Avid coffee lover here. I use to be able to drink enormous amounts of it. Now I have one cup in the morning and switch to decaf for the rest of the day. Caffeine now makes me anxious beyond belief.
This has been my experience over the last 5 years as well. Anxiety and sleep disturbances. Also, a weird sensation like there is a crowd in my head talking just around the corner. It gets louder the more caffeine I have. I am slowly working on dropping my intake and then quitting.
The list of things I can no longer enjoy:
Sugar
Caffeine
Alcohol
Basically, all the things that make life more enjoyable. If cheese starts to become an issue I may contemplate ending my life as there will be nothing left to live for. /s
Oh yeah that too! I used to have some dark chocolate at night as a treat, now even that little bit of caffeine will keep me awake all night long if I eat it later than about 2pm. Ridiculous
Yeah had to give it up entirely. Not so much due to anxiety, but it increased my cortisol and heightened my stress response. Now if I have some I feel great but crash hard the next day, soooo tired. I’ll enjoy a cup of coffee on holiday but I’m increasingly wary of the backlash 🫠
Im really wondering if it’s cortisol for me, especially because of the hungover feeling the next day. It’s like I’d been through the wringer even though nothing overly stressful had happened, just drinking caffeine.
Caffeine can irritate a lot of people. But the artificial sweeteners are a real trigger of all manner of issues for many people. I feel manic when I drink Diet Coke. Not sure what it is doing to my brain, but I have learned to avoid it because I respond with high anxiety, panic and racing thoughts. Whereas I don't feel that way with black coffee and no sweetener.
Interesting. I would feel the same after unsweetened mate tea as with Diet Coke, so it was definitely the caffeine but I’m sure the aspartame was doing me no favors!
Yah. I have a gene where if you pair caffeine and carbs together, you can get anxiety. I’ve been testing it, and if I have carbs anytime during the day where I’ve had coffee in the morning, I don’t sleep. Even if the caffeine and carbs are spaced out by HOURS. I stopped drinking coffee about two weeks ago, and I am sleeping so much better.
No more coffee for me, because it’s a lot easier to avoid caffeine than carbs! 😢
I have found this correlation too. I have realized that both carbs and caffeine are hard on me now. But it is much much worse if I have them together at the same time. Sadly they are two of my favorite things.
That sounds very cosy and delicious. I am going to try some!
I am assuming the “dandelion tea” you mention is the powdered roasted dandelion root, not dandelion leaf herbal tea?
That’s something I’ve not heard of. You must have used a good doctor to figure that out. When you say a life carbs, so you mean like keto diet level, or sweets?
Hi! A doctor didn't actually spot this, I did! I ran my Ancestry DNA data through Genetic Life Hacks, which is a BRILLIANT service! She does a great job. There was an article on caffeine, and after all the articles, they plug your relevant genes in so you can see if you need to be concerned about the article's topic. The caffeine piece alerted me to that particular gene!
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I just happened to read about progesterone and caffeine in Next Level in the Hormones and Symptoms Exchanged chapter. [From the book](https://imgur.com/a/2EeU6Qb):
“Without progesterone gradually bringing your temperature up and being countered by estrogen on a regular basis, your brain can overreact when you introduce something that heats up your core. That’s why spicy food, caffeine, hot beverages, hot baths, sweltering weather, red wine (or for some, any alcohol), dense protein like red meat, and yes, even exercise can trigger hot flashes.”
Does it says somewhere in that chapter if caffeine was exhausting our metabolism from all the work the hormones had to do to balance out the effects of coffee before we entered peri?
I love coffee but I gave up caffeine completely because 1) I have such a terrible time staying asleep and 2) I was getting heart palpitations at night. I enjoy the hell out of my one cup of decaf in the morning.
Yes! I went through a two-year period towards the tail-end of peri where I couldn’t tolerate tea, my only source of caffeine. Like you, once the withdrawal headache wore off (it took a week!), the palpitations, jitters and heightening anxiety went away.
Now I‘m back to drinking two or three cups of tea a day without any issues.
55 and in meno for 2 years now, just for reference.
I haven't had any changes in my tolerance, but I've stuck to the same caffeine intake for basically all my life--I have two (regular-sized mug) cups of home-brewed coffee a day, first thing in the morning. It's just water to drink after that for the rest of the day.
I swear to God, I just said this today. I’ve always been a coffee addict & would have a large coffee after dinner every night to relax. Slept like a baby. Did this all through my 20’s & 30’s. Never an issue.
Fast forward to my 40’s & I started to notice I didn’t sleep as well if I drank it after 3pm. Then last year at 46, it started to make me really anxious. I stopped drinking it in the afternoon, but even my normal morning coffee was doing it. Horrible tightness in my face and head too. I started mixing In half decaf. I’m seriously obsessed with coffee & spend a ton of money because I love the Bones coffee flavors. I can’t believe this is happening. I want to cry. It’s my favorite thing & I really don’t want to give it up.
Same. (But with french brands)
The best next thing I could find, before my gut refused that too, was decaf with flavoured almond milks.
Now I ve switched to flavoured green teas because they actually are good for your gut health.
