Caffeine in coffee, tea, soft drinks, energy drinks: Tolerance issues

[jon1]

13 hours ago, Kathrine said:

Seriously, thank you so much @jon1! I am really glad you told me it made your condition worse in the beginning and that you mentioned that it took you months.

My WD godt better the first 24 hours, but then (as the rest of the caffein left the body maybe?) it got SO MUCH WORSE. Like hellish... I got the WD cortisol mornings again kinda lasting the whole day and starting at 4 am with a brutal panic driven awakening and more. My mind went blank AGAIN. It was like being in back in February and March. It was terrible. I had to drink a little coffee to function, but it did only last a short while and then it got all bad again. Now, I am drinking what I used to drink in the morning to get me started - "just" 1/2 liter of coffee! - through the whole day, but I quit all other caffeinated substances and sugar out. I used to drink like at least 4 times as much coffee and then drink coke from 5 pm til just before bed (or I would feel uneasy... how crazy is that? I got that habit when I was on a high dose of antipsychotics). But I also ended up adding a new drug in to see if that could help the WD, so now maybe(!!!) I am on that due to quitting coffee (?!), but for now I don't care. I just had to get rid of the WD, and I am still sure that quitting coffee is the right thing for me in the long run, because I felt high all the time in this phase of my tapering process, and I don't when drinking a lot less and tapering coffee, so...

But I'll keep in mind that I might experience worse WD in months after quitting coffee for good (so I guess, I should hold on all med changes a couple of months now...)

Anyways, just thank you Jon!

You’re welcome @Kathrine!

 

If I were to sum it up, quitting caffeine stresses the nervous system, as the brain tries to rebalance neurotransmitters that caffeine had been artificially boosting.

 

That happens to everyone, but for those of us in withdrawal, it’s a trigger that can easily cause a wave of symptoms. There’s no way but through, but it’s better on the other side!

 

It’s a rock and a hard place really, quitting caffeine can cause an increase in symptoms for a while, but staying on caffeine will make symptoms worse for longer overall. So it’s definitely a ‘short term pain for long term gain’ thing.

[jon1]

13 hours ago, Kathrine said:

By the way, @jon1, I have a cousin who cleverly said no to drugs despite a year of hardcore anxiety that made him not be able to work. He ended up quitting caffeine and nicotine (all at once!), and to this day he cannot have a cup of coffee without getting anxiety. He tries sometimes, but he just can't. So, in that light too your story makes sense ❤️

That’s interesting!

 

My therapist said to me that if she had it her way, she would make it law that people had to be off all caffeine and alcohol for 6 months before being given strong drugs like antidepressants.

 

Apparently caffeine consumption has been increasing every year for decades, along with increased rates of anxiety.

 

She said she’s found that even when her clients say caffeine doesn’t make them anxious or stressed, once they stop they realise it was.

 

I think were given the stuff from such a young age now, in diet drinks etc, that we grow up thinking our caffeinated state is normal, when it isn’t.