SnowDawg

Early in sobriety, is caffeine a bad idea? I noticed it adds to the shakes and anxiety, so I'm limiting to one caffeinated drink first upon awakening. Any thoughts?

trachemys

I drink a pot of coffee a day. N-n-n-n-n-n-no problems h-h-h-h-h-here.

Seriously, it's not a problem for me. I can drink one cup a day or 12 cups.

DOCBOM

While going through the detox stages of getting sober it may not be a great idea.

SoberHoopsFan

I try to avoid much of it. Being overcaffeinated messes with your brain chemistry and moods, and is more likely to make you feel lousy. When I felt lousy, I wanted to drink. I'll have tea in the morning, that's about it. Some people are different though. End of the day, for me caffeine is still a drug and I don't want to be dependent on any drug ever again (even one as allegedly harmless as caffeine).

soberjuly

I think a little coffee is totally fine! I don't think it is on the same playing field as alcohol.
I am on Day 13 and I did decide though to quit with the Diet Pepsi/Diet Coke or basically anything with aspartame (Nutrasweet). I mean I am finishing off what I have but I bought Zevia diet cola (sweetened with something called Stevia). My husband also is quitting with the aspartame.

I think things like aspartame and alcohol are quite dangerous but caffeine can help mental alertness and has a little pickup which I think helps.

Now we do have a few Red Bulls in the cupboard and I'm not talking about that kind of caffeine, I want to also phase out energy drinks.

Life is exciting enough, right?

Good luck!

Aellyce

I would say do as you feel about it. I don't think there is anything general against caffeine in early sobriety, unless it's excess. I do agree it's not the best during the detox stage, especially if someone has bad withdrawal. It does increase anxiety for many people, so if you feel it's too much for you, cut it out. It's also not the best for people who have high blood pressure.

I've drunk coffee since I was ~12. There were some years when I drank huge quantities, kind of all day, but I reduced it to 1-2 cups in the morning and occasionally another one later in the day and have not experienced any problem with it. I don't even feel like having more.

I am personally not a fan of artificial caffeinated drinks, many of them contain chemicals that I don't want to consume, so I stick with coffee. I also like playing around with spices and other ingredients and experiment with my coffee drinks. Oh, and I don't think I've ever turned down the occasional Mocha, and I'm not into chocolate in a pure form, but mixed with coffee and milk, quite irresistible for me

soberjuly

Maybe down the road I can give up caffeine but right now I will tackle alcohol and aspartame. My morning cup of coffee is soothing to me.

Windancer

Caffeine and I DID NOT MIX at all during withdrawal. Made it 100x worse. It was very hard for me to quit coffee (I drank a LOT of coffee for many years) , but I did and I don't miss it and Ill never drink it again. Herbal tea for me.

CAPTAINZING2000

Don't drink it on an empty stomach.

Jsober

I'm very sensitive to caffeine as it really hightends my anxiety. I really wanted to like it as others swear by it. But it brings me up and down too hard. I stick to decaf and tea now.
Everyone is different and reacts different. It seems like you have tested it yourself and have poor results. If it makes you feel bad you should probably lay off. You can try it again later and see if you get better results, but you just may be sensitive to caffeine.

Hevyn

I agree that during detox it just adds to our jitters and anxiety. After you're safely through that stage it should be ok if you don't overdo it.

neferkamichael

SnowDawg, I'm taking a course "The Addicted Brain" on a website Coursea.org and it explains that caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant chemically similar to amphedemines and flat out list it as an addicting substance. I have cut my coffee intake to one 8 ounce cup a day now but still put to much sugar in it. Rootin for ya.

Soberpotamus

I've read that caffeine in excess of 3-4 cups per day can have some undesirable effects in the healing of the neurochemistry in the brain. I really don't know how accurate the information is, but I did read some peer reviewed scientific studies conclusions on Pubmed about this. It was alarming enough to me that I've made an effort to reduce my 6 cups down to 3 or less per day. Even if it didn't affect the neurotransmitters and such, I don't like drinking more than 4 per day because it causes me some serious tension and irritability after that point.

Tonymblue

I think it varies from person to person. Personally i thought it helped. It was one of the things that made me feel normal during detox. I still drink a couple cups everyday. I say do what feels right for you. P.S. youre doing a great job.

happyandfree

I cut back on coffee in the beginning because it made me much more anxious. Been drinking it again in the morning and I find it messes with my mood. I feel cranky and irritable. I'm going to wean myself off it again and switch to decaf or herbal tea.

Ready2beSober

Same here lol. I cant drink more than a half a cup the day after drinking, or I'll have a panic attack but after the shakes go away I'm back to almost a pot a day, spread out between the morning and afternoon. I do have to make sure I drink enough water though or it makes me sick.

KAD

I'm a month and a half sober and drink a cup in the morning and another in the evening. I started doing that again after only a week sober. (I rarely drank coffee when I was drinking alcohol.) I like it black and extra strength, too, but it doesn't have any bad effects on me. Ironically, it often makes me sleepy. Go figure...

Croissant

Around the 2 months of sobriety mark I started drinking coffee again. (I'd given up way before giving up alcohol.)

A few weeks later, I had some really hairy cravings. Real white knuckling (literally sitting on my hands on the sofa, forcing myself with all my might to sit there and not go out and get booze).

Finally, I realised it was the days I was drinking coffee that this was happening. I think the 'downer' effect after the high, stimulated the effect of a 'hangover' in my metabolism and my body's response was to crave a fix of alcohol.

Now, I drink coffee no problems, everything is much more stable now, but it took at least 6 months of avoiding coffee after the above episodes before I was even willing to drink a coffee. It scared the hell out of me.

Kevin78

When detoxing, It used to cause me anxiety. It never helped the palpitations either.

Like anything else, In moderation.

Angel1555

It is harder for me to give up my 2 cups of coffee every morning than it is to give up my wine.