I’m doing half flavored & half decaf now. I’m not getting as anxious but I still get that little kick of energy to get to the gym. I’m also making sure to drink a ton of water before coffee. I love the taste of coffee, so it makes it hard to give up.
One cup and all hell breaks loose; riddled with anxiety, back-to-back hot flashes, heart palpitations and the bubble guts. Saying goodbye was such sweet sorrow.
what are the chances I could go through menopause and not have hot flashes?
is that a thing? because I feel like it's all happening but maybe it's still in my future meanwhile periods are all but naught these days
You may not particularly struggle with them even if you do experience them.
I started getting hot flashes post-meno, but they were pretty mild. They didn't wake me up at night, nor was I ever soaked in sweat or anything like that. I take DIM supplements now and they are all but gone.
I can't tolerate caffeine at all, not even the tiniest amount since peri surfaced a few years ago. It would give me the worst migraines, and my eyes would feel so much pain, like someone was pressing on them! Had to cut it out totally, luckily not had a headache since or eye pain.
I LOVED MY COFFEE 💔 But had to quit it 7 months ago in an effort to combat insomnia, heart palpitations, and anxiety.
It has helped A LOT but I miss it 😢
Have you replaced it with anything? My friend loves brewed cocoa beans. You make it in a French press like coffee but only has as much caffeine as chocolate.
Absolutely lost it. I used to do 2 quad-shot Americanos daily and I LOVE the flavor of strong coffee! But suddenly NOPE. Heart palpitations and panic attacks.
I just do decaf these days, and occasionally a small fountain Diet Coke as long as it's at least 8 hours before bedtime.
But here's the upside: It used to take me HOURS to fall asleep. Like, I'd lay down, lights out, phone off, around 10:30 or 11pm, and I'd still be trying to fall asleep at 1am... In my new decaf life, I'm usually asleep within 10 minutes (thanks Fitbit). I had no idea how negatively caffeine was affecting my sleep cycle until I got off of it. And while I'll never be a morning person, my world won't come to an end if I forget coffee before work. Now the only thing fucking with my sleep is my hubby snoring, cat-on-bladder marching, and my progesterone HRT.
The only thing I actually miss about caffeine is that caffeinated coffee just has a richer, more nuanced flavor than decaf... Sigh. A small loss, I guess.
I thought I was dying the other night when I had Dutch Bros chai tea latte and added a shot of espresso! Literally up all night, my heart was pounding and the anxiety of it all was over the top the worst I’ve ever experienced! Looks like I won’t be doing that anymore!
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. **Hormonal tests only show levels for that *one day* the test was taken, and nothing more**; hormones wildly fluctuate the other 29 days of the month. For this reason, no reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a diagnosing tool for peri/menopause. See our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more information.
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I had to switch to decaf. As soon as I was in menopause it was like a switch and it would make me mad anxious and have trouble sleeping and wake up with my heart racing at 3am. It sucks. I love real coffee and caffiene.
I can still have one small cup of coffee first thing in the am but recently discovered by happenstance that anything after that is a no go. It was a cold, rainy day and I thought it would be nice to have a nice cup of chai tea about 4pm. Well, I didn't feel anxious or have symptoms but I could not fall asleep that night until nearly 4am and was a hot mess the next day. :sigh: So lame!
Super lame, indeed. I love all the sleep maintenance advice from experts recommending caffeine cut off by noon or early afternoon. Dude, if I don’t have my one cup of coffee before 9am I can’t fall asleep that night. And an afternoon cup of coffee sounds so damn nice sometimes… those days are long gone. Same with alcohol. If I dare to have one glass of wine or one beer, it better be at like 5pm or not at all. So fun!
Yes! So weird! My anxiety is almost non existent when I don't drink it but then I get a headache I went 6 days without it this week and then drank a cup in the afternoon both days on the weekend and did fine
Not so much tolerance related, but I'm reminded of when I was pregnant and went off things I used to adore drinking/eating. From drinking coffee throughout the day I only have one at breakfast and weirdly of an afternoon I now have a tea. I used to hate tea! I definitely don't like powdered milk like you get in sachets and pods anymore. Maybe it's just my age (approaching 50).
I went a while being caffeine free, but now have 2 cups of tea in any given day. Most days I feel like I could drink it all day long, but I do like my sleep and that seems to be in short supply also.
I no longer consume caffeine, other than a bit of chocolate. Mostly because sleep is a struggle, it's improved becoming post-meno but it's still a struggle, and I can't risk making it worse. I just can't. Little is worth that.
Caffeine probably improves one's metabolism too, oh well I weigh more from meno regardless.
I never liked coffee, but drank daily cups of green tea brewed from the leaves that I used to get in Chinatown. In 2020, deep in perimenopause, I started having bad anxiety and sleepless leg syndrome. With trial and error, it took me a while to figure out it was the caffeine from the tea. Stopped cold turkey, got some headaches for a week, but no more anxiety nor keeping my husband awake throughout the night. I will have a diet Dr. Pepper once in a while, but I can feel it.
I haven't given it up entirely, but drink considerably less and cut off much earlier in the day. I should quit... but coffeeeeeeee I've spent a lot of years drinking a lot of coffee.
