caffeine? Good or Bad.

[limodan73]

Mourning my MH friends. I would like to know opinions/ideas as far as large amounts of caffeine to override the wired/tired part of this journey. Yesterday,  I got maybe 4 hours sleep. Laid down at 2am, was back WIDE awake at 5:45. And figured alright! He11 with it, you wanna be up! Let's get Up! (I talk to my myself a lot, I've kinda separated my addict brain apart from myself, as he's the angry 5 year old, throwing a temper tantrum! Lol, I know. Right? Yes, strange... But whatever works!) So anyways,  I got up, made a pot of coffee, started running errands, cleaning, oil changes on the cars and God knows what else. The WHOLE DAY sucking down coffee and red bulls.  The pain SUCKED! But, my theory was, run all day! MAYBE get some Damn sleep at night. I did rest better, and if not for my evil she-demon baby's momma, I might still be sleeping. BUT she's a......"trip".  So, I'm up! Thinking I'm gonna bang down the Ibuprofen, put on another lidoderm patch, and fire up the coffee pot!  Is this a bad idea? Am I really just substituting caffeine for my DOC?  All thoughts and opinions are appreciated.
One last thing I think I should put out there.... I am Manic/Depressive. But really wasn't manic yesterday, just wired up on coffee. There's a huge difference. Trust me. I believe there is a bit of a misconception about mania. It's NOTHING like the coffee jitters, or even the wild up and down rollercoaster of emotions from recovery. The best way I can explain mania is this: Imagine you're watching TV... And someone is changing the channel as fast as they can.. And every time the channel changes, you still are focused enough to know what show is on, what the story is..etc..etc.. But the channel is STILL Changing as fast as humanly possible!  Trust me,  it can be devastating. Ok, enough of my ramblings. Thoughts everyone?

[selfinduced]

Hi Dan, I'm alittle late to the table, but for what it's worth. I always took my pills with coffee in the morning so post detox the muscle memory of coffee pulled my brain to pills. I'd get super anxious after just one cup. Not sure if it was flashback kinda thing or the caffeine itself. What did help my energy and sleep return was lots of exercise and green based protein/veggie drinks. I've been following your post and just want to say your doing so well. Keep up the good.

[limodan73]

Thanks everyone for all the input. I appreciate everyone taking the time to respond. I eased back on it a bit today, already feeling a bit of the "crash". I think I will try keeping it at a reasonable level and start pushing myself to be able to get through without as much. Again thanks.
Dan

[dominosarah]

Be very careful with the caffeine Dan.  It does trigger anxiety and can have the opposite effect due to you being manic/depressive.  Look for more natural things like fruit and veggies.  Go for a walk or 3 everyday.  Get those endorphins working naturally.

[weaver71]

I am bipolar as well and one cup a day is the limit. Caffeine blows out the adrenals and causes fatigue. I have too much trouble getting my energy up to mess with it. Protein drinks and plenty of B vitamins is a good alternative. When our adrenals get dependent on a drug, that drug becomes needed to feel normal, any drug. Caffeine is a drug, which is safe in low doses. I totally quit coffee for the months following detox. Small amounts don't seem to effect the bipolar, large amounts causes exhaustion, which does seem to play a role in mood shifts. That's my 2 cents.

[ariley13]

I agree with PJ. I have horrible anxiety, and a horrible time sleeping. I've always had issues with both. I can't even think about coffee or an energy drink without freaking out! I say whatever works for you. If you are able to drink it and get a little energy, great! If you notice that the caffeine is keeping you up more at night then you may need to take a break from it.

[Pjtwenty]

Only problem I had with caffeine was triggering anxiety. I had to cut my caffeine consumption in half during the early days of wds. I'm still running a little lite on my caffeine consumption now 59 days clean. It definitely boost my mood and energy.

I'd say be cautiousbut I wouldn't worry too much. It's one of those everyone is different situations.

[limodan73]

Lol, Mourning! And thanks. I'm just not sure if sleep deprivation from recovery and mass amounts of caffeine is gonna be helpful or hurtful to the process. Only on my second cup btw...Lol. Hope you have a good day. Thanks again for the input.
D

[bama88]

Wow...slow down.....how many cups of coffe did you have. Lol...

There's nothing wrong with drinking coffee or using caffeine to help keep you awake in my opinion.  Good job on the getting up part.  In my opinion the sleepless nights were the worst.  Hang in there...