him focus. I will say though that they aren’t as dependable and he doesn’t get the same control with the caffeine as he does with the Concerta. Imho, it’s not a long-term solution.
    " I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent." Mahatma Gandhi

    "This is the ultimate weakness of violence: It multiplies evil and violence in the universe. It doesn't solve any problems." Martin Luther King, Jr.

  7. #7
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    AnnieW625 is offline Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
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    Default Coffee to replace ADHD meds for inattentive type?

    No input on the coffee issue (DD2 is 14 so no interest in coffee), but service academies are super hard to get into. I wish your son lots of luck. The two kids I know who applied for fall of 2024 and were accepted (one to the naval academy prep school for 2024-2025, and the other for the Coast Guard Academy) both did a summer program at each academy before their senior year so I would look into that now.

    What about an ROTC program at a state university? I would consider that as well. My cousin who is a colonel in Air Force (and will enter into her 22 yr of active service in June) really enjoyed her time in the ROTC in college.


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  8. #8
    WatchingThemGrow is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by AnnieW625 View Post
    No input on the coffee issue (DD2 is 14 so no interest in coffee), but service academies are super hard to get into. I wish your son lots of luck. The two kids I know who applied for fall of 2024 and were accepted (one to the naval academy prep school for 2024-2025, and the other for the Coast Guard Academy) both did a summer program at each academy before their senior year so I would look into that now.

    What about an ROTC program at a state university? I would consider that as well. My cousin who is a colonel in Air Force (and will enter into her 22 yr of active service in June) really enjoyed her time in the ROTC in college.


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    yes, total long shot for him... and he knows that! He has applied for the summer program, and we're checking out ROTC programs at state universities as well. He thinks his cousin't path of enlisted to USNA is a way that a lot of people get in, but I don't think it's as many as he believes.

  9. #9
    AnnieW625's Avatar
    AnnieW625 is offline Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
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    Default Coffee to replace ADHD meds for inattentive type?

    Quote Originally Posted by WatchingThemGrow View Post
    yes, total long shot for him... and he knows that! He has applied for the summer program, and we're checking out ROTC programs at state universities as well. He thinks his cousin't path of enlisted to USNA is a way that a lot of people get in, but I don't think it's as many as he believes.
    I did read that you cannot be over the age of 23 to apply, but I had no idea that was an option (applying after active duty).


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    Last edited by AnnieW625; 3 Weeks Ago at 10:38 AM.
    Annie
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    DD L, 13,
    baby 2, 4-2009 (our Tri-18 baby)

  10. #10
    NCGrandma is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by WatchingThemGrow View Post
    yes, total long shot for him... and he knows that! He has applied for the summer program, and we're checking out ROTC programs at state universities as well. He thinks his cousin't path of enlisted to USNA is a way that a lot of people get in, but I don't think it's as many as he believes.
    I hadn’t thought about ROTC in a long time, but I was surprised to discover that there are Air Force, Army, and Navy/Marine ROTC programs at the flagship university here.

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