Is there a way to drink coffee without getting anxiety?

[Hieveryone]

Not laughing at you, just the idea that good quality red meat is unhealthy while Red Bull is anything but gross. I don't mind the occasional Coke or Orangina but Red Bull "gives you wings" like Icarus' dad made for him.

Anyhow OP I strongly suggest you give up all caffeinated drinks and eat more healthy, do sports if you don't already and do not stress about dating at all.

Thanks!
Aren’t I already eating healthy?

low carb so just oatmeal, chicken, eggs, fruit, veggies, milk, like that

and you’re right. Do not stress about dating at all! I LOVE that! Thank you!!

 

[decafjava]

Well, if that's true than the only sugar you eat is what is in fruit (which is usually ok) and the Red Bull. I think you have a problem with caffeine and the taurine in Red Bull certainly won't help. Take care!

 

[Gutwrench]

Fresh idea: Use four times the amount of Hazelnut creamer.

 

[D.T.]

low carb so just oatmeal, chicken, eggs, fruit, veggies, milk, like that

FTR, underlined == not_low_carbs, bold == possibly_not_low_carbs
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Fresh idea: Use four times the amount of Hazelnut creamer.

I've been using the Coffee Mate Naturals creamer, specifically the honey version (it's a touch lower in carbs). Of course, I don't use just a little ... ;D

 

[LiE_]

Simply put, you cannot remove the side effect of caffeine. Caffeine stimulates your adrenaline to give you that alert feeling, but of course adrenaline is associated with your fight or flight feeling aka anxiety. Some people are less sensitive to caffeine so the side effects are milder.

Caffeine needs to be managed carefully if you're sensitive. I am, which is good for my performance in the gym, but if I consume too much and consistently, I find my mental health starts to take a beating.

I have found a strong dose of caffeine between 10-11am is the sweet spot (you don't want to have caffeine in the first few hours of waking, this will disrupt your bodies ability to wake up naturally), it gives you enough of a kick without it wrecking your sleep. One big spike in my opinion is better than continued spikes throughout the day.

 

[decafjava]

FTR, underlined == not_low_carbs, bold == possibly_not_low_carbs
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I've been using the Coffee Mate Naturals creamer, specifically the honey version (it's a touch lower in carbs). Of course, I don't use just a little ... ;D

Good point, for the record I am not convinced "low-carb" = healthy. Depends on the carbs. Oatmeal with lashes of maple syrup not low carb.

 

[JagdTiger]

I was a heavy coffee drinker for about 10 years - every single day.

I was able to quit, and was off for about a month. But recently have been drinking coffee on some days.

When I went off I noticed I was much, much, much calmer overall. Night and day difference. Slept better too.

But sure enough on days I drink it's back to being anxious about stuff. It's awful relative to how calm I am otherwise, and I can't believe I spend so many years feeling so anxious and wired without even knowing it was the coffee affecting me.

Some may ask, why do I drink it? I like the energy, I like the initial feeling. I just don't like the anxiety part.

So if there is a way to drink it, maybe slowly, maybe with creme, or idk just some way, please share.

Drink tea, the caffeine reacts differently and some tea like green tea contain a amino acid L-theanine which has a calming effect.

 

[D.T.]

Good point, for the record I am not convinced "low-carb" = healthy. Depends on the carbs. Oatmeal with lashes of maple syrup not low carb.

Oh, I totally agree. People try to do no/low carbs, and miss out on eating healthy whole grain, don't get decent amounts of fiber, don't eat certain beans, have so-so bad cholesterol, miss out on tons of healthy vitamins in various fruits.

I think problems with carb consumptions is: 1) the wrong carbs (processed flours, sugars), 2) too much (like way out of balance with proteins, fats, etc.).

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Simply put, you cannot remove the side effect of caffeine. Caffeine stimulates your adrenaline to give you that alert feeling, but of course adrenaline is associated with your fight or flight feeling aka anxiety. Some people are less sensitive to caffeine so the side effects are milder.

Caffeine needs to be managed carefully if you're sensitive. I am, which is good for my performance in the gym, but if I consume too much and consistently, I find my mental health starts to take a beating.

I have found a strong dose of caffeine between 10-11am is the sweet spot (you don't want to have caffeine in the first few hours of waking, this will disrupt your bodies ability to wake up naturally), it gives you enough of a kick without it wrecking your sleep. One big spike in my opinion is better than continued spikes throughout the day.

Sometimes, your body's ability to "wake up naturally" needs a serious boost in the form of caffeine.

 

[Falhófnir]

Sometimes, your body's ability to "wake up naturally" needs a serious boost in the form of caffeine.

