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[Uffe]

You don't need to cut caffeine out of your life completely. Have you considered drinking black or green tea instead? It has low caffeine and it doesn't trigger anxiety in me. It has L-theanine which helps relaxation without you feeling tired. Caffeine triggers my anxiety, but it really depends on how much coffee I drink or how dark it is. I used to play a video game that I was competitive in and I would get major anxiety to the point it would be on my mind when I wasn't around it. After removing it from my life, my anxiety has very rarely showed up. Taking away soda most likely had consequences because your body is so used to the caffeine intake it has. All I can suggest is see a doctor about that and see what they have to say. Or you could go the route of drinking tea and see how things work out, since again, tea does have caffeine, but it's lower.

 

[Katzenjammer]

I can't have caffeine (or only tiny amounts like decaf) due to my anxiety and that it would counteract my anxiety meds in some ways. I've also had some very bad reactions to caffeine overload and felt literally ill. Anxiety + Caffeine = Nope! in my personal experience. Others have made really good points as well.

 

[Mr_Persona]

I didn't know that caffeine can mess up with anxiety. Hm, my sister does drink caffeine but it never made her anxiety worse. But her anxiety was never bad in the first place anyway.

 

[amemome]

I have coffee every day, around 2 cups of caffeinated and 2 cups of decaf. All of my coffee is consumed before 1pm, and it doesn't affect my sleep schedule.

I do get jitters, but only if I don't have food with my coffee. And I don't get a stomach ache, but I do get to go to the bathroom regularly thanks to coffee! Keeps my bowels very regular.

I think if you have a situation where your daily caffeine intake is around 3-4 cups, you can start slowly coming off of it by subbing one of your cups with a non-caffeinated variant or with water, maybe once a week, then every two days, then once a day, then up the cups of non-caffeinated. Slowly... wean yourself off of it.

If you're feeling anxious, it might be heightened because of the caffeine, not because of it.

 

[hakutaku]

I drink one cup of coffee per day! I like it pretty strong too, but to my knowledge it's never really affected my anxiety that much. I think because over the years I've built up a tolerance to it? I gave up drinking caffeinated fizzy drinks years ago so I can't speak on those.

Saying that, I don't like eating or drinking at all when I'm really anxious.

 

[litilravnur]

I usually drink 2 cups of coffee per day, sometimes just 1. Also, I prefer my coffee strong. Caffeine doesn't mess up with my anxiety or my sleep cycle. I began to drink coffee as a teenager (by then I already had anxiety) and since the beginning, I didn't notice any change in my mood like being restless or having trouble sleeping.

As hakutaku, when I'm anxious/depressed, my appetite is suppressed so no eating or drinking.