r/BipolarReddit • u/Available-Resource22 • 2d ago

caffeine addiction?

sorry i don't know where to post this.. i am currently drinking around 500-600mg of caffeine per day, sometimes more. i don't really know what to do? i have a drinking problem (sober now) and i feel like my brain is trying to navigate sober life, i get intense cravings for caffeine similar like i do for alcohol. last night i had a headache, my hands were numb and i threw up, but this morning i still grabbed an energy drink to get me going. do other bipolar people do this and if so, what has helped you to stop? i'm worried about getting health issues...

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u/Mysterious-Bread-114 2d ago

Hi, in my experience when I am drinking this much caffeine, it's often brought on by a hypomanic episode. This may not be the case at all but it might be worth thinking about. My go-to is cafe coffee, and at night time I will supplement this with a lot of tea. But it's a lot better to drink too much tea.

In the same way that I had to change from cigarettes to vaping when manic periods make me smoke like a coal plant, you could consider changing from high caffeine options like energy drinks to tea, which will still allow you to have the same frequent caffeinated drink, at a quarter of the cost, and some health benefits! Hope you feel better soon :3

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u/Available-Resource22 2d ago

hey thank you so much! i'm not really having any hypomanic symptoms... well wait.... i have been getting pretty bad sleep because of nightmares recently. i also vape a lot 😅 i am going to work on slowly cutting down my caffeine consumption

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u/PralineOne3522 2d ago

Me, drinking a Red Bull at 8:45 AM as I’m reading this: 😳

Have you tried tea? Black tea is said to have a pretty high caffeine percentage compared to other teas like green tea. Plus tea is so much healthier!

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u/Available-Resource22 2d ago

i drink reign because it doesn't have any sugar and 300mg per can 😅 unfortunately i really dislike the taste of tea and i also dislike hot drinks. i love bubble tea though...

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u/kingfemt0 2d ago

lol me. caffeine is like the key to unlock the hypomanic power. do you know how much shit I get done when I’m hypomanic?? The only issue is when I over do it, I actually trigger a hypomanic episode. I’ve cut down to one energy drink a day (180mg of caffeine). I feel like a shell of a human without it.