Many adults with ADD/ADHD have lifelong love affairs with coffee or caffeinated sodas. Yet
caffeine may exacerbate the effect of stimulant medications, creating anxiety
and heart palpitations. You can’t determine what’s causing these side effects -- the stimulant or the caffeine -- unless you gradually wean yourself off caffeine before starting stimulants. (Try to do it a few days in advance, though, so that you don’t mistake a headache due to caffeine deprivation for a medication side effect.