How a cup of coffee a day can lead to a panic attack

This is stated in the TG-channel " Psychological support ".

☕️ Caffeine is a major anxiety trigger. studies show that reducing caffeine intake benefits people with anxiety disorders, however, even one cup a day is a serious trigger for anxiety.

☕️ Think of caffeine as an "anxiety booster". For example, if your anxiety is at level 5, then a few hours after drinking caffeine, your anxiety is likely to be at level 8, which rises to 10 or more in the evening.

☕️ Also, if you don't sleep well at night, your anxiety will be even higher in the morning. But then you will most likely get your morning caffeine fix, which will start the same process again.

👩‍🔬Scientists conducted a study looking at the effects of caffeine on patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) compared to healthy subjects and found that

This link between caffeine and anxiety is not obvious because we temporarily feel good after consumption, and we only feel the disturbing effects after a few hours.

🧠The peculiarity of caffeine is increased mobility. The caffeine molecule is so small that it reaches the brain in just 20 minutes, easily passing the blood-brain barrier. Once the molecule is found in the brain, it blocks the uptake of adenosine, a neurotransmitter that signals the brain to be drowsy. Plus, caffeine stimulates the central nervous system, slightly increases blood pressure.

🚨The fact that caffeine is associated with panic attacks has been proven by experiment. It turned out that 52% of people experienced panic attacks or anxiety after drinking coffee and caffeine. At the same time, a similar reaction was observed in 41% of relatives of the first stage. And before that, people had never had panic attacks. In rare cases, caffeine has also caused hallucinations. It worked so well with the combination of caffeine and high stress levels.

Caffeine is found not only in coffee. It's also found in black and green teas, sodas, and energy drinks, so to eliminate caffeine, you'll also need to eliminate those drinks.

💆‍♀️ By the way, refusing caffeine gives a full-fledged withdrawal syndrome. It manifests itself in headaches, muscle pain, fatigue, apathy and depression.

Therefore, if you suffer from anxiety disorders and are addicted to coffee, you should reduce the amount gradually.

📅If you're not ready to quit caffeine for good, then at least try to cut it out for 60 days and track your anxiety levels during that period to notice any differences.

💡Recommendations:

✅ Drink plenty of water throughout the day to stay hydrated and ease caffeine elimination.

✅ Start drinking a variety of herbal teas. The best teas for anxiety are chamomile, valerian root, and oat straw.

✅ If you experience caffeine withdrawal symptoms such as headache, take a caffeine-free pain reliever if needed.

✅ Breaking the habit of drinking coffee can be difficult. If you still want to drink a cup from time to time, you should first avoid coffee for at least six weeks to completely detoxify your body.