Gum is wonderful. It helped me focus through many years of school. I tended to "fall asleep" or paralyze when sensory overloaded instead of becoming hyperactive. The gum helped to keep me conscious. It was a constant effort to stay awake in school and in meetings. I ran into a problem in the work force when I realized that NOTHING could keep me "conscious" during a meeting. I tried several types of stimulants, but none of them helped me past the first 5 minutes.

The more monitone the speaker the faster I was unconscious. Sadly many Engineers (my profession) use monitones when explaining technical details.

I did eventually find a food diet (no milk and low carbs) and a medicine (Potassium) that kept me awake during meetings. A bit late in my professional career to have lowered the negative impact of all those years of sleeping in meetings.

This inability to stay awake I believe to be a combination of my Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis and SPD.