How to Guarantee your kid will need Ritalin

[janitordba]

i quit mountain dew. i drink coffee now. and lots of it.
my parents didnt let us have soda very often growing up. it was a treat.
once i got older i drank so much mountain dew,i hate it.
hence the coffee. coffee tastes better,anyway.
i agree that children shouldnt be given caffeine,though.
most people probably shouldnt breed.

[amphrite]

Kind of off topic, but an interesting bit of information from an ADHD adult:
Ritalin is actually a stimulant, but because of the brain chemistry of those woth ADD/ADHD, it has an opposite effect of calming them down. Caffiene will as well. My aunt used to give my cousin coffee when he was really wild, and it calmed him down. I self medicate myself with diet coke sometime when I cannot disipline myself to concentrate. Happens very raraly, but when it does it is nice to know what works.

Sugar however, can keep me bouncing! Which is really what I think the topic has gotten into. I didn't get to drink pop very often as a kid. It was always a treat, and a big deal. My half sister, however, got coke in her bottle sometimes.

[Jester]

Babies can be just so gosh darn cute that when they want something that mommy or daddy has, the parent may let them try a little of it. I know someone who did that in order to prove to her kids that they wouldn't like it. It would backfire at times.

My mom did that with me and coffee. And the ripe old age of six, I was out on the back deck with my mom one morning as she drank her daily cup of coffee. For some reason, I wanted a sip, and damn it, Mom gave it to me. My reaction? YUCK! ICK! BLECH! In other words, did not like it at all. And since then, I have had a TOTAL of five additional SIPS of the stuff in my life. Two separate incidents when I was drunk at a diner and thought I would try the stuff. Same reaction both times as when I was a child. The other three sips were unintentional. My friend and I ordered two Bailey's and hot chocolates, and the idiot waitress brought us two Bailey's and COFFEES. I was wondering why the hot chocolate was so weak when, after my third sip, my companion realized it was coffee. She was more familiar with the taste of it than me. I was Not Amused. (And yes, I am aware that hot chocolate has caffeine. It is my one exception to my No Caffeinated Drinks rule.)

So yes, coffee drinkers. Every time you have a cup of joe, you are having more than I have had in my entire life. This factoid always amuses my coffee drinking friends.

People tended to think only cola colored drinks had caffeine, and parents thought only coffee was really bad for kids.

There are many people who still don't differentiate. A conversation I have had too often...

JESTER: "...and a Sprite, please."
EMPLOYEE: "We don't have Sprite. How about Mountain Dew?"
JESTER: "Um, no thanks."

Apparently some people think that all non-brown sodas are the same. Heck, even when I drank caffeine, I always found Mountain Dew repulsive, and referred to it as "Antifreeze." Also, some of my friends will react in shock when they see me drinking a root beer. "I thought you didn't drink caffeine!" I don't. None in this tasty beverage, thank you very much.

*sigh* The struggles of the Decaffeinated Man continue.

[Seanette]

Apparently some people think that all non-brown sodas are the same. Heck, even when I drank caffeine, I always found Mountain Dew repulsive, and referred to it as "Antifreeze." Also, some of my friends will react in shock when they see me drinking a root beer. "I thought you didn't drink caffeine!" I don't. None in this tasty beverage, thank you very much.

Better check labels. Barq's root beer *does* have caffeine, last time I read the ingredient list. So does A&W cream soda. In both cases, that's the only brand of that flavor I'm aware of that has caffeine.

[Ryu]

actually hot chocolate doesnt have caffeine
it has theobromide(sp) which acts in a similar manner but it is not caffeine

[Jester]

Better check labels. Barq's root beer *does* have caffeine, last time I read the ingredient list. So does A&W cream soda. In both cases, that's the only brand of that flavor I'm aware of that has caffeine.

Yes, I know. And have commented on Barq's elsewhere. Amusingly, Barq's is the only root beer I never liked, even when I did drink caffeine. I was not aware of A&W Cream Soda having caffeine, though....but ever since my discovery that Sunkist has caffeine, I have been checking labels more thoroughly.

actually hot chocolate doesnt have caffeine
it has theobromide(sp) which acts in a similar manner but it is not caffeine

Really? Cool. Would explain why I don't get the same feeling from HC as I do from Coke or Dr. Pepper. Or Barq's or Sunkist for that matter.

