OCD, coffee and nicotine

[Guest Otloz]

Are people with OCD generally very sensitive to coffee and caffeine products? I've had closer to 5 cups today and I feel absolutely terrible at the moment. I can barely sit down. I also smoked closer to a pack today.

I live in a coffee-drinking country, where the average intake is 5 cups a day, so I really don't have any experience without caffeine. I usually don't drink this much though and I'm wondering if coffee is the actual trigger here.

Nicotine is another thing. I read somewhere that people with OCD have been treated with nicotine, which doesn't seem to make any sense to me? Or is it about the other toxins in cigarettes that make me feel dreadful?

I appreciate the input

[Guest anatta]

I don't think I'm more sensitive to caffeine than would be expected, given that I rarely drink it so my tolerance is lower than most. Does give me energy when I need it, can make me hyperactive, all normal things I think. I've only tried tobacco once and didn't notice much effect one way or another. It's possible I didn't smoke it right, but then I've smoked other things and never had that problem so maybe nicotine just doesn't affect me much or the effects most people get are largely placebo anyway.

I don't see the point of nicotine, people get addicted to it but I don't see it having any effect on their mind at all. At least with other popular toxic drugs, like alcohol, I can see the effects that make it appealing, but tobacco just seems to make you smell horrible, poison you and damage your developing baby's brain if you ever get pregnant, and nowadays makes you have to stand outside in lovely UK whether with all the other outcasts banished from public buildings. I would have expected at least a light buzz in return for all that but it did nothing for me.

Edited February 28, 2015 by anatta

[taurean]

Nicotine is a stimulant. People get addicted and think it calms them but actually you are calming the craving for nicotine I believe.

I smoked once to see what all the fuss was about but couldn't see any benefit so stopped. Saved me pots of money and I am probably more healthy too.

Caffeine is also a stimulant .

If one is already anxious through OCD neither of the 2 will be calming.

[Guest anatta]

Yes, if nicotine or a derivative of it does in fact reduce some people's OCD, one possibility is that it does so for the same as reasons that stimulant medications like methylphenidate seem to help some people's OCD - dramatically, too. But different stimulants have very different effects on the brain. Caffeine is very different to methylphenidate and I've never seen anyone at all report an OCD benefit from it. People do claim that nicotine makes them feel calmer in a general sense and it does have sedative properties as well as stimulating ones (just not any effects that look big and impressive to me from the outside, but I know on a neurological level at least something is genuinely happening) so it would make sense for it to reduce symptoms of any anxiety disorder temporarily. I will try to find the research you mention about nicotine though, Otloz.

Edited February 28, 2015 by anatta

[Guest PalaeontologyLover]

Caffeine definitely heightens my anxiety ao I usually drink tea instead of coffee. Nicotine however doesn't affect me - I enjoy a cigarette.

[Guest Gale1982]

Like Taurean says, nicotine is indeed a stimulant and its calming effects are simply a remedy to the withdraw one experiences after a few hours of cessation.

I avoid caffeine as that too is a stimulant and I personally find it can make me very anxious, unlike alcohol (a sedative), which relieves it...temporally anyway. I'm trying to kick nicotine as I've noticed a correlation between smoking and intrusive thoughts. Not sure if its the act of smoking or the direct effect of nicotine.

Of course, there is no point to smoking other than looking exceptionally cool and being able to avoid dull conversation at parties. If people made more of an effort to be entertaining then I wouldn't feel the need to keep going outside in sub-zero temperatures to poison myself to death with toxic fumes

Otloz, it might be an idea to experiment with your intake. Perhaps try cutting down a little and see if you feel any calmer?

[Guest PalaeontologyLover]

I agree with Gale. Perhaps reduce your intake to see if there is a correlation?

[Melanie]

In my experience cafeïne causes higher anxiety levels and it makes me hyperactive, which I don't like. It also makes my head overactive. Too many thoughts at the same time. I also smoke and yes this causes a false feeling of calmness. But actually they are making you more nervous. I am trying to reduce the smoking and I use decaf coffee.

[Melanie]

And I have completely banished alcohol. When I was 17 I used marihuana two times. Two times big heavy panic attacks. A big no no since then too.

[Guest Otloz]

And I have completely banished alcohol. When I was 17 I used marihuana two times. Two times big heavy panic attacks. A big no no since then too.

I used to smoke cannabis quite often, because at times it would make me feel calmer. But contrary to what people say, there is definitely a withdrawal to it as well. I noticed how depressed I felt the following day. This would often lead to worrying and racing thoughts. I also had a few experiences with too strong stuff and that was absolutely terrible.

Alcohol is obviously a no-no for a person like me with addictive tendencies (so are other drugs as well), but cigarettes are a bad habit that I find really hard to let go of.

Maybe I'll try reducing the intake now, or just buy other nicotine products.

[Guest anatta]

I used to smoke cannabis quite often, because at times it would make me feel calmer. But contrary to what people say, there is definitely a withdrawal to it as well. I noticed how depressed I felt the following day. This would often lead to worrying and racing thoughts. I also had a few experiences with too strong stuff and that was absolutely terrible.

Alcohol is obviously a no-no for a person like me with addictive tendencies (so are other drugs as well), but cigarettes are a bad habit that I find really hard to let go of.

Maybe I'll try reducing the intake now, or just buy other nicotine products.

If you smoked it with tobacco, it was probably the tobacco you got withdrawal symptoms from. But if you smoked a tonne of it pure everyday you'd probably get some too. High THC strains (as most of the stuff on the street will be these days) are not good for people with anxiety unless there's a lot of CBD to off-set it. This is a bit of simplification but in general, the CBD is good for anxiety long-term and the THC not, hence the effects are unpredictable when you can't know or control how much of each you're getting. In American states where it's legal, doctors regularly prescribe cannabis to both adults and children to treat anxiety disorders, including OCD, with amazing success stories. But it's got far more CBD and less THC than most of what's available on the street. The only medical use of cannabis legal in the UK is Sativax for MS, because our government hates us.

Edited March 2, 2015 by anatta