I've never had any issues waking up as soon as it's light outside, and at this time of year usually before it is anyway as well - is this down to the individual or something I have to look forward to getting older 👨‍🦳 I can't imagine feeling really groggy in the mornings, It'd really affect getting everything done!

 

[LiE_]

Sometimes, your body's ability to "wake up naturally" needs a serious boost in the form of caffeine.

It's something that your body is very good at, but caffeine messes up this natural cycle. This means you are then dependant on the caffeine to wake up in the morning, as your body doesn't know how. You need to give it some space to do it's thing in the morning.

Here's a good read.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthon...-not-first-thing-in-the-morning/#132a20707a71

 

[1146331]

Yeah, drink your coffee Irish.

It's 5PM somewhere in the world at any given time.

 

[mollyc]

Sometimes, your body's ability to "wake up naturally" needs a serious boost in the form of caffeine.

Yes, and some of us don't have the luxury of waking up when our body wants because we have to get kids to a bus stop by 6:30am.....

 

[smirking]

Fresh idea: Use four times the amount of Hazelnut creamer.

No don't do that. That flavored creamer garbage has trans fat in it. It says 0g of trans fat, but that's a lie. It's just less than .5g per "serving" so the number gets rounded down.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I've never had any issues waking up as soon as it's light outside, and at this time of year usually before it is anyway as well - is this down to the individual or something I have to look forward to getting older 👨‍🦳 I can't imagine feeling really groggy in the mornings, It'd really affect getting everything done!

People differ, and I am not a morning person by inclination or nature.

It's something that your body is very good at, but caffeine messes up this natural cycle. This means you are then dependant on the caffeine to wake up in the morning, as your body doesn't know how. You need to give it some space to do it's thing in the morning.

Here's a good read.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthon...-not-first-thing-in-the-morning/#132a20707a71

Nonsense.

People's body clocks differ.

In my case, summer, with longer, brighter - and the brighter is of vital importance - and warmer days, rising early in the morning is not quite the pure torture that it is in winter.

And the sadist who invented the foul and profoundly unnatural concept of "the working breakfast" deserves an eternity in hell's hottest fires.

One of the universities I taught in - an ancient venerable establishment - used to politely ask me each Easter what hours - i.e. what time of the day - I wished to have my classes scheduled. My response was "nothing before 11 a.m." - a request which was met as long as I was a part of their faculty - and, to this day, that is my marked preference.

Yes, and some of us don't have the luxury of waking up when our body wants because we have to get kids to a bus stop by 6:30am.....

Exactly.

 

[D.T.]

No don't do that. That flavored creamer garbage has trans fat in it. It says 0g of trans fat, but that's a lie. It's just less than .5g per "serving" so the number gets rounded down.

That's the reason I mentioned the Natural product above, real cream, sugar, no-tranfats, nothing hydrogenated, etc.
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It's something that your body is very good at, but caffeine messes up this natural cycle. This means you are then dependant on the caffeine to wake up in the morning, as your body doesn't know how. You need to give it some space to do it's thing in the morning.

Here's a good read.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthon...-not-first-thing-in-the-morning/#132a20707a71

Well, you have to properly parse the information in the article. It [indirectly] indicates to drink coffee right when you first wake up, because your cortisol rises over the next 2-3 hours. The specific example in the article is someone who wakes up at 6:30a, the worst time for coffee at least in terms of their "peak cortisol + caffeine == bad" theory) would be 8-9:30a.

So I slog out of bed and "wake up" at 6a with a huge pot of coffee, but it's gone by 7

 

[LiE_]

Nonsense.

People's body clocks differ.

That's what the article talks about, exactly that. Those who wake up early outside of their cycle may need/use caffeine. However for the majority of people who watch up with peak cortisol levels, having caffeine isn't the best idea. Best waiting until it starts to drop.

 

[Falhófnir]

People differ, and I am not a morning person by inclination or nature.



Nonsense.

People's body clocks differ.

In my case, summer, with longer, brighter - and the brighter is of vital importance - and warmer days, rising early in the morning is not quite the pure torture that it is in winter.

And the sadist who invented the foul and profoundly unnatural concept of "the working breakfast" deserves an eternity in hell's hottest fires.

One of the universities I taught in - an ancient venerable establishment - used to politely ask me each Easter what hours - i.e. what time of the day - I wished to have my classes scheduled. My response was "nothing before 11 a.m." - a request which was met as long as I was a part of their faculty - and, to this day, that is my marked preference.



Exactly.

