Caffeine & Heart/anxiety Issues

Omg I am going through the same thing but I can't give up my coffee. it's my reason for getting out of bed Lol!! I'm still in denial but good for you for getting serious. I was eating a lot of seaweed snacks from trader joes so I think it boosted my thyroid function along with the Meds I'm taking for it. Getting older sucks!

I had the same exact problem! I discovered a "fake" coffee made of, I think, barley root. It looks like a jar of instant coffee. When prepared it looks like coffee, smells like coffee and tastes like coffee. This helped me so much with giving up coffee because I didn't feel deprived. You can buy it at any health food grocery store or even online.

Caffeine is addictive and very hard to give up, but is ok to have in small doses. 300mg per day. I allow myself about 12 oz of coffee a day, and absolutely no pop/soda. Caffeine does have a direct relation to heart, and is the very reason you are feeling pvc's, pac's, Etc. I work on a cardiac critical care unit and see the effects on the heart caused by caffeine.

Ever have breast pain? ~ You can blame the caffeine. Ever feel dehydrated? ~ You can blame caffeine. Chronic caffeine intake has also been linked to restless leg syndrome and this can be a very painful condition.

I personally think the withdraw headache is the hardest to deal with. When I try to go a few days without it, my head POUNDS. It's like needing a cigarette (if I were a smoker). The only thing I have heard that will help the headaches is peppermint. I haven't tried it, but I read good things about it. You may want to consider getting some decaf coffee mixed in with your regular, and then after a week go to all decaf and maybe it will trick you mind. ?? Just a thought. Hope you find a easy way to go about it!

Yes, headaches are a common caffeine withdrawl symptoms. I got more sensitive to caffeine when I was pregnant. I gave it up totally with my second pregnancy and still had horrible insomnia. For me now 1 or at most 2 caffeinated beverage a day is my limit or I can't sleep. Not all beverages have the same amount of caffeine. Brewed coffee has more than instant coffee, tea, etc. Sodas vary by brand. I find that coffee (even decaf) keeps me up more than anything else. In your situation I would taper off a little at a time. Maybe drop 1 cup per day then wait until the symptoms go away and then drop another cup until you are feeling better. Also the advice to drink more water is not a bad idea either. On the occasions I remember it helps.

Slowly withdraw from the caffeine!

The caffeine works to 'dam' or block the chemicals in your brain that tell you you're drowsy. Once the caffeine wears off, the drowsy chemicals flood the brain and you may feel the crash.

From the Mayo Clinic website:
"An abrupt decrease in caffeine may cause caffeine withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, irritability and nervousness. Fortunately, these symptoms are usually mild and resolve after a few days."
(http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeine/NU00600)

I gave up caffeine previously and am working on trying to give it up again. Go slowly, like only have one a day and only like an ounce an hour. The reason I dropped it was because of high blood pressure. Caffeine is a stimulant, so it speeds up your body systems including your heart rate and the rate at which blood travels around your body. This puts stress and strain on the cardiovascular system which, on a one-day trip isn't all that bad but if it is a daily habit it can do long-term damage. It is like taking the sports car out and constantly going 0-100 in 10 seconds and driving it hard all day long, every day. The engine won't last as long as if you took care of the car and were more careful with it.

Talk to your doctor.
Maybe you should cut down on coffee.
I drink a lot of coffee and it makes me feel better.
If coffee were bad for you then northern Europeans would
all have lots of health problems. Most of them
drink much more and stronger coffee than Americans.
In reality they tend to be healthier than us. Certainly don't give up
coffee completely.
I i miss my morning coffee I get a head ache.

One of the quickest ways to rid the body of addictions of all kinds (caffeine, refined sugars, additives, preservatives, fats etc) is to rid the body of the cravings naturally and gradually. www.SoYouWantToCleanse.com is where i started. I rid myself of all my bad habits, fast food, soda, chips, junk food in general, AND i released 42 pounds.

B.
Family Success Coach

One more suggestion. I drink half-calf. It is from Starbucks and it is half caffeine and half decalf. You could start with that for a week or so, then go down to totally decalf. It might lessen the bad headache from going cold turkey. If you don't like Starbucks, just buy one regular coffee & one decalf and mix them together.

Best of luck, M.

Oh, yes, that is normal for caffeine withdrawl. There are some people who are more sensitive to caffeine withdrawl than others, and I am one of those people. I get a serious headache and I feel like I could fall asleep standing up if I don't get the amount of caffeine that my body is used to. If my body is used to three cups of coffee a day at certain times of the day, I start feeling bad if I miss even one of those cups. So definitely wean yourself slowly from the caffeine.

When I was pregnant, I was able to give up all caffeine except for my morning cup of coffee. I tried for a while, but I found that I just needed that one cup in the morning to wake me up (after years with that routine, it was probably psychological as much as physical). So I can't tell you whether you will stop craving caffeine altogether. But my M. has been dealing with anxiety issues recently, and she said that one thing that has helped her is finding meditation/relaxation CDs to help train herself to calm down and deal with stress. I've also heard that yoga works well to help deal with anxiety. Good luck!

Robyn,
There are supplements that can help with the heart palpitations and the stress. Let me know if you are interested.
I don't think you have to completely give up caffeine. A little is good.