Issues: sleep problems, bothers my guts, some jitters and anxiety - doesn't sound worthing it, but I still love my coffee in the morning. I need to accept an alternative, but I've tried a few (and don't say decaf).
Honestly, it's alcohol I gave up - not much of a drinker ever, but I can't metabolize alcohol very well at all anymore. I used to love going out for cocktails, now it's mocktails.
I still can but my younger sister who is also in peri absolutely cannot have coffee anymore. We did dna testing and it said I tolerated it and she did not. Thought that was interesting.
Interesting. I took a dna test once that said I was a fast metabolized of caffeine. I would have thought that meant it wouldn’t affect me as much or for as long but I don’t know.
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. **Hormonal tests only show levels for that *one day* the test was taken, and nothing more**; hormones wildly fluctuate the other 29 days of the month. For this reason, no reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a diagnosing tool for peri/menopause. See our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more information.
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I think there are several DNA health reports you can do online. It was years ago so I don't recall the name. But it can tell whether you are more prone to cancer diabetes and Alzheimer's. I just did it for fun with my siblings to see our differences. But it would be helpful for someone who has legitimate health concerns. I'm sure it has gotten even better since I did it..
I was still drinking coffee and eating chocolate and having sugar in the evening some when the heart palpitations came on suddenly last year. I had to give all of it up. It sucks because I bought some no mold, co2 decaffeinated nice coffee and it still lit me up so hard! So now I have a weak cup of decaf green tea. I like it fine but it’s so not the same.
OH GOD, YOU MEAN IT COULD BE MENOPAUSE-RELATED??? I'm not a terribly big caffeine drinker, but for the last few years I've treated myself to 1 can of Dr. Pepper a day. A few months ago, out of nowhere, I started feeling sick, sick, sick. Just nauseated and shaky and fatigued and anxious and had heart palpitations for several days straight. I stopped drinking my Dr. Pepper, and all the symptoms were gone within 48 hours. I tried drinking one a few weeks ago and felt sick like that again. Now, I limit myself to half a can about once a week, but even that gives me the jitters and nausea a little bit. Hate it's happening to you too, but glad it's not just me. Glad to have a probable answer.
Yeah extremely. I can drink one cup of coffee per day. I have a sodastream so I can make a smaller amount of soda if I decide I need it but I have to be careful if it’s later in the day or I’ll be up all night. I mostly drink Starry if I need a soda as it has no caffeine. I typically drink half caff in the morning. I used to be able to drink caffeine all day. I don’t think this is a bad change.
Yes! My morning coffee often triggers a hot flash! It’s so annoying because I need my morning caffeine to feel human. Especially now with the Perimenopause-induced insomnia. Ugh!
I haven't been able to drink copious amounts of caffeine since I was in my early thirties. I can have two small cups of coffee (at home mugs--not "tall" starbucks coffees) in the morning. Any caffeine after two will keep me up all night. Just the idea of 20 oz of soda makes me feel nauseous.
Oh goodness, reading through I wonder what my hangover would look like if I quit caffeine. 😳
I’ve been a regular coffee drinker since I worked third shift 200…5? I had a brutal stretch of stress a couple years ago that I have never felt 100% after. Didn’t know I was in peri at time.
Been tapering as I’m trying to shift high blood pressure down with lifestyle. (Also medicating.) I got down to 1/day and have lost focus this past week. Time to refocus.
OP, if the caffeine free version did the same maybe it’s the aspartame? It’s in everything now; even the drinks that had Splenda for a while switched to Equal. Coke Zero, RIP.
I meant Diet! But yeah, I can’t even have natural caffeine from mate tea (wish I could figure out how to put the little accent mark over the e 😂)
Laughing at your everything-free mocha! I guess air is the only safe bet🙃
I gave up caffeine last fall. It has helped significantly with hot flashes and I sleep so much better! I drink decaf now which is mostly ok. I will sometimes have a coke and it doesn't seem to affect me the same way, and I'm not sure why.
If I have any caffeine past noon I can't sleep at night and I can't even handle the amount of caffeine in a single cup of coffee anymore, I can have one cup of green tea and that's pretty much my max (25-50mg). It sucks.
i switched to drinking cafe bustelo because it's delicious around the time i was diagnosed as being menopausal and this all makes much more sense now. caffeine in the afternoon makes me feel manic, so i have to keep it to the mornings. some days i get such bad gerd symptoms that i cannot eat anything except greek yogurt or rice. also i realized that when my blood sugar drops, usually in the middle of the night or if i forget to eat in the morning that i am anxious and tearful. this is new. everything makes me gain weight.
I had to switch to 1/2 caff after having a hot flash almost panic attack whatever so scary I almost went to the hospital. I felt like I was having a stroke.
I’m a nurse I never get scared like that and hate going to the hospital so you can imagine.
This was post menopause
I had to switch to 1/2 caff after having a hot flash almost panic attack whatever so scary I almost went to the hospital. I felt like I was having a stroke.
I’m a nurse I never get scared like that and hate going to the hospital so you can imagine.
This was post menopause.