[Seanette]

Yes, I know. And have commented on Barq's elsewhere. Amusingly, Barq's is the only root beer I never liked, even when I did drink caffeine. I was not aware of A&W Cream Soda having caffeine, though....but ever since my discovery that Sunkist has caffeine, I have been checking labels more thoroughly.

Posted my comment about Barq's before I saw yours elsethread .

Checking labels is always a good idea, IMO.

[Rahmota]

Well whats interesting is my youngest was a premie and when he got to come home he was on a straight caffiene injection every 4 hours. Of course he was also on a heart monitor. Now he's 7 years old as healthy as a mule twice as stubborn and can drink coffee with the best of us and it actually calms him down.

Cute story:
One morning I had my cup of coffee and he came over and asked if he could have a drink. I said yeah and he took and chugged the cup! I said "I thought you wanted a drink." His response. "My drink was on the bottom."

[Knifeman]

You Chase Solo!

(sees if anyone gets the reference).

[Channard]

In the UK, at least one chain - Morrisons - has banned the sale of Red Bull etc to anyone under 16.

[thewhatnow]

Wow, that's pretty crazy. Where I'm from (South America) kids are usually not allowed to have coffee at all. I'm kind of glad I wasn't, either - I don't drink coffee at all even now, as an adult. I just never got accustomed to it, I guess. I do wish I liked it sometimes though, I'm a big sleepyhead and I could use the caffeine!

[Jester]

One morning I had my cup of coffee and he came over and asked if he could have a drink. I said yeah and he took and chugged the cup! I said "I thought you wanted a drink." His response. "My drink was on the bottom."

I so completely plan on using that with my friends in bars. Only it will be beer, not coffee. "Dude, I said you could have A SIP!" "Yeah, my sip was on the bottom!"

[Jetfire]

Apparently some people think that all non-brown sodas are the same. Heck, even when I drank caffeine, I always found Mountain Dew repulsive, and referred to it as "Antifreeze." Also, some of my friends will react in shock when they see me drinking a root beer. "I thought you didn't drink caffeine!" I don't. None in this tasty beverage, thank you very much.

Actually unless something has changed recently, in Canada only colas can be caffinated. So clear drinks (like Sprite) are caffine free.

I used to be a heavy cola drinker, maybe about 8L a week if not more. Around midNovember I decided I would cut it out; not sure why exactly just decided to cut it down. Since then I haven't had any cola at all and haven't regretted it. The biggest regret I have is not having a handy container of drink next to me to sip while playing EQ or chatting on IRC. Lately now I mainly drink Chocomilk, OJ, Water and concentrated juices.

[Rahmota]

Jester; feel free to do so. Though I doubt their reaction will be as nice as mine was. unless you can still pull of the cute puppy dog eyes a 6 year old can.

[thegiraffe]

Kind of off topic, but an interesting bit of information from an ADHD adult:
Ritalin is actually a stimulant, but because of the brain chemistry of those woth ADD/ADHD, it has an opposite effect of calming them down. Caffiene will as well. My aunt used to give my cousin coffee when he was really wild, and it calmed him down. I self medicate myself with diet coke sometime when I cannot disipline myself to concentrate. Happens very raraly, but when it does it is nice to know what works.

Ritalin IS a stimulant like caffeine, though also like caffeine, Ritalin doesn't calm everyone with ADHD down. I'm both ADHD and will have a psychology degree on Saturday, so I've done quite a bit of research on this. The physiology of ADHD isn't exactly an exact science, and neither is why Ritalin, Adderal (another stimulant), Concerta (same drug as Ritalin), etc work. They know that ADHD is a lack of brain activity, and Ritalin or another stimulant drug stimulates the part of the brain that works, though the lack of the exact science is why it doesn't work for everyone. Basically, the 'deficiency' isn't the same in every person, and even with the imaging technology we have today, it's incredibly difficult to figure out where the exact deficiencies are. Caffeine very well may stimulate a different part of the brain than where the defecit is in some people, which causes extreme hyperactivity. I don't need caffeine because I've been told many time that I manufacture my own. I can bounce just fine by myself thank you very much .

Essentially, caffeine works for some people (even some here!), and not for others. It all depends on the individual brain chemistry and all.

[/psychologist mode]