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Comment by thenerdhead | Hacker News Reader

I had this exact same problem just back in November.

Regular coffee drinker (1-2 cups), having pre-workout before the gym.

Starting having an absurd amount of anxiety and what I can best describe as a panic attack or flu-like symptom making my heart race & feelings of palpitations.

Go to the ER, they find nothing wrong. Doctors say "cut your stimulates and lower your stresses".

Seemed to be a combination of work stress & the stimulates. Ever since going cold turkey, I've been better than ever. I continue to get headaches but they are manageable with plenty of water.

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I experienced something similar (minus the hospital visit.) I'd regularly gone with 4-6 cups a day for years, with no noticeable problems. I ran into a particularly stressful month, then experienced a 2-month bout with insomnia and anxiety.

Insomnia is brutal, and I did everything I could to get over it including eliminating caffeine/coffee completely for around 6-7 months.

I didn't experience any issues stopping. After the sleeping and anxiety were under control I figured I'd stick with it - I'd heard others say they experienced a few positive benefits by cutting caffeine completely. I didn't notice anything.

When I decided to grab a cup again the productivity boost was pretty amazing. I settled on 1/2 caff up to 11am, then decaf only. I drink a lot less coffee now, and if there's even a hint of an issue sleeping I'll skip it for a day or two.

That's awesome that you were able to find a moderation change. I just went cold turkey because of experience itself.

Doesn't pre-workout contain a fair amount of caffeine as well?

It does. About 1.5-2x the amount of a cup of coffee.

I had this problem a long time ago but I was drinking way too much coffee, I think 5 cups a day. Down to 2, one of them is decaf so basically down to one.

What pre workout were you taking? Some have over 10 cups of coffee worth of caffeine.

Did you get vaccinated? I had these symptoms after the vaccination, but I am not 100% if other things changed at the same time, like increased coffee consumption or unrelated external worries.

I'm so sorry to hear that. I hear that quite often from friends and family members. I did not get vaccinated/boosted around this timeframe if you were curious if that was the cause. I even had covid earlier in january 2021. I did a few COVID tests(both ER & at home) and came back negative each time. Inflammation markers in blood work also looked normal according to doctors/cardiologist.

For my situation, I think it was a combination of many things. Stress, anxiety, caffeine, intense workouts, allergy season, diet, hydration, long COVID, seasonal flu, genetics, etc. Nothing really changed for me personally either, but the world around me did. Maybe it's my body & mind's way of saying "dude slow down". So I listened.

Thanks - I hope it isn't serious but I'll try to get checked just in case.

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