Caffeine Intolerance

[gate_pourri]

As of late, I have noticed that I am developing what I would call an intolerance to caffeine. More and more often, when I drink anything with caffeine (tea, coffee, soda) a few hours later, I get very light headed, a little nauseous, my heart seems to speed up and an all around malaise feeling. It has been going on for about a year, but what used to be very occasional seems to be occurring almost every time I drink caffeine. Has anyone had this problem before?

 

[Aisling]

I also have this same reaction to caffeine. I wasn't always like this, but about 3 years ago, I started becoming intolerant. The effects were so bad that I avoid caffeine totally whenever possible.

 

[themarquis]

lol ... I wish!

Actually, I had two periods in my life where I experienced something similar. Both were medically related. The first happened when I started to take Wellbutrin for depression. It is sort of "stimulating" so I figured the combo of the Wellbutrin plus coffee was too much for me.

The second was when I started getting treatment for sleep apnea. I was much more awake and alert during the day, and if I drank caffeine, I was over-alert! Unfortunately, that only happened in the beginning, and now I am back to a several cup a day habit.

I normally have a high heart rate (like 90 BPM) so I kind of figured that when for whatever reason, caffeine elevates my heart rate, I get kind of "speedy".

Have you had any major changes medically or in your lifestyle (changes in exercise, medication, general anxiety/stress, etc?)

 

[gate_pourri]

Thanks for the responses. I had two medical changes in the last month, and have had this caffeine problem each time I drink even the littlest cup of a caffeinated beverage since. The first, I was accidentally given a proscription for 100 MG of Zoloft (instead of Diflucan) and took one tablet without realizing the mistake. I got very sick after taking it and have since had this caffeine problem every single time I’ve had caffeine. The second difference is I did a 7-day GNC detox program last week. Perhaps one of those two things have aided these problems.

Secondly, before this last month, I have noticed it being more often while I am ovulating (I get a bad stabbing pain in my side during ovulation, so I can easily pinpoint that time) and during my period. Possibly it has something to do with that?

Grasping at straws here.

 

[themarquis]

Thanks for the responses. I had two medical changes in the last month, and have had this caffeine problem each time I drink even the littlest cup of a caffeinated beverage since. The first, I was accidentally given a proscription for 100 MG of Zoloft (instead of Diflucan) and took one tablet without realizing the mistake. I got very sick after taking it and have since had this caffeine problem every single time I’ve had caffeine. The second difference is I did a 7-day GNC detox program last week. Perhaps one of those two things have aided these problems.

quite possibly! The Zoloft certainly could have messed with you in some way, though it seems like since you only took one pill, the problems would have been short lived. The detox thing might be related. Some of those detox things have high doses of B vitamins and other stuff -- they might sort of invigorate and "speed" you up a bit, meaning caffeine would be intolerable.

Hey -- it might be a good thing or a sign that the "detox" worked.... I don't really hold a lot of stock in those sorts of things, but maybe!

Are you generally feeling more awake and alert, even without caffeine? If so, then maybe the "detox" did something -- why go back to the caffeine?

As for ovulation, certainly your hormones will fluctuate during this time period, and there could be interaction between the hormones and any drug ... honestly, I dunno ...

I did a quick lookup on caffeine -- basically, caffeine crosses the blood/brain barrier, increases blood pressure, dopamine, ephinephrine, and adrenaline, as well as seratonin.

The question is -- is there anything you have been taking or doing that might have also caused an increase in blood pressure, dopamine, etc.? When I was taking wellbutrin (a dopamine reuptake inhibitor), I suspected that the elevation in dopamine caused by wellbutrin, combined with the dopamine increase caused by caffeine, was just 'too much' for me.

I don't know what was in that detox stuff you were taking ---? If you post the ingredients, I can look them up for you. I know zoloft can be a dopamine reuptake inhibitor (to a small degree) as well. How long ago did you take that dose of zoloft?

One final question -- did you cut down on caffeine recently, like while you were doing the detox?