[gravyyy]

So I know that while I take Lithium I'm not supposed to have caffeine. Here's the problem... I'm in the middle of a depressed cycle and so I have no energy and no motivation. I will typically have a 16oz Pepsi at around noon to help me make it through the afternoon working. I do home care and so I drive a significant amount and the past several weeks have basically fallen asleep several time while driving.

The thing is, I make it through the afternoon but I don't feel like I have more energy or am more alert. I In fact I feel anxious and jittery. My thoughts don't race but my head becomes more "noisy" if that makes sense. Again this is after slightly more than 1 can of Coke/Pepsi per day. Nothing else. Just wondering how caffeine affects you all. Is it just because of the Lithium or is it bipolar disorder in general or is it just me being sensitive? Prior to this I never drank caffeine because of a heart rhythm problem. Thanks for you input.... just something I've been curious about.

[SunnyD]

I am on Lamictal and my daughter is on some anticonvulsants for her epilepsy. She says that the medications work better without caffeine.
I don't know about that but occasionally I will have a diet Pepsi. Fortunately for me there are decaf coffee and tea.

[ruffy]

Thats a tough one. Anyway you can drink just enough soda to get you going but not over the top? Maybe cut the amount in half or even less? If it doesnt work tell your Dr. about your drowsiness. Maybe he can adjust your meds. You cant go around sleepy all the time, especially when driving. Feel better and be safe!

[grizmom]

I have to watch how much caffeine I drink also, I'm not on Lithium, but when I'm really tired in the morning if I drink more than 1 cup of coffee I also get jittery and my anxiety goes WAY up. It does wake me up enough for a few hours, but then I have the caffeine crash in the afternoon. So I only drink the coffee if I have appointments or something that I can't miss in the morning. (I sometimes mix decaf with regular to keep the caffeine a bit lower) As for soda, I usually have 1, sometimes 2 per day but I drink them slowly - I keep water besides me and take drinks of water in between drinks of soda - so that I can tell right away if the caffeine is starting to make me jittery and then I can stop the soda. For me, it is really the only thing that helps with the dry mouth and helps keep me somewhat more awake during the day. I was thinking of asking my regular doctor if there is anything else that might help me stay awake like vitamins or green tea or a supplement or something without causing the jitters and anxiety. For now I'm going to put up with the tiredness side-effect from the clonazepam until I switch to a new pdoc because besides that it seems to be working well.

Sorry I've gone on and rambled again...I have a hard time keeping things short...I working on that

[IndigoRose]

Caffeine can be a depressant, it will dehydrate you, and make a lot of regular, every day feelings different. It's still a chemical that scientists are iffy on. I know a lot of people that are seriously addicted to it. And when I say that, I mean they're drinking some form of it 24/7. Not the good kinds of caffeine either, but Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew, and anything elsd they can find with enormous amounts of caffeine in it.

Have you been completely caffeine free up until recently?

[gravyyy]

no indigorose... I went for about 2 years without any caffeine at all (I mean I had chocolate sometimes but like a bite once every 6 months). When I decided to start drinking caffeine again I would have like a couple sips and then a glass then a little more and it's always pop (or soda if you prefer). I worked into it like you would titrate up on meds.

The thing is I will get a 16oz Pepsi or Coke and I don't even drink all of it. I usually drink about half. I only get it when I'm working and am driving between patient houses. By the time I go in, see a patient, and get back out to the car the ice is melting and it's all watered down and I hate that. That's why typically I maybe drink half of the drink and throw the rest away. So I'm not even taking in that much caffeine at all. Way less than 1 cup of coffee for sure. I see pdoc on Tuesday so maybe I will just see if there's something we can do. He knows I'm tired and have no energy. We have discussed that plenty of times. Maybe I'm just going to see if there's anything we can do. I hate fighting sleep while I'm driving. Thanks for your responses!!!

[rcsweep]

pdoc took away my highs ( no more highs for you!) freaken mania Nazi.
anyways I've bin compensating with buckets of coffee ever since. i cut back to 3-4 cups a day, but now i'm taking naps in the afternoon and just plain tired.
just a side note my pdoc said that some people will self medicate with caffeine for adhd and add. he said his office use to have it on the questionnaire they gave out for diagnoses.

Originally Posted by gravyyy

So I know that while I take Lithium I'm not supposed to have caffeine. Here's the problem... I'm in the middle of a depressed cycle and so I have no energy and no motivation. I will typically have a 16oz Pepsi at around noon to help me make it through the afternoon working. I do home care and so I drive a significant amount and the past several weeks have basically fallen asleep several time while driving.

The thing is, I make it through the afternoon but I don't feel like I have more energy or am more alert. I In fact I feel anxious and jittery. My thoughts don't race but my head becomes more "noisy" if that makes sense. Again this is after slightly more than 1 can of Coke/Pepsi per day. Nothing else. Just wondering how caffeine affects you all. Is it just because of the Lithium or is it bipolar disorder in general or is it just me being sensitive? Prior to this I never drank caffeine because of a heart rhythm problem. Thanks for you input.... just something I've been curious about.

