Caffeine

[unspeakablehorror]

I don't know what caffeine is like for most people beyond increasing alertness, but I know that when I get the right amount it's like I can feel my thoughts come into focus and I can make immensely more connections between ideas bouncing around in my brain.  Also there are so many more ideas.   I just don't think I can tolerate caffeine on a regular basis, though, and due to my high anxiety, I don't want to regularly consume anything prone to increasing anxiety.

Comments

[rugessnome]

I don't know that I've ever really had the thoughts come into focus thing. It may contribute under certain circumstances to making me talkative, and I certainly have some kind of increase in my propensity to anxiety.

[unspeakablehorror]

I don't know that it makes me talk more, but maybe that's because how much I talk seems highly erratic. I am very talkative sometimes, but sometimes I don't talk much at all.

I do know that if I get too much caffeine then my thoughts start whizzing around at hyperspeed. I shouldn't drink more than one medium-to-large black tea beverage in a day, and I avoid drinking them on a daily basis. Of course, the size of the tea beverage makes a considerable difference, so its hard to predict across different locations what the right amount is.

Too much caffeine is so bad for my anxiety. It also makes me extremely jittery and my thoughts will start whirring around too fast to keep track of. I didn't feel like I had extra anxiety the other day, but it's certainly not uncommon when I drink caffeine, even when I don't get too much.

[chamerion]

I feel you so hard on this. I used to avoid it too, but then I lived in a place where coffee was (1) amazingly good and (2) a godsend for staying alert midday when it was 100 degrees and the brain wanted a post-lunch nap, and it turned into a habit. I’m pretty careful about avoiding it when I’m already stressed or anxious, but it’s definitely not my wisest life choice considering my brain is already a little bit...naturally caffeinated, LOL.

[unspeakablehorror]

I'm not really a coffee fan, but I absolutely love tea. It's agonizing, because I am so sensitive to caffeine, but I love so many different types of tea and tea beverages. It may be for the best that I don't like coffee because I feel like I'm very sensitive to caffeine (which is one reason I usually avoid it). I actually wonder if my experience of uncaffeinated brain but also no caffeine withdrawl is pretty unusual since most people do rely on caffeine to get them through some of the more grueling aspects of a day.

Incidentally, I'll note that since I read that cooling your core temperature is the fastest way to cool down sweltering heat, I like to drink ice water on a regular basis whenever it's sweltering. Since I'm outside a lot I also bought a few high-quality thermoses so I can take it with me wherever I go. Definitely helps a lot. Combine with some method of cooling your surface temperature to feel extra chill!

[chamerion]

I think it is fairly unusual tbh. I’m a bit sensitive to it as well - coffee (and even tea sometimes) makes my hands visibly shake if I have it on an empty stomach - so I don’t drink much of it and thus don’t really notice the withdrawal symptoms, but even so I feel like my thoughts move a little differently if I haven’t had caffeine for a couple of days. Not better or worse, just - differently.

Drinking loads of water (preferably cold water) certainly helps, but beyond a certain point 100 degrees and humid is 100 degrees and humid and any coping skills are less about experiencing chill than just straight up avoiding heatstroke. In this case the coffee wasn’t about cooling off - it was about having a little extra shot of alertness and productivity when the combo of full stomach + midday heat made my brain feel a bit like a sleepy cat in a sunbeam.