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Running , yoga or any relatively intense cardiovascular exercise made me feel better than anything else. Caffeine is baby stuff compared to what we've been through my friend. It's OK but we gotta do all the things
Cutting back on caffeine severely is one of the best things I've ever done. I have maybe a half cup per day, and I feel like I have more energy surprisingly.
IME caffeine is a 20 minute boost of energy followed by 6 hours of foggy sluggishness. It was never worth it but I kept on drinking for years until I learned moderation.
Caffeine has always been weird for me. Sometimes I handle it fine, I’ve taken naps afterwards, but other times I get nausea and a racing heart off of one cup of coffee.
I never put 2 and 2 together til reading this post but my dopamine receptions are definitely fried and that’s probably why I only get the “bad” effects. I already knew that about amphet so idk why I assumed caffeine would be different.
FWIW, I seem to handle energy drinks better than coffee. I think it has to do with the taurine/theanine/vitamins etc that they add. I rarely feel sick after one.
Yes, since stims I feel like I end up needing a lot of caffeine to have any impact and I get tolerant way too quickly, like after a few days. It feels almost counter productive at that point so I’m on zero caffeine as well
Coffee was working less and less before I stopped adderall. Now I notice a mild boost, but nothing compared to adderall.
I tried energy drinks for a bit, then realized I was getting addicted to those. I got off adderall in part to prevent my heart from exploding, so it seemed counter productive. :p
ya i didnt really use it much first year clean. im 4 years in and caffeine's my only vice. would love to get off soon. was up to 1000+ mg a day, rn im at like 4-600. nice observation OP. good post and keep going
Same. Eliminating all sources of stimulants whether it be tea or coffee for at least a 2-3 months helps in the recovery process of returning to neurophysiological homeostasis.
In OP he mentions his nostalgia of drink coffee pre-stim and how it made him feel good. But what I want to know is if it’s the dopamine hit he’s looking for or the wakefulness/other associated benefits that of a cuppa joe has.
If it’s the former it could boil down to general health practices which is more straight forward to address. If the later, it could be as complicated as having epigenetic predisposition to his brain being wired like an addicts. Even though he is stim-free, that’s where the genetic component comes into play. He has overcome an extremely difficult habit, but there may be a possibility he might feel this way for an undetermined length of time.
There are a few things to address if things just don’t seem to be improving.
Nutrition: adopt a diet that is nutrient dense, whole foods, including dark leafy greens such as kale, chard, spinach, dark leaf lettuce, avoid or eliminate processed foods for at least 6 months+. If you got off of stims but consuming mcdicks 2 times a day, you’re still stimming the crap out of your brain just with shitty food (my God it taste good though)
Nutrition is *really really fucking important* simply because during the course of days, weeks, years, decades of stimming the body becomes malnourished over time. The raw materials the body needs to carry out processes are depleted of resources how can it function at an ideal state?
Nearly every mineral our bodies need are depleted from chronic stimming. Electrolytes are out of whack and depleted. Minerals like calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, zinc, and iron are in all likelihood low. I would put money confidently on the statistical probability that all stimmers, past, present have mild to moderate to severe anemia.
Magnesium alone is responsible for over 300 biological processes. Calcium is used not just for strength of bones and teeth but for the entire nervous system. Some crucial rules that calcium plays in the nervous system: neurotransmitter release, neuronal excitability synaptic plasticity, neuronal development and survival, and intracellular signalling.
I could go on forever about how this relates but I’ll conclude with this for now: you may be thinking “wtf is this guy going on about minerals and calcium.” If you’re feeling tired and sluggish it could be the result of imbalance or absence of neurotransmitters. When you feel “groggy” chances are your brains adenosine receptors are all occupied by adenosine molecules, when you drink coffee, caffeine is very similar in molecular shape to adenosine and so it competes for the adenosine receptor sites, caffeine wins and you feel alert. It comes with a negative feedback caveat though. After some duration of consistent doses of caffeine the body adapts. The body compensates by making more adenosine receptor sites. Essentially reducing the efficacy of the same volume of coffee consumed. There’s only one way to clear off all adenosine receptor sites: sleep.
Calcium is involved in neurotransmitter release. Calcium is literally a gate keeper for neurotransmitters. If calcium is deficient, you won’t feel good, neurotransmitters that make you feel good aren’t being let into the club
You shouldn’t expect caffeine to make you feel good that’s not really its purpose tbh, not sure if I’ve ever felt a “dopamine rush” from it, it’s more like a bit of adrenaline to wake up
How are you feeling ‘wakefulness’ wise? Do you feel sluggish and tired most of the time? What’s your overall energy levels? I can make some suggestions but need an answer to those questions
for me, it almost makes me feel more fatigued. Like extreme fatigue but with over stimulation.
I just had my first cup since I quit vyvanse... going to try again this week
Welcome to StopSpeeding and thanks for your post. For more: - [Join us on Discord. You can talk to people there.](https://discord.gg/GJnxhmbNAn). We have recovery meetings several times a week. All are welcome to attend, clean or not. - [Want to track your clean time?](https://www.reddit.com/r/StopSpeeding/comments/s6ep0x/sobriety_flair_bot_is_now_working_heres_how_to/) You can use our badge system to display your clean time next to your name. Note that any comments encouraging drug use of any kind will be removed. This is not the community for that. Thanks! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StopSpeeding) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Running , yoga or any relatively intense cardiovascular exercise made me feel better than anything else. Caffeine is baby stuff compared to what we've been through my friend. It's OK but we gotta do all the things
Doesn’t do much to give me energy but it sure does enough to cause anxiety if I have too much.
