How does caffeine affect you?

[Ella Spell]

If I have coffee I'd walk into walls more than I normally do.

 

[Aneka]

AspieChris I still drink real coffee (brewed) for my asthma from time to time, there is a chemical property in caffine and chocolate that acts like theophylline (think that's the right one) which helps open airways if I'm not around my meds and have an attack it can and does help for me.

That is really interesting, wow!

 

[Userxx]

it seems to boost energy at first but after a while you get more fatigue than before.

Indeed, that is the main issue. The main feeling it gives is that of fatigue and restlessness.

 

[All-Rounder]

Acid reflux was a problem for me, also.

A woman was drinking 6 coffees per day, eventually she got stomach ulcer. It is very acidic and it is not allowed in my diet due to my gastric problems.

I can't stand the smell of it, I can smell it a mile away and I don't like the flavor, it's bitter and intense vs cocoa. It makes me hard to fall asleep, I don't notice much change on awakeness, more so agitated.

At Mc Donalds I can't sit near the coffee area because it drives me up the wall.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Makes me hyper do not drink it too bitter.

 

[AspieChris]

Having that morning cup of coffee or a soda with lunch can be a stim also. It’s not always just about the caffeine. For me, having a soda in my hand became a way of ‘self-soothing’.

It’s a bad habit that I have been trying to break.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Caffeine. Wow.

I never really drank coffee until I went through cancer treatment.

Prior to that I had only drank herb teas and at most, chicory coffee. I didn't even really like caffeinated sodas.

But the chemo wards have coffee pots, bags of junk food, blank white walls, inattentive nurses, and nothing at all to do.

So the patients go and get cup after cup of coffee.

Cancer treatment also has the effect of making you feel very weak and achy, like you have the flu.

So, during that time, just to stay awake, I started drinking coffee.

Now, a couple years later, I'm a total addict.

I have found that coffee wakes me up and also reduces inflammation in my joints, so I can do physical things.

I would like to wake up without coffee though. But I'm literally like "First I drink the coffee, then I do the things."

Although the energy and pain reduction is measurable, I disdain, very much, the effect that caffeine has on my adrenals, the way it dehydrates me, and how it shortens my attention span.

 

[All-Rounder]

For me, when I have coffee, I get cranky.

Your jokes get shocking lol. I have to think about how to take them when I'm talking about a serious topic.

 

[All-Rounder]

I have noticed I get unsettling dreams when I overindulge with caffeine.

I will never mention what I have seen you do in your sleep after pepsi. The dogs were scared lol.

 

[Slime_Punk]

A woman was drinking 6 coffees per day, eventually she got stomach ulcer. It is very acidic and it is not allowed in my diet due to my gastric problems.

Wow, that's scary! I actually have to take literal acid supplements so I didn't know acidity could cause ulcers

 

[Slime_Punk]

Having that morning cup of coffee or a soda with lunch can be a stim also. It’s not always just about the caffeine. For me, having a soda in my hand became a way of ‘self-soothing’.

It’s a bad habit that I have been trying to break.

That's actually interesting; I refer to carbonated water drinks in the evening and hot drinks in the morning as stimming habits, too! Sometimes everything feels wrong without a cup of something warm in the AM

 

[Outdated]

I didn't know acidity could cause ulcers

It can't. Not unless you're drinking something you really shouldn't.

What causes stomach ulcers?​

The most common causes of stomach ulcers are:

• Helicobacter pylori — a type of bacteria
• non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen

People are more at risk of developing a stomach ulcer if they smoke or drink alcohol, or have a family history of ulcer disease.

Spicy foods do not cause stomach ulcers, but they can worsen the symptoms.

Stomach ulcers

Stomach ulcers occur in the lining of your stomach. Although they are common and can be treated, it’s important to be aware of the symptoms and get diagnosed early.

www.healthdirect.gov.au

 

[Jonn]

Having ADHD, caffeine has a calming effect on me overall; the opposite of people without ADHD.

I have heard caffeine helps some ppl who have ADHD.
I am not sure it helps me, though it is inconclusive.
But the problem for me is, caffeine is high in histamine and I am susceptible to histamine poisoning.

 

[All-Rounder]

It can't. Not unless you're drinking something you really shouldn't.

What causes stomach ulcers?​

The most common causes of stomach ulcers are:

• Helicobacter pylori — a type of bacteria
• non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen

People are more at risk of developing a stomach ulcer if they smoke or drink alcohol, or have a family history of ulcer disease.

