For the Side of Excessive Caffeine?
My inspiration for scripting this article is within reply to the countless incidents within my clinical practice treating people who have anxiety attacks and under-diagnosed caffeine intoxication. Every time a new client reports high anxiety it tends to go much the same way: The consumer comes into session complaining of anxiety and panic symptoms with plenty of reports of panic disorder and follow-up visits with the psychiatrist, pleading for anti-anxiolytic medications. A lot of people haven’t heard of the physiological consequences of consuming too much caffeine, and just how they’re commonly wrongly identified as panic symptoms. Restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, flushed face, muscle twitching, rambling flow of speech, increased heart rate and psychomotor agitation among others. These are just like panic-like symptoms (Association, 2013).
Caffeine helps you wake as it stimulates various parts of your body. When consumed, it increases the neurotransmitters norepinephrine within the brain, leading to increased levels so that it is be a little more alert and awake. Caffeine produces the same physiological response as if you were stressed. This results in increased amounts of activity within the sympathetic nervous system and releases adrenaline. The identical response you would get on the stressful commute to work, or going to a snake slither throughout the path on a hiking trip. Caffeine consumption also minimizes how much Thiamine (Vitamin B1) in the body. Thiamine can be a known anti-stress vitamin (Bourne, 2000).
While writing this article one morning I observed the road within my local coffeehouse. The long line wrapped around the store jammed with people wanting to wake, desperate for their daily caffeine fix. Many ordered large-sized coffee cups, a few of which included caffeine turbo shots to assist them survive their mornings. So, just how do we know when we’ve had excessive caffeine? Most assume their daily caffeine intake has little if absolutely nothing to do with their daily emotional health.
Let’s talk about the number of milligrams come in a daily average sized 8 oz walk:
Instant coffee = 66 mg
Percolated coffee = 110 mg
Coffee, drip = 146 mg
Decaffeinated coffee = about 4 mg
Caffeine are located in a variety of sources besides coffee. The normal ballewick with regards to the color as well as the period of time steeped contains roughly under 40 mg of caffeine per serving (Bourne, 2000).
Many popular soda drinks also contain caffeine:
Cola = 65 mg
Dr. Pepper = 61 mg
Mountain Dew = 55 mg
Diet Dr. Pepper = 54 mg
Diet Cola = 49 mg
Pepsi-Cola = 43 mg
Even cocoa has about 13 mg of caffeine per serving (Bourne, 2000). Energy drinks have high caffeine levels and may be monitored as well. To learn your overall caffeine intake multiple the amount of consumed caffeinated beverages with the indicated average caffeine levels in the above list. Remember that single serving equals 8 oz. Even though you’re consuming one large cup does not mean it just counts jointly serving!
According the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) Caffeine Intoxication is often a diagnosable mental health issue. Most of the clients I treat for several anxiety-related disorders concurrently fall into the caffeine intoxication category. They eagerly seek psychiatric medication to cut back anxiety symptoms without first being assessed for lifestyle and daily stimulant consumption. The DSM-V’s criteria for caffeine intoxication means anyone who consumes over 250 mg of caffeine per day (compare your average caffeine level to 250 mg to gauge how much caffeine you eat daily) (Association, 2013). After just two glasses of drip coffee you already meet the requirements for caffeine intoxication! It’s recommended that folks without anxiety problems consume less than 100 mg of caffeine a day. For those who have anxiety troubles it is best to have 0 mg of caffeine a day so the anxiety arousal system isn’t triggered by anxiety-induced substances.
Most of the clients who report being affected by panic disorder recall on the day that they had panic or anxiety attack which they usually consumed an extra caffeinated beverage, when compared to the days without panic and anxiety attacks. After a client is assessed for caffeine intoxication among the first steps I take would be to develop a behavioral prefer to conserve the client reduce their daily caffeine. Nearly all my clients figure out that whenever having reduce their caffeine they right away feel better and less anxious. As soon as the client is down to 0 mg occurs when I’m able to finally ascertain perhaps the anxiety symptoms are related to anxiety, caffeine intoxication, or both.
If you meet the requirements for caffeine intoxication there are many ways for you to reduce your caffeine levels. High doses (particularly those within the caffeine intoxication zone over 250 mg) are greatly prone to caffeine withdrawal symptoms like headache, fatigue, depressed or irritable mood, difficulty concentrating and muscle stiffness (Association, 2013). It’s recommended to slowly reduce your caffeine intake to attenuate withdrawal symptoms. For best results try scaling down by one caffeinated beverage 30 days (Bourne, 2000). As an example in the event you consume five glasses of coffee per day try scaling down to four cups every single day to get a month, then right down to three cups every day for an additional month and continue before you are at least under 100 mg otherwise 0 mg.
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