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Caffeine--Paranoia, hallucinations, dread, ...

addictivepersona

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
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(Mods, I really wasn't sure where to put this--Was told HL or BDD would work, but I am torn between those two and another... :-/)

I'm curious if anyone else has had negative effects from low levels of caffeine. I'm not talking about taking multiple NoDoz or anything--Talking about just a couple cups of strong coffee spaced throughout the day.

One rounded teaspoon of instant coffee contains 57 mg of caffeine (according to the USDA). When I was a heavy coffee drinker, I'd use one and a quarter heaping tablespoons instant coffee per cup. I'd have three to five cups like this over an eight-to-ten hour span. This equals about 641-1069mg of caffeine. By the time I had my last cup, I'd frequently have panic attacks over petty shit. As the night went on, I would have more panic attacks, intense fear/dread, I'd see things out of the corner of my eye (a figure standing in the corner or walking up from a distance), sometimes I'd hear my name being called... I attributed these issues to the other drugs (mostly pot) I was fucked up on almost constantly at the time... I also attributed it to working the third shift in a practically empty building...

When the panic attacks became more frequent (and other events occurred), I dropped all drugs (pot, alcohol, caffeine, everything).

After a few month's hiatus, I've recently started drinking coffee again to help stave off the Winter blues. I've kept my coffee habit in check for the most part (I do have an addictive persona[lity] after all :P)--I've been using a heaping teaspoon of coffee per cup, and I've been limiting myself to two or three cups a day. So, I'm now consuming up to about 200mg of caffeine a day.

When I have about 200mg of caffeine within a day, I get mild paranoia, slight hallucinations (both auditory and visual), and sometimes moments of intense, irrational fear/dread... I also get easily irritated and can't stop myself from reacting in a hostile manner sometimes... :-/

Obviously the solution is to not drink close to or more than 200mg of caffeine...

I'm just curious if this happens with anybody else? I feel so strange as I've never heard of anyone having these issues with such low levels of caffeine... I've heard about people tweaking on twice the levels I used to have, or on these levels all at once, but never on such a low level spaced throughout the day...

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Any information you can throw my way is appreciated. :)
 
Yes I get the exact same thing
Everyone makes fun of me 'cause I can handle most recreational drugs, but I can't drink caffeine or I turn into a paranoid mess
 
I'm just the opposite. I drink a pot of coffee and 2-3 32 oz energy drinks a day. It doesn't even keep me from sleeping. Not sure that's a good thing, I have a ten dollar a day caffeine habit/
 
I am an extreme caffeine junkie and I had to quit caffeine for 3-4 years due to panic attacks. Now that I got past it I can drink caffeine now.
 
I started drinking more coffee recently, like five cups/day up from one or two cups. Also I brew double strength. Not too sure what the daily caffeine level would be for this. My wife says I am a nasty dick lately. Not sure if it's the caffeine or that I'm just a dick. :\

Sometimes I hear voices calling me, but not sure it's the caffeine as this happened when I was only drinking one or two cups daily. When I get stressed sometimes I experience some of your symptoms like objects that dissapear in peripheral sight. Dealing with issues in my life might be a factor in this too.
 
Thank you everyone for the replies. This really makes me feel not so alone. Those of you with the ten dollar a day caffeine habit are both lucky and cursed, lol.

Lets try BDD first. Mods, feel free to move it if you think it would be better elsewhere.
Thanks again, fizzle! :) Seems to be the right place with the replies so far.

I am an extreme caffeine junkie and I had to quit caffeine for 3-4 years due to panic attacks. Now that I got past it I can drink caffeine now.
How did you get past it? Just not worry about the petty things? 'Cause I would absolutely tweak over such little things. I haven't had panic attacks recently due to caffeine since I've watched my consumption... But I could easily see a panic attack coming if I got over three, four cups...

I started drinking more coffee recently, like five cups/day up from one or two cups. Also I brew double strength. Not too sure what the daily caffeine level would be for this. My wife says I am a nasty dick lately. Not sure if it's the caffeine or that I'm just a dick. :\

Sometimes I hear voices calling me, but not sure it's the caffeine as this happened when I was only drinking one or two cups daily. When I get stressed sometimes I experience some of your symptoms like objects that dissapear in peripheral sight. Dealing with issues in my life might be a factor in this too.
I'm unsure what your caffeine level would be, but it's probably not far off from 150mg per cup
http://www.cspinet.org/new/cafchart.htm
. That sucks your wife said that though--The people I live with have said I'm "horribly irritable/snippy lately"...

The objects in peripheral vision are the worst... :-/ Though thinking you're hearing your name being called is pretty disturbing when you're home alone...
 
OP Im suprised your heart didnt give out at chronic doses of high ammounts of caffeine. 200mg of caffeine is plenty but if your going up into the grams then your just asking for trouble.
 
not really, can take 200mg coffeine as pill without any problems.
also ~1g in a short period but it isn t that effective for me.
 
OP Im suprised your heart didnt give out at chronic doses of high ammounts of caffeine. 200mg of caffeine is plenty but if your going up into the grams then your just asking for trouble.
That certainly explains the chest tightness near my heart I was feeling at the time... :-/

However, the main point of this thread isn't to find out if a gram of caffeine over a day is too much--I know it is. I'm curious if others have had issues with amounts as low as 200mg. Guess my first post was too long...
 
caffeine mixed with other stims. now that is paranoia hell. i dont know why the hell people evern drink coffee anyway, wtf is the point. Id like to see people smoking methamphetamine while working instead of their regular cup in front of their PC.
 
^ I never get paranoia from both besides sleep deprevision.

I don't think its strange, just everyone's body is a little different. A little lactose will make me sick, and a drop of fish juice will kill someone I know.
 
^ I never get paranoia from both besides sleep deprevision.

I don't think its strange, just everyone's body is a little different. A little lactose will make me sick, and a drop of fish juice will kill someone I know.

Yeah I agree. And peanut butter too alone can choke someone to death. Milk can make someone poo in the toilet for hours. Chocolate gives some people a horrible headache. Even the slightest amount of alcohol can make someone fuckdrunk. Yeah, well you get it...
 
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