Coffee: My Favorite Worst Enemy
I love coffee. That is the long and short of it. Caramel macchiatos, french vanillas, pumpkin spice lattes, I love it all. Starbucks? Best friend. However, my body doesn't always love coffee so much. And no, by that I do not mean it makes me poop my pants. I thought you might assume that by my vague sentence before, but I'm no pants-pooper. Yet. Come back in sixty years and we'll check in on that one again.
Sometimes I forget that if I don't eat often during the day I start getting shaky. I can deal with that pretty easily by eating something. But sometimes I forget that an empty stomach plus caffeine triggers my anxiety. That, I can't deal with so easily. This situation just happened, and I literally nearly had a panic attack in the office.
It was too late before I realized I hadn't eaten in a while and the two coffees I had this morning were catching up with me. My heart started pounding in my chest and my head was getting fuzzy. I felt so anxious that I thought I was going to throw up on my desk.
I think sometimes people don't realize that a panic attack doesn't have to be ABOUT something. It can just happen. I know tons of people have anxiety, some worse than others. I used to be in the not-so-anxious category until maybe a year ago when, for whatever reason, anxiety caught up with me. Now it sits at my doorstep waiting to be let in... most often in the form of health anxiety. This is something I have blogged about once before, I am an admitted, self-diagnosed (ha) hypochondriac.
And know what? It sucks. But I deal with it. I am slowly learning to put my fear into the hands of someone bigger than me up there, because it sure isn't doing me any good. I want people to know that anxiety isn't some crazy person issue, us normal people (okay, so I'm not that normal, whatevs) get it too. And we deal with it. On a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, life-long basis. And it sucks. So let's band together and start a club. No, let's not do that. But let's support eachother and know that there are other anxiety-ridden folk too. It helps knowing, it really does.
22 comments:
oh, Chelsea, I am a hypochondriac sometimes, too. Ben laughs at me but I get pretty worried from time to time about not real health conditions. Pretty hard to deal with it.
Anxiety is probably the thing I struggle most with in daily life. I think some of my behaviors almost border on OCD, too. Thank you for being so honest and open about this. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who has issues with feeling overwhelmed :)
Such an inspiring post, especially the part of putting our issues in someone else's hands. It's hard to do, but so worth it. :)
I definitely get shaky on a coffee-only stomach. I need food!
I have a really fast metabolism + some heart issues so I turn CRAZY when I haven't eaten. It's like the whole world needs to stop until I can shove a granola bar down my mouth. I don't drink coffee but I'm sure I'd be a disaster if I did haha!
Not eating can definitely cause anxiety! A lot of times I will start to feel really anxious, and then I realize that I'm just dehydrated and need to drink some water. After that, I always feel better!
I have a sensitivity to too much caffeine as well! I'm trying to cut back on coffee but sometimes it is just so necessary. Fast metabolism + empty stomach + coffee is not a good recipe!
x Ellie @ Ellalogy
Ugh anxiety is horrible isn't it?! I think it's awesome you're so open about it. Coffee/energy drinks are a surefire way to send me into panic mode, so I steer clear.
Love coffee!
http://eternal-simplicity.blogspot.com
YES! i love it too. but it def affects me, and makes me all shaky!
LOL ok this post is so cute and funny, my mother was just saying yesterday that she couldnt go potty and stopped in at starbucks and then went within theh our after! A natural and yummy way hehe
I am the exact same way. I have tried switching to tea instead of coffee some days to try to calm it a little more, but coffee is tooooooo yummy!
And I totally hate giving advice on things like this, but figured I'd share what seems to work for me - I take a daily dose of a b-complex vitamin as well as fish oil supplements and it really does make a difference for my mood/anxiety.
I too, suffer from anxiety. Coffee is a definite trigger, but it is also something that I will never be able to give up. I just keep truckin', one day at a time. :/
I love this post and your blog, I am now following you!
xx
Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
New follower over from Macdonalds Playland! Anxiety sucks and my attacks always come 30 minutes after something happens. Crazy stuff! Love you blog and your honesty:)
I am the same way. If I drink a cup of coffee on an empty stomach and then my anxiety is triggered, it takes me a long time to calm down.
It actually happened today at work to me. :(
Oh no that sucks! I have anxiety attacks a lot too. I was put on meds but they broke me out & i looked like a leper so i don't take anything anymore. :/ That sucks to hear though. I hope you had a great Monday.
I get anxiety attacks sometimes too, but I didn't think that it had anything to do with my eating habits. I definitely get freaked out sometimes, like I can't breathe fully and I'm in a hurry to get outside. I like how you said it doesn't have to be about something - I always feel like, "What am I being psycho about?" Helps knowing that I don't have to have a reason! Thanks for sharing such an intimate post with us... and I'm glad you didn't poop your pants :)
Coffee is amazing. Anxiety sucks. That is all. Oh & I love you. #nowthatisall
Coffee is one of my biggest weaknesses, and moving from a city with a hundred Starbucks to a town with none for 40 miles I thought I would die!
It helps to just let go of our troubles and let the higher being take care of us. We'll be okay ;)
Love this post and love your blog! Coffee is probably one of my worse enemies too and was the trigger in me thinking I need to take a long hard look at what I put in my body and how that subsequently affects my mental health. I'm documenting this journey on my new blog - would love to see you there sometime xx
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