This is interesting, I wouldn't say I was a 'bouncing off the walls' type of morning person, either, but I have no difficulty waking up at ~6.00 at this time of year, and even earlier in the summer and just getting up (interestingly one of my ex gfs seemed to naturally wake up quite early, but find it excruciating to actually get up, needing an extra hour or two 'dozing' to be fully happy). At this time of the year the cold mornings are a bit unpleasant, but I've never struggled with getting up in the same way as said girlfriend used to (probably still does).

Would you say you're a night owl instead? I'm quite happy to be tucked up by 10.00pm, even if not necessarily sleeping as such. I tend to find I do actually need more sleep in the winter, more like the 8h suggested, but in the summer as little as 5 is surprisingly sustainable. I always leave my curtains open, so I do get the daylight as soon as it appears, and additionally in the summer I often leave my windows open at least a crack, so I get the dawn chorus as another stimulus!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

This is interesting, I wouldn't say I was a 'bouncing off the walls' type of morning person, either, but I have no difficulty waking up at ~6.00 at this time of year, and even earlier in the summer and just getting up (interestingly one of my ex gfs seemed to naturally wake up quite early, but find it excruciating to actually get up, needing an extra hour or two 'dozing' to be fully happy). At this time of the year the cold mornings are a bit unpleasant, but I've never struggled with getting up in the same way as said girlfriend used to (probably still does).

Would you say you're a night owl instead? I'm quite happy to be tucked up by 10.00pm, even if not necessarily sleeping as such. I tend to find I do actually need more sleep in the winter, more like the 8h suggested, but in the summer as little as 5 is surprisingly sustainable. I always leave my curtains open, so I do get the daylight as soon as it appears, and additionally in the summer I often leave my windows open at least a crack, so I get the dawn chorus as another stimulus!

Most certainly, yes.

I have been a night owl since I learned to tell the difference between day and night; intellectually, I've been more alert - and more mentally focussed at night.

While I always detested early morning classes both a a student and as a teacher (I can do them and do them very well, it is just that I can't stand doing them, and it takes me far longer in the morning to get my head arranged, and organised into being able to deliver focussed thought), I never had any issues with teaching evening students, a graveyard shift loathed by most of my colleagues.

And, most of my best writing is done at night; ideas, words, word flow, and connections usually come much more readily and easily to me in the evening.

 

[TJ82]

Quite normal for people to experience anxiety from coffee (or anything with caffeine in it). It's part of many peoples' genetic makeup ( CYP1A2 gene variations) and it's likely you're a slow metaboliser from the description of your side effects.

Again, not unusual at all. Many people have the same variant. You can even see the variations of that particular gene in the advanced sections of those DNA tests you see online.

Great suggestion earlier was to switch to decaf, though even decafs can have a bit of caffeine. If you've been relying on caffeine for years for its stimulant effects and want to stop that then there's good and bad news. Bad news is the heavier you've been relying on it, the worse quitting will likely feel. Most people have a window of around 7 to 9 days until the worst cold turkey effects wear off, and the first 4 days can be absolute hell for some people too.

Even after that period it can take weeks until your energy levels normalise and you can feel perky and alert without caffeine. I've seen a colleague who took months until he felt great energy wise after quitting.

I don't just say this from theory, my partner and I have both also been heavy caffeine drinkers and quit partially for the sake of experimenting, and partially as I'd have liked to quit before having a baby (going cold turkey while pregnant is stressful on your body and could possibly have some knock on effect). Our experiences really mimicked colleagues and bloggers, Youtubers etc that we checked out. It was hell. Genuinely rough. You hear about the headaches and eye strain, but the incredible lethargy that can hit it overwhelming. Not dissimilar to clinical depression.

Partner was worried being a cyclist, and an upper Cat one fitness wise, that it'd screw with his upper end power or TT'ing etc. He'd been using caffeine for performance for years, as pretty much any cyclist does. Interestingly it had no effect at all, though his evaluation of that and experience there is a huge tangent on top of this already sizeable tangent that wouldn't interest anyone except other cyclists. It does highlight though our reliance on caffeine. Was guilty of needing it for energy, alertness, for getting work done. And I had my excuses, I was doing 10 to 14 hour days at an investment bank for nearly 5 years. It was only after relocating for work that gave me a gap to try this. No way I'd have been able to go cold turkey while working, though tapering down may have been more apt instead, yet less of an experiment and less of a learning experience.

Anyhow, I still occasionally have a decaf when out, maybe once a fortnight. I drank coffee for nearly 20 years and love the smell and feeling of comfort. No need to give that part of it up. But in terms of energy and mental acuity it's a crutch I no longer need, but as I said earlier, it looks me weeks to shake off a lingering fatigue.