Funny that you mention Caffeine.

Ive been doing some research of my own, not on the anxiety part though.

So i used to lift at night after work and found i had a very hard time falling asleep.

I looked up the half life of Caffeine, its like 8-10 hours

So now i wake up at 0530 and lift around 0700

See i take an amino acid/caffeine blend first thing when i wake up now instead of at night so the i get a rush of caffeine first thing in the morning and 8-10 hours later my body is filtering out the caffeine and by the time i go to bed im naturally more tired and relaxed and fall asleep pretty quickly now.

So you have people like my pops who drink 3-4 coffees everyday, which translates in him having caffeine in his bloodstream 24/7

gents like OP said do a caffeine cleanse (go 3 to 5 days) without ingesting caffeine. Ive also noticed that iam more sensative to caffiene now which is good for me, it keeps me going with low doses of caffeine.

Another thing i only take caffeine before i lift and i limit the 1.amount of daily caffeine intake and 2. the source of caffeine to only 1 source ie.

If i take my morning "pre-workout" mix i will not have a tea or coffee late during the day because that will spike the caffeine level thats already in my bloodstream.

Another thing i try to to ingest caffeine during the weekend to cleanse the liver and organs/body of the caffeine i had during the week.

There is overwhelming evidence that coffee beans are good for you. However, like most things, the dose makes the poison. Do not use coffee or caffeine to cope with stress, work, or anything else in your life. If you are going to drink coffee, drinking a cup a day, for most people, is not going to cause you any problems, and is actually healthy for you.

I don't know if it increases my anxiety but it can fuck with my sleep.

For anyone else with sleeping problems - I started taking melatonin supplements about 30 minutes before I want to sleep and it's been working pretty well for the past 3 months. I dono if it's a placebo, but it's working. Light also bothers the shit out of me so you can try blackout curtains or a sleeping mask.

I use buzz gum with guarana and to me it's like a small does of coke

I have majority of the sleep disorders in existence, and being tired is 100x worse than being jittery in social situations.

I cut out all alcohol and caffeine for a month, just for kicks. Within 3 days I noticed better sleep patterns (start to get tired around 9pm, easily waking up by 6am). Even though I'm not very effected by caffeine, I think the slight changes it made in my body was disrupting my sleep patterns. And sleep is an incredibly important component of memory, muscle growth, digestion, motivation, and so much else.

I don't drink coffee so luckily I don't have this problem.

Ive tried to quit coffee many times, with 3 week stints being thr longest.

Generally i felt better overall, but the societal pressure to drink coffee always made me go back. A large number of interviews/social gatherings in mornings are over coffee.

A lot of these symptoms youndescribe i have when i have srunk 2 or 3 plus coffees in a day. It also has definitely contributed to something of a low level depression.

What strategies do you suggest for quitting? I always end up going back, i have tried decaf but hate it, as well as weening myself off, still coffee is something id still like to drink but id rather not be dependant on it.

Caffeine is REALLY good for MONOTONOUS tasks you already know how to do, but its not good for higher level thinking or abstract thinking.

I have 1 cup of coffee in the am and 1 cup of white pomegranite tea in the afternoon.

At night, water or whiskey.

I have no doubt that people will respond very differently to caffeine.

You're right that high doses of caffeine might exacerbate or even cause anxiety. However caffeine is a stimulant that generally provides wakefullness, focus and increase coordination, attributes that may be helpful if anything in social interactions.

Whilst there may be correlation in your case, I'd be careful about implying causation. To give caffeine the blame for:

• Most anxiety problems
• Social anxiety
• Low self esteem
• Low self confidence
• Nervousness
• Inability to hold frame
• Inability to remain stoic
• Imparing fluidity of speech
• Inability to control thoughts with reason
• Not fulfilling potential

...is quite a stretch. Many of these problems could equally be attributed to lack of experience in the game. Caffeine might just be an excuse to blame something other than yourself in other words.

Other option for those caffeine sensitive:

-Combine caffeine with L-Theanine at a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio.

-Take NooPept or Phenylpiracetam instead of coffee

-Try green tea or another drink with less caffeine

Also:

-Sleeping more -Meditation and/or yoga -Working out

all will reduce fatigue.

Caffine? Look guys I am in my 50's, it is not caffine, it is your gadgets. Phones have much more of an impact and you don't even realize it. Computers, TV's, etc., they are f ing with your minds. Do you get pissed or agitated if you have to wait a few seconds while your phone is downloading? I find myself pissed or agitated when things take a few seconds and I used to have to wait days or weeks for the same outcome. I bought my last house, no TV in my bedroom, my sanctuary, I have not slept this good in decades.

If you are getting the coffee jitters, try theanine. I did - the stuff works great for me.

