Expert: Dr Billy Levin - 10/9/2006

Question
Does Ritalin or Caffeine affect those with ADHD different than those without it? I was diagnosed with inattention ADHD and caffeine puts me to sleep while it completely wakes up and worsens my friend's hyperactive ADHD. I'm on Ritalin, and it works great because it wakes me up and I feel really energized, while the same friend had to stop the same medication because he couldn't stay awake. I know we are diagnosed with two different types of ADHD, but I thought people with ADHD generally had the same symptoms towards these two drugs.

I also want to know if medication can affect those who don't have ADHD differently, or how harmful it is to those who clearly don't have the disorder. One of my roommates have confided in me that her sister buys Adderal illegally to high off of them. Now, I know getting high would cause harm, but would the drug cause harm in general for those who don't have ADHD?

Answer
Both Ritalin and Caffeine are brain Stimlants, the latter just a weak one. Thus they usually will boost brain functions and cause insomnia to various degrees if taken too late in the day. Not everybody will have insomnia as different people react in different ways. In 30 years experience and over 20,ooo cases I have treated, nobody has ever had treatment stopped because Ritalin makes them sleep. There has to be another reason for the sleepyness. An overdose makes people over inhibited and zombified, but not sleepy. People do have the same reactions towards the drugs but might have different side effects. Ritalin  cannot cause harm but Addrell could become addictive if abused. It is not neccessary to comment on abuse and illegal use of drugs. The answer is obvious.