Caffeine, Night Waking and Anxiety

[Silverbirch]

I just thought I would post this as I had a previous thread where I wondered if coffee might be playing a part in me waking through the night with this awful feeling of anxiety in my stomach. I cut back drastically on the coffee and that all stopped. Anyway, yesterday, I got back to the bad habit of too much coffee, and guess what . . . I woke with one of those attacks which was worse than ever. I'm planning now on laying off coffee as much as I can.

[Donovan79]

Having gone through a few years of anxiety attacks, I can say that yes, caffeine absolutely makes it worse. That said, the source of the anxiety and panic isn't from coffee, but from something or somethings troubling you in your life that you're repressing rather than attacking head-on. For me at the time it was having a girlfriend move abroad permanently with the relationship still going, plus having my best friends move away and/or get married, plus not having a sense of direction or really plan to my career. All of that added up to so much worry that my subconscious couldn't cope with the stress and the result was anxiety. Thick, cold, shaky, always in my spine, could never relax, frequent panic attacks, and coffee doubled the sensation.

 

Fortunately, once I realized the causes of it all, I was able to come up with solutions to the issues. Girlfriend: we broke up. Best friends: accept that life changes. Career: went back to grad school and got a better job. Doing those things didn't fix the anxiety, just coming up with the plan to fix them did. Boom, anxiety gone. And with the anxiety gone, I realized the most important thing: it's not permanent, it's controllable and will go away, and if it comes up again it's only temporary.

 

Find someone -- a close friend, relative or professional -- who you can talk to to get out the issues that are really, really bothering you. Once you speak them out loud, you can start figuring out a plan of attack. Once you start putting the plan together, you'll find you're suddenly having nights of blissful deep sleep. Good luck.

[Batya33]

I now limit my coffee intake to one cup in the morning and not even a full cup because I do half decaf. I still eat dark chocolate though but not late at night. In hindsight I can see where caffeine exacerbated the times I was anxious. It also irritated my digestive system. I used to drink diet coke (one a day but it used to be more) and cut that out virtually completely within the last 3 years.

[FathomFear]

That said, the source of the anxiety and panic isn't from coffee, but from something or somethings troubling you in your life that you're repressing rather than attacking head-on.

 

That's not quite correct. Anxiety can stem both from real-world "legitimate" sources like sticky situations, fears, issues you're avoiding in real life, etc, but it can also be completely free-floating. The anxiety response can be triggered out of nowhere for no reason. People who suffer from General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) are often in this boat. It's a misconception to think that anxiety is always caused "something you're not addressing", just as it's a misconception that all depressed people are "sad". Anxiety and depression are both physical responses which aren't always easily tied to psychological factors.

[michelemybell]

Yes definitely, caffeine can cause symptoms like you are describing. You didn't mention any other things that could be causing anxiety, but if you are stressed and have caffeine past a certain hour, it will definitely make it worse. I notice when I drink a caffeinated beverage before bedtime, little things and sounds bother me so much more!

[femaleanomaly]

I agree, caffeine definitely makes it worse! There are other things to be aware of before going to sleep. Don't eat or drink anything at least 2 hours before you go to sleep. Allow yourself time to mellow out instead of just hopping straight into bed. Working out also helps you go to sleep and stay asleep. I've been diagnosed with insomnia and have an anxiety disorder and I can say that all of these things help. They don't fix the problem, but they definitely help. Eating healthy, laying off the caffeine, getting into the right frame of mind before going to sleep, all of these things will help you go to sleep and stay asleep. If it gets so bad that you are only sleeping 1-3 hours a night go get a sleeping pill. Lack of sleep only heightens and intensifies anxiety and it will not help you sort your problems, consciously or unconsciously. You also need REM sleep to subconsciously filter through all the daily BS and if you don't get that sleep your body will force it on you, in a way that you won't like.

[rahulrocks]

Interesting.......caffeine is a form of mild stimulation....and so may be it would increase the intensity of whatever mood that you have....I prefer tea over coffee...i think it is healthy...but i did not make that choice because it is healthy...I just like its taste more and sometimes i drink cold coffee..

But i think...both tea and coffee are rather unnecessary things and we should not form habits of them.

[Donovan79]

That's not quite correct. Anxiety can stem both from real-world "legitimate" sources like sticky situations, fears, issues you're avoiding in real life, etc, but it can also be completely free-floating. The anxiety response can be triggered out of nowhere for no reason. People who suffer from General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) are often in this boat. It's a misconception to think that anxiety is always caused "something you're not addressing", just as it's a misconception that all depressed people are "sad". Anxiety and depression are both physical responses which aren't always easily tied to psychological factors.

 

That may be true, I've just had enough friends with panic and anxiety, myself included, who all started going through it between the ages of 28-32, and almost invariably it was linked to stress and major worries in their life that they weren't dealing with. Almost all have also gotten over it now or at least learned to cope. While it may come at people out of nowhere for zero reason, even though all else in their life is great, I'm not sure they'd be able to tell this without talking to a professional and trying to find any other explanation for it first...

[Silverbirch]

Well, I laid off the coffee yesterday and slept through the night no worries. I have found something I prefer to drink at night somebody told me about years ago - a cup of hot water with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and a teaspoon of honey.

 

This problem started for me a few months ago when my work hours became eratic - I am a shift worker - and I began drinking a lot more coffee to stay awake for work. Yes, there has been a lot more stress for me in relation to work. I, and my co-workers were double-booked for work and lost pay through that. We all had to be able to pick up shifts at short notice so my work hours became more unpredictable. I think the problem is likely caused by both stress and coffee consumption. The thing is that even though I am still under some stress in relation to my working hours, and hence finances, when I cut back on coffee, especially if I don't drink any past late afternoon, I have slept through the night and especially do not wake with that really awful feeling in my stomach and the sensation of being filled with panic.

[Batya33]

What is the reason for the apple cider vinegar -just taste or do you find other benefits?

[WhenWillILove]

I think coffee gives that extra push into anxiety.

[Silverbirch]

What is the reason for the apple cider vinegar -just taste or do you find other benefits?

 

I'm not sure why she recommended the apple cider vinegar with honey, but said it helped her sleep. I quite like the taste. I know that apple cider vinegar is meant to have a lot of health benefits. My oldest mare gets it every day as it is said to help keep arthritis at bay.

[Miss Firecracker]

Apple cider vinegar is good for many things. They say to buy only organic, raw, unfiltered. We have Bragg brand, which can be found at Kroger in the natural food section. My brother-in-law had been unable to sleep for a very long time from acid reflux. First night he used vinegar, he slept all night and has ever since. I bought it for my husband, and he doesn't take Prevacid at all now. It's also known to lower blood sugar and help with allergies and even more.

[Batya33]

I'm not sure why she recommended the apple cider vinegar with honey, but said it helped her sleep. I quite like the taste. I know that apple cider vinegar is meant to have a lot of health benefits. My oldest mare gets it every day as it is said to help keep arthritis at bay.

 

Thanks to you and to Firecracker -very good to know!

[Miss Firecracker]

Thanks to you and to Firecracker -very good to know!

 

Oh, I forgot to mention something. When we run out of the liquid vinegar, I plan to try the capsules. I hear if you drink vinegar in water for a long time, it will begin to wear enamel on your teeth. My brother-in-law said the capsules work just as well.