LateBloominCait

I am now at 10 days without alcohol and I am noticing that my usual two cups of coffee in the morning are leaving me jittery now. I have had to cut down to just one cup this week. I learned a bit about the biology that causes this to happen and I think it will help me to stay sober in the future. My brain is used to releasing certain chemicals on a regular basis due to drinking, so it makes more of those chemicals in anticipation. Since I am not drinking booze now, the chemicals are now more available to be released from other things like caffeine. Has anyone else noticed that they are more sensitive to other substances now that they are not drinking? It makes me wonder if I was missing out on good feelings and sensations because I was dulling them with alcohol and using up all my dopamine getting drunk. Time and mindfulness will tell.

Noam19

I never noticed the caffeine making me more jittery. It would make sense though. When you drink your brain releases a stimulant to counteract the sedative effects of alcohol...it's why we never sleep well and often wake up in the middle of the night after a hard evening of booze. If you're 10 days in you should be right at the point where your body is coming back into balance.

If I had to recommend one single thing for you....WATER. Lots of it. Drink enough water that you're heading to the bathroom like every 35-40 min. Your body, brain, skin, organs all just need that hydration.

Keep up the good work!

Sober45

I was always sensitive to caffeine but even more so when I quit alcohol...or probably I just notice it more. I can have a decaf in the morning but anything after that makes me jittery...even decaf. Take notice of how you feel anxiety wise before and after you have your next coffee...it freaked me out.

I think Noam made an excellent point about water. Sometimes when I'm feeling really down and tired it clicks in that I need water and then I drink lots...and feel 100% better. Funny thing, I have 4 cats and none of them needs instructions on how to hydrate, they just do. But they didn't mess up their "water meter" with alcohol like I did!

BTW, you're doing an excellent job on breaking things down and analyzing them. I did that a lot too and it made all the difference. We can use our logical minds and intellect to figure this out.

Be123

I don't drink any caffeine at all as it makes me feel anxious. At least, it did when I was drinking, now I've stopped drinking I don't feel anxious at all but won't tempt fate by re-starting the caffeine 🤷‍♂️

One good thing about being addicted to alcohol is I notice what I put in my body much more than I used to

least

At 10 days sober my anxiety was still off the charts. I only had one cup of coffee in the morning for a while cause it made me too nervous. The anxiety got better tho, and now is bearable. I'm taking a beta blocker for my A fib and that helps with anxiety cause it slows the heart rate.

shakeel

I had to give up caffeine, only Decaf now. I cannot afford anything that would give me that anxious and jittery feeling, when I got those feelings in the past, I would wanna crawl out of my skin and thus end up drinking. I also gave up smoking as it does the same thing to me.

D122y

There is no maybe for me. I was a pretty different person when I was addicted. Chemicals in my body were all booze impacted.

I was a mellow drunk, but I had rage issues when not drunk. When I was drunk, it took a lot to get me going. When I was addicted, i realized now I hid my paranoia with anger. It was pathetic and horrible. Very embarrassing in hindsight.

I apologized to my boss and thanked him for not firing me 10x over. I didn't say why, I just told him I change my lifestyle. Active addicts and so called normies don't get it.

Now that I have been sober this long, I am fairly cool. Not as cool as I want, but way better than before.

Thanks.

Nonsensical

I didn't need caffeine to make me jittery when I first quit. My anxiety was pretty high for a few months.
Brains adjust, give it time.
Good for you for doing some research and being alert to the stimuli.

WaterOx

I haven't had caffeine for well over a year now and I tell ya it's great. I feel much more balanced. All that ruminating background anxiety I used to think was normal dropped in half. More than half. Like 85%

YMMV

Bekindalways

I'm a coffee addict in the morning . . .irk . . . I don't get jittery but reading here makes me wonder if I would do better without it.

travelbug

Great advise! Good post. Thanks

Wharfrat123

I can’t do caffeine any more, especially in the early days of recovery. It makes me really anxious and freaks me out.

It was a lot easier to quit than booze.

Crazy to think how the cessation of alcohol makes us hyper aware of how other substances effect our bodies.