Struggle with Caffeine to keep your energy up?

Many of us need our caffeine in the morning. Years ago, I used to drink Diet Coke and Diet Mountain Dew, before that (in the 1990’s) it was straight Mountain Dew. Yes, I did!

Now I like my coffee, how about you? It’s easy to drink a lot of it. And it’s hard to cut back on it without getting headaches and withdrawal. Over time, we need more and more caffeine to get the same “effect” of feeling more alert and more energy.  

Do you “need” your caffeine? Can you go without it for a few days? Good for you! You probably don’t need to cut back or quit.

Are you getting frequent headaches? Or having insomnia or trouble sleeping through the night? High blood pressure or anxiety or heart palpitations? These health concerns would be reasons to cut back on your caffeine intake.

Caffeine is really a brain stimulant. It contributes to our alertness and increases concentration, and boosts energy. The darker side of caffeine can raise blood pressure, cause heart palpitations and insomnia when used in larger doses.

I’ve seen many patients who are using large doses (greater than 1,000 mg per day) and having headaches, chest pain or insomnia; all due to the very high daily doses of caffeine. These patients didn’t need extra sleeping pills, extra headache medicine or even the cardiologist. They needed to cut back (slowly) on their caffeine. Gentle reminder, there is no shame here, no blame on anyone. These people were suffering, and they were only trying to help themselves.

When we are reaching for “something” to help us get through our day, using legal stimulants, like caffeine, seem harmless. However, over time, it does affect our health, our vitality, our restorative sleep, our sex hormones, things like our teeth, and we age faster. Do you want this? I know I don’t.

·         Where is caffeine found?

o   It is present in coffee, hot teas, iced tea, chocolates, energy drinks, colas, and other sodas for examples.

 ·         How to cut back?

o   When you are ready: slowly cut your dose down every 2-3 days. For example, if you drink 6 cups of coffee a day, or 6 energy drinks, can you cut back to 5 cups for 3 days, then taper down from there. It will take some time, but you shouldn’t have significant caffeine withdrawal or headaches from this very slow taper. If you go faster, you might have headaches, but you might not. You could also have irritability and mood swings, but they are temporary.

 ·         Try decaf or “half-caff” coffee, and go slow with the switch

o   Yes, there is a small amount of caffeine in decaf coffee, that’s true. Switching to half caff is helpful for the coffee drinkers.

 ·         Is it affecting your sleep or causing hot flashes?

o   You might notice more deep sleep, or more refreshing sleep once your caffeine intake is lower. If you are near menopause or between 40-50 years old, you might get more hot flashes due to the caffeine.

 ·         How much caffeine is safe?

o   I would suggest less than 300 mg per day, even less if you have a medical condition like high blood pressure, heart disease, anxiety or chronic insomnia.  This would be equal to two – three cups of coffee (8 ounces each).

Contact me or schedule an appointment to support you in this process.