Stop forcing coffee if it's not working for you

[ElenaB]

The general consensus around here is that if coffee is causing you issues you haven't eaten enough, or have liver problems, or poor blood sugar control, or general thyroid problems, or something else that can be fixed, or even coffee may directly fix (ie: your liver). I just want to say that I've finally realized this is terrible advice for myself, and I suspect a number of others that continue to experiment with caffeine despite crashes, anxiety, and a host of other negative effects.

I really should have known better, because even as a teenager I was sensitive to caffeine, and I was healthy, fit, and rarely got sick growing up. I could drink coke without issues, but the few times I had coffee growing up, I later had a comedown and felt very strange/uncomfortable for hours. Throughout my 20s I mostly stayed away from caffeine, but life caught up with me, and I started using coffee to adapt to the demands of work and inadequate sleep, and it was kinda nice that I could feel sorta normal grabbing coffee with friends. Surprisingly, I was actually able to work up to drinking on average 4 cups of coffee during a work day, but I don't think it made my liver better, or me healthier, I just think I developed a tolerance to it, and also a greater ability to shake off the come down anxiety later. In the evening I'd have very little energy, so clearly this situation wasn't working well for me.

I've come to learn through genetic testing that I have the met/met variant of the COMT SNP, which means I have the lowest activity (75% reduced) of the enzyme that degrades dopamine (via methylation) in the prefrontal cortex. Now I don't think genetics are fate, but I do think Peat and some others around here are ignoring the fact that we all have different genetic strengths and weaknesses. And really this gene maps extremely well to my experience, and helps explain so much for me. Like how I can hyper focus so well for hours on end doing highly technical work, and why I'm generally happy even in quite ordinary circumstances as I have a higher baseline of dopamine. It explains my terrible reaction to caffeine, as it drives dopamine way too high, and I have trouble normalizing, causing anxiety.

Part of the reason it was so hard for me to quit caffeine, is even small amounts of it give me euphoria, so I got caught in a negative cycle of enduring the bad for the good. But I've come to realize how crazy that is, it's more akin to someone with a drug addiction, than someone using a supplement to better their health. It's interesting looking back, because I've had similar reactions to other dopaminergic drugs, and finally have an explanation why my friends never suffered the same fate. I took an adderall once in my min 20s and went to a concert with friends, and boy was that a wild ride. I had the most intense euphoria I've ever had in my entire life for the whole day, but then 14 hours later I still felt up. And then I felt horribly anxious, had terrible insomnia, and felt a tad crazy. It was essentially my caffeine experience cranked up to 11.

Thank you for this, I've been curious about having some genetic predisposition to coffee/ceffeine sensitivity in some way forever. But, because I got to love coffee so much (the taste and the ritual of it) I've found ways around it. I can only drink coffee, for example, if I've had a very good breakfast before hand (ie, I'm well fueled), and then also eat a bunch of fruit with it. Eating 1/2 a a small/regular cantelope usually does the trick (for example). However, it does seem a little ridiculous that I organize my eating around when I get to have my coffee, and so I do appreciate your post and the point you are making. Thank you.

 

[lilsticky]

seriously just make weaker coffee next time. use half the beans that you usually would

 

[BestSinceDAYONE]

The general consensus around here is that if coffee is causing you issues you haven't eaten enough, or have liver problems, or poor blood sugar control, or general thyroid problems, or something else that can be fixed, or even coffee may directly fix (ie: your liver). I just want to say that I've finally realized this is terrible advice for myself, and I suspect a number of others that continue to experiment with caffeine despite crashes, anxiety, and a host of other negative effects.

I really should have known better, because even as a teenager I was sensitive to caffeine, and I was healthy, fit, and rarely got sick growing up. I could drink coke without issues, but the few times I had coffee growing up, I later had a comedown and felt very strange/uncomfortable for hours. Throughout my 20s I mostly stayed away from caffeine, but life caught up with me, and I started using coffee to adapt to the demands of work and inadequate sleep, and it was kinda nice that I could feel sorta normal grabbing coffee with friends. Surprisingly, I was actually able to work up to drinking on average 4 cups of coffee during a work day, but I don't think it made my liver better, or me healthier, I just think I developed a tolerance to it, and also a greater ability to shake off the come down anxiety later. In the evening I'd have very little energy, so clearly this situation wasn't working well for me.

I've come to learn through genetic testing that I have the met/met variant of the COMT SNP, which means I have the lowest activity (75% reduced) of the enzyme that degrades dopamine (via methylation) in the prefrontal cortex. Now I don't think genetics are fate, but I do think Peat and some others around here are ignoring the fact that we all have different genetic strengths and weaknesses. And really this gene maps extremely well to my experience, and helps explain so much for me. Like how I can hyper focus so well for hours on end doing highly technical work, and why I'm generally happy even in quite ordinary circumstances as I have a higher baseline of dopamine. It explains my terrible reaction to caffeine, as it drives dopamine way too high, and I have trouble normalizing, causing anxiety.

Part of the reason it was so hard for me to quit caffeine, is even small amounts of it give me euphoria, so I got caught in a negative cycle of enduring the bad for the good. But I've come to realize how crazy that is, it's more akin to someone with a drug addiction, than someone using a supplement to better their health. It's interesting looking back, because I've had similar reactions to other dopaminergic drugs, and finally have an explanation why my friends never suffered the same fate. I took an adderall once in my min 20s and went to a concert with friends, and boy was that a wild ride. I had the most intense euphoria I've ever had in my entire life for the whole day, but then 14 hours later I still felt up. And then I felt horribly anxious, had terrible insomnia, and felt a tad crazy. It was essentially my caffeine experience cranked up to 11.

Can you tell which snp you used

 

[Kyle970]

Anybody successfully quit?

 

[proteome]

I've been forcing coffee by taking pepto bismol with it to mitigate the ibs-d symptoms. It also is bad for my histamine intolerance but I am hooked on the spike in dopamine. I should quit soon.

How do you take it? Did you ever quit?

Do you use filters?

 

[charlie]

Amen. Coffee is poison.

 

[Beatrix_]

Someone I know is treating coffee fatigue with B1 supplementation. Yes bad timing coffee can hurt B1 absorption.