Depresso

So I quit caffeine for two years now, its been a journey but a good journey. One thing that I didn’t expect from my no caffeine journey was having a much better understanding of the type of “cold” depression that comes from deep exhaustion and the depletion of our energy reserves. There’s a very specific “cold” or stagnant type of depression that comes from an overall condition of under-activity with “hypo” functioning digestion, circulation or even thyroid function. In this cold depressed state the tissues are understimulated or incapable of responding to stimulation. The stimulation momentarily addresses the fatigue and deep saddness that can come with a deplete and under functioning state. This state results in a feeling within a human that they simply do not have the energy to care having no fire to engage with life that we know we can which only frustrates us further. All we want to do is care so ofcourse we rely on caffeine and other forms of adrenalising stress like waiting things until the last minute to get us going and functioning in a more “energised”. Whilst this works in the moment it only leads us further down the cycle of relying on stress hormones and then burning out instead of rebuilding our true deep energy reserves. I learnt that things don’t have to feel “heroic” and “exciting” all the time that the balance I’ve been craving I was resisting because it felt “boring” to my nervous system that is so used to riding the stress hormone. When you start cutting back on caffeine there is a saddness that you will feel which is normal to feel. Feeling this way is feeling the truth of our tissue state that was once masked with the stress hormones from caffiene. So it is actually a good sign that we’re not running on them anymore and can actually hear what our bodies are saying. We can now hear our bodies when they say NO and have a chance to heal more deeply than ever as we move out of the “fight and flight” mode. Nourishing and warming ourselves and our deep vial essence with protein, adaptogens, minerals, infusions like nettle tea, setting boundaries and seeing self care differently may take longer but it’s worth the process to replensi h ourselves on a level we’ve been needing for so long.

We're talking major adrenal issues/fatigue, altered blood Sugar (yep it raises blood sugar just like drugs which is why it curbs hunger), altered brain chemicals and neurotransmitters, increases heart rate, increases blood pressure, depletes vitamins (and iron), affects bowel habits (many people are constipated without it) and actually increases fatigue and depression.

Most a.m. coffee drinkers don't realise it, but their morning cups of coffee set their bodies up for a rollercoaster day of highs and lows, only to bottom out at the point of exhaustion. Just a few hours after consumption, when the artificial high dies down, many people may reach for more coffee or something sugary to get another lift, leading to daily fluctuations in energy and alertness and possibly to eventual chronic adrenal exhaustion.

Now, you don't have to explain your coffee addiction to me. Throughout college, I drank about four coffee drinks a day, most of them doubles, and that's a conservative estimate. I only slept two or three hours most nights, but once a week or so, I would completely crash and sleep for twelve or thirteen hours straight. During uni, I only drinking one cup of coffee a day and sometimes none at all. I feel much better and now I have a somewhat normal sleeping schedule.

You probably don't drink as much coffee as I drank, but just one caffeinated drink whether it's a soft drink, caffeinated tea or coffee, it will put your body on the caffeine rollercoaster. When you consume caffeine, the drug begins its effects by initiating uncontrolled neuron firing in your brain, according to Stephen Cherniske in his book called “Caffeine Blues”. This excess neuron activity triggers your pituitary gland to secrete a hormone that tells your adrenal glands to produce adrenalin.

Adrenalin is what gives athletes that winning burst of energy and Good Samaritans the ability to rescue people by lifting cars. Adrenalin is also the source of our “fight-or-flight” response. By stimulating your adrenal glands to produce adrenalin, caffeine puts your body in this “fight-or-flight” state, which is useless while you're just sitting at your desk. When this adrenal high wears off later, you feel the drop in terms of fatigue, irritability, headache or confusion.

At this point, you may reach for another “hit” of caffeine, followed by another, and another and maybe even one more. If you constantly keep your body on a caffeine high, you're constantly keeping your body in “fight-or-flight” mode.

Cherniske explains your body's “prespective” of this constant state, “imagine you lived in a country that was always under threat of attack. No matter where you went, there was a perpetual state of alert. Not only that, but your defenses were constantly being depleted and weakened. Does that sound stressful? Caffeine produces the same effect on your body, like fighting a war on multiple fronts at the same time”. Cherniske calls your body's constant state of alert “caffeinism” which is characterized by fatigue, anxiety, mood swings, sleep disturbance, irritability and depression.

After prolonged “caffeinism” your body enters a state of adrenal exhaustion. Your caffeine consumption has simply pushed your adrenal glands so much that they've burned out. Ralph T. Golan, ND, describes this unfortunate state in his book “Herbal Defense”. “Caffeine forces your glands to secrete when they don't have much left to give, and they have to keep digging deeper and deeper, making you more and more tired over time. And over the years, it takes more and more coffee to get the same result. Some people reach the point of drinking half a dozen or more cups of coffee to get the same result and it's barely keeping them awake. That's severe adrenal depletion”.

In other words, caffeine affects your body just like any drug. You start taking it slowly, but as your body develops a tolerance to it, you need more and more to feel the same effects. Eventually, your body reaches a point where it can't be without it; otherwise, you will start to experience withdrawal symptoms.

You may think that you don't drink nearly enough to become addicted to it, but you probably already are. “Careful research conducted by the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine shows that low to moderate caffeine intake (as little as one 14-ounce mug per day) can quickly produce withdrawal symptoms,” writes Cherniske. Yes, caffeine is a drug, even though it's something that you ingested in your beloved chocolate bars and colas since early childhood.

Instead of reaching for your morning cup of coffee, you can do your body a big favor by eating a healthy breakfast instead. A good breakfast, maintained by a healthy lunch, will keep you energetic all day. You can learn to distinguish between the good and bad breakfast foods, but whatever you do, don't wash it down with a cup of coffee.

It doesn't take a genius to see that there might be a downside to all of this neuron activity. In fact, uncontrolled neuron firing creates an emergency situation, which triggers the pituitary gland in the brain to secrete ACTH (adrenocorticotrophic hormone). ACTH tells the adrenal glands to pump out stress hormones the next major side effect of caffeine.
Caffeine Blues By Stephen Cherniske MS, page 56

Within five minutes after you drink your morning coffee, the caffeine begins to stimulate your central nervous system, triggering the release of stress hormones in your body, causing a stress (fight-or-flight”) response. The stress hormones are useful if you need to prepare yourself to fight or flee a dangerous situation, but if you are simply sitting at your desk you may feel a short charge of alertness, quickly followed by feelings of agitation. Within the next hour or so, after the stress response dissipates, you will probably feel more tired and hungry. At these low-energy times, many people reach for another cup of coffee, or eat a snack that is often high in sugar to “pep up” and stay alert. However, both caffeine and sugar only give you temporary feelings of increased energy, which quickly dissipate. For some people, this cycle of low energy followed by an infusion of caffeine or food continues the entire day leaving them feeling exhausted and unable to focus by 3:00 p.m. because they are drained from the ups and downs in energy their body endured throughout the day.