Coffee & Anxiolytics- self defeating to have both?

February 15, 2018 9:31 AM

I woke up after a night of stressful dreams and want to take my anxiety medication, but I'm tired and also need a coffee. It occurs to me that taking a stimulant after a sedative is defeating the purpose of both. Is it?

I already know that caffeine can be anxiety provoking, but my anxiety is only occasional and coffee is not a trigger for me. I'm only interested in the effects of the combination of the two. Thank you!

posted by tumbleweedjack to Grab Bag (5 answers total)

IANAD, etc...

To me it's self-defeating in the long-term, but not in the short term. Meaning, if you have a long term anxiety problem you should cut out caffeine as part of the solution.

In the short term, though, caffeine feels like it affects different parts of my brain than anxiolytics, so it's not like one is directly cancelling the other out. My evidence for this is that under some circumstances having some caffeine can help people relax even though it may make them jittery also.

Also, sometimes after I take an anxiolytic it calms me down but makes me feel sleepy. At that point, having a bit of coffee gets rid of the sleepiness but doesn't make me anxious.

Sorry, this feels like a bunch of musings, though hopefully all on topic.
posted by duoshao at 9:40 AM on February 15, 2018 [1 favorite]

Anti anxiety meds— here I’m really thinking of Benzodiazepines, act on a completely different set of receptors than caffeine. So you can get both ‘relaxed’ and ‘alert’ in combination.
posted by Doc_Sock at 10:21 AM on February 15, 2018 [3 favorites]

Hi, I'm you (kinda).

I don't need my Xanax very often, and I normally take it after work if I'm feeling really nervous and know I won't be able to sleep otherwise. However, on occasion I do need it in the morning or middle of day. (Like today, actually.)

Here's what seems to happen to me:

AM Anxiety + Coffee = Bad Anxiety
AM Anxiety + Xanax = No Anxiety, but also Too Sleepy to Function
AM Anxiety + Coffee + Xanax = Very Mild Anxiety

So on days when I need a Xanax early in the day, skipping my coffee is not really an option unless it's the weekend or I can take a sick day. On a typical weekday, I prefer to continue experiencing very mild anxiety while still functioning at work.

Sorry this is all anecdotal, but hopefully you find it on topic!
posted by schroedingersgirl at 10:23 AM on February 15, 2018

My experience was that benzos do make me sleepy, but they do not ONLY make me sleepy; stimulants can make me jittery, but not ONLY jittery. Those two sides of things do seem to counteract reasonably well, although I will say, if I'm already tired, the amount of coffee I need to stay awake through an Ativan is probably just going to leave me feeling gross. If I'm reasonably alert to start with, I do wind up feeling better for having both a benzo and a stimulant. All that said, though, in many of those situations I find that an Inderal works better than an Ativan.
posted by Sequence at 11:46 AM on February 15, 2018 [1 favorite]

Other people have your core question covered, so I’ll ask you: have you considered an alternative pick-me-up? I mostly have decaffeinated coffee due to both medical and anxiety issues. However years of associating the smell of coffee with its effects means I still get a mild boost. If I’m facing a stressful day, I’ll forgo coffee entirely in favour of peppermint or citrusy tisanes. They’re pretty stimulating. My wife has also got me some oil blends that I can dab on if I’ve had a bad night of sleep to help me get going.
posted by sincarne at 6:47 PM on February 15, 2018 [1 favorite]