"Coffee Relaxes Me And Makes Me Sleepy!" Topic

In the old days, whenever I happened to have a cup, I would get all wired up and alert. But something has definitely changed in the last decade or so with how I react to caffeine.

Nowadays, if I ever I happen to have a cup of coffee, a half hour or so later I end up getting very relaxed and sleepy, even if it's the morning after I've already had a good night's sleep.

Could it be ADHD? Or some other scientific (or perhaps a magical) reason?

Dan

Irish Coffee?? LOL

I'm sure it's the biological changes in you, Dan. Things in our bodies change over a period of time, so however caffeine affected you, say, 20-30 years ago, can more than likely affect you much differently now.

Not that I'll ever need them, but what about energy shots? Have you ever tried those and noticed their effects?

@ZULUPAUL: 1,000 points and a bowl of soup for you!

Caffeine has a cumulative effect. My late father-in-law, a Mormon (no coffee or tea), needed a heart stimulant in old age. Since he hadn't accustomed his body to caffeine, a Dr Pepper a few times a day did the trick.

The late Rocky Russo (of fond TMP memory) used to assert (similarly to you) that his morning coffee had no effect on his system, if anything it relaxed him as part of his daily, morning routine.

It could be a combination of body related things. In fact, with humans, it usually is. Possibly …

1) You have built up some tolerance to caffeine.

and

2) As you age, after a surge of activity, your body needs to relax more and sooner.

So if you combine those two effects, you could be getting a lower level, shorter surge from the caffeine and once it is over, you need more relax than you used to (even though the jolt is less).

'Course it also could be aliens. We all know what the Illuminati are putting in the coffee in support of their alien masters.

Well, most of the time a drug will do the expected result. The amount of result is usually best described with a normal distribution curve. However, there are some where the drug has the exact opposite effect. This is called the "Paradoxical Effect"

link

It could be that.

Or it could be that you are becoming more susceptible to the tryptophan in your milk or cream. Hard to tell. Just enjoy your coffee.

Did somebody switch out your regular coffee with de-caf when you weren't looking? Cruel people are everywhere.

This confirms it. Dan is an alien(plus he probably has hidden tentacles)

Dave

Shhh, hold your tongue!

To be honest, I think my wife is actually starting to suspect about all those things. :)

Dan
PS. And, while Benadryl makes my wife (and most of the human race) sleepy, it does totally the opposite to me. I get all wired up and manic with Benadryl. So, if I'm not an extraterrestrial, then perhaps Bowman's comment above is close to the mark.

Same here with regards to benadryl. NyQuil keeps me up as if I've mainlined a pot of coffee rather than the "make no plans" effect.

I'm the same way with coffee. An after dinner espresso calms and soothes me, rather than keeping me up.

Wow. This is just so weird.

Martin, does coffee work opposite for you also?

Tacitus, what about you with Benadryl?

Dan

Coffee relaxes me, too. Puts me in a calm (but not sleepy) mode. Now the GF has the opposite reaction. She gets wired (like, I guess, most people).

She says I'm weird…..

(I know. I just left myself WIDE open…)

Martin, does coffee work opposite for you also?

Similar to Charlie, but I would qualify it as coffee/espresso makes me alert but not jittery.

Now the GF has the opposite reaction. She gets wired (like, I guess, most people).

Well caffeine is a stimulant, so it's normal for her to feel stimulated. However, being "wired" might indicate she should stick to decaf or darker roasts (that process drops the caffeine content more than lighter roasts).

Caffeine has a cumulative effect. My late father-in-law, a Mormon (no coffee or tea), needed a heart stimulant in old age. Since he hadn't accustomed his body to caffeine, a Dr Pepper a few times a day did the trick.

Do I have this right? Mormonism precludes alcohol, coffee and tea, but allows caffeine containing drinks like sodas and Red Bull?

They do now (or rather, did as of 2012):

link