Giving up caffeine helped my anxiety!

[Beachcomber75]

I gave up soda pretty much a few years ago. I've always loved my coffee but I think I started drinking more after I got off the soda. Recently my routine was to have 2 12oz. cups before work & then 2 more throughout the day. I don't know if I had actual anxiety attacks but when I was stressed I would have what I call a "about to get hit by a truck" feeling. I heard someone else describe it as missing a step & almost falling down the stairs, startle or fear I guess. After a particularly excruciating day of feeling this non stop I decided to try giving up coffee even though I never experienced what people would call the "jitters" .I've been drinking coffee for about 30 of my 43 years & never thought it was a problem.

I switched to decaf a week ago & although I still have depression that awful physical feeling has all but disappeared! I really, really love coffee but I can jazz up the decaf & it's a small price to pay. Hope this can help someone else!

[Vjeko]

I am considering quiting , or at least reducing drinking coffee to only 1 cup in the morning. For me, like you, it doesn't cause anxiety attack buy itself, but when i am in anxiety phases like lately, I dont find it helpful at all to drink a lot of it.

[Beachcomber75 in reply to Vjeko]

Can't hurt to try it for a few days. ☺

[quitter333]

I gave up caffeine almost completely (guilty - I drink about 3 cups of coffee per WEEK, but I don't drink cola or energy drinks at all) - helped me a lot. I literally as I am writing drink coffee, and I can feel my mental processes are going a little highwire. Note - I am quite productive, so I don't rely on coffee for energy, but before few anxiety attacks I actually drank coffee en masse and never felt anything from it. Even drunk coffee late in evening. My consclusion - you can actually drink tons of coffee, IF you actually put that enhanced bodily process in action - for example by working on countryside. Otherwise in office you are jsut ruining your heart.

..

I also gave up cigarettes completely (the chemical imbalance is actually quite severe if you do it cold turkey, made me feel insane. Better use patches). And also smoking weed (while it had less anxiety effects, at least once I felt anxiety associated with it + it makes your thoughts into a cluster of bullshit. Note - I have smoked it A LOT on and off, but getting older made me realize it is a waste of time and brain + I started having anxiety effects from it.

And also restricted alcohol use - imo effect is much worse than from weed - I actually already drunk rarely (I am quite energetic and I need to drink a lot to get drunk, so it is kind of boring to be semi-sober among friends who are already drunk as f***). Alcohol + anxiety made me be really drunk and tired, and not be able to sleep. It was not a pleasant state. Now I drink alco at most 1x week on Fridays.

[Kat63]

I’ve got some people in my life who have been trying to get me to give up coffee, and when they started trying a few months ago, I was still basically OK, and I thought they were nuts.

Now I’m in a period of anxiety, and I find that I want less coffee. I don’t even want it as much anymore.

[Beachcomber75 in reply to Kat63]

Can't hurt to try it. ☺