I quit caffeine "for fun" about 5 weeks ago. It was hell for the first couple weeks, but now I'm loving how I have energy all the time.

Not giving up my EC stack until I'm 9% bf

Let's stay on Coffee and not the "Energy Drink" crap. It differs from people to people, I've had better results just by taking a cup of coffee before Gym. On alternate mornings I'll have coffee to start the day and at best one during lunch.

Beat timing to avoid Coffee is after 5 as it'll affect your sleep cycle if you aim to be in bed by 10 (if you're not working out that day.)

Do you have sources?

Reminds me of the coffin addicted kid of south park.

I quit caffeine for a while. As with all things, the immediate results are great. But then that wears of and you feel the same as when drinking coffee. Also, the effects on your organs and brain receptors/mental health are non existent and its almost impossible to overdose on caffeine.

When I was a smoker, I used to get panic attacks after one cup of coffee. Was the caffeine to blame? It surely didn't happen when I quit drinking coffee. But now that I quit smoking it's obvious: it was the combination with nicotine. I can now easily drink 6 cups a day without problems. As a bonus: it doesn't effect your mental health, like alcohol does (a depressant).

Drink as much as you like!

OP, just of curiosity, what is your ethnic background?

Just to chime in here:

I gave up coffee due to having quite bad anxiety symptoms. After 3 weeks they weren't gone but were massively reduced.

I would reccomend.

i think the real issue is that people do not get enough sleep. Everyone's so chronically deprived of sleep that the anxiousness derived from coffee is worth it when compared with the alternative, which is just being tired as fuck. I think it's safe to say that most people would be entirely fine and not want caffeine if every night was a guarateed 8 hours

Reading the comments, it's a bit of a 50/50. However, supporters of coffee are mostly people that haven't tried quitting or asked themselves "Why?". Funny enough, a common theme is "tiredness, waking up, focus..."...all kind of that bullshit.

Tired? SLEEP, learn what to do, to get proper SLEEP Waking Up? Comes from good SLEEP, stretching, 20 good mornin pushups

Focus? MEDITATION.

Not even green tea....herbal tea or filtered water at best. People have seen the effects of these two substances (Green Tea, Coffee) and warned about it's usage. Would you listen if one of these people was Nikola Tesla?

Much love all, keep on growing.

No research done on caffeine can be trusted.

There is so much money in the coffee market that researchers will find any claim that they are paid for.

Look at the prices. The coffe I used to buy was about £25 per kilogram. It is insane price for a product that is basically dried beans. With markup like this the coffee corporations will fight tooth and nail for every possible sale.

I quit coffe for a different reason: it's diueretic (piss inducing) effect was incredibly inconvenient for a job that requires constant driving. However I did notice great improvement in sleep quality once the withdrawal symptoms were gone.

I usually get a little nervous speaking in front of crowds or groups over 8/10 people. One day I said fuck the coffee and things went a lot smoother. Avoided caffeine before speaking to 80+ last week and no jitters or sweety palms.

you will last longer in bed without it

I fucking love this sub, you just opened my eyes mate. Thank you.

A general reduction in caffeine is a good idea. I don't necessarily agree with cutting it out all together (it does have a lot of positives in moderation), but too much is for sure a bad thing. I've cut down A LOT (used to drink a pot a day....now usually 1 16oz cup in the morning), and pretty much just drink water.

I drink enormous ammounts of coffee every day. One to two extra strong espresso in the morning and three to four normal during the day. I have to stop it.

If you need a drug to get through the day, you're doing life wrong.

Fuck this bro science. Caffeine keeps me sharp, alert, and quick to the punch.

I have no anxiety, no fear, no nervousness. You don't want to drink it? Fine, don't trot out some bullshit into TRP.

If caffeine affects your frame, your frame is weak.

Gave up caffeine four years ago for health reasons. Felt like crap for six months. Felt OK for six month. Started long slow slide again. Gave up sweets/soda three years ago for same.

After four years of no caffeine, three years of no sugar, active/stressed again, blood pressure is up again, blood sugar is up again, sleep is messed up again. So, effects are short term, you reach normality with caffeine. I'm no different now without caffeine, than I was with caffeine. Effects of giving up caffeine are temporary.

One issue I am having, I'm not getting enough phosphorus, which most of us get from potatoes/coffee/soda/red meat/cheese. Dieting seriously, so with aformentioned changes, haven't found a good replacement. Many people are craving the phosphorus when craving coffee if they are deficient. People also get tired easily without enough phosphorus.

YMMV

I started to get suspicious of coffee as I saw how the world around is trying to push me to drink it.

Coffee shops everywhere, people in movies always sipping on their starbucks, their mugs...