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by IndigoRose

Caffeine can be a depressant

How so?

Source?

[missmoonshine]

I had never heard caffeine can be a depressant?? Wow I drink a lot of it at the mo just to try keep me a little alive

[Yoda]

I never heard caffeine is a depressant either. Energy drinks can cause fatigue because some of them are high in sugar so perhaps that is what she meant. I don't know. I'll wait for her response.

A benefit to coffee is it contains methyl xanthines which is good for folks like me that have asthma.

[venusss]

I am not on meds, but I fuel on caffeine. Coffee, Redbull, Yerba Mate tea, coca cola (I drink liters of diet coke... I know it's bad for me, but I like it too damn much).

I think I might be addicted to caffeine, but well it does not cause me too much trouble. I get irratibable sometimes, but I noticed I get nervous even without my caffeine fix... It helps me to get out of the bed in the morning... on days I work, I have to have my coffee in the morning. I have also quite low blood pressure and I faint sometimes. I will just collapse when getting up too fast, or being somewhere hot... Doctor actually told me to drink coffee for that, so hey, I have it medically approved.

[gravyyy]

Caffeine isn't a depressant... it's a stimulant. The trouble with it, like other stimulants (even for "normal" people) is that you will get a rush from it followed by a big crash. The size of the crash depends on the amount of caffeine you drank. It kinda works like a sugar rush/crash. If you give a 3 year old a lot of candy they run around like crazy for an hour or two but then they crash down so hard you'd think they are dead. They will just sleep and sleep for hours. They work kinda the same way. Perhaps this is what was meant by caffeine being a depressant?

The reason it works for Venus for her blood pressure difficulties is that caffeine causes your arteries to shrink in diameter. This causes your blood pressure to increase and it causes an increased workload on the heart as it has to use more force to get the blood through the vessels. Just an FYI for those who didn't know but wanted to know! haha.

[BNLsMOM]

I used to dring regular coffee and I didn't really notice if it raised my energy or not until I went on meds. then I realized that I would get really up for a few hours and then be really exhausted, but unable to sleep because I was so shakey and jittery. I definitely contributed to my anxiety although I didn't notice it until I stopped drinking it and switched to decaf.

Now that I have switched to decaf, I can't go near the regular stuff. I notice a major difference if I order a decaf and get regualr by mistake. Now that I am on Lithium I am not supposed to drink it anyway.

Now that I think about it, I am willing to bet that caffeine contributed to some of my mixed episodes that I used to have before I was diagnosed.

[IndigoRose]

A lot of scientists and doctors believe and teach that caffeine, in large doses, is a depressant. About the same amount believe that large amounts of sugar, in combination with caffeine or not, worsens depression. You can find information about it, and contridictions to the scientific and medical views, all over the Internet.

At the beginning and end of each day, you have to do what is best for your own body. Some people find that caffeine doesn't affect them, some use it pretty sparingly, some can't function without it, and some are too sensitive to it.

[Anneinside]

I drink coffee during the weekdays but not after 11am as my pdoc suggested. Drinking coffee in the evening can disrupt sleep, as it IS a stimulant. From Wiki: "Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that is a psychoactive stimulant drug." "In humans, caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant, having the effect of temporarily warding off drowsiness and restoring alertness."

[yutzman]

Well, I get tolerent very quickly to Caffeine and it doesn't effect me at all soon. So no wonder you feel effects of it less, or jittery (which is not stimulation). I could drink ten cups of coffee for two weeks and drive off a road asleep soon after. Caffeine is just not a good stimulant....and if you drink it for that effect, expect the consequence. Nicotine the same......Y

[confusingmusic]

Hello.

I was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder in 2004. I really think that you should stop the Caffeine usage because the Caffeine can in my opinion drive you into a hypomanic-like state of irritability or giddiness. I too am on Lithium and I think that using Caffeine is like any other drug and it messes with your stability.

For myself, the Caffeine doesn't kick in until later in the evening with anxiety creeping in.

Please consider my words. God bless.

[lighthelper]

Originally Posted by rcsweep

pdoc took away my highs ( no more highs for you!) freaken mania Nazi.
anyways I've bin compensating with buckets of coffee ever since. i cut back to 3-4 cups a day, but now i'm taking naps in the afternoon and just plain tired.
just a side note my pdoc said that some people will self medicate with caffeine for adhd and add. he said his office use to have it on the questionnaire they gave out for diagnoses.