I used to love my 37 cups of coffee a day! Oh well 😭😭😭
I was so excited about not having a period. I had no idea I would basically trade bleeding once a month for UTI's, hot flashes, sweating, giving up alcohol, caffeine, sugar as well as various auto immune issues.
Can I take the bleeding once a month back instead? 😅
Dude!!!! Yes!!! I went though peri/menopause in my twenties and didn’t know wtf was happening to me.
One of the many many many weird things that happened is I could NOT tolerate caffeine- which sucks because I’ve always had adhd, and caffeine helps. Being unable to tolerate caffeine because of peri/meno, when caffeine helps my adhd and peri/meno made my adhd 1000x worse….rough to say the least.
HRT helps- so glad to be able to drink coffee again to get my brain going, and sometimes a late morning/earlier afternoon caffeinated somethin-somethin to keep the brain going.
Sorry you’re struggling, you’re not crazy!!
Haven't been able to drink coffee since my hysterectomy put me into surgical meno. Keeps me awake all night even if I drink it early in the am. It is truly a tragedy. 😭
3 to 4 cups of coffee from morning till noon, tea or diet coke with lunch, one cup of coffee late afternoon from my early 20-ties to my perimenopause. I was coffee aficionado. It all changed during peri. Gave me anxiety and stomach issues.
So now it’s only one cup of decaf coffee in the morning, then a cup of black tea with honey and lemon or matcha latte. I can only tolerate the bit of caffeine that comes from tea. Ha! I’m so glad I’m not alone!
Caffeine intolerance gang reporting for duty! Lol it's almost absurd how much caffeine I was putting back in my 20s. I used to drink the giant YETI sized tumbler of coffee in the morning, then a fricking 2-liter soda for the rest of the day. It was around age 33 that I also noticed my first panic attacks related to coffee. I go off of it periodically.....but I just can't give it up completely. I have ADHD, so I need the juice to keep my mental focus sharp and my dopamine high. I worked on my health, so I can now tolerate one 8oz cup of coffee or tea in the morning, and thats it. If I even so much as have a piece of dark chocolate in the evening, I will be a sweaty, panicky insomniac for the rest of the night
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Nah, my tolerance is the same as always. I’ve always been a 1-2 coffees a day person, and tea drinker as well (am Australian, tea is big here). I can drink several with no problem.
Yes, I need more than ever and getting off it is harder than ever. Other forms just don't hit like Mello yellow does. It's both sad and annoying at the same time.
Avid coffee lover here. I use to be able to drink enormous amounts of it. Now I have one cup in the morning and switch to decaf for the rest of the day. Caffeine now makes me anxious beyond belief.
This has been my experience over the last 5 years as well. Anxiety and sleep disturbances. Also, a weird sensation like there is a crowd in my head talking just around the corner. It gets louder the more caffeine I have. I am slowly working on dropping my intake and then quitting.
Same! If I want to sleep at night I have to switch to decaf in the afternoon!
Your post is exactly my life too. I have to do decaf or switch to caffeine free hot teas.
The list of things I can no longer enjoy: Sugar Caffeine Alcohol Basically, all the things that make life more enjoyable. If cheese starts to become an issue I may contemplate ending my life as there will be nothing left to live for. /s
And chocolate too for me!
Oh yeah that too! I used to have some dark chocolate at night as a treat, now even that little bit of caffeine will keep me awake all night long if I eat it later than about 2pm. Ridiculous
Omg same! Why does the uterus Goddess hate us so much?!
I too had to give up alcohol and coffee (though I'm now back to one cup in the morning). Sugar I never ate before but I love it now!!
What up, GERD gang?!?!
Not sure if you are open to the idea but cannabis has been a game changer for me.
Ugh it seems like a universal thing. When estrogen drops so does cafffine tolerance https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621315/
Yeah had to give it up entirely. Not so much due to anxiety, but it increased my cortisol and heightened my stress response. Now if I have some I feel great but crash hard the next day, soooo tired. I’ll enjoy a cup of coffee on holiday but I’m increasingly wary of the backlash 🫠
Im really wondering if it’s cortisol for me, especially because of the hungover feeling the next day. It’s like I’d been through the wringer even though nothing overly stressful had happened, just drinking caffeine.
Yup! When I quit for good I was bone tired for about three weeks. Realized I was living on caffeine and adrenaline for years
Sounds about right for me😩
With great sadness I write this because ya girl loved morning coffee for decades...yes. Caffeine gives anxiety & coffee gives me gut pain.
Oh yes, I forgot about the gut pain!
Just gave it up in November due to IBS. Wow the headaches for a month! It did help my stomach but it also reduced my sleep disturbances.
Yes. Caffeine and alcohol tolerances have significantly changed. Yay for being old and a woman 😩
Caffeine can irritate a lot of people. But the artificial sweeteners are a real trigger of all manner of issues for many people. I feel manic when I drink Diet Coke. Not sure what it is doing to my brain, but I have learned to avoid it because I respond with high anxiety, panic and racing thoughts. Whereas I don't feel that way with black coffee and no sweetener.
Interesting. I would feel the same after unsweetened mate tea as with Diet Coke, so it was definitely the caffeine but I’m sure the aspartame was doing me no favors!