At some point I realized it was just another addictive substance that the market is trying to get me addicted to so I have to spend money everyday on it, and so I can be a good worker and productive drone at work.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good coffee, but like all good things, one has to be careful not to develop an addiction. The perverted thing is that coffee has a strong positive image, I'm 100% sure big corps like Starbucks are behind this (just like the cigarette marketing strategy, you don't see it directly but it's ultra efficient).

Also, interesting effect: if you fast for a while (or even do intermittent fasting), the need for coffee reduces dramatically. It can be a good way for addicted people to get rid of it. Fasting is super beneficial for all addictions actually, look it up.

Very interesting. I'm gonna experiment with quitting caffeine now. Thanks for posting

the genetic theory of disease is bunk

if someone does not have the enzymes in their stomach then they need to get enzyme replacement therapy

source; Epigenetics: The Death of the Genetic Theory of Disease Transmission by Dr Joel Wallach

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I actually just cut caffeine and nicotine about 2 months ago. Cafffiene was through the roof at about 1gram a day sometimes more, and I was still feeling shitty. 240mg caffenated energy drink upone arriving at work, and every break or lunch. It was insane.

I cut out smoking, switched to dip, then gum, then quit gum once I was around 8mg nicotine a day.

Once I weened to about 500mg caffiene and 8mg nicotine a day I dropped it cold turkey. The fe first week was really rough. I didnt want to drink an energy drink, as in, I did not crave caffiene per se, but godamn it was just uncomfortable as hell. Dizzy, nauseua, migrain, itritable, weird sleep, weird shits, generall fatigue and soreness. It was hell.

Im off it now though. Water, chicken, tuna, fish, cheese and veggies, some fruits are the only thing that go into my body for 2 months straight.

I dont feel like superman, but I do feel just fine. I wake up and fall asleep okay. I have energy as I remember having caffiene give me sone months ago. Makes me wonder why I really started taking it in the first place. All in all, its worth it to stop because you really dont need it, no matter what you think. Its just unnecessary. Nicotine too.

It was a good practicing in willpower and gritting my teeth. I am saving a bit of money. And I understand how even mainstream chemical compounds can be abused without moderation as felt in the physiological effects of my withdrawl symptoms. It definitely is an unnecessary stressor to your central nervous system for sure. I think the biggest reason to quit would be that facet. No sense in stressing your body for no reason, take care of it. Stress it for a reason.

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I don't drink too much coffee. I drink half a cup to 3/4 of a cup of filtered coffee in the morning, alongside 1-2 cookies, and that's it. I don't touch coffee again until the next day, in any form.

So I thought about quitting. After all, filtered is considered to be light coffee compared to frappe, espresso etc. Headaches 6 hours into the day, from the first day. What the actual fuck? To think that the absence of the most pussified form of coffee, in a very small amount would cause a migraine. Best part is, painkillers don't take it away. Even Panadol (which contains caffeine) doesn't. I'm stuck feeling like shit for skipping that half cup of coffee in the morning. And this observation happened after every random experiment (I let many days to pass in between observing on whether my headaches are caused by something else, nope).

So I said "fuck it" and just have half a cup every morning.

Perpetual coffee drinking

This is the one thing I never understood about Western culture and I chalked it up to the fact that they must have built up some resistance to caffeine because they have so much of it. It boggles my mind to see people drinking coffee at night just because they're bored or hanging out. How the fuck can they go to sleep. I have 1 small cup of coffee in the morning and that's it, if I have anything past mid day my sleep that night is terrible.

I also don't buy the "some people have to work harder or use more brain power" etc. I'm a programmer, code 8-10 hours a day and I know for a fact that 9 hours of sleep + little to no coffee smashes the fuck out of 6 hours of sleep + 3 coffees.

I drink tea instead of coffee

Wtf... Just have a cup or two, enjoy it with your morning and deal with the rest of your day. Don't even start talking about cutting coffe if you're still drinking diet sodas and redbulls. Cut the obvious shit out. Coffee is not your enemy.

Sometimes I'd rather be anxious than sleepy

I dig coffee. Two cups a day, sometimes three. Although, I have noted some sleep issues with me, and maybe will cut down for a week to observe the results.

The bigger problem is with the substitute sweeteners in Diet drinks (coke, pepsi, etc). That will fuck with your cravings and have you want to eat more, etc.

This is some nice bro science, however I doubt that cup of coffee you just had is going to adversely affect someone to the point of a socially anxious, low esteem, and low confidence mess. I would bet its just you that is like that and not the coffee man

I don't drink caffiene. I learned that the best energy boost is to get a good night's sleep. I sleep 9 hours every night and don't need any coffee or energy drinks. I laugh at people who need caffiene to get through the day.