How Caffeine blocks adenosine and other neurotransmitters

[xchocoholic]

Rats .. The Title should be "How caffeine blocks adenosine and BOOSTS other neurotransmitters"


Great article on how caffeine affects our bodies ... I copied in a small section about adenosine but the next section in this article discusses how it affects dopamine, etc too ...

I just stopped ALL caffeine (no chocolate, no coffee and no Kombucha) last Monday for the very first time in my life to see if it will help calm my body down ...

Maybe this is part of why we over react (the effect of excito toxins) to caffeine and some supplements. If our adenosine receptors are blocked we can't calm down and our other neurotransmitters are allowed to fire uncontrollably ...

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/drugs-alcohol/caffeine.htm

Caffeine and Adenosine

Why do so many people consume so much caffeine? Why does caffeine wake you up? By understanding the drug's actions inside the body you can see why people use it so much.

In the HowStuffWorks article How Sleep Works, the action of adenosine is discussed in detail. While it sounds like advanced science, it's really pretty simple.

As adenosine is created in the brain, it binds to adenosine receptors. The binding of adenosine causes drowsiness by slowing down nerve cell activity.

In the brain, adenosine binding also causes blood vessels to dilate, most likely to let more oxygen in during sleep.





To a nerve cell, caffeine looks like adenosine. Caffeine therefore binds to the adenosine receptor. However, it doesn't slow down the cell's activity like adenosine would.

As a result, the cell can no longer identify adenosine because caffeine is taking up all the receptors that adenosine would normally bind to. Instead of slowing down because of the adenosine's effect, the nerve cells speed up.

Caffeine also causes the brain's blood vessels to constrict, because it blocks adenosine's ability to open them up. This effect is why some headache medicines like Anacin contain caffeine -- if you have a vascular headache, the caffeine will close down the blood vessels and relieve it.



So, now you have increased neuron firing in the brain. The pituitary gland sees all of this activity and thinks some sort of emergency must be occurring, so it releases hormones that tell the adrenal glands to produce adrenaline (epinephrine).

Adrenaline is the "fight or flight" hormone, and it has a number of effects on your body: ...



Your pupils dilate.
Your breathing tubes open up (this is why people suffering from severe asthma attacks are sometimes injected with epinephrine).
Your heart beats faster.
Blood vessels on the surface constrict to slow blood flow from cuts and also to increase blood flow to muscles.
Blood pressure rises.
Blood flow to the stomach slows.
The liver releases sugar into the bloodstream for extra energy.
Muscles tighten up, ready for action.

This explains why, after consuming a big cup of coffee, your hands get cold, your muscles tense up, you feel excited and you can feel your heart beat increasing.


In the next section, we'll go into detail about caffeine's long term effects on the body.

Has anyone experimented with this ? I slowly weaned myself but I had a few headaches during the first week after totally stopping this. But I already feel better since I'm no longer experiencing the neurotransmitter roller coaster ride from the caffeine. I miss the taste of coffee, chocolate and Kombucha though.

tc ... x

 

[xchocoholic]

I'm copying this in to so we don't lose it ...

What is Caffeine?

Caffeine is known medically as trimethylxanthine, and the chemical formula is C8H10N4O2 (see Erowid: Caffeine Chemistry for an image of the molecular structure). When isolated in pure form, caffeine is a white crystalline powder that tastes very bitter. The chief source of pure caffeine is the end result of the process of decaffeinating coffee and tea.

Medically, caffeine is useful as a cardiac stimulant and also as a mild diuretic - it increases urine production. Recreationally, it is used to provide a "boost of energy" or a feeling of heightened alertness. College students often use it to stay awake while cramming for finals and drivers use it to push through to their destination. Many people feel as though they "cannot function" in the morning without a cup of coffee to provide caffeine and the boost it gives them.

It's important to know that caffeine is an addictive drug. Among its many actions, it operates using the same mechanisms that amphetamines, cocaine, and heroin use to stimulate the brain. Relatively speaking, caffeine's effects are milder than amphetamines, cocaine and heroin, but it is manipulating the same channels in the brain, and that is one of the things that gives caffeine its addictive qualities. If you feel like you cannot function without it and must consume it every day, then you may be addicted to caffeine.

 

[xchocoholic]

Caffeine and Dopamine

Caffeine also increases dopamine levels in the same way that amphetamines do.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that activates pleasure centers in certain parts of the brain. Heroin and cocaine also manipulate dopamine levels by slowing down the rate of dopamine reabsorption.

Obviously, caffeine's effect is much lower than heroin's, but it is the same mechanism. It is suspected that the dopamine connection contributes to caffeine addiction.



You can see why your body might like caffeine in the short term, especially if you are low on sleep and need to remain active.

Caffeine blocks adenosine reception so you feel alert. It injects adrenaline into the system to give you a boost. And it manipulates dopamine production to make you feel good.





The problem with caffeine is the longer-term effects, which tend to spiral. For example, once the adrenaline wears off, you face fatigue and depression. So what are you going to do?

