SNC727
02-14-2007, 10:38 PM
I was recently told (a week and a half ago in fact!) that I have an anxiety problem, have started on Xanax, blah blah blah.
My doctor said that right away I needed to stop drinking caffeine. As I noted in my "New" thread, I really didn't drink as much as most people I know (1 to 2 cups of coffee in the morning and a diet pop at lunch), but I think in conjunction with the medication, it has helped to rid it from my diet.
It was heckfire for about four days with headaches after I went cold turkey, but I think it was worth it.
If you are on this forum and have an anxiety disorder, have you stopped drinking caffeine? Did your doctor tell you to? If so, have you noticed a difference?
I think this might be something easy a lot of folks could do to help their lifestyle... tell us what you've experienced!
My doctor said that right away I needed to stop drinking caffeine. As I noted in my "New" thread, I really didn't drink as much as most people I know (1 to 2 cups of coffee in the morning and a diet pop at lunch), but I think in conjunction with the medication, it has helped to rid it from my diet.
It was heckfire for about four days with headaches after I went cold turkey, but I think it was worth it.
If you are on this forum and have an anxiety disorder, have you stopped drinking caffeine? Did your doctor tell you to? If so, have you noticed a difference?
I think this might be something easy a lot of folks could do to help their lifestyle... tell us what you've experienced!
Sponsor
bucks85
02-14-2007, 11:09 PM
Caffeine intake has a huge impact on anxiety. I was always a big caffeine drinker and drank probably 8 cokes a day on average. Then one day i had my first anxiety attack and from that point on i could feel my heartbeat throughout my body, just constantly pounding every beat. So one guy on this forum recommended to reduce my caffeine. I stopped drinking anything that has caffeine in it. I switched to sierra mist which is caffeine free but still has quite a bit of sugar. Even with the sugar I immediately felt a decrease in my anxiety levels. It was definitely tough for a couple weeks, but reducing anxiety was definitely the way to go. Hope this helps :wave:
ocdengineer
02-15-2007, 12:05 AM
I naturally without even really realizing it stopped drinking it when I was about 8 years old. I just started to gradually phase it out of my life. I have horrible reactions to it now. One Coke will keep me up all night long if I drink it after noon. I also get really jumpy and anxious, so I don't touch it. I rarely eat anything with chocolate except brownies which I can't resist. Other than that I drink Sprite and Rootbeer when I have the rare soda.
Later,
OE
Later,
OE
AngelForAlways
02-15-2007, 01:19 AM
I have problems with anxiety and depression so I took caffeine pills. Caffeine DOES NOT help anxiety in any way!! I miss it so much but I've calmed down and it does help....It is for your better, I hope everything works out :)
angelik_pistol
02-15-2007, 04:29 AM
i never really drank that much caffine, i never drank coffee and i would have the odd soda here and there, i have anxiety and one day i had the hugest dr.pepper u can imagine at the theatre, my anxitey has gotten a alot better and i can usually get thru a movie with a quick breather in between (happy to say i can get thru the whole movie now yay! anyway) back to the huge ginormous dr.pepper, i love dr.pepper but it gave me a pretty bad panic attack and that was not cool, i realized it was from the caffine so i cut it out of my diet entirely, luckily at least theres caffine free coke and root beer...
smurfy33
02-15-2007, 08:27 AM
I'm a coffee lover. I cannot drink drip coffee as it does make my anxiety and acid reflux worse. I drink instant coffee and have been doing so for a very long time. For some reason, it does not seem to make my anxiety and reflux worse. I usually only drink 1 or 2 cups a day. If I want more than that, I drink decaf. Other than that, I usually only drink decaf sodas.
SoccerDad
02-15-2007, 06:02 PM
I love coffee. From a distance. I have Panic Disorder, and I quit coffee, tea, chocolate, sugary snacks, and a lot of other processed foods. I exercise as much as possible, and I feel a little better every day. My ultimate goal is get off the medications altogether, but I don't see myself going back to drinking coffee.
wailana
02-17-2007, 01:46 AM
I drink a cup a day, less on the weekend. I don't drink soda that much maybe one every 2 weeks. I still have anxiety though. When I drank Red Bull, and I only drank one, I sure was anxious. I stay away from drinks that are advertised for high energy (Red Bull,etc...).
