Caffeine
 

I have problems with chronic muscle tension, particularly in the neck. I wondered if there was any relationship between tension and caffeine since I drink coffee. Here some interesting bits:

-- http://www.askmen.com/sports/foodcou...ting_well.html

This article is very pro coffee but does point out "Evidence shows that caffeine intensifies muscle contractions" ...

-- http://bodytechnician.com/caffeine.html

This guy claims that when his massage therapy clients stop or start caffeine, he can feel the difference in their level of muscle tension. He also claims "Moderate-to-high coffee consumption (>1 cup/day) increases markers of inflammation. Inflammation causes pain." with references. But wow, is that page the most anti-caffeine/coffee page you could ever imagine.

-- I also recall that one of my magnesium books claimed that coffee depletes magnesium which is associated with muscle relaxation.

I've also read some benefits of caffeine, but none of them related to muscle relaxation.

Thoughts? Experiences?

I have slowly weaned myself off caffeine over the last month slowly to avoid the no coffee in the system durring surgery, causing a headache. I was up to 2 cups a day at my hight, and down to one in the morning. That being said, being off it completly now for some time has made NO difference in my pain or muscle tension levels. I would think you would be talking about a pot a day person to make a difference. lol. So I write it off as bunk. Of course we all respond differently to stimuli.
I think a cup a day is great, you have to enjoy something in life.
Cheers,
Jay

I could see a possible connection due to the caffeine effects and muscle tension, especially if a static job or low activity level vs activities where you can burn off the caffeine/tension.

When I was working 10 hr days I was drinking 3 or more cups a day w/ cream & plenty of sugar...:o mostly those small cups from the coffee vending machine though..
My job was alternately sitting/standing but very active in upper body/arm/hand use so I think I burnt off the caffeine effects for the most part.

now, a cup in the morning and maybe 1 mid day if a chilly/wet winter day...but I'm sure I get more sleep now than I did back then, so I don't need it to stay awake- or for energy.

Agree with Tossucks. Pre-TOS, I would drink about 2 cups of espresso coffee and be a Diet Coke addict for the rest of the day. Overtime, I have lost interest in Diet Coke, for whatever reason, and maybe drink one every other day. I usually drink 1-1 1/2 cups of coffee in the AM (especially good with a marshmallow on top). NO reduction in muscle tension has been felt!

Some of us, including me, have breathing problems with TOS. There are a number of studies out there which state caffeine is a bronchodilator. It hasn't helped me breathe either.

The only thing it helps me do is start my day and everyone with TOS looks forward to a new day full of surprises :).

Eat, drink and be merry -
Anne

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm going to wean myself off it completely and see what happens or does not. Will take about 4 weeks, I think.

its rough

i miss caffeine i feel stupid

?

Do you mean you quit suddenly just now and are feeling withdrawal effects? Or you quit earlier? Why did you quit?

I've decided to quit by drinking a little less each day. I've also been cooking up ideas to boost energy sans caffeine. I can't just go from lying in bed all night to sitting in front of the computer and expect to feel wide awake. I'm currently thinking:

Small cup of OJ + supplements + small cup of water
3 min meditation. Relax all muscles
1 - 3 appropriate stretches
N min cardio
Take in sunlight (stand in front of a window)

...to be used as needed. Looks like 10 - 15 mins to me.

There are also some books dedicated to ideas about boosting energy that I may check out.

We'll see how it goes. I just started reducing the coffee a few days a go, so I'm still enjoying it for the most part. :D

ive been off caffeine for several months and i cheated and had a cup of tea and just felt like a genius

i quit bc supposedly it can raise blood sugar and is bad for POSTURAL ORTHOSTATIC TACHYCARDIA but i dunno i might get bck on it. i miss tea. it raises cortisol.


side note, physiologic stress can raise your fasting blood sugar level. i doubt you ahve that problem but it's something to be aware of for people in chronic pain

http://stereopsis.com/flux/

is neat software. it puts you to sleep though at night by getting rid of the lcd/blue light effect, so im not sure if this is a good thread to post. i just wanna plug it :)

Do you think that's from the increase in circulation? Or do you think other factors contribute? If it's just from circulation, then exercise should be an acceptable substitute.

There have been recent studies that found mental performance went up immediately after brisk walking. Of course, I realize that's more work than drinking something, but it has extra benefits that make it worthwhile.

Or maybe tea is the right balance point for you. It has less caffeine than coffee for example.

At http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postura...ardia_syndrome it says that caffeine helps some patients and worsens others.

