Whenever a patient comes to me complaining of symptoms including insomnia, agitation, headaches, palpations and/or poor concentration the first thing I advise them to do is to stop caffeine for a trial period.  I usually get a strange look because I am not reaching out for prescription pad to offer a “quick fix.”  Yes I am a doctor who uses empirical evidence to gather data in order to determine whether habits may be causing health problems.  I am not just a “one trick pony.”  I would like to explain to you my interesting observations on and off caffeine (tea or coffee).  The purpose of this anecdote is not to persuade you that what I say is true.  But rather to persuade you to test what I have to say.

We have been opportunistically observing ourselves, patients and people in general whilst on coffee.  It is interesting to see people very “speeded up” with rapid speech and  hand gesticulations just after one cup of coffee…and having absolutely no insight into this behaviour.  In fact most people just think that it is part of their personality and will make statements like, “I can’t keep still…I am just that personality type.”

Well let me tell you about my personal observations of on and off coffee.  It is very interesting how this actually happened.  Like any  Scottish person, I like a good cup of tea in the morning and so I have over years, just got into this habit.  Anyway, for a change, we decided to drink these novelty “coffee sachets” bought from the Chinese store.

After about a week, we realised that we were not feeling the usual effects of a cup of tea; these included immediate up-lifting of mood, loquaciousness, occasional palpitations and the general feeling of “needing to get things done…NOW!!”  This is when we realised that these coffee sachets probably didn’t contain real coffee (ie.caffeine) and were made up of chicory or some cheap alternative.  That made us laugh and we started calling these sachets “Coffee For Kids” as a joke!

Anyway, we continued on our “Kid’s Coffee” for another 3 weeks. Yesterday I decided that it would just be  nice to have a good cup of tea to hit the spot.  In fact I had two cups of tea back to back.  This is what I observed:  I felt the sudden urge to move about and do things…wash dishes, do laundry, pack soap and label and do everything all at once.  This doesn’t sound too bad but I felt that all these “needs” became a huge pressure in my head and then manifested as palpitations in my chest.  It came as a surprise to me that I did recognise these symptoms…it was how I always felt after a cup of tea or coffee.  Previously, I had attributed these feelings to my circumstances (pressures of farm work and business, etc, etc).  No, it is actually just the physical effects of caffeine…wow, what a revelation.  As a consequence to this, I was on my feet until about 5pm before I settled myself down.  I noticed poor concentration and lack of focus.  Caffeine seems to be good for repetitive “brainless” tasks so in some respects can be useful.  I also could not get to sleep which is unusual for me.

Interesting…

Maybe some of us are actually operating at a sub-optimal level from the negative effects of caffeine?

In summary, I think that caffeine (coffee or tea) can be useful in many circumstances which include long hours of repetitive work requiring little concentration.  It is also good as a “social tool” because it makes you more talkative.  If you are physically and mentally tired, caffeine can certainly perk you up; if your energy levels are fine then you can experience anxiety and agitation as negative effects. Like everything in life, it should be used with awareness of the tasks at hand.  In other words, do not use it as a habit and a matter of course.  I have written this post in the hope that some people may find these observations interesting and try to test these ideas for themselves.  In doing so, it may give people more understanding of control, awareness and self.