Smiles and Aloha,
Wailana
Smiles and Aloha,
Wailana
jete23
02-17-2007, 02:01 AM
When I was first diagnosed, the ER doc gave me a printout that said avoid, caffiene, nicotine and alcohol. I immediately phased out the caffiene and alcohol, and the ciggies followed about 4 months later, once I began taking lexapro. I'll have some chocolate, but thats the extent of my caffiene intake.
dodedoo
02-19-2007, 09:29 AM
after my anxiety increased and i developed panic disorder, i stopped drinking caffeine. i'm a college student and i would drink a lot of coffee. the caffeine would make my heart rate increase and make me feel "weird" and would only increase my anxiety. i drink a lot of green tea now, with very low caffeine levels. sometimes it sucks because coffee used to be my pick me up in the morning when i could barely open my eyes, but its negative impacts i found to be far worse. caffeine is a drug and so addicting! but you can do it.
JillyC
02-20-2007, 03:31 AM
Since beginning of panic attacks, I have cut out caffeine almost completely, perhaps a diet coke occasionally and have been taking multi-vitamins. I try to drink a lot of water. I think that these things have helped--but not eliminated the anxiety.
swatsd
02-21-2007, 05:49 AM
Just a sidenote for coffee drinkers: Decaffinated coffee is NOT caffeine free. It has about half the amount of caffeine as regular coffee. So if you're trying to cut caffeine out of your diet, Decaf may not be the best replacement.
Just thought some people may not know this. Hope its helpful
Just thought some people may not know this. Hope its helpful
kidd123
02-21-2007, 11:15 AM
No caffeine for me. When I gave it up, my panic attacks lessened by at least 90%. Exercise is another great help for me.
SNC727
02-22-2007, 05:54 PM
Just a sidenote for coffee drinkers: Decaffinated coffee is NOT caffeine free. It has about half the amount of caffeine as regular coffee. So if you're trying to cut caffeine out of your diet, Decaf may not be the best replacement.
Just thought some people may not know this. Hope its helpful
Ok I did NOT KNOW that! Ahhh! :eek:
Thanks!
Stacey
Just thought some people may not know this. Hope its helpful
Ok I did NOT KNOW that! Ahhh! :eek:
Thanks!
Stacey
rootcanalqueen
02-24-2007, 10:11 AM
Well, I'm gonna play the bad person in this post. I am on a relatively high dose of klonopin for anxiety in addition to paxil. I drink caffeine and also take cafeinne pills. I know it's not good for the anxiety, but the medications make me so groggy and I swear I've turned ADD since I've started the meds. I don't take high doses of cafeine, but when you feel like you're gonna fall out of your chair at work, what do you do? I am trying to gather up the energy to start an exercise regime, b/c I know that will help tremendously.
FengShui1983
02-26-2007, 01:29 AM
Anyone have tips for cutting out drinking tea? I haven't counted but i drink tea over 20 cups a day i wud say probably alot more. I finish a cup then immediatley make another one and have been suffering from anxiety for quite some time. I really don't think I can just stop drinking tea so any tips would be great, thanks.
j2006
02-26-2007, 07:20 AM
Change to decaf tea. But have one cup of regular tea in the morning and in the afternoon.
vickie45
02-28-2007, 09:20 AM
i too drink 2 cups of coffee in the am by 8am im done i also take xanax because i also have thyriod disorder i take meds for that but at night i drink caffeeine free pepsi i get tired but mines from my thyriods cause before i found out i had it i was taking just 1 mg xanax 3 times a day and i done fine i slept the first 4 mos or so but after that i went places and never fell asleep once i got up at 6am and i do smoke im having a very hard time quitting i want to quit so bad id prob feel so much better if i did .
missy25801
04-15-2007, 07:49 AM
there is also caffeine free dr pepper...and it's not bad.
dannic1
04-15-2007, 12:51 PM
I, too, cut out all of my caffeine (except for a little bit of chocolate) when I went through all of my anxiety. That was the very first thing that my therapist had told me to do. Now I drink only decaf. (one cup) in the morning and pretty much bottled water throughout the day. It concerns me a little bit, though, because I have read where decaf. goes through a chemical process and probably isn't all that good for you. I have read that if you're going to do decaf., that you need to look for decaf. that has gone through Swiss water extraction, but truly, you would have to probably buy your own coffee that route. I miss the coffee a little bit, but I don't want to risk having my anxiety come back. I definitely think I'm better off without it, though. I did read where coffee causes your dopamine to rise - I guess that's why we get the stimulation from the coffee. I would think, though, that dopamine should be a good thing and not a bad thing? Maybe someone can offer insight here.
danni
danni