Caffeine and Meltdowns - is there a link?

[David Larson]

Has anyone made a connection between the consumption of copious amounts of caffeine (possibly including other central nervous stimulants) and the experience of meltdowns?

I consume dangerous amounts of caffeine every day so I can keep firing on all cylinders at all times at work; I have to. However, today I became aware of something I didn't recognize at first: I've been having meltdowns at work at least a few times a week.

I didn't recognize them to be meltdowns at first because they didn't resemble the meltdowns of my childhood - but all the symptoms are there and the experience is identical minus the loss of control, which I keep a tenuous grasp on (I swear to God, if your chair squeaks one more fkin time...). The complete and utter exhaustion afterwords is probably the worst part, but I've just been assuming it's just me being lazy and take another 300mg of caffeine down the hatch and just power through it.

Thing is, nothing in my environment should be overstimulating me. My job is fairly dull and mundane, the lighting isn't too bright, and it's the quietest place I've ever worked; six Aspies in one room for a quiet time makes. In short, I can practically rule out external sensory causes. The only X-factor is the caffeine.

I haven't exactly been keeping track, and I can't remember most of today let alone the events of past weeks, but I suspect my experience of these sort of meltdowns correlates positively with my caffeine consumption.

I'm quitting caffeine cold turkey either way, but I was wondering if anyone else has had experience with overstimulation and/or meltdowns from going overboard with stimulants? For the record, I consume up to 1 gram of caffeine a day, 700mg on average.

 

[Flinty]

Most days I take in minimal caffeine - not zero, but not much. I can't really see a connection.

(On the other hand, I worry about early-in-life caffeine intake and epilepsy. My sister and one of my friends...)

 

[Judge]

I try to limit my caffeine intake to just hot tea in the morning. Have no idea if it's really connected to meltdowns though.

My idea of "medicinal" caffeine? ..."Mountain Dew".

 

[Astroganga]

Definitely. Although I am fine with small amounts of caffeine and used to require it to function, not as much now, too much can send me into a meltdown and at best makes me feel horribly shaky and ill. One time a local coffee shop put three shots in my coffee when I specified one, I felt so ill and agitated (though I managed to avoid a full blown meltdown) that I didn't have coffee again for a long while after that. Similar happened in 2005 (this time with a large coffee chain), I can still remember it because it affected me so badly and I had probably the worst meltdown of my adult life.

 

[watersprite]

I have been thinking about what you said in the middle paragraph: powering through with some more caffeine.

In my experience a moderate amount is helpful, gets the creative part of my mind going, and makes me feel focused and energetic.
Tea and coffee help me a lot. I never take pure caffeine in pill form.

Also as a general rule do not have it after 1 p.m. as it makes me feel a lot worse not better.

 

[Mia]

Consume two cafe au lait per day and have for thirty or more years. They are quite high in caffeine, experience few side effects beyond the initial increased heart rate. Which modulates within a minute or two after drinking the stuff. Irritability usually occurs with poor sleep or fatigue from the previous few days. Expect that I mitigate the effects of caffeine with exercise and routine like tasks.

 

[On the Inside]

I was pretty sensitive to coffee, but could drink a fair ammount of tea daily, so I know that it can have negative effects. I am taking medication for anxiety which makes me kind of foggy, and I have been able to drink a couple cups of coffee and several cups of tea per day and still feel foggy, then have no trouble falling asleep and staying asleep.

Not so bad on one hand, I love coffee and tea, but I'd rather get back to drinking herbal teas from time to time and not feel I need caffiene.

 

[Billybob]

I pretty much agree with the above. Caffeine in the evening will mess with my sleep routine. The lack of good sleep will build up and become an issue for me.

 

[Crossbreed]

My meltdowns occur when I am frustrated and/or overwhelmed. Without caffeine, my problem-solving/reaction time is less-than-optimal, but not absent altogether. With a moderate amount of caffeine, it is optimized. With too much, it is fine until that big drop that follows.