Health - Energy Drinks - Half Decent ADD Remedy?

[HorseBucket]

When swim runs outta his Ritalin supply he has to find other means of getting his mind to calm the fuck down so he's been experimenting. He's tried valerian root but it does nothing. He's stumbled upon something that does work though. Energy drinks. The ones full of ginseng, taurine and god knows what else. Red bull works but the best are those Monster energy drinks. Swims real happy with this finding because now he doesn't have to resort to the dealer to cure his ADD.

[riaahacker]

This actually isn't surprising a lot of people with AD(H)D self medicate with either caffeine or nicotine. Stimulants including caffeine raise dopamine in certain areas. Caffeine is an antagonist to adenosine which is mainly inhibitory which gives rise to a reduction in GABAergic transmission, and a rise in extracelluar amounts of glutamate and dopamine.

Heres a reference I think is relevant and might explain my point:

An increase in the extracellular concentration of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is believed to be one of the main mechanisms involved in the rewarding and motor-activating properties of psychostimulants such as amphetamines and cocaine. Using in vivo microdialysis in freely moving rats, we demonstrate that systemic administration of behaviorally relevant doses of caffeine can preferentially increase extracellular levels of dopamine and glutamate in the shell of the NAc. These effects could be reproduced by the administration of a selective adenosine A1 receptor antagonist but not by a selective adenosine A2A receptor antagonist. This suggests that caffeine, because of its ability to block adenosine A1 receptors, shares neurochemical properties with other psychostimulants, which could contribute to the widespread consumption of caffeine-containing beverages.

Solinas M, Ferre S, You ZB,
Karcz-Kubicha M, Popoli P, Goldberg SR.
Section of Preclinical Pharmacology,
Behavioral Neuroscience Branch,
National Institute on Drug Abuse,
National Institutes of Health Intramural Research Program,
Baltimore, Maryland 21224, USA.
J Neurosci 2002 Aug 1;22(15):6321-4