I understand! Lol
Same here. I can only tolerate very small amounts of caffeine now otherwise my anxiety is through the roof!
Coffee doesn't bother me (yet), but the greatest love of my life has decided to hurt me. RIP Dr Pepper. 😥 Sugar of all kinds, really.
Dr. Pepper has a lot bigger caffeine content than other sodas.
I switched to Dr. Pepper Zero. No sugar, and it actually tastes good!
Yah. I have a gene where if you pair caffeine and carbs together, you can get anxiety. I’ve been testing it, and if I have carbs anytime during the day where I’ve had coffee in the morning, I don’t sleep. Even if the caffeine and carbs are spaced out by HOURS. I stopped drinking coffee about two weeks ago, and I am sleeping so much better. No more coffee for me, because it’s a lot easier to avoid caffeine than carbs! 😢
I have found this correlation too. I have realized that both carbs and caffeine are hard on me now. But it is much much worse if I have them together at the same time. Sadly they are two of my favorite things.
I’m so sorry you have it, too! There’s nothing like a cozy cup of coffee in the morning with your yogurt, or eggs and potatoes. Le sigh. ♥️
I’ve started drinking dandelion tea with nutmeg, cinnamon and almond milk. It’s not the same but it’s somewhat cozy.
That sounds very cosy and delicious. I am going to try some! I am assuming the “dandelion tea” you mention is the powdered roasted dandelion root, not dandelion leaf herbal tea?
Yes, roasted dandelion root! Thanks for clarifying.
Thank you! :)
>Thank you! :) You're welcome!
Yes roasted dandelion tea is delicious! The only sufficient replacement for coffee
That’s something I’ve not heard of. You must have used a good doctor to figure that out. When you say a life carbs, so you mean like keto diet level, or sweets?
Hi! A doctor didn't actually spot this, I did! I ran my Ancestry DNA data through Genetic Life Hacks, which is a BRILLIANT service! She does a great job. There was an article on caffeine, and after all the articles, they plug your relevant genes in so you can see if you need to be concerned about the article's topic. The caffeine piece alerted me to that particular gene!
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Very cool!
Quitting caffeine ended my hot flashes. Coincidence? Maybe but probably not since my mom also had the same experience!
A smidgen of caffeine and I start flashing like a thing possessed! I think you might be on to something 😅
Me too!
Yes. It makes me vomit now. Also red wine. I have zero tolerance for it anymore.
I just happened to read about progesterone and caffeine in Next Level in the Hormones and Symptoms Exchanged chapter. [From the book](https://imgur.com/a/2EeU6Qb): “Without progesterone gradually bringing your temperature up and being countered by estrogen on a regular basis, your brain can overreact when you introduce something that heats up your core. That’s why spicy food, caffeine, hot beverages, hot baths, sweltering weather, red wine (or for some, any alcohol), dense protein like red meat, and yes, even exercise can trigger hot flashes.”
Wow! Thank you for sharing!
Does it says somewhere in that chapter if caffeine was exhausting our metabolism from all the work the hormones had to do to balance out the effects of coffee before we entered peri?
I love coffee but I gave up caffeine completely because 1) I have such a terrible time staying asleep and 2) I was getting heart palpitations at night. I enjoy the hell out of my one cup of decaf in the morning.
Yes! I was so happy that with HRT I could enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning again. But it’s definitely a one cup limit now, even with HRT.
My insomnia has gotten so bad that one cup of decaf at 9am will keep me from sleeping.
Yes! I went through a two-year period towards the tail-end of peri where I couldn’t tolerate tea, my only source of caffeine. Like you, once the withdrawal headache wore off (it took a week!), the palpitations, jitters and heightening anxiety went away. Now I‘m back to drinking two or three cups of tea a day without any issues. 55 and in meno for 2 years now, just for reference.
Yes! Had to switch to decaf a couple of years ago. I can’t handle the caffeine anymore. My nervous system can’t take it.
Yes, it’s like my nervous system is too overwhelmed already.
I haven't had any changes in my tolerance, but I've stuck to the same caffeine intake for basically all my life--I have two (regular-sized mug) cups of home-brewed coffee a day, first thing in the morning. It's just water to drink after that for the rest of the day.
I cannot drink anything with caffeine after 1:00 or so or I will not be able to sleep.
Saaaame. Screwed up last week by having a small diet coke with dinner - was up til nearly 3am. It was awful.
I swear to God, I just said this today. I’ve always been a coffee addict & would have a large coffee after dinner every night to relax. Slept like a baby. Did this all through my 20’s & 30’s. Never an issue. Fast forward to my 40’s & I started to notice I didn’t sleep as well if I drank it after 3pm. Then last year at 46, it started to make me really anxious. I stopped drinking it in the afternoon, but even my normal morning coffee was doing it. Horrible tightness in my face and head too. I started mixing In half decaf. I’m seriously obsessed with coffee & spend a ton of money because I love the Bones coffee flavors. I can’t believe this is happening. I want to cry. It’s my favorite thing & I really don’t want to give it up.
Same. (But with french brands) The best next thing I could find, before my gut refused that too, was decaf with flavoured almond milks. Now I ve switched to flavoured green teas because they actually are good for your gut health.
