This sounds like the average extrovert’s perspective on an introvert lifestyle tbh. “Oh you have minimal social life and focus on your passions there must be something wrong with you.”
Yep, or a caffeine addict who is flabbergasted I don't consume caffeine. (I'm not calling everyone who consumes caffeine a caffeine addict, just the ones who literally can't function without it) Like I can't consume more than a negligible amount of caffeine because it triggers my migraine. But apparently something is wrong with me because I'm not dependent on a drug to stay awake.
I have the same issue. I can take 300 mg and then fall asleep. I had a spinal tap this spring and as I get post-spinal headaches they gave me a lot of caffeine and when I fell asleep they were somewhat weirded out. But I am being tested for ADHD which it might be linked to.
It is and it's normal. When I was taking medicine to help with ADHD I could drink a huge coffee and then go to sleep. I stopped taking ADHD medicine 15-20 years ago (mainly due to side effects and being rebellious against my parents) but I still have a weird relationship with caffeine. 3 coffees to even feel it at all, and one just makes me sleepy.
People with ADHD have something called a paradoxical effect with stimulants. It's related to the differences in brain chemistry, and it's why amphetamines are a useful pharmaceutical therapy for those with ADHD while having something more akin to a recreational effect on the neurotypical.
Sometimes the paradoxical effect is just nothing, or very limited expected effect. The name is a bit of a misnomer in the sense that stimulants don't have an opposite effect, but rather they are inducing stimulation where it is lacking for ADHD. So instead of getting this rush of energy and focus that a neurotypical individual would, those with ADHD are merely reaching a "normal" level of stimulation by compensating for a lack thereof. In essence the stimulants aren't acting differently with ADHD, instead their action is compensation. You can see evidence of this in that those properly undergoing amphetamine therapy will still have some side effects of stimulants (e.g. reduced appetite).
At least this is how I understand it. I'm only a nurse, so I very well could have some misunderstanding here that hasn't been corrected.
I call them my coffee naps. 3 cups and then i go pass out for two hours. And I just got diagnosed with ADHD this week. Wasn't aware of the relationship between the two.
This is 100% ADHD. I can drink coffee right before going to bed and sleep like a baby. It has to do with the way our brain needs energy. I find that caffeine calms me down because my brain finally has enough energy to regulate my attention.
It can be and is one of the reasons why I am in the process of diagnosis. The issue is that it is not easy as the traits of ADHD and PTSD have a lot of overlap. There are two things why I do think it is both is this. Another is that I do get pretty intense hyperfocus.