To feel tired after caffeine?

[sorbets]

Slept well last night albeit I’ve had two strong coffees this morning, the first one perked me up as it usually does but the second one has absolutely drained me. I feel exhausted! Does this happen to anyone else? Seems so strange!

Happens to me! 2 coffees needed for morning pick me up ( can’t start the day without them). If I have a 3rd coffee in the day it sends me to sleep.
I have heard it might be suggestive of ADHD (as people with ADHD tend to have a paradoxical response to stimulants) but I don’t know how true that is. And I don’t have an ADHD diagnosis ( although I do sometimes wonder if I should look into it more)

Would love to know if anyone else has an explanation for this.

Yep I get this too! Again, wouldn’t be surprised if I had ADHD.

I have an ADHD diagnosis and caffeine is my sleepy companion. 2 redbulls I'll get a good 6 hours which is the most I ever do.

I nearly wrote a post similar to this.

First one really perks me up, then I have another one around 2pm and I often have a nap after it (if I'm at home!!).

Again, no diagnosis of ADHD but I have a lot of the symptoms and also have epilepsy. I find that coffee really affects me (and sometimes not in a good way, unfortunately).

It's a stimulant.

Once the stimulant is leaving your system you'll feel differently to when it was literally 'stimulating' you.

I get this, my heart rate also goes down after coffee. No ADHD, may have mild ASD though.

Does this to me too. I always have tea first thing but a coffee when I get in to work. I noticed I always felt like crap mid morning and the only thing I can think is it's the coffee. I don't have ADHD but I do have CFS so wondered if it was something to do with that.

As someone else mentioned it's a stimulant. The tiredness you feel is the come down from the initial buzz.

The tiredness is the come down you feel afterwards.

Do you normally have two strong coffees?

If I'm over tired, red bull can help relax me to make me sleep!
It generally makes it easier to focus on one thought at a time rather than a general mental clamour that ends up in an overwhelm inertia.

ADHD

Yes i get this too, yesterday afternoon I had to go to bed I felt so fatigued

What symptoms in the diagnostic criteria in the DSM- V or ICD- 10 for ADHD made you say that?

But the drowsiness is immediately after drinking the 3rd cup for me. So the caffeine is just entering my system not leaving it..

Yes same for me too. I don't get a high even after the first cup. It just makes me sleepy within minutes.

Yes it does me after my 3rd cup. I have adhd.
yes I know it’s a stimulant, has the opposite effect for me

For reference I have ADHD diagnosed and getting tired with stimulants is a classic symptom. It’s how Ritalin works. Also could you not sense the humour in my post.

I think it’s common. Me and DH both talk about this. Some coffees wake you up, some make you tired! (In case it’s of interest, DH doesn’t fit the profile for ADHD in any way, shape or form, I have some tendencies in that direction but don’t have ADHD as far as I know).

I find it sometimes makes me feel tired if I have one too many in the day. It also seems to make a difference what I eat with it – raw onions seem to trigger something, the other day I had an afternoon coffee with a bowl of greek yoghurt and I needed a sleep 😂

The common denominator might be that it’s afternoon tho!

I remember a girl at uni did a presentation about coffee, and apparently in the first 20 minutes after drinking it makes you more likely to go to sleep. Then if you miss that window it tends to make you more alert (by blocking tiredness in your body somehow).

But you've ingested significant amounts of caffeine. Like alcohol or other stimulant drugs there comes a point where the dopamine receptors in the brain have been overwhelmed so they are unable to go back to baseline. So they go back to below.

That's the basis of the biological theory of addiction, that neurologically there is a finite amount of dopamine, serotonin adrenaline etc that the brain can use via neurotransmitters.

And if you use a substance that floods the brain with dopamine, serotonin adrenaline etc then the brain will promote feelings that make those substances seem significant or even vital for life.

So you think the 3rd cup of coffee isn't a sign of caffeine having an impact on your body when it undoubtedly has an impact on your brain and as a result of biology also impacts on your body.

I get this! It’s not after the effect has worn off either; it’s immediate. Sometimes I feel really faint immediately after drinking a very strong coffee. The doctor said it can lower your blood pressure too.

Is it connected to ASD as well as ADHD btw? The reason is that I have a dd going through assessment.

There's multiple reasons but it sounds in these cases that it's raising your blood sugar which can make you tired.

"caffeine can increase blood sugar levels by temporarily reducing insulin sensitivity."

"People with high blood sugar may experience headaches, fatigue, trouble concentrating, increased thirst, or frequent urination until their blood sugar levels return to normal."

Also "people who regularly consume caffeine may build up a tolerance to its stimulant effects."

My personal suggestion would be weaning yourself off the caffeine. I don't drink it myself (unless it's a Coca-cola occasionally) even though I have sleep apnea. I wake and sleep fine.

Me too and I have adhd. I took a pre workout before the gym and it put me to sleep 😂 I actually have a coffee when I have too much energy as it levels me out and calms me down

Very interesting everyone thank you! It’s weird as I have lots of ADHD traits but in true ADHD style have procrastinated getting referred for assessment. Does anyone know why it has the reverse affect?

The second one is over-stimulating your system with caffeine so you get a profound come down after of feeling exhausted. If you stuck to one you'd probably feel energised and more balanced.

ADHD/conditions like that are neither here nor there.

If you really have ADHD, stimulants could have a paradoxical effect on your brain.

But you've said they have an entirely normal effect as a stimulant on your brain.

So stimulates you for a bit then if you consume too much, your brain is overstimulated and you feel tired.

Like how the brain works but yes you should totally think you have a serious neurodevelopmental disorder based on your excessively use of a well known stimulant like caffeine.