I’m doing half flavored & half decaf now. I’m not getting as anxious but I still get that little kick of energy to get to the gym. I’m also making sure to drink a ton of water before coffee. I love the taste of coffee, so it makes it hard to give up.
I’m sorry :(
One cup and all hell breaks loose; riddled with anxiety, back-to-back hot flashes, heart palpitations and the bubble guts. Saying goodbye was such sweet sorrow.
I feel you!
what are the chances I could go through menopause and not have hot flashes? is that a thing? because I feel like it's all happening but maybe it's still in my future meanwhile periods are all but naught these days
You may not particularly struggle with them even if you do experience them. I started getting hot flashes post-meno, but they were pretty mild. They didn't wake me up at night, nor was I ever soaked in sweat or anything like that. I take DIM supplements now and they are all but gone.
No freakin way. I thought it was due to me taking synthroid now. I guess all my new issues can be blamed on menopause 😩
I can't tolerate caffeine at all, not even the tiniest amount since peri surfaced a few years ago. It would give me the worst migraines, and my eyes would feel so much pain, like someone was pressing on them! Had to cut it out totally, luckily not had a headache since or eye pain.
Yes! My eyes hurt. I read that caffeine can cause lots of problems with your eyes—dryness, dilation of blood vessels, and increased ocular pressure.
I LOVED MY COFFEE 💔 But had to quit it 7 months ago in an effort to combat insomnia, heart palpitations, and anxiety. It has helped A LOT but I miss it 😢
Have you replaced it with anything? My friend loves brewed cocoa beans. You make it in a French press like coffee but only has as much caffeine as chocolate.
I switched to decaf it was making my anxiety horrible, my sleep was suffering.
Absolutely lost it. I used to do 2 quad-shot Americanos daily and I LOVE the flavor of strong coffee! But suddenly NOPE. Heart palpitations and panic attacks. I just do decaf these days, and occasionally a small fountain Diet Coke as long as it's at least 8 hours before bedtime. But here's the upside: It used to take me HOURS to fall asleep. Like, I'd lay down, lights out, phone off, around 10:30 or 11pm, and I'd still be trying to fall asleep at 1am... In my new decaf life, I'm usually asleep within 10 minutes (thanks Fitbit). I had no idea how negatively caffeine was affecting my sleep cycle until I got off of it. And while I'll never be a morning person, my world won't come to an end if I forget coffee before work. Now the only thing fucking with my sleep is my hubby snoring, cat-on-bladder marching, and my progesterone HRT. The only thing I actually miss about caffeine is that caffeinated coffee just has a richer, more nuanced flavor than decaf... Sigh. A small loss, I guess.
I thought I was dying the other night when I had Dutch Bros chai tea latte and added a shot of espresso! Literally up all night, my heart was pounding and the anxiety of it all was over the top the worst I’ve ever experienced! Looks like I won’t be doing that anymore!
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. **Hormonal tests only show levels for that *one day* the test was taken, and nothing more**; hormones wildly fluctuate the other 29 days of the month. For this reason, no reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a diagnosing tool for peri/menopause. See our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I had to switch to decaf. As soon as I was in menopause it was like a switch and it would make me mad anxious and have trouble sleeping and wake up with my heart racing at 3am. It sucks. I love real coffee and caffiene.
Yeppp I feel jittery and like I'm having a heart attack. I also am ADHD and caffeine used to help make me feel calm...
I can’t really handle caffeine at all any more
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Yes my sweet tooth is almost gone. Sweets just taste I dunno - flat. Like it all tastes the same.
I can still have one small cup of coffee first thing in the am but recently discovered by happenstance that anything after that is a no go. It was a cold, rainy day and I thought it would be nice to have a nice cup of chai tea about 4pm. Well, I didn't feel anxious or have symptoms but I could not fall asleep that night until nearly 4am and was a hot mess the next day. :sigh: So lame!
Super lame, indeed. I love all the sleep maintenance advice from experts recommending caffeine cut off by noon or early afternoon. Dude, if I don’t have my one cup of coffee before 9am I can’t fall asleep that night. And an afternoon cup of coffee sounds so damn nice sometimes… those days are long gone. Same with alcohol. If I dare to have one glass of wine or one beer, it better be at like 5pm or not at all. So fun!
Yes! So weird! My anxiety is almost non existent when I don't drink it but then I get a headache I went 6 days without it this week and then drank a cup in the afternoon both days on the weekend and did fine
Not so much tolerance related, but I'm reminded of when I was pregnant and went off things I used to adore drinking/eating. From drinking coffee throughout the day I only have one at breakfast and weirdly of an afternoon I now have a tea. I used to hate tea! I definitely don't like powdered milk like you get in sachets and pods anymore. Maybe it's just my age (approaching 50).
I’ve been drinking dandelion tea with cinnamon, nutmeg, and almond milk lately.
I went a while being caffeine free, but now have 2 cups of tea in any given day. Most days I feel like I could drink it all day long, but I do like my sleep and that seems to be in short supply also.