I think this is a good question. I aam still trying to figure out the bipolar. My therapist does not think I am bipolar but husband (estranged) and kids youngest because dad says and eldest because dad who is a doc says. Well, my pdoc says mood disorder. Anyway, it still acts like a hypomania. I am on trileptal and I find I am very sensitive to caffeine and feel sleepy and fatigued through out the day. I swear it is a certain times consistently of the day corresponding to the peaks of the medication. So, I do have coffee no more than 3 cups. Because like you said it then will make me jittery. I think you are on to something about caffeine sensitivity. I did better on decaf. (I understand it still has a little caffeine in it). just a thought. Are you getting manic. uhm it seems the words talking faster, the sleep disrupted is a trick I keep being asked by the pdocs. Sleep is first indicator of off cycle. For me I really track my sleep (at nite) when I am supposed to and I keep working at regular schedule. Because if I let myself I can be up til 3 am easy. hope that is helpful for you. Any other tricks please feel free for feedback. I am new at the diagnosis and tricks of the meds.

[Travelinglady]

My psychiatrist told me not to use any caffeine at all. I'm bipolar. I have to admit, though, that I do sometimes drink a soda with some caffeine in it at lunchtime. I have a hard time with fast-food restaurants that way. I like caffeine-free sodas that are also diet sodas, but they usually don't have sodas that are that way. I do avoid caffeine in the evenings, since it can make me jittery and I find it hard to get to sleep. I think we do have to find what works best for us. Some people can just handle more caffeine than others, I think.

[owllover99]

I read when I started lithium "don't do more caffine". I drink 2 big cups of coffee and a LOT of Diet Coke (I'm gonna talk to the machine man and see if he will put caffine free). But that's because of what my mouth expert doctor wants. Cause my lithium levels are perfect. and I only take 675 mg a day. Now I drink caffine free diet coke at home at night so maybe I won't stay up, but being bipolar the thoughts race through my head sleeping pill and all. I guess I'm just lucky.

[thinker22]

When I was on lithium, my hands shook horribly. I can only imagine how caffeine might make that even worse. I drink a half a cup to a full cup of French pressed coffee each morning. I have a half a bottle of black tea (8 oz) with lunch. I also will eat chocolate after lunch and dinner in some form of dessert. It doesn't affect my sleep, but then I take diazepam every night.

One thing that was hinted at in another's reply is what came to mind when you talk about drinking sodas in the afternoon. The sugar content may be what's causing you to be tired if not crash, not some tolerance for caffeine. Perhaps try drinking something low in sugar that still has caffeine in it. Green tea is good and any tea has less caffeine than coffee. Don't do the diet sodas, though. The chemicals in there can make it hard to concentrate and mess with your muscles. I get twitchy on Diet Coke. It's really bad for you. I had a friend who quit his Diet Coke regime...like a liter a day and found he felt better and could write with a clear head again.

But talk to your dr about it to be sure. I wouldn't want to be interfering with the benefits of my meds. Hell, I probably shouldn't be taking in any caffeine myself. Perhaps why I'm getting hypomanic. Hope you feel better soon.

[Yoda]

I am a caffeine addict from way back. My mom said that before I was old enough to talk she gave me a sip of Coca-Cola that she was drinking. She regretted it because every time that I saw a Coca-Cola bottle after that I fussed until she let me have a drink.

When I was a bit older, perhaps five or six, my grandfather would give me sips of his coffee. He liked his with sugar and cream.

One time I was working my twelve hour shift in ICU and a nurse who was stationed in a room near our coffee pot kept track of how many cups of coffee I drank during the shift (she must have had an easy patient that day). She told me I drank eighteen cups of coffee. Not little six ounce cups either they were sixteen oz.

I have never had any adverse effects from the caffeine that I know of. I used to be able to drink a cup of coffee on my way home from work and have no trouble falling asleep. But I developed insomnia when I became perimenopausal so I have cut way back from eighteen cups. *Yoda says as she sits here sipping her Coca-Cola*

[WendyAussie]

I don't drink tea or coffee but I drink Diet Coke everyday. Unless I really max out, I don't find it adds to my anxiety. As to the dehydration and also not drinking Diet Coke too late into the day so it affects my sleep, I don't drink it after 4.00pm. And I drink loads of water in the latter part of the day (and in the night too, because of Lithium), and if it's hot weather I'll drink more water throughout the day too. I know it's full of chemicals and thus not good for me, but I don't drink and I don't smoke and am 100% meds compliant, so I feel it's one of my guilty pleasures. One can of Diet Coke is worth approximately half a cup of coffee. I've never drunk coffee or tea.

Pespi Max is a whole other deal. I prefer my Diet Coke so I'd never drink Pepsi Max unless I had no other choice - but the caffeine - Whooa!!!! I get very jittery from that so I'd only drink it a few times a year -and as to stuff like Red Bull - absolutely no way.

[romanjames2004]

When my psych told me about my bipolar and every thing it was a really emotional day and I hadn't slept in 2 days so I was like soon stressed and he told me I couldn't drink my Starbucks which is the only way other than shopping that I feel ok with. I started balling lol. He kinda had his WTF look on his face and as I was like sniffiling I had to tell him and he told me he really thought I should give it up . But yeah. It makes my emotions soon much more powerful. When I'm angry I feel rage. When I'm sad I cry. When I am happy I feel like I can do anything.