I forget what coffee taste like.....I advise supplement with Whiskey. In the morning it killls all the bad bacteria in your mouth. Great start to the day....but it does go good in coffee...

:Sinking:

Coffee and Crown!

Godspeed and Good Luck, my friend. May you never have to troll TOS boards again as you're a surgical success story.

Cheers -

Anne

it is circulation, partially

i fidget a lot on purpse

exercise can help and make it worse, its tricky.

I fidget all the time, but not on purpose. I'm one of the most fidgety people I know and always have been.

good thing you stopped caffeine then :)

i had a cup of tea today i feel awesome. tea shouldnt have sucha strong effect on me. it didnt when i was in college. i had to drink black coffee all the time

How about yerba mate'? It's supposed to have more nutrition than tea or coffee. Anyone try it?

https://www.google.com/search?q=yerba+mate

i DO feel yerba mate i really like everything but the taste is bleh

I've heard you can add things to it like orange rind to help the flavor.

But I can't find a good gourd and straw. People complain about quality in the reviews...

i fell off the wagon

Hopefully that didn't cause a flare up.

So you mean you're drinking 5 cups of coffee now or what?

eeek no

altho i used to. in college, black coffee. not good for a skinny girl lol

now im drinkin 3-4 cups of green or black tea

Im back to one cup of coffee a day again too. I so missed it. :D

Stop... Tempting... Meeeee!!!!

for me caffeines like a bad roller coaster ride

CAAAAAAFFFFFFIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!......oh come to Mama!:
It's the dark side: SO bad, but oh soooooooooooooooooooooo good!.:winky:

WOW, I'm too hard on myself............ I probably have x3 a week. I think it's time to chill alittle and relax. Coffee, coffee, coffee......YEAH!

I'm glad I gave it up. Even at only 2 coffees per day, it was still a bit of a roller coaster, as mspennyloafer called it. I feel like my body is quieter now and my muscle tension has come down a notch, which is an ongoing problem for me.

I tapered down to half a cup per day and then quit. I still experienced withdrawal symptoms and felt like crap for a day, but then was fine after that.

i drank some coffee for the first time in over a year today before a meeting
and my neck was yeah..worse than usual.

i guess ill stick to drinking 2 cups of black tea

coffee
 

is Caffeine bad?

i would assume that Caffeine has the opposite effect of taking Valium or Ativan.

Caffeine has never really effected me (doesn't keep me awake). I stopped coffee months ago but still drink tea.

In general, caffeine makes me worse. Tea is easier on me than coffee, but I stay away from all of it ---- soda too. :(

yeah, i love my tea!
caffeine raises cortisol and when my cortisol is high my neck clenches up :mad:

it sucks tho because my brain works better. trade offs indeed

I'm the neck clench poster boy! :eek:

Unfortunately.

Studies have shown that people think better and faster after a brisk walk. Presumably due to increased circulation. Sugar helps too, though I would prefer whole fruit over liquid sources for better long term health.

Though it costs more time than downing a caffeinated drink, a combo of hydration, stretching, walking and fruit should charge the brain.

Ahem, not that I'm in the choir. I still drink 1 cup of tea per day even though I do some of the above.

Chroma and MsPLoafer, I wish I could trade necks with you for a day to give you some relief. The scalenectomy part of my surgery has helped me so incredibly much after living with neck pain for all these years. I know you both are hesitant about surgery--and rightly so--but I wish you could do a neck "test drive".

I had the surgery on the left side and still have tight muscles on the left side.

I realize I've been slacking on my mag supplementation and that during this time the muscle tension has been creeping up. So I'll be getting back on that to see how it goes.

Did you have full scalenectomy or just the rib resection? If not, have you thought about going back for the scalenectomy?

Had scalenectomy. I also had a labrum repaired in shoulder and cyst removed. My chiro who does ART on my thinks it might be coming from pec minor. Yesterday I saw him and he really worked that area. At one point when he was stretching and massaging area, I felt whole neck release.

I used to have major trigger points with pec minor and underarms. I used to have both active release, and graston techniques perforned which both helped. I feel that the neuromuscular technique my new therapeutic massage therapist uses is much more effective. Unfortunately, I have to pay $70 a session for her while the ART and graston were covered by my insurance.

My new physical therapist, Dr. Ando commented on how good my soft tissue person was because I am practically trigger point free now.

Sorry for the thread hijack. :Talkative:

I have to pay for both, so it really does not matter what I do. Yesterday when I had the ART the muscles where extremely tight. There are days when it is not so bad, which makes no sense to me, since I already had the surgery on that side. My right side which still has a lot of arterial compression does not have the tightness that the left side seems to always have.