Just a quick report.

Yesterday I tried having two teaspoons of coffee instead of one. Not a huge change for most people but a lot for me. Oh, and it was normal coffee not decaf. I’ve moved on a long way in my tolerance this past year.

I can’t help but notice how tense I have been since yesterday. Totally abnormal for me. This has been a really relaxing weekend with the Australian Open on just sorting out the house and chilling.

My pulse is faster than normal, my stomach feels like it almost has a knot in it. No matter what I do to relax the feeling is still there. I’ve tried a little meditation, seen a film at the cinema and also distracted myself with house stuff. Normally that’s plenty to let me relax. Even a nice lay in this morning had no effect.

I also felt more tired than normal by the evening yesterday. Needing a little cola to perk me up. That is not me at all. I rarely flag later in the day unless I have a really busy day and at the end of a busy week. I shouldn’t feel like that this weekend, it’s been particularly relaxing and stress free.

Though the feelings I have been having are common when I have when I have more caffeine than usual and are why I want to build up my tolerance. I just felt I should record this to compare with next time and see if it’s a trend. These symptoms reflect what I hear caffeine though I may have misunderstood or remembered the symptoms of excess caffeine incorrectly so I want to check my facts. Overall I want to understand what good and bad things caffeine can do.

I see it as a tool to train your nervous system. Overload it, but it isn’t without risks and I’m not in favour of using chemicals to achieve results. So often the risks out weight the benefits. I build my tolerance to caffeine so that it doesn’t affect me like it is right now. Though I don’t want to increase my dose forever. I just want to find out the balance that’s right for me.

References

Nurturing The Brain – Part I, Caffeine: A useful summary of what caffeine is and how it effects the brain.