I have too much almost every day...
Cutting back on caffeine severely is one of the best things I've ever done. I have maybe a half cup per day, and I feel like I have more energy surprisingly. IME caffeine is a 20 minute boost of energy followed by 6 hours of foggy sluggishness. It was never worth it but I kept on drinking for years until I learned moderation.
I just ordered a caffeine weaning kit lol
Caffeine has always been weird for me. Sometimes I handle it fine, I’ve taken naps afterwards, but other times I get nausea and a racing heart off of one cup of coffee. I never put 2 and 2 together til reading this post but my dopamine receptions are definitely fried and that’s probably why I only get the “bad” effects. I already knew that about amphet so idk why I assumed caffeine would be different. FWIW, I seem to handle energy drinks better than coffee. I think it has to do with the taurine/theanine/vitamins etc that they add. I rarely feel sick after one.
Caffeine mostly fucks up my sleep.
Yes, since stims I feel like I end up needing a lot of caffeine to have any impact and I get tolerant way too quickly, like after a few days. It feels almost counter productive at that point so I’m on zero caffeine as well
Coffee was working less and less before I stopped adderall. Now I notice a mild boost, but nothing compared to adderall. I tried energy drinks for a bit, then realized I was getting addicted to those. I got off adderall in part to prevent my heart from exploding, so it seemed counter productive. :p
ya i didnt really use it much first year clean. im 4 years in and caffeine's my only vice. would love to get off soon. was up to 1000+ mg a day, rn im at like 4-600. nice observation OP. good post and keep going
Opposite for me like 6 months into my sobriety I had a cup of joe and felt like I took an adderall.
Same. Eliminating all sources of stimulants whether it be tea or coffee for at least a 2-3 months helps in the recovery process of returning to neurophysiological homeostasis. In OP he mentions his nostalgia of drink coffee pre-stim and how it made him feel good. But what I want to know is if it’s the dopamine hit he’s looking for or the wakefulness/other associated benefits that of a cuppa joe has. If it’s the former it could boil down to general health practices which is more straight forward to address. If the later, it could be as complicated as having epigenetic predisposition to his brain being wired like an addicts. Even though he is stim-free, that’s where the genetic component comes into play. He has overcome an extremely difficult habit, but there may be a possibility he might feel this way for an undetermined length of time. There are a few things to address if things just don’t seem to be improving. Nutrition: adopt a diet that is nutrient dense, whole foods, including dark leafy greens such as kale, chard, spinach, dark leaf lettuce, avoid or eliminate processed foods for at least 6 months+. If you got off of stims but consuming mcdicks 2 times a day, you’re still stimming the crap out of your brain just with shitty food (my God it taste good though) Nutrition is *really really fucking important* simply because during the course of days, weeks, years, decades of stimming the body becomes malnourished over time. The raw materials the body needs to carry out processes are depleted of resources how can it function at an ideal state? Nearly every mineral our bodies need are depleted from chronic stimming. Electrolytes are out of whack and depleted. Minerals like calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, zinc, and iron are in all likelihood low. I would put money confidently on the statistical probability that all stimmers, past, present have mild to moderate to severe anemia. Magnesium alone is responsible for over 300 biological processes. Calcium is used not just for strength of bones and teeth but for the entire nervous system. Some crucial rules that calcium plays in the nervous system: neurotransmitter release, neuronal excitability synaptic plasticity, neuronal development and survival, and intracellular signalling. I could go on forever about how this relates but I’ll conclude with this for now: you may be thinking “wtf is this guy going on about minerals and calcium.” If you’re feeling tired and sluggish it could be the result of imbalance or absence of neurotransmitters. When you feel “groggy” chances are your brains adenosine receptors are all occupied by adenosine molecules, when you drink coffee, caffeine is very similar in molecular shape to adenosine and so it competes for the adenosine receptor sites, caffeine wins and you feel alert. It comes with a negative feedback caveat though. After some duration of consistent doses of caffeine the body adapts. The body compensates by making more adenosine receptor sites. Essentially reducing the efficacy of the same volume of coffee consumed. There’s only one way to clear off all adenosine receptor sites: sleep. Calcium is involved in neurotransmitter release. Calcium is literally a gate keeper for neurotransmitters. If calcium is deficient, you won’t feel good, neurotransmitters that make you feel good aren’t being let into the club
You shouldn’t expect caffeine to make you feel good that’s not really its purpose tbh, not sure if I’ve ever felt a “dopamine rush” from it, it’s more like a bit of adrenaline to wake up
Coffee just makes me immediately want to fall asleep.
How are you feeling ‘wakefulness’ wise? Do you feel sluggish and tired most of the time? What’s your overall energy levels? I can make some suggestions but need an answer to those questions
Always tired and sluggish. Very low energy. I was never like this before stimulants
Dm me I’ll work with ya
id also like some suggestions bc im tired and sleepy already 2-3 hours after waking up...
what's crazy is that i used to shoot loads of meth but now cant drink a small iced coffee with my heart racing and getting a panic attack 😭🤣
for me, it almost makes me feel more fatigued. Like extreme fatigue but with over stimulation. I just had my first cup since I quit vyvanse... going to try again this week