Before my illness I was drinking around a pot and a half of coffee a day. It gave me horrible anxiety which I ignored, and then, over the course of a few years, things kind of snowballed into psychosis. I’m not saying the coffee is solely to blame, but it probably played at least a small role because of the anxiety it caused me.
I gave up coffee and caffeine for a year after my hospitalization, then slowly started to allow it back into my life in reasonable amounts, like a soda every few days, and on rare occasions, a cup of coffee, but just one. Then I kind of started to slip and go past the limits I’d set for myself because I do enjoy caffeine (before the anxiety sets in, at least).
Lately I’ve noticed I can go through a whole pot of coffee over the course of a day if I don’t watch myself, and I feel that familiar anxiety coming back. I’m on meds that lessen anxiety so it’s nowhere near the level it used to be, but I still feel like this is cause for concern. I’m going to have to consciously cut back again, I think.
i dilute my coffee with extra water. that way, i get more coffee without actually having more coffee. the taste doesn’t even change that much either. id recommend a quarter cup of coffee and three fourth cup water. or at least half and half.
Diluting my coffee and decaf coffee are good options, thanks guys!
I do like decaf but I can be picky about it. It’s rare that the flavor is as satisfying to me as that of normal coffee. I do have some good decaf somewhere in our kitchen though. I oughta look for it.
That’s a good alternative, thank you!