You consume more caffeine to get the adrenaline going again. As you might imagine, having your body in a state of emergency all day long isn't very healthy, and it also makes you jumpy and irritable.



The most important long-term problem is the effect that caffeine has on sleep. Adenosine reception is important to sleep, and especially to deep sleep.

The half-life of caffeine in your body is about six hours. That means that if you consume a big cup of coffee with 200 mg of caffeine in it at 3:00 p.m., by 9:00 p.m. about 100 mg of that caffeine is still in your system.

You may be able to fall asleep, but your body will probably miss out on the benefits of deep sleep. That deficit adds up fast. The next day you feel worse, so you need caffeine as soon as you get out of bed. The cycle continues day after day.

This is why 90 percent of Americans consume caffeine every day. Once you get in the cycle, you have to keep consuming the drug.

Even worse, if you try to stop consuming caffeine, you get very tired and depressed, and you get a terrible, splitting headache as blood vessels in the brain dilate. These negative effects force you to run back to caffeine even if you want to stop.

If you are interested in breaking the caffeine cycle in your own life, the book Caffeine Blues (especially Chapter 10) can be very helpful.

In addition to the dangers we just discussed, there are some surprising benefits we'll learn about in the next section.

This sounds like it would definitely be a problem for those of us who are hyper reactive ...

 

[xchocoholic]

I'm responding really well to this so far and I really wasn't ingesting that much caffeine. The problem could've been that I was having bits of caffeine throughout the day though never allowing my body to unwind.

This is day 14 ... I had a few headaches around days 4 and 5 but not as bad as what they say. But I had really bad shakes all day long on days 9 and 10. Luckily that's gone. On day 10 I ate a bite of chocolate and the shakes stopped ...

My reaction to eating sugars has lessened so I'm not getting such a head rush from fruit. Caffeine affects how our bodies process glucose.

And when I lay down, the blood isn't rushing into my head like it did ... Caffeine constricts blood flow.

I really don't miss the adrenaline surges ... Between blocking adenosine and boosting dopamine and those other neurotransmitters, I was on a roller coaster ...

I'm thinking this may be just as important for some of us as giving up gluten ... From what I've read, I appear to have a caffeine intolerance. My reaction to this is equal the sort of reaction I had to giving up gluten.

I'm hoping it eliminates my orthostatic intolerance and heart symptoms. tc .. x

 

[Mya Symons]

This might be a stupid question, but how did you give up chocolate? I am so addicted. My niece actually put a bumper sticker on my car that said "Will work for chocolate." My doctor told me that it will increase my pain, but still I can't stop (it also, of course, irritates the heck out of my IBS). I noticed your name was xchocoholic so I am figuring you must have had similar issues. So, how did you do it? Did you taper yourself off slowly or quit cold turkey. What did you do about the cravings?

 

[xchocoholic]

This might be a stupid question, but how did you give up chocolate? I am so addicted. My niece actually put a bumper sticker on my car that said "Will work for chocolate." My doctor told me that it will increase my pain, but still I can't stop (it also, of course, irritates the heck out of my IBS). I noticed your name was xchocoholic so I am figuring you must have had similar issues. So, how did you do it? Did you taper yourself off slowly or quit cold turkey. What did you do about the cravings?

Hi Mya,

Before now, I had a ton of X's in front of my chocoholic ...

I thought I was tapering off these foods slowly but it turns out that I should've gone slower. My detox reactions have been scarey at times ... I'm stuck with these reactions now but if I had to do this over again, I'd taper off these down to the last bite or sip.

I found that the cravings went away within a few days of stopping all the caffeine foods that I was eating. The addiction was still there but I understand that's going to take while to eliminate.

I guess if there's a trick to this, it would be to substitute something else you like for what you're giving up. I bought some organic sunflower seed butter ...

Oh and reminding yourself of your goal helps too ...

hth ... x

 

[Live And Let Die]

Yeah, wow. I'm highly addicted to caffine. Not looking forward to giving it up but it needs to be done.

 

[Live And Let Die]

I'll start quitting tomorrow.

 

[Francelle]

Tea is so much more refreshing than coffee anyday once you become used to it. Try green tea perhaps and know that it is doing you good!

Not a chocolate addict here but had some (a small amount) of dark chocolate over Easter and my heart started thumping badly and my heartrate went sky high. Horrible feeling!

 

[maddietod]

Great thread; I'm giving up caffeine (again!) today. Green and white tea still have caffeine in them, so I think they're out. As to chocolate, I can't remember the last day I didn't eat chocolate, until giving it up a week ago. I quickly discovered that a huge part of my addiction is "needing" the little burst of energy I'd get. Now giving up caffeine as well, that's the challenge. My desire for the taste of chocolate disappeared when I started Rich's new protocol last week.

Xchoc, what's your position on decaf tea and coffee?

 

[TinyT]

I have largely given up coffee since my relapse (only drank it to get me through the work day), but I loooove a good cup of tea. Especially english breakfast & flavored black tea.

I thought caffeine was recommended for Orthostatic in tolerance due to it's vasoconstricting properties?

