Meds and Caffeine

I'm sure plenty of us drink some type of caffeinated beverage to help with some of the grogginess of night meds. If you have morning and/or afternoon meds, do you take them same time you drink caffeine, space it out, after...? Does it make a difference?

This is a great question. I have always tried to figure out if the coffee is
interacting with my meds and I have never been quite sure.
I would love to know if other people have this issue.

Hi Gina,
Lithium levels are affected by caffeine.
It is recommended to sustain the same intake to keep the appropiate level.
My other meds don't have contraindications that I know of.

Haha. I take my morning doses of lamictal and gabapentin with coffee. I know that's probably horrible now that I think about it. Doesn't interact with them as far as I can tell.

I have chased my morning meds before with a soda, but since I wanted to be fancy and go to Starbucks this morning, I figured that's a bit more caffeine and was curious if that did anything.
But so far, no headaches or anything. But that has happened in the past with an afternoon dose.

I usually drink my coffee at about the same time as I take my meds. But I am limiting myself to one coffee and then switching to herbal tea. I like hot stuff during the day.

I usuly take meds with wAter

I drink my caffeine in the morning, regardless of anything else. Sometimes I don't have any caffeine at all, so I guess I must say that my night meds are worn off by the time I get up in the morning most of the time.

I had a psychiatrist who was death on coffee until I scheduled an early morning appointment and let him see just how groggy the meds I was taking (at that time) left me, and how the coffee I brought with me aided that. He didn't argue with me after that about caffeine.

I drink lots of coffee and not noticed anything. Meds don't work on me anyway

I usually take my lithium before my cup of coffee in the morning ...

I often take a ritalin with my coffee in the morning. Really effective in getting the cobwebs out and it supercharges the day.

I take my meds with water but sip coffee all day long. I don't think I could function without it. I get sleepy if i go without it for 3 or 4 hours.

I gave up caffeine 9 years ago and was surprised how much better my meds worked without it. but I was using it to make myself hypomanic so that probably was an important part in why it had that effect for me.

Well I ended up having a headache by the end of the day. I typically don't drink much caffeine anymore....unless I'm desperately tired and have work to complete. Which was today.

Can I have a cafe con leche for favor.

I usually have a glass of chai in the morning...if I have a second I usually get twitchy. Yeah I drink it to get rid of the morning sedated hangover of my meds. I could take the meds earlier but, ya know how that goes.

My pdoc yells at me at every appointment about my caffeine. I wish she would take a day off and take a seroquel and realize that I'm a zombie without it! And I wake up with wicked caffeine withdrawal in the morning. I know I have to cut down for sure. I'll fess up to that one.

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Caffeine is my friend

I drink about 2-3 cups of strong coffee a day but can function without it as my meds don't leave me sedated in the mornings. I find coffee helpful when I need to focus and get work done quickly. No interactions with my meds that I have noticed.

My T says caffeine revs up the manic symptoms, but I don't think it can cause too much damage.

I've never noticed caffeine affecting my meds. I usually drink an energy drink or coffee in the morning, take my meds in the afternoon with lunch (which sometimes includes a caffeinated tea), have something caffeinated in the afternoon like green tea and then take the rest of my meds right before bed (with milk or water along with food because of Latuda). I self-medicate with extra caffeine on days that I'm depressed. It really helps a LOT with the depression.

Diagnosed Bipolar 2 with OCD. On Lithium, Trileptal, Latuda, Risperdal, and Xanax.

I am fine with caffeine. Helps me wake up and doesn't keep me up at night or make me jittery. I'm not sensitive to it nearly as much as most people.

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How do you stay still?!