Spicy foods do not cause stomach ulcers, but they can worsen the symptoms.

Stomach ulcers

Stomach ulcers occur in the lining of your stomach. Although they are common and can be treated, it’s important to be aware of the symptoms and get diagnosed early.

www.healthdirect.gov.au

That's true, but technically, the acid in the stomach can corrode the lining.

"Peptic ulcers occur when acid in the digestive tract eats away at the inner surface of the stomach or small intestine. The acid can create a painful open sore that may bleed. Your digestive tract is coated with a mucous layer that normally protects against acid."

Peptic ulcer - Symptoms and causes

And adding acid to acid instead of dilluting it would make it more likely to happen.
However, NSAIDs are mildly acidic, therefore they have another mechanism which might cause the sores. I found one proposed mechanism interesting:

The ’trapping’ theory​

The mechanism of NSAID-induced mucosal injury that is not dependent with systemic PG deficiency includes local injuries of these agents. Most NSAIDs are weak organic acids. In gastric juice, they are non-ionized and lipid soluble. These NSAIDs diffuse across gastric mucosal epithelial cell membranes into the cytoplasm, where pH is neutral. In neutral pH, NSAIDs are converted into the re-ionized and relatively lipophobic form. Therefore NSAIDs are trapped and accumulate within cells, leading to the cellular injury.

The pathophysiology of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-induced mucosal injuries in stomach and small intestine


"The stomach and colon have two layers of mucus; the inner layer is attached and the outer layer is less dense and unattached.[...]Proteases of certain parasites and some bacteria can cleave* mucins and dissolve the mucus as part of their pathogenicity. The inner mucus layer can, however, also become penetrable to bacteria by several other mechanisms, including aberrations in the immune system. When bacteria reach the epithelial surface, the immune system is activated and inflammation is triggered. This mechanism might occur in some types of ulcerative colitis."

The gastrointestinal mucus system in health and disease


*cleave

• Biology
  (of a cell) divide.
  "the egg cleaves to form a mulberry-shaped cluster of cells"

 

[All-Rounder]

I reserve it for special occasions, like having to drive all night. It ruins my shaky grip on maintaining a circadian rhythm, and costs a withdrawal/makeup rest that is hard to get to.
A friend of mine without medical insurance noticed that his heart was skipping a lot of beats. He started reading the literature on heart problems, and didn't understand a lot of the words. One that he did recognize came up frequently, though - caffeine. He was drinking about six cups a day from a vending machine, and quit that. Soon his heart was steady again.

Apparently green coffee, due to its processing mode, has the opposite effect on BP.

Much like green tea vs white tea vs black tea have different effects and levels of caffeine. The processing means can make a big difference.

By the way, it has been discovered that if you take the caffeine out of green tea, it is not the caffeine which gives the green tea its energy effects, it is actually its own effects. So decaf green tea can be energy inducing, without the side-effects of caffeine.

Unfortunately in my area all the green tea is not decaf... I could use a boost of quercetin due to my low immunity and high allergy risks.

 

[mysterionz]

 

[All-Rounder]

View attachment 110638

Maybe you put it on your scalp cause your hair started to grow more.

 

[naotakun]

I might as well do meth. Caffeine is just terrible. Years ago I ate some caffeine pills, didn't think much about it because it was just caffeine. Huge mistake. Never doing that again. One cup of coffee and I can't think or sit still or function like a somewhat normal human being.

I'm the same way. It's so strange. A cup of coffee, or a can of coke, or even a caffeine candy, and I'm literally shaking.

I have found that drinking a small amount of tea, no matter the strength, or a bunch of dark chocolate will give me a good amount of energy to last a few hours (but even so, I still feel a crash afterwards)

 

[TBRS1]

It's better when I don't drink coffee, but I still do - it only has a noticeable bad effect occasionally.

Alcohol is way bad for me - because alcohol and depression are BFFs.

Now that I rarely drink, even a couple beers cause a kind of "depression hangover" that lasts for 2 days. Flashback memories of bad things that are far away in the past, and pointless to now feel bad about.

 

[Jeff T]

A cup by itself- not much usually.

A large cup, or another coffee the next day- migraine. It seems like a gradual reduction in my brain's abilities.
Motor function gets worse, difficult to do simple addition, sentences have words out of order, become very light-sensitive (eyesight), etc.
I don't think it's the caffeine, as I can eat very dark, bitter chocolate without issue.

So I stay away from the stuff! My coffee maker brews hibiscus tea nowadays.....