How Caffeine blocks adenosine and other neurotransmitters

[Mij]

I drink Matcha green tea too, the l-theanine helps counter the caffeine. I like this tea very much.

 

[Wonko]

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.

if you were falling asleep after that much redbull then you were already ill at that point.

 

[xchocoholic]

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.

Hi mon ame,

I'm not trying to be pushy here but you're reacting to caffeine the same way I was so I'm thinking it would help you too.

Sorry to hear that you've lost so much to this illness. I'm in the same boat ... as are quite a few of us with ME/CFS. Thankfully, we have forums so that we can talk this stuff out ... tc ... x

 

[xchocoholic]

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.

hi Brenda ...

As as official chocoholic, I have to tell you that white chocolate doesn't count when it comes to chocolate addiction .. lol ...

that's great that giving up caffeine helped you ..

quick question ... you mentioned that your adrenals crashed ... I'm feeling shakey quite a bit, is that how that feels ? tx ... x

 

[xchocoholic]

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.

Hi Madie,

Based on my experience so far, I'd stop all caffeine including decaf. Caffeine is a drug so any amount can be harmful. IMHO, it's not worth it when our health is at stake. tc ... x

 

[xchocoholic]

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

Hi ggingues, I'm confused on how someone concluded that chocolate increases pain too. I certainly didn't experience that. I did find that tomatoes nailed me everytime though ... I was thinking that pain receptors are affected by different foods, chemicals, etc in everyone so we need to check this for ourselves.

While dark chocolate does have some benefits, if the caffeine in it is causing us symptoms, it's best to eliminate it. If you only knew how much that breaks my heart ... lol ... tc ... x

 

[xchocoholic]

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.

Hi kday,

You sound like a good candidate for going caffeine free too. The only thing I know of in green tea that's calming is theanine but I react to the caffeine and not the theanine in green tea. HOWEVER, if I take Theanine, it calms my myoclonus (jerking) ...

btw, it has to be all caffeine .. no chocolate, tea, coffee or those energy drinks .. or anywhere else it may be hiding ... tc ... x

 

[xchocoholic]

I drink Matcha green tea too, the l-theanine helps counter the caffeine. I like this tea very much.

hi mon ame,

The theanine in tea never affected me but taking theanine does. I always reacted to the caffeine in the tea ... IMHO, if it has caffeine, and you want to be caffeine free, it needs to go too ...

tc ... x

 

[xchocoholic]

if you were falling asleep after that much redbull then you were already ill at that point.

Hi wonko,

that's what I was thinking too .. lol ... but maybe not. I would imagine that anyone could reach a point of exhaustion where they could do this. Say ... an air traffic controller ... lol ... tc ... x

 

[xchocoholic]

just a quick update ... I'm still too tired to function most of the time. Today, I felt too shakey to sit, stand up or even talk on the phone and ended up on the couch all day.

I was feeling depressed but that's lifted. And I'm still a little fuzzy headed most of the time but not to the point of frustration like it was ...

thanks for all the replies here. It's great having feedback from those who get ME/CFS ... tc ... x

 

[heapsreal]

multiple times i have done the whole quite caffeine thing to try and help improve sleep. I have gone through the withdrawal headaches etc and been caffeine free for 6 months or more and it didnt really help my sleep much, stopping caffeine before 4 or 5pm helps just as much as no caffeine at all but with no caffeine at all for months at a time i just found i had even less energy. SO i find starting the day with a caffeine boost helpful, just no caffeine after 5pm.

Its hard to find something to give us an energy boost that doesnt destroy our adrenals in the long run, but some days we need to function to get things done. But then again i find it hard to sleep too so im stuck in the middle, arrgghhh!!!

 

[Snow Leopard]

I'm not a coffee drinker. I've actually tried taking it up before, but I didn't respond well. A normal amount and I don't notice much difference. A lot and I feel quite bad - 'alert' but I can't actually concentrate on anything.

 

[ukxmrv]

I didn't drink coffee or tea at all when I first became ill or for the first 10 years. Started drinking coffee in the mornings as it helped with the low BP, dizziness, weakness and nausea. I gave it up for a couple of years when experimenting with my diet and noticed no good effects so I've gone back to my morning coffee. So few things help at that time so I'd loath to stop it again.

XMRV+

 

[maddietod]

This is the first time I've given up all stimulants at the same time. In the past I've relied on sugars to replace coffee/tea/chocolate. This is day 3, and now that I'm not on that stimulate-crash rollercoaster, I feel enormously better. I'm not assuming that this will or won't last, but other than typical withdrawal headaches/tightness, I'm not having any symptoms. My energy is better and my moods are stable.

