Tired All The Time Without Coffee

[KevinM1]

I'm starting to feel tired all the time unless I have multiple coffees a day. I'm 28... although nearly 29 (29 on September 5th).... am I just getting old or am I getting dependent on caffeine? Any ideas?

Do you have any other symptoms?

Really, if you're concerned, you should have blood work done, including an A1C.  Before I was diagnosed with diabetes, I was rundown all the time, always thirsty, and peeing like a race horse.

[vorlon13]

R'uh r'oh !!!!

[Shell B]

I stopped drinking anything with caffeine about 10 years ago. I still get sleepy sometimes during the day, but I found not having coffee wasn't as big a deal as I thought it would be. I used to need it. Now I don't need it at all. (I had a big habit like yours. Multiple coffees, energy drinks, etc. every single day) You probably need more exercise, in my opinion.

[Minimalist]

Yeah but I'm not even 30 yet

If you want to make 40, don't skimp on the coffee!

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/featur...lth-food#1

First, there's the potential effect on type 2 diabetes risk. Type 2 diabetes makes heart disease and stroke more likely.
Besides that, coffee has been linked to lower risks for heart rhythm disturbances (another heart attack and stroke risk factor) in men and women, and lower risk for strokes in women.
In a study of about 130,000 Kaiser Permanente health plan members, people who reported drinking 1-3 cups of coffee per day were 20% less likely to be hospitalized for abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) than nondrinkers, regardless of other risk factors.

Just be careful near your computer.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Hammy, I'm 47. I drink coffee or tea pretty much all day every day. I get thundering headaches if I don't, so it's in the best interest of everyone in my circle that I stay highly caffeinated.

Boru

[Gawdzilla Sama]

For twenty years I drank coffee in the Navy that kept trying to escape from the cup and attack me. That shit kept me awake.

[Edwardo Piet]

I'm starting to feel tired all the time unless I have multiple coffees a day. I'm 28... although nearly 29 (29 on September 5th).... am I just getting old or am I getting dependent on caffeine? Any ideas?

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor.

It might not necessarily be coffee, one other potential culprit it might be is spiking and dipping blood sugar.  I know that if I eat something that spikes my blood sugar, like an hour later I crash and can barely keep my eyes open.  I don't know how coffee affects your blood sugar levels but it might spike it to the point where you crash later unless you have another cup.

One thing to try over the next couple weeks is snacking a couple times a day on foods that are middling or lower on the Glycemic Index, meaning they change your blood sugar levels more slowly and help you maintain a more even keel throughout the day.

Figure out if there's a pattern to when you crash and reach for that next cuppa.

If you're crashing mid-morning, grab a snack about the time you know you'll crash and see if that staves it off for a while and gets you to lunch.

Try replacing one of your cups of coffee with some yogurt or string cheese which are both pretty low on the Glycemic Index to see if it's a blood sugar thing or a caffeine thing.

Of course, it could also be that you're particularly susceptible to the affects of caffeine - I'm not particularly affected by it but some people are and you might be one of those people.  In that case, if you're wanting to cut back on caffeine, try spacing cups out just a little bit more, or drinking weaker brews a couple times a day to limit your caffeine intake.

If you're really determined and up for it, try exercising first thing in the morning to get your blood pumping or going for a walk instead of drinking that fifth cup of the day.

If you're really concerned, though, talk to your doctor.

I'm not very susceptible to caffeine anymore... I'm desensitized. Hence why I drink a lot more and I have more and more spoons of coffee in my cups as I'm requiring more and more coffee to feel awake.

Thanks for the tips about blood sugar. I do often feel like it's something to do with sugar levels. I've often worried I have diabetes as I keep craving sugary foods when I'm trying to look after my teeth. And my dentist keeps telling me that no matter how well or often or carefully I brush... if I keep eating so much sugary foods and drinking so much sugary drinks I'll ruin my teeth and gums forever because the errosion is extremely bad on my teeth already and I'm developing the very early stages of gum disease. Most recently my toothache and gum ache has been so bad that I've started to avoid the sugar a lot more... but until it got this bad I felt like I had to because the cravings were stronger than the fear over my teeth and gums. Maybe my feeling super tired now is due to the fact I've stopped with the sugar.

I've been to the doctors a few times worrying I have diabetes... but I've been tested twice and they say I don't have it.

Thanks so much for your advice though, I have wondered that too. I'll try changing my diet. I mean, I'm going to have to stop with the sugar now anyway because if I don't the unbearable toothache will be more often (at this point eating or drinking ANYTHING sugary EVER gives me extremely awful toothache. Painkillers don't even work on it. In fact, the best "painkiller" is imagining I'm at a concert of my favorite band ever... why? Because if I was at a concert of my favorite band... I could have gum ache and toothache 3 times more unbearable than this "unbearable" tooth and gum ache, and I wouldn't give a shit. Imaging I was at an Orbital concert was the only thing that got me to sleep last night. It's insane how well it worked. My tooth and gums still hurt like hell but I didn't care. I closed my eyes and pretended I was at a concert and suddenly who gives a shit? The music is too good to care.

That has got to be the only example when using positive psychology on myself has ever worked though. Imaging myself in the happiest possible scenario I can imagine (that's the happiest I can imagine, if I ever won the jackpot lottery of millions upon millions I'd put enough in savings to stop me worrying about money for the rest of my life, and then I'd tour the world following Orbital around whenever they played.... I can't imagine any relationship or career or anything else in life that would give me more happiness than that. Perhaps I haven't got a very good imagination but... the only happier moments I've had than being at an Orbital concert are inconsistent moments that are dependent on other people and luck... that eventually end in disappointment, sadness and/or heartbreak and I don't want that anymore. Independence FTW).

Anyway, thanks again very much for the advice, sorry for the derail (of my own thread, lol).... and...thanks for caring, CM, take care!

---

Just be careful near your computer.

Been there done that... although it was a glucose drink that absolutely ruined my laptop keyboard. Which is like the worst possible fluid to spill on a computer. I sit my laptop a few feet in front of my when I drink now (just far enough so unless I purposefully threw it at the computer, there's no chance of spilling it on my computer even if I spilled it (Yeah... I move the computer away rather than walk away from my computer. Why the fuck would I ever want to walk away from my computer? )).

[Minimalist]

For twenty years I drank coffee in the Navy that kept trying to escape from the cup and attack me. That shit kept me awake.

With salt?

[KevinM1]

I've been to the doctors a few times worrying I have diabetes... but I've been tested twice and they say I don't have it

Are they actually taking your A1C or are they merely taking a fasting glucose? Because the first test is what determines if you have diabetes, and the second means fuckall most of the time. A diabetic's glucose fluctuates more rapidly than a normal person's during the day, so even if a random test says you're around 100, that doesn't mean you're not diabetic. An A1C is an indication of your blood sugar levels over a longer period of time.

So, if you can, see if they did an actual A1C test on you. If they did and you're within normal parameters, cool, something to check off the list. If they haven't, and they've only been taking a fasting glucose, then:

1. Get a new doctor, because your current one sucks ass
2. Demand that your new doctor runs that test

[Edwardo Piet]

I dunno all I know is they tested my piss. What's A1C?