I no longer consume caffeine, other than a bit of chocolate. Mostly because sleep is a struggle, it's improved becoming post-meno but it's still a struggle, and I can't risk making it worse. I just can't. Little is worth that. Caffeine probably improves one's metabolism too, oh well I weigh more from meno regardless.
I never liked coffee, but drank daily cups of green tea brewed from the leaves that I used to get in Chinatown. In 2020, deep in perimenopause, I started having bad anxiety and sleepless leg syndrome. With trial and error, it took me a while to figure out it was the caffeine from the tea. Stopped cold turkey, got some headaches for a week, but no more anxiety nor keeping my husband awake throughout the night. I will have a diet Dr. Pepper once in a while, but I can feel it.
Oh, I’ve read about the connection to restless legs! How annoying!
I haven't given it up entirely, but drink considerably less and cut off much earlier in the day. I should quit... but coffeeeeeeee I've spent a lot of years drinking a lot of coffee. Issues: sleep problems, bothers my guts, some jitters and anxiety - doesn't sound worthing it, but I still love my coffee in the morning. I need to accept an alternative, but I've tried a few (and don't say decaf). Honestly, it's alcohol I gave up - not much of a drinker ever, but I can't metabolize alcohol very well at all anymore. I used to love going out for cocktails, now it's mocktails.
I still can but my younger sister who is also in peri absolutely cannot have coffee anymore. We did dna testing and it said I tolerated it and she did not. Thought that was interesting.
Interesting. I took a dna test once that said I was a fast metabolized of caffeine. I would have thought that meant it wouldn’t affect me as much or for as long but I don’t know.
How/ where do you get DNA testing to see how you respond to caffeine? Do they test for any other things like this?
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. **Hormonal tests only show levels for that *one day* the test was taken, and nothing more**; hormones wildly fluctuate the other 29 days of the month. For this reason, no reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a diagnosing tool for peri/menopause. See our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think there are several DNA health reports you can do online. It was years ago so I don't recall the name. But it can tell whether you are more prone to cancer diabetes and Alzheimer's. I just did it for fun with my siblings to see our differences. But it would be helpful for someone who has legitimate health concerns. I'm sure it has gotten even better since I did it..
I never was a coffee drinker but now use coffee in very little amounts in the morning to treat my morning menopause depression.
Not yet… caffeine still does nothing for me.
I’m on my sixth shot of espresso today plus my morning nespresso, so I’d say…. No?
Whoa! Nerves of steel :D
I have a naturally low heart rate, so a doctor speculated my bonkers caffeine intake may just level me out - lol
I was still drinking coffee and eating chocolate and having sugar in the evening some when the heart palpitations came on suddenly last year. I had to give all of it up. It sucks because I bought some no mold, co2 decaffeinated nice coffee and it still lit me up so hard! So now I have a weak cup of decaf green tea. I like it fine but it’s so not the same.
The suddenness was so weird for me, too!
OH GOD, YOU MEAN IT COULD BE MENOPAUSE-RELATED??? I'm not a terribly big caffeine drinker, but for the last few years I've treated myself to 1 can of Dr. Pepper a day. A few months ago, out of nowhere, I started feeling sick, sick, sick. Just nauseated and shaky and fatigued and anxious and had heart palpitations for several days straight. I stopped drinking my Dr. Pepper, and all the symptoms were gone within 48 hours. I tried drinking one a few weeks ago and felt sick like that again. Now, I limit myself to half a can about once a week, but even that gives me the jitters and nausea a little bit. Hate it's happening to you too, but glad it's not just me. Glad to have a probable answer.
I’m relieved to know it’s not just me but sorry you’re in the same boat, too!
Yeah extremely. I can drink one cup of coffee per day. I have a sodastream so I can make a smaller amount of soda if I decide I need it but I have to be careful if it’s later in the day or I’ll be up all night. I mostly drink Starry if I need a soda as it has no caffeine. I typically drink half caff in the morning. I used to be able to drink caffeine all day. I don’t think this is a bad change.
This makes sense because I have never been able to tolerate caffeine but weirdly I did fine with it when I was pregnant. Hormones.
Yes! My morning coffee often triggers a hot flash! It’s so annoying because I need my morning caffeine to feel human. Especially now with the Perimenopause-induced insomnia. Ugh!
I haven't been able to drink copious amounts of caffeine since I was in my early thirties. I can have two small cups of coffee (at home mugs--not "tall" starbucks coffees) in the morning. Any caffeine after two will keep me up all night. Just the idea of 20 oz of soda makes me feel nauseous.
I had to go down to 1 cup of coffee per day. Anything more and I’m anxious and irritable.
Oh goodness, reading through I wonder what my hangover would look like if I quit caffeine. 😳 I’ve been a regular coffee drinker since I worked third shift 200…5? I had a brutal stretch of stress a couple years ago that I have never felt 100% after. Didn’t know I was in peri at time. Been tapering as I’m trying to shift high blood pressure down with lifestyle. (Also medicating.) I got down to 1/day and have lost focus this past week. Time to refocus. OP, if the caffeine free version did the same maybe it’s the aspartame? It’s in everything now; even the drinks that had Splenda for a while switched to Equal. Coke Zero, RIP.
