Can Your Body Eventually Reject Caffeine?

[Sylvester McBean]

aside from an iced capp from starbucks, I don't really like coffee. but I've been addicted to diet pepsi since college, and drink way too many a day. but in the last month, the thought of a soda makes me want to barf. it even tastes different. the only thing I'm really drinking or craving is milk and OJ. is my body shutting the caffeine fix down? I'm 36. TIA.

 

[Aidensmom]

Caffiene can cause a lot of stomach acid. Your stomach may have become more sensitive. Especially if you have a lot of stressors, etc going on in your life.

At one point a couple of years ago I developed a caffiene sensitivity where my heart would race all day if I even drank one can of caffienated soda. It's only been in the past couple of months that I could have caffiiene again.

 

[Sylvester McBean]

Caffiene can cause a lot of stomach acid. Your stomach may have become more sensitive. Especially if you have a lot of stressors, etc going on in your life.

At one point a couple of years ago I developed a caffiene sensitivity where my heart would race all day if I even drank one can of caffienated soda. It's only been in the past couple of months that I could have caffiiene again.

I didn't know about that caffeine could kick up the stomach acid. and yes, there's a big stress element. I'm on an anti-anxiety drug right now. thanks for the heads-up.

 

[cstraub]

Found this info on the Web:

Like the other members of its family, caffeine, as a poison of sorts, can actually be toxic—even lethal. But a person would have to consume a really huge amount of caffeine to die from it. A deadly dose of coffee—or any of the other caffeine-bearing products, like chocolate or cola—is equivalent to 40 strong cups (5,000 milligrams) and your body would most certainly reject it before it could do any harm. An injection of this amount of pure caffeine, however, would more than likely do the trick.

It probably won't come as a surprise, then, to discover that the human body indeed responds to caffeine as it would a poison—very similarly, in fact, to the manner in which it responds to alcohol. Liver enzymes are called on to assail the caffeine molecules and break them down as quickly as possible. This is achieved by reversing the chemical processes by which caffeine was constructed in the plants from which it comes. Groups of molecules—the methyl groups of theophylline, theobromine, and paraxanthine—are separated one by one.

This process has an interesting net effect on humans. It turns out that one of these molecules called paraxanthine is very similar to caffeine in structure and in its effect on the brain. Paraxanthine is even more potent than caffeine itself, and since 70 percent of a dose of caffeine is broken down into paraxanthine, a healthy percentage of the buzz that coffee gives us is not from caffeine at all, but from the dismantling of caffeine into paraxanthine.

As with most other drugs, everyone's body reacts a little differently to the intake of caffeine. For some, the smallest amount of caffeine is enough to keep them awake all night. Others profess to drinking ten—even twenty—cups a day without a disruption of sleep. Caffeine is known to upset stomachs and exacerbate anxiety in some people (though not in others), but to also ease headaches and bodily pains. It's often tied to irritability, depression, nervousness, and headaches.

In short, caffeine is not everyone's cup of tea. It is no simple chemical, and the reasons for the wild variation in its effects are not rooted in mere myth, but are the result of the chemical's complicated and not altogether understood interaction with each individual human body and mind it comes in contact with.

 

[2sweetangels]

My body rejects caffein. I can drink soda and pot's of coffee and still go to sleep and take naps. Im a caffein freak and I think my body has become immune to it since all I drink is stuff with caffein in it for the past 5 years.

 

[nwdisgal]

Found this info on the Web:

Like the other members of its family, caffeine, as a poison of sorts, can actually be toxic—even lethal. But a person would have to consume a really huge amount of caffeine to die from it. A deadly dose of coffee—or any of the other caffeine-bearing products, like chocolate or cola—is equivalent to 40 strong cups (5,000 milligrams) and your body would most certainly reject it before it could do any harm. An injection of this amount of pure caffeine, however, would more than likely do the trick.

It probably won't come as a surprise, then, to discover that the human body indeed responds to caffeine as it would a poison—very similarly, in fact, to the manner in which it responds to alcohol. Liver enzymes are called on to assail the caffeine molecules and break them down as quickly as possible. This is achieved by reversing the chemical processes by which caffeine was constructed in the plants from which it comes. Groups of molecules—the methyl groups of theophylline, theobromine, and paraxanthine—are separated one by one.

This process has an interesting net effect on humans. It turns out that one of these molecules called paraxanthine is very similar to caffeine in structure and in its effect on the brain. Paraxanthine is even more potent than caffeine itself, and since 70 percent of a dose of caffeine is broken down into paraxanthine, a healthy percentage of the buzz that coffee gives us is not from caffeine at all, but from the dismantling of caffeine into paraxanthine.

As with most other drugs, everyone's body reacts a little differently to the intake of caffeine. For some, the smallest amount of caffeine is enough to keep them awake all night. Others profess to drinking ten—even twenty—cups a day without a disruption of sleep. Caffeine is known to upset stomachs and exacerbate anxiety in some people (though not in others), but to also ease headaches and bodily pains. It's often tied to irritability, depression, nervousness, and headaches.

In short, caffeine is not everyone's cup of tea. It is no simple chemical, and the reasons for the wild variation in its effects are not rooted in mere myth, but are the result of the chemical's complicated and not altogether understood interaction with each individual human body and mind it comes in contact with.

Wow. Interesting article... I drink way too much of the stuff, and am wondering if some of my recent irritability, etc. has to do with that.

 

[Linnie The Pooh]

I can't handle caffeine at all. I stopped drinking it several years ago. I eliminated all chocolate and caffeinated beverages from my diet. It makes me super jittery, unable to sleep, and when I don't get it, I get major headaches and cranky. I figure I'm better off without it.

 

[kristen821]

I was going to ask if you were pregnant, but I just looked at your profile and answered my own question!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

That is about the age my body started to reject caffeine. Ok so I didn't listen. Now I am almost 41 and going to the gastro for acid reflux.

Of course the caffeine may not have caused it but I know for a fact it irritates it. It makes my chest hurt.

I drink caffeine free sodas and I have not given up my coffee yet. In fact enjoying a cup this morning right now....

 

[Sylvester McBean]

thanks for the responses. I can drink OJ and lemonade with no problems, so I don't think it's the acid. my wife and I had a couple of beers at Universal today, so I don't think it's the carbonation. but I had a diet coke with lunch and it made me want to hurl. time to check in with the doctor and see what the heck's going on inside my bod.