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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 18 of 18. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by lynn970 on September 28, 2005, at 19:29:04
I drink about 4 mugs a day. Is that too much. How much of that affects anxiety?
Posted by tecknohed on September 28, 2005, at 19:34:49
In reply to Coffee, posted by lynn970 on September 28, 2005, at 19:29:04
Caffein boosts my confidence short term. If I drink it longer than a few days it actually 'causes' anxiety. So I avoid it like the plague now.
My advice is, if you have any sort of emotional problems, especially anxiety or low energy, then avoid caffein completely. Its no good.
Posted by Deneb on September 28, 2005, at 20:24:42
In reply to Coffee, posted by lynn970 on September 28, 2005, at 19:29:04
I only drink coffee to stay awake sometimes, but I usually don't like to drink it. It makes me really physically anxious and wired.
Deneb
Posted by Chairman_MAO on September 28, 2005, at 20:43:47
In reply to Coffee, posted by lynn970 on September 28, 2005, at 19:29:04
Beyond 200-300mg/day, coffee loses its value .
Posted by maddy4 on September 28, 2005, at 21:24:15
In reply to Re: Coffee » lynn970, posted by Chairman_MAO on September 28, 2005, at 20:43:47
if you have anxiety then dont drink it - i have anxiety but love coffee - so i make it weak and mix it w/ hot chocolate in the morning - and even then only one cup
Posted by SLS on September 29, 2005, at 8:26:01
In reply to Re: Coffee, posted by maddy4 on September 28, 2005, at 21:24:15
Every morning I add just a bit of caffeinated Columbian coffee to decaf to enhanced its taste. It probably represents 25mg. Otherwise, I abstain from using caffeine as much as possible so as to prevent tolerance to its mood-enhancing properties. When I encounter situations where I need this enhancement, 100mg gives me a functional boost. If I take more than this, I find it to be counterproductive. I lose any cognitive enhancement and the mental energy I would have gleaned at the lower dosage. I feel in some ways worse.
If you treat caffeine as a drug, I think you will develop a better insight into how it affects you and what the ideal dosages are for you. If you like coffee, try to stick to decaf when one does not intend to take caffeine.
- Scott
Posted by pseudoname on September 29, 2005, at 8:57:47
In reply to Re: Coffee - I use caffeine as a drug only., posted by SLS on September 29, 2005, at 8:26:01
I've just started trying opiate antagonist naltrexone for depression. (Long story; I've never used opiates.)
One interesting side effect was that the morning after my first dose, instead of jonesing for coffee as usual, I had absolutely no interest in caffeine.
In the 10 days since then, I've had a couple small glasses of Diet Coke (maybe 25 mg caffeine). I felt a slight version of the usual buzzy/warm/fuzzy effect from them, but with no interest in escalating it. Usually I want more more more.
Posted by SLS on September 29, 2005, at 9:22:14
In reply to caffeine and naltrexone, posted by pseudoname on September 29, 2005, at 8:57:47
> I've just started trying opiate antagonist naltrexone for depression.
Good luck!
Please keep us posted of your progress!
- Scott
Posted by Glydin on September 29, 2005, at 9:28:30
In reply to Coffee, posted by lynn970 on September 28, 2005, at 19:29:04
Ah, do I miss it. I was a java junkie for many years and it treated me well UNTIL toxic anxiety came to live with me.
I have to be very careful and I mix leaded and unleaded versions to come up with a mixture I can tolerate.
I was not fully aware of the negative effects on my mental state until I dropped it altogether. I can now do a weak precentage.
Posted by zeugma on September 29, 2005, at 16:58:00
In reply to Re: Coffee, posted by Glydin on September 29, 2005, at 9:28:30
I take 200 mg caffeine (Vivarin tablet) immediately after waking. I am always severely groggy on waking and even two hours does not represent enough time to get showered, dressed, etc., in the morning if I don't get a fast-acting stimulant in my system. When I was taking Ritalin I didn't need the caffeine so badly immediately after waking- but it still was a good idea. I have an apartment littered with alarm clocks, and unless I get out of bed immediately after waking and take a Vivarin or other fast-acting stimulant, I am in trouble.