 

[xchocoholic]

Yeah, wow. I'm highly addicted to caffine. Not looking forward to giving it up but it needs to be done.

Hope it helps you. It's funny. I didn't know how addicted I was because I had eliminated each of the caffeine filled foods or drinks I was ingesting one at a time over the last 5 years and added them back in cause I didn't feel any different ... It wasn't until I got off ALL caffeine that my body reacted. good luck .. x .. btw. It's a REALLY good idea to go slow on this.

 

[xchocoholic]

Tea is so much more refreshing than coffee anyday once you become used to it. Try green tea perhaps and know that it is doing you good!

Not a chocolate addict here but had some (a small amount) of dark chocolate over Easter and my heart started thumping badly and my heartrate went sky high. Horrible feeling!

Hi Francelle,

All caffeine has to be eliminated for this to work. It's a drug so any amount is going to do the same thing to our bodies.

On days 9 and 10 of this detox, I had the shakes so bad I thought I was going to have a seizure. (I have a history of seizures) .. so on day 10, I ate 1/2 of 1 square of 71% Equal Exchange chocolate. And while it stopped my shakes within 20 - 60 minutes, I was wide awake that night ...

Of course without a caffeine meter on my forehead, I can't say for sure this worked but I'm "assuming" it did. ; )

FWIW ... I'm one of those who feels a jolt when I drink or eat anything with caffeine. I JUST thought this was normal ... lol ...

tc ... x

 

[xchocoholic]

Great thread; I'm giving up caffeine (again!) today. Green and white tea still have caffeine in them, so I think they're out. As to chocolate, I can't remember the last day I didn't eat chocolate, until giving it up a week ago. I quickly discovered that a huge part of my addiction is "needing" the little burst of energy I'd get. Now giving up caffeine as well, that's the challenge. My desire for the taste of chocolate disappeared when I started Rich's new protocol last week.

Xchoc, what's your position on decaf tea and coffee?

Madie,

Just please go slowly on this .. I've had some scarey detox symptoms that I wish I'd avoided.

IF this is what's been causing my OI, it makes sense that I'd have a strong reaction though. Which is why I'm so hopeful that this is what I was missing ...

No caffeine is the only way for an addict to go. If you google caffeine intolerance or addiction you'll see a lot of websites on this .. tc ... x

 

[xchocoholic]

I have largely given up coffee since my relapse (only drank it to get me through the work day), but I loooove a good cup of tea. Especially english breakfast & flavored black tea.

I thought caffeine was recommended for Orthostatic in tolerance due to it's vasoconstricting properties?

Hi Tiny,

I'd heard that too but it looks like caffeine was constricting my blood vessels too much. I'm assuming that since the blood isn't rushing into my head when I lay down anymore ...

It certainly wasn't good for my adrenal fatigue or my insomnia or my seizures ... tc ... x

 

[Mij]

Yes, I would agree that caffeine constricts blood vessels for me too. After I drink a cup I get the brain energy lift and then after an hour or so I need to lie down, I feel drained/wiped out, when I get up too fast I feel OI. I can't deprive myself of coffee and chocolate, I've lost too much in life, so I limit myself to a cup or 2 every couple of weeks. I have experienced no effect from caffeine on some occasions, don't know why.

 

[brenda]

Hi girls guess what??

WHITE CHOCOLATE IS OK yay!!!

It has no caffeine in. Sugar yes, if you don`t get the healthy sort but a small bit now again.....

I had to give up caffeine when my adrenals crashed a few months back and it has helped a great deal. I am doing better.

 

[maddietod]

Xchoc - Thanks for the reminder. I'm stopping coffee, tea, chocolate, and sugar, so yes, I'd better be careful. My easiest way to cut back gradually is to move from black to green to white tea, then off. I've got it all in my cupboard!

I ask again - what's your position on decaf? I do love the taste of black tea.

 

[*GG*]

This might be a stupid question, but how did you give up chocolate? I am so addicted. My niece actually put a bumper sticker on my car that said "Will work for chocolate." My doctor told me that it will increase my pain, but still I can't stop (it also, of course, irritates the heck out of my IBS). I noticed your name was xchocoholic so I am figuring you must have had similar issues. So, how did you do it? Did you taper yourself off slowly or quit cold turkey. What did you do about the cravings?

Why would chocolate increase pain? I have not heard of that before. I only eat very dark chocolate now, I buy the Ghirardelli baking chips of 60% Cacoa, it's only $2.50 11.5 ounces! I have read that dark chocolate is good for you in some regard(s).

GG

 

[kday]

I am intolerant to coffee drinks. Well, I used to be extremely intolerant. Now I can handle them some, but they can make me feel just horrible and anxious, so I never drink coffee. Before I was ill, I could honestly fall alseep (if I wanted to) after drinking a 6 pack of red bull. Wow, I have changed.

However, something that contains caffeine that seems to have an opposite effect of coffee is white tea or green tea. This contains roughly about 1/3 of the caffeine of Coffee, and seems to make me feel more relaxed and more at peace. Perhaps it's the EGCG that does this.