My problem with stimulants is adrenal - I get a nice little lift and then a long payback. I'm in my second week of Rich's simplified protocol (the newest one), and I'm hopeful for excellent results from doing these 2 things in combination.

 

[brenda]

Hi exchoc

Yes I had the shakes but I got confirmation from the GP who told me my thyroid hormones were sky high which meant that a lack of cortisone was stopping them from being absorbed. The GP was very mad at me because she knows I am taking pig hormone without prescription so I had to act fast. I got stablised by reducing the thyroid meds and taking natural substances to support the adrenals especially Pregnenolone and a high dose of Vit C. I have got stable reduced the vit C and much better than I was through taking care of my adrenals and especially giving up the odd dose of caffeine. I don`t mind the white chocolate, in fact I love it! I am trying to keep of it.

 

[xchocoholic]

Hi ALL,

I'm still feeling the benefits of eliminating caffeine. I'm not getting that head rush when I lay down and my heart is always feeling like it's pounding when I lay down anymore ...

Please keep in mind that I've been totally disabled with CFS/ME since 1990 and due to OI, have to sit or lay down every 3 hours maximum in order to function. My BP drops as soon as I sit or stand up though so my body only gets weaker the longer I'm upright ...

WILL THIS TURN OUT TO BE THE KEY TO MY ORTHOSTATIC INTOLERANCE ????? Heck if I know ... ...

I also learned that caffeine causes our cells to drop calcium. Googling caffeine calcium will give you a lot of articles to read. Here's one for your convenience ... When reading this article please keep in mind that a LITTLE caffeine is bad for anyone with a caffeine intolerance.

http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/Ca-De/Caffeine.html

Although, most articles on caffeine and calcium say that the amount lost isn't important, others state that it's where the calcium is dropped that's causing problems. This may be a good one but I'm too busy this morning to read it thoroughly ...

http://www.jneurosci.org/content/19/17/7249.full

This is from Susan Owens, DAN oxalate researcher. You have to be a member to see this thread but here's Susan's part (not that I understand what she's thinking .. lol ...) .. FYI. Calcium and oxalate share a special bond. These are the main two ingredients in most kidney stones.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Trying_Low_Oxalates/message/52450

Osalate has everything to do with changing how calcium is trafficked
intracellulary if it is there, and this could affect how caffaine works.

Let me put some sources to help you with that.

The third article showed how oxalate being in the mix changed how certain
inducers worked.

Look here: http://ajpcell.physiology.org/content/276/5/C1115.full.pdf+html


and for how oxalate contributes: (in case this doesn't work it does on the low oxalate board but I'm working on this link)

http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...c92f8886dbe80de7e75e1a8bfeda8899&searchtype=a

and

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcp.1040670205/abstract


Susan

HTH ... X

 

[markmc20001]

Hi there. Just would like to say caffine definitely has an effect on me. I think it took a good 6-12 months or more to get the full benefit from quitting though.

My main complaint is caffine makes me even more spaced out..

Hard to quit though.

Good luck!

 

[xchocoholic]

Hi All,

I only have a minute but wanted to update this. Thanks for the replies. I've learned so much from message boarders. : )

I found that caffeine was causing some of my hypoglycemia symptoms. I don't need to eat right away when I get up anymore and I'm not having a strong glucose reaction to fruits. This makes sense since caffeine would boost my energy thus using up my available glucose and my body doesn't make glucose easily. I've been Paleo / low carb for 2 - 3 years now and still can't seem to produce glucose like I should.

And after about a month found that I have as much if not more energy without caffeine. All caffeine did was make me feel more productive but I really wasn't.

OI and PEM are still with me but I'm also getting winded easily nowadays. I'm post menopausal but still transitioning which could explain this. I'm still having daily hot flashes ... tmi ... lol ...

Sorry to be so breif but I'm in the process of moving and I know you all can appreciate how stressed I am ... tc ... x

 

[xchocoholic]

I think avoiding caffeine is helping my hyperinsulinemia (overproducing insulin) which leads to chronic hypoglycemia. I'm eating 3 - 4 pieces of fruit a day now without getting that rush I used too ... this is up from 1 piece of fruit divided into quarters. Of course the additional fruit is helping me energy wise too. :victory: .. yeah, we'll see ... lol ... it's only been 3 months.

I found quite a few articles on hyperinsulinemia and caffeine but here's one ... I'm sure the same applies for diabetes. Caffeine alters the way our bodies process glucose ... tc ... x

http://www.duke.edu/~jdlane/Caffwww.htm

 

[Levi]

Coffee is good for you?

http://www.flimecfsforum.com/forum/index.php?f=35&t=262&rb_v=viewtopic