I drink caffeinated coffee all day long. I suffer from narcolepsy, in addition to ADHD, and I have not been able to find a drug that I can tolerate at sufficient dosages to keep me functional through the evening. I begin to break down, energy wise, about 4 pm; I can easily go to sleep at 6 pm. 60 mg Ritalin keeps me up until a normal sleep time without caffeine after 3 pm, but the anorexia is not acceptable. 200 mg Provigil on its own does not keep me up past 6 pm, and the side effects at this dose come very close to being unacceptable (extreme dry mouth), and when I was taking an antifungal that inhibits 3A4 (enzyme partially responsible for metabolizing Provigil, thus causing an increase in Provigil plasma concentration) I became severely anxious. So caffeine is the default stimulant I use to keep me awake in the evening, if desired.
On its own, without prescription stimulant, it is useless.
-z
Posted by Phillipa on September 29, 2005, at 18:23:21
In reply to caffeine as stimulant, posted by zeugma on September 29, 2005, at 16:58:00
A Starbucks iced coffee was the last I drank as my thyroid levels were increasing. I nearly went out of my mind with the anxiety. Fondly,Phillipa
Posted by Ryan2828 on September 30, 2005, at 20:01:23
In reply to Re: caffeine as stimulant, posted by Phillipa on September 29, 2005, at 18:23:21
I am a caffiene junkie mostly coffee.
Posted by Ryan2828 on October 1, 2005, at 2:23:14
In reply to Re: caffeine as stimulant, posted by Ryan2828 on September 30, 2005, at 20:01:23
My problem with coffee is that without it I cannot read my email, read anything, work is nearly impossible, just doing the dishes I need a ton of coffee just to do it. Grean tea doesnt do anything for me, even coke a cola doesnt do anything for me. I dont know what to do at this point except just drink more.
Posted by lynn970 on October 1, 2005, at 7:41:28
In reply to Re: caffeine as stimulant, posted by Ryan2828 on October 1, 2005, at 2:23:14
Have you told a doctor that you are so tired?
Posted by Declan on October 1, 2005, at 15:43:31
In reply to Re: caffeine and naltrexone » pseudoname, posted by SLS on September 29, 2005, at 9:22:14
So do you take a small dose of naltrexone before you go to bed? If so, do you wake up in the middle of the night withdrawing (just kidding). What I mean is does it affect your sleep at all? It's used in this way as an immune stimulant too, isn't it?
Declan
Posted by pseudoname on October 1, 2005, at 16:28:51
In reply to naltrexone, posted by Declan on October 1, 2005, at 15:43:31
> So do you take a small dose of naltrexone before you go to bed?
"Just before withdrawing." Yeah yeah, chuckle chuckle. ;)
I started 12 days ago taking 25 mg of naltrexone in late afternoon. Everything I'd read said it had a low side effect profile, so I wasn't worried. About a week ago I started taking 50 mg (which is the usual addiction-recovery dose). I'm switching over to morning administration for convenience. It made me nauseous at first, but that's getting less.
On the naltrexone I've slept soundly and I wake feeling extraordinarily refreshed. Sleep is restorative in a way it hasn't been for decades.
I also (for the last 11 nights or so) have had very happy, delightful dreams. I wake intermittently from them feeling happy and go back to sleep. They are very *intense* dreams, however. Even though they're happy, that intensity is a little jarring. (Hard to explain.) I slept very well on Wellbutrin, too, so maybe don't listen to me.
I have no history of drug or alcohol abuse, and I don't know how naltrexone might affect sleep for someone in those situations.
I've been holding off on reporting anything about my naltrexone trial because I want to see if it actually works on this depression before I get very "invested" in it. I've had my hopes dashed by promising meds so many times over the years...
I've read about naltrexone as an immune system catalyst, but the literature was pretty weak, I thought. (I may be wrong: it wasn't my interest.) The doses suggested for immune boosting are low – like 5 mg.
Posted by Declan on October 1, 2005, at 19:51:33
In reply to Re: naltrexone » Declan, posted by pseudoname on October 1, 2005, at 16:28:51
Isn't it odd then? Some people get relief from opiates whereas you're getting relief from an antagonist.
I'm impressed by the good sleep it gives you.
Declan
Posted by pseudoname on October 2, 2005, at 10:11:58
In reply to Re: naltrexone » pseudoname, posted by Declan on October 1, 2005, at 19:51:33
> ...whereas you're getting relief from an antagonist
It's actually too early to say that but, yes, that's my hope.
My theory is that it's like a broken thermostat. Some feedback loop that regulates some aspect of mood or reward in my brain is overly sensitive, and any "normal" outcome in some dopamine or endorphin pathway is seen by my brain as a dangerous overload of happiness. Blocking endorphin receptors with naltrexone may reduce this sensitivity or force the thermostat to reset itself.
This is the end of the thread.
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