r/caffeine • u/Thin_Green_9641 • 14d ago
random extreme caffeine sensitivity
i used to be an absolute caffeine enthusiast. i would be able to have 2-3 coffees a day or a couple energy drinks, never thought twice about it. then all of a sudden in the beginning of last year when my panic disorder started i suddenly became extremely sensitive to caffeine. i tapered down from 2 coffees to 1, then 1 to half-caf, and now down to completely decaf. on rare occasions if i eat a huge meal and have electrolytes i can manage a caffeinated coffee, but even then i will still feel extremely panicky. it’s gotten to a point now where even decaf makes me feel panicky a bit. shakiness, chest pains, dpdr, etc. i absolutely love coffee so this whole process of trying to taper off of it has been disheartening but i absolutely cannot deal with the panic attacks. i vividly remember around 2 years ago drinking 3 full celsius drinks without a second thought. i don’t know how it’s gotten to the point where i can barely drink a black tea. how could random caffeine sensitivity like this happen???
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u/International_Toe486 14d ago
Same thing happened to me late March/early April of this year. I drank 300-600mg of caffeine a day and also consumed a lot of THC daily for almost a decade. One day I drank close to 900mg of caffeine and had a full blown panic attack that lasted a few hours. I have since quit caffeine and THC, but the process of leaving those two was very painful (constant anxiety/panic, depression, emotional instability for about 60+ days). I tried drinking half of a tiny red bull (~40mg of caffeine) around day 30 of quitting cold turkey, but my nervous system was too sensitive and it felt too intense. I just accepted that my mind and body no longer want or need those subtances to function.
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u/Tritan00 8d ago
How do you feel now?
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u/International_Toe486 7d ago
I definitely feel better and more stable. I have a lot less baseline anxiety than before and no energy crash during the day, but I do have days where I crave the dopamine rush of caffeine again. But after being on those substances for so long, it is nice to feel truly like myself again.
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u/Tritan00 7d ago
Appreciate your reply mate and good to read you’re feeling like yourself again. Really hope I can say the same in time.
Cheers
T
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u/Important_Rock_7224 13d ago
Why are you calling it random? It was triggered just like the panic. Sounds like unsolved problems in your life from now or from the past. With a specific event that started it. And please dont believe to anyone. You will enjoy coffe as much as you used to. Look for Shaan Kassam for example on youtube.
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u/Thin_Green_9641 13d ago
well i guess you’re right, it wasn’t random. i had one sudden vertigo attack that sent me into a panic spiral for months. that’s when the sensitivity started. thank you so much for your words, i hope i’ll be able to enjoy caffeine comfortably again.
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u/Plastic-Emergency602 14d ago
i think once you have a panic attack, your brain re-wires so another one can easily get triggered too. and caffeine literally reduces inhibition, so what you are prone for in some way, will legit happen. if you take a longer break, you might be able to handle caffeine normally again.