Oh, I think I somewhat understand what you're going through. There are a few differences. I was addicted to caffeine also, except I don't like coffee- so I turned to Coca Cola (I know, tons of sugar too- really bad) for my energy. For a while, it was Jolt soda and the caffeinated Vitamin Water brand soda, which I don't think they make anymore. I knew it was really unhealthy, but I didn't think I could make it without the caffeine- I was so tired ( 4 children under 12, and the last three each had reflux).

As you can imagine, I started having health problems- my stomach lining was totally messed up. (Not just from the soda, but took a lot of pain killers like high doses of ibuprofin over the years because of 3 c-sections and some other surgeries.) A burning stomach is a pretty good motivator to stop the soda :) In addition to that I had palpitations (which really scared me- thought something was wrong with my heart) , dizziness, anemia, severely low Vitamin D levels, and was suffering from depression.

I pretty much had to quit cold turkey (which I don't recommend unless you have no choice). I felt horrible- debilitating headaches (couldn't even take ibuprofin because of my stomach lining). My mother actually took my kids to her house for a few days. I started drinking a lot of water, which did help some. I think the more water I drank, the better I started to feel. I started taking iron (which I think helped the palpitations), a prescription for high dose Vitamin D, and an anti-depressant.

Anyway, now I'm much better- no more coke, and actually don't even miss it. I still try to drink as much water as I can, and oddly enough, I have more energy than I used to. Go figure ;)

I think if you can taper off, you won't have it as bad as I did (although you still might feel crummy for a while). Just make sure to drink a lot of water. I'm not sure what your situation is, but can you take some time each day to relax? Or, at the very least, find a way to get more sleep? You may have to let something else go (I had to stop being so picky about how clean my house was). Do you like De-caf? I was surprised that despite the name, it still has caffeine, just not as much (my Dad had to give it up because of high blood pressure) Anyway, that might be a stepping stone for you. My Dad's doctor recommended he drink green tea, so that might be a good alternative drink for you.

Here is some information about caffeine that you might find helpful:

http://pol.spurious.biz/dev_zero/caffeine.html

Anyway, I wish you luck- sorry for being so wordy, but I hope it was helpful :)

I had the same heart problem due to caffeine. I went cold-turkey and had the worst headache for about 2 days that nothing would take away. Then I was fine, no more caffeine issues and no more heart problems.

I recommend lowering your caffeine and supplementing it with caffeine-free coffee and soda. Drink one caffeine coffee in the morning and decaf the rest.

I found that after my body got over the caffeine withdrawl I was more alert in the mornings. I felt better than when I was drinking lots of Mountain Dew! It's a very "clean" feeling.

I haven't had any caffeine in 15 years, just small amounts in tea and chocolate. Never felt better!

I went caffeine free years ago...I was at my Aunt's over Christmas holidays....she made coffee for us every morning....I had a headache for three days. Since I also suffered from migraines at the time, I figured it was just pre-migraine pain. Nope, seems she had gone caffeine free and the coffee she was making was caffeine free. So, I inadvertently went cold turkey with the stuff. She sent me home with a pound of caffeine free coffee and I have never looked back.

Cold turkey quitting sounds bad - but really it was just three days. I still drink coffee - have a cup next to me right now, but now I drink it because I like it, and I like a warm drink in the morning.

There are so many more flavoured coffees available now so you will still be able to enjoy your coffee without all the speedy side effects of caffeine.

Lipton's makes decaf tea bags, and many teas are caffeine free now also. I also find hot tea a nice de-stress drink.

What I do notice now, that I am caffeine free, is that any coffee or iced tea with caffeine makes me really speedy...an iced tea at lunch will keep me up all night. LOL Soooo not fun.

Once you are caffeine free you will need to watch what you consume - did you know Excedrine has caffeine in it? So, that would be on the new "No" list. If you need to go completely caffeine free chocolate would also be on the "No" list. :(

Bottom line Robyn, it does get easier. It takes 3 - 7 days to get used to it, but in 7-10 days your body will adjust and you will not need the caffeine anymore. You could try a protein boost (cheese, peanut butter, egg) with breakfast to give you that extra energy - an a better energy - than what the caffeine gave you.

Good Luck and God Bless

There are two ways of weaning yourself off caffeine. The first is cold turkey. You will get horrid headaches and caffeine withdrawal BUT after 3 days you are over the worst of it. The second method is to lower it slowly by replacing regular with de-caff. I started changing the balance by 10% every few days. The headaches didn't start until I was more than 1/2 de-caff 1/2 caff.....Supplement your diet with high energy foods, increase your carbohydrates to increase your serotonin production. Good luck!
LL

Ugh! Caffeine withdrawals are awful! But you can get through it... I try to use my kids as my reason to stay away from it. It's honestly easier when there's a baby growing inside me than when they're all safe from the direct effects of my decisions, lol. I'm managing pretty well.

The good news is that giving up your drug of choice is that the cravings eventually do go away.

Hello, I gave up caffeine, chocolate and alcohol when I was thirty. I was worried about how caffeine and chocolate would affect me, but didn't worry about alcohol since I only had a couple of drinks a year. It went very well. Keep in mind that chocolate has caffeine in it too. You can always have carob. I used to get horrible migraines. I also smoked for a few years. When I cut that out, too, the migraines stopped.
Good luck.
K. K.