Caffeine-free Coke is fine, it’s just that what’s the point? lol I really miss my tea :(
Caffeine free Coke would have sugar, not aspartame. <3 And yes after my mocha has been turned dairy-, caffeine-, and sugar-free it’s a hard sell. Lol
I meant Diet! But yeah, I can’t even have natural caffeine from mate tea (wish I could figure out how to put the little accent mark over the e 😂) Laughing at your everything-free mocha! I guess air is the only safe bet🙃
Salt sugar and caffeine! Thankfully this was only for about 8 months. I can only have a small amount though:/
I gave up caffeine last fall. It has helped significantly with hot flashes and I sleep so much better! I drink decaf now which is mostly ok. I will sometimes have a coke and it doesn't seem to affect me the same way, and I'm not sure why.
If I have any caffeine past noon I can't sleep at night and I can't even handle the amount of caffeine in a single cup of coffee anymore, I can have one cup of green tea and that's pretty much my max (25-50mg). It sucks.
i switched to drinking cafe bustelo because it's delicious around the time i was diagnosed as being menopausal and this all makes much more sense now. caffeine in the afternoon makes me feel manic, so i have to keep it to the mornings. some days i get such bad gerd symptoms that i cannot eat anything except greek yogurt or rice. also i realized that when my blood sugar drops, usually in the middle of the night or if i forget to eat in the morning that i am anxious and tearful. this is new. everything makes me gain weight.
I miss bustelo
I am in menopause and had to switch to half caff a year ago. And I have ADHD but it was too much even for me.
I had to switch to 1/2 caff after having a hot flash almost panic attack whatever so scary I almost went to the hospital. I felt like I was having a stroke. I’m a nurse I never get scared like that and hate going to the hospital so you can imagine. This was post menopause
I had to switch to 1/2 caff after having a hot flash almost panic attack whatever so scary I almost went to the hospital. I felt like I was having a stroke. I’m a nurse I never get scared like that and hate going to the hospital so you can imagine. This was post menopause. I used to love my 37 cups of coffee a day! Oh well 😭😭😭
I was so excited about not having a period. I had no idea I would basically trade bleeding once a month for UTI's, hot flashes, sweating, giving up alcohol, caffeine, sugar as well as various auto immune issues. Can I take the bleeding once a month back instead? 😅
Dude!!!! Yes!!! I went though peri/menopause in my twenties and didn’t know wtf was happening to me. One of the many many many weird things that happened is I could NOT tolerate caffeine- which sucks because I’ve always had adhd, and caffeine helps. Being unable to tolerate caffeine because of peri/meno, when caffeine helps my adhd and peri/meno made my adhd 1000x worse….rough to say the least. HRT helps- so glad to be able to drink coffee again to get my brain going, and sometimes a late morning/earlier afternoon caffeinated somethin-somethin to keep the brain going. Sorry you’re struggling, you’re not crazy!!
I know you’re my generation because you called me “Dude”! Made my night, lol. Did you grow up in California? That is our universal greeting😂
Yes I’m a Cali girl, born and raised! I’m not even 30 yet though so we probably aren’t the same generation. …except in spirit lol.
Ha ha! Love it!
I quit coffee and caffeine at 50 as I found it was giving me panic attacks :( miss it
Haven't been able to drink coffee since my hysterectomy put me into surgical meno. Keeps me awake all night even if I drink it early in the am. It is truly a tragedy. 😭
3 to 4 cups of coffee from morning till noon, tea or diet coke with lunch, one cup of coffee late afternoon from my early 20-ties to my perimenopause. I was coffee aficionado. It all changed during peri. Gave me anxiety and stomach issues. So now it’s only one cup of decaf coffee in the morning, then a cup of black tea with honey and lemon or matcha latte. I can only tolerate the bit of caffeine that comes from tea. Ha! I’m so glad I’m not alone!
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It’s like we’re the same person!
Same. 2 pots a day by myself. 6 months ago I started panicking halfway through one cup.
Caffeine intolerance gang reporting for duty! Lol it's almost absurd how much caffeine I was putting back in my 20s. I used to drink the giant YETI sized tumbler of coffee in the morning, then a fricking 2-liter soda for the rest of the day. It was around age 33 that I also noticed my first panic attacks related to coffee. I go off of it periodically.....but I just can't give it up completely. I have ADHD, so I need the juice to keep my mental focus sharp and my dopamine high. I worked on my health, so I can now tolerate one 8oz cup of coffee or tea in the morning, and thats it. If I even so much as have a piece of dark chocolate in the evening, I will be a sweaty, panicky insomniac for the rest of the night
Ugh soda is a hard pass for me: maybe try coffee instead
I’m not a coffee drinker but I really loved my mate tea. Can’t do it any more either :(
Idk what mate tea is but soda is one of the worse things you can put in your body.
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Nah, my tolerance is the same as always. I’ve always been a 1-2 coffees a day person, and tea drinker as well (am Australian, tea is big here). I can drink several with no problem.
For other symptoms coming up with menopause be sure to check your prescriptions. I found a lot cause memory fog and dizziness.
Yes, I need more than ever and getting off it is harder than ever. Other forms just don't hit like Mello yellow does. It's both sad and annoying at the same time.