To not understand caffiene drinkers

[Frazzld]

I had a cup of tea yesterday at 10am.
I was still having palpitations at midnight, and was wide awake. Didn't sleep until 1am.
Is it just me who is this crazy sensitive to caffiene? How do so many people chug coffee all day and not have any problems?

I'll never forget the time I had an energy drink at the library once when I was at uni, and had to go home shortly afterwards to lie down!

[elm26]

Back when I was nursing, I would have a can of redbull to keep me awake on the drive home after a night shift and I'd still get into bed and sleep.

[SleeplessInEngland]

You do build up a tolerance to caffeine (and get withdrawal symptoms) but that does seem like an extreme reaction.

[Onlyhuman123]

It is nice to meet someone else with this. Most people seem to I think I’m a weirdo with my herbal teas and caffeine free coke.

Nice to meet you too @Drivingmisspotty !! I'm same as you. caffeine free diet coke here too...although they are proving difficult to find these days...i guess I should give that up too!

[SnoopyNoseTits]

If I drink any later than about 6pm it keeps me awake.

[Arenanewbie]

I usually do a cup of black tea around 9-10 pm. I don’t go to bed until at least 11pm (mostly midnight)but it’s because I’m busy with things or reading MN or watching TV, I don’t have any palpations.

[Phrenologistsfinger]

I can drink 10 cups of tea a day and one before bed and sleep like a baby. Caffeine doesn’t affect me, well it makes me relaxed/sleepy. But I have ADHD so it affects my blood chemistry differently (quite a common symptom, often used by ADHDrs to self-medicate!).

[AnchorWHAT]

It never affects me at all though i secretly wish it did, even those pro plus tablets that everyone popped at uni to keep them awake to finish an essay the evening before it was due in don't have any effect😀
i did read that there is a gene that renders the carrier immune, if true then i have it.

[vivainsomnia]

I'm exactly the same. I had the worse experience in my 20s after taking cold medicine without realising it had caffeine in it.

It's a matter of habit. I never drank tea or coffee. I got used to tea later in life but came of it when my heart rate was too low.

I haven't had caffeine for over 10 years and I do worry that a mistake is made when I order decaf in a cafe.

[FeelingwearyFeeelingsmall]

@ProseccoandPizza

i was like you. If I didn't get a caffeine hit by 10am I had a headache until I got my 'fix'. If I didn't drink enough the headache would reappear later in the day. I slept ok because like you I had built up a massive tolerance. It got to the point where I thought that coffee cured headaches rather than realising that caffeine withdrawal was causing them . It's an incredibly addictive drug.

All that came to an end 15 years ago when I gradually reduced my intake until I reached the point I was totally caffeine free. It was hard work at times but totally worth it. I sleep better, I'm more refreshed when I wake up and I'm as productive as I ever was. My life is no longer ruled by the need to satisfy caffeine cravings.

The last time I drank caffeinated coffee was on a train travelling through Aisa 4 years ago. It wasn't through choice but it was all they had (apart from tea and I don't like tea). It was delivered to my seat about 11am and together with the accompanying snack it was absolutely delicious. Sadly I was still awake and buzzing at 3am that night so I stuck to water after that! Or a nice G&T.

[Onlyhuman123]

It's a weird one for me...One cup of Nescafe coffee granules has my heart palpitating for around 12 hours afterwards whereas a Dolce Gusto Mocha (pod coffee/chocolate) has no effect whatsoever?! So I tend to go for decaff. I don't drink tea.

[loudbatperson]

I don't hunk you are definitely particularly sensitive.

I can't sleep if I don't have my bedtime coffee. But that it probably not a commen habit.

[paulmccartneysbagel]

I can have a cup of coffee at 9pm and still fall asleep on the sofa at 10 😂

[Lovenne]

You sound extremely sensitive. I don't knowingly get heart palpitations from caffeine. I can drink two coffees in a row and go to sleep. I don't seem to benefit from the caffeine, I just like tea and coffee.

[Bestcatmum]

I have about 10 cups a day and two right before bed. It doesn't impact me at all. I sleep like the dead.

[ScurryfungeMaster]

People have different levels of sensitivity to caffeine I suppose. I often drink a cup of tea before bed and it doesn't keep me awake.

[Rosehugger]

I enjoy coffee but only have it in the morning, two cups, and perhaps a tea or diet Coke in the afternoon. I don't have coffee in the afternoon or evening and if I do have a tea in the evening it's a herbal tea or decaff tea.

[Jumpking]

I went caffeine free a few years back. Used to drink about 10 cups a day. The headaches were a killer for 2 weeks, but got there in the end.

Had a normal coffee 6pm last week out of politeness. Couldn't sleep until midnight. Woke at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep.

So different to before!

[Ladyof2022]

I'm not as sensitive as you BUT.... I can only have one cup of tea per day, which I have soon as I get up. I really wakes me up and makes me feel perky.

If I have a second cup on the same day, I too have palpitations and lay awake the whole night.

You are not alone!

And yet, I had a boyfriend whose favourite bedtime tipple was a cup of really strong, percolated coffee, and he used to sleep like a log!

[Sunnyqueen]

@OneTC

Well it's like anything you build a tolerance up.

A few people on here and others I know find this was an all at once thing, and not consistent. I went from drinking loads of coffee to not being able to handle a single cup overnight

No, what I mean by that is people don't just start off having 10 coffees a day when they've drank it before. It's gradual build up over time because your body needs more and more as you get used to it.
Developing a hyper sensitivity over night is nothing to do with building up an initial tolerance.

[Drivingmisspotty]

I am similar to this too. Maybe not 12 hours later but I do have an initial caffeine glow and then feel awful a few hours later. I pushed through it once when DS was small and not sleeping and ended up with weird neuro symptoms and sent for MRI etc. Not sure if it was purely the caffeine or also a bit of anxiety and lack of sleep but once I gave up the caffeine I recovered. So I don’t personally recommend just trying to get used to it 😊

It is nice to meet someone else with this. Most people seem to I think I’m a weirdo with my herbal teas and caffeine free coke.

[OneTC]

@KarenOLantern

Oh thank christ, you don't know how happy your comment has made me.

I developed a very sudden hypersensitivity to caffeine about 6 months ago with heart palpitations after drinking gallons of tea every day for 2 decades, and I just felt so sad. I love a cup of tea, there's nothing better, and decaf just doesn't quite cut it. I hope one day I can have a normal cuppa again!

I don't know how long it actually lasted because after a while I stopped trying coffee and then didn't have it for years.

Then one day I was in Germany and we'd been going days with minimal sleep and one morning I just needed something to help me wake up, drank a coffee, slight enjoyable lift and no negatives.

I've been chill with it ever since, I don't drink loads like I used to before though

[ChurryBun]

If anything it makes me relax, it has no affect on my sleep at all. I often have a tea right before bed.

[JE17]

I don't drink tea or coffee but one lunchtime a colleague bought me a coffee so I drank it to be polite. I felt like I had superpowers for the rest of the day! My 10 mile bike ride home was completed in a super speedy record time. I was still jittery at bedtime. All this despite the fact that I'm a regular Diet Coke drinker.

[ProseccoandPizza]

Don’t drink coffee but tea/energy drinks and caffeinated soft drinks. If I don’t drink one of the above or more by approx 10am I end up with a horrific headache.

I can drink caffeine all day and sleep isn’t affected! But I’m aware I’ve a very high tolerance level at this point.

[Prokupatuscrakedatus]

Coffee gives a little kick to dopamine.
Calmes me down wonderfully.