Inattentive ADHD, 5 Hour Energy Drink and Focus

I recently read an article on 5 Hour Energy and Focus.  I have always thought of those little bottles of energy drinks that you see beside the grocery cash registers as something that teenagers use to pull all nighters.  I have never considered them anything more than "lots of caffeine in a little bottle" but this 5 Hour Energy Article, written by Forbes Magazine a reputable publication, claimed that it was a focus drink and I wondered if it might help ADHD and Inattentive ADHD.

This morning I decided to give it a road test.  Regular readers of this blog know that I stay fairly well caffeinated as I go through my day.  The coffee that I drink every 90-120 minutes keeps me pretty on task and on track but today I did not drink my daily dose of caffeine inattentive ADD treatment, I had the 5 Hour Energy and Focus drink instead. The article reported that it cost $3.00 and that it tasted like puke.  I got the 'Extra' variety in berry flavor at CVS for $2.00 and it tasted like cough syrup (which, as a kid, I found extremely yummy and which today I find palatable enough).

The reason for this experiment is that recently I have been trying to finish a book.  The damn thing has grown to be an epic tome.  The theme of the book is interventions for ADHD that are not prescription medication.  This book is so close to finished that I can almost taste it.  There is a huge section on the vitamins and supplements that decently performed medical research has shown to be helpful for ADHD.  A huge section on what I call therapies of the mind which includes cognitive training, executive function training, neurofeedback, etc, and a pretty good section on what I call lifestyle intervention.

Because so many critics of these interventions claim that they are all a huge waste of money, I have gone out of my way to find inexpensive alternatives (often free and never costing more than $200.00 for virtually every intervention that has proved helpful-yes even neurofeedback.  I am trying to get a lot accomplished so it can be published, edited, revised, formatted, etc and that brings me to 5 Hour Energy Drink and Focus.

I have a list of many things that I need to accomplish to get this book done.  I have been able to scratch a few things off my list every day but not as many as I would like.  One of the things on this week's list that I meant to scratch off on Monday and I am just now getting to is this blog post.  I usually post on Mondays but as you can see I am a bit behind.  The good news is that it does appear that the 5 Hour Energy works better than just the caffeine to keep me focused.

The difference between the energy drink and caffeine is that the energy drink has a bunch of B vitamins and amino acids as well as 220mg of caffeine (though it comes in decaf too).  The amount of vitamins in the drink are often 100s of times the daily adult requirement but they are all water soluble so you pee out what you do not need so, providing you do not drink more than one a day-and you are an adult, there are few if any safety issues.

Many Functional Medicine Experts report that some people with ADHD need many time the USDA recommended daily requirement of the B vitamins and of amino acids to turn off the genes that are making them spacy, hyperactive or impulsive.  The developer of this drink is from India and he has used the functional medicine model to make a product that, in my opinion, does improve focus.

I am glad to have an Inattentive ADHD focus and energy drink to turn to when my day is in need of extra focus but I do not think it will replace my coffee.  I will use the 5 Hour Energy for days like today and my delicious coffee on most other days.  I do not have to go through life super focused all the time and the coffee keeps me attentive enough.  If you give it a try, I would love to hear about your experiences.

18 comments:

  1. The problem I have with caffeine is it keeps me awake. If this product is 220 mg of caffeine, can you estimate how much your daily coffee dosage contains?

    http://www.energyfiend.com/the-caffeine-database

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  2. Can you provide a link or other reference to the article you found credible? Thank you.

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  3. A 5 oz cup of ground brewed coffee contains 85 mg of caffeine, instant coffee contains 60 mg, and Decaf coffee contains 3 mg. A 5 oz cup of black or green tea contains about 30 mg of caffeine. Cola’s have about 18 mg of caffeine per 6 oz serving, and a can of Red Bull contains 80 mg of caffeine. You can find a link with the different caffeine amounts in different drinks and food here: http://www.cspinet.org/new/cafchart.htm

    I will hunt down the article on focus and 5 Hour Energy

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  4. Forbes Magazine. Here is the link:http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2012/02/08/manoj-bhargava-the-mystery-monk-making-billions-with-5-hour-energy/

    I have added it to the blog post. I was being lazy...unfocused....intattentive....busy.

    Thanks for keeping me honest and thorough!!

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  5. Tess: I took ritalin years back and I try to use natural remedies like coffee. Not to tout a company but their coffee is great for me with their roasting process...Unlike other coffees which taste sour/bitter when left in coffeemaker...theirs always stays good & never a sour coffee kickback,,. Thier price may seem high but you get a full 16oz pond not 11.5 oz like brands in store and most of all one scoop makes 5 continental cups--Double the yield. My favorite one is their dark roasted MORNING FOG LIFTER! Their website is: www.sloroasted.com

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  6. I took 5 hour energy before work for months and I loved it. The problem was, after months of taking it, I started feeling really week, my arms started to feel numb, and I started to feel bad. I stopped drinking it and I began to feel better. I then heard on a podcast that 5 hour energy was safe but some of the ingredients interacted with antidepressants. I will listen to the podcast again to give you more specific nformation, but for now I would just say it's fine except if your on antidepressants. I LOVED that drink though and I miss it.

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  7. John,

    I would love to know about the podcast as I think it would be helpful to share that info with readers.

    Thanks!! Tess

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  8. The podcast is the Beyond Diet Podcast on itunes. The episode is called Energy drink friend or foe 6/13/2011. On this episode they go through every single ingredient in 5 hour energy and talk about them individually. You should also check out their other episodes because BDP is a very informative podcast. There's also several good podcasts on ADHD on itunes.

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  9. Thanks, I'm gonna go over and take a look at the video. It sounds interesting.

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  10. Thanks, I'm gonna go over and take a look at the video. It sounds interesting.

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  11. I've had ADHD (sans hyper activity) most of my life (soon to be 33.) Diagnosed when I was in 6th grade. I took Ritalin all through grade school which did (still does) help. I tried 5 hr energy for the first time this morning and it compounded my typical ADHD symptoms in a negative way. Focusing is harder now than normal... To me this is the anti Ritilan. If you have legit ADHD where Ritalin calms your thoughts down and helps your task focus, I'd stay away.

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  12. Thanks for your comment. Most people with ADHD-PI respond better to Coffee than people with Combined type or hyperactive type ADHD. Maybe the reason that the 5 Hour Energy helped me has to do with my subtype of ADHD symptoms run toward the Inattentive type rather than to the Hyperactive type. But it is a mystery that it made your symptoms worse...

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  13. good information shared online!!!

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  14. My son is 13the but weighs as much as an adult. When you say adult use is this because of weight to intake or unknown side effects on a developing body?

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  15. I am a very serious student working on my under grad. I have ADHD and the best treatment I have found is 5 hour energy. I have compared to SK, Rock On, Monster, Red Bull, red line and regular coffee, not all at once of course but over the last year.

    I am asking the community, what is it specifically that makes 5 hour energy different? It's expensive. I am not loyal to the brand at all, but its just the best. I've greatly improved my scores and decreased my study time. Compared to all those other brands, I would like to know why? The ingredients are very similar.

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  16. The Forbes article reports that the formula is "secret". I too wonder what special combination of chemistry makes it different.

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