If you have ready any of my other blogs about anxiety, you know I do NOT do well with caffeine. About three years ago (2019-2020), I began experiencing heart palpitations quite frequently. I was going through an extremely stressful period of purchasing my first house (by myself), in the midst of a very toxic relationship and working full time at a job that required a lot from me. These three things together led to a very stressful living situation. I was often fueled by coffee, especially since I was not getting nearly enough sleep. I, just like many Americans, had coffee every morning.
Eventually the heart palpitations I experienced were so frequent that it was impacting me at work. I began keeping a tally for every time I felt one. I remember I counted 35 before the end of the day so I stopped counting and scheduled a doctors visit. She listened to my heart, took all my vitals, and performed a full physical. Fortunately, nothing turned up wrong but my doctor was still concerned that these were happening so frequently and recommended I lay off the caffeine.
What does a heart palpitation feel like? It feels like your heart beating out of turn, or beating very hard soon before another. It can sometimes take my breath away and be uncomfortable. If I put my finger to my neck and feel my pulse, I can feel a slight delay in heartbeat when having a palpitation.
A few months after I cut caffeine out completely I saw a huge difference. Although I still experienced heart palpitations out of stress, I could tell they were greatly reduced and so I went on my way.
As my relationship and the abuse progressed, I began experiencing panic attacks around the beginning of 2021. With these attacks, my heart palpitations returned, especially during an attack. After a bad one landed me in the hospital, I had another EKG done. The doctors could see on the monitor that when my heart was beating abnormally. I wore a heart monitor for a week so they could observe. Turns out, these were just palpitations and the doctors were not too concerned.
Slowly I began introducing caffeine back into my diet, but with caution. For a long time I found a comfortable level for me. This was about 40-100 mg of caffeine and not much more. I invested in Ryze mushroom coffee and was very consistent, making it a part of my routine. After a while, I started to think that maybe caffeine wasn't the problem, and it was actually stress. So I kind of fell back into old habits and have been consuming 2-3 cups of coffee a day.
Fast forward to now, 2022, I have been experiencing them almost as badly as I was three years ago. Except this time, I am in a healthy- rewarding relationship, have a new stable job and am the least stressed I have been in years. So what was causing these again? Caffeine, you named it. My anxiety and heart palpitations have been through the roof. So I tried an experiment. I cut it out completely and what do you know- I feel SO much better.
So because I am the way I am- I started researching. It turns out that some people are just very sensitive to caffeine. According to the article below, a certain gene may be cause for some people being more sensitive than others.
"Since people drink coffee, it is well-known that some individuals are sensitive to its stimulant effects whereas some others are not." (1)
Along this journey I learned that heart palpitations generally are not dangerous. However, I recommend checking with your doctor if you experience them regularly. I am not a doctor and can not make any claims. For me, however, these palpitations were often accompanied by anxiety and uncomfort. If you experience this, or frequent anxiety, you may have a caffeine sensitivity! I challenge you to try cutting it out and take a note at how you feel!
Below I have posted some of the articles I read about this, so if you are anything like me- dive in!
Sources
Hans-Peter Landolt, PhD, “No Thanks, Coffee Keeps Me Awake”: Individual Caffeine Sensitivity Depends on ADORA2A Genotype, Sleep, Volume 35, Issue 7, 1 July 2012, Pages 899–900, https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.1942
Richards G, Smith A. Caffeine consumption and self-assessed stress, anxiety, and depression in secondary school children. J Psychopharmacol. 2015 Dec;29(12):1236-47. doi: 10.1177/0269881115612404. Epub 2015 Oct 27. PMID: 26508718; PMCID: PMC4668773.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163834321001614
Winston, A., Hardwick, E., & Jaberi, N. (2005). Neuropsychiatric effects of caffeine. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment,11(6), 432-439. doi:10.1192/apt.11.6.432
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