How To Tell If You Are Sensitive To Caffeine

Caffeine is everywhere, from coffee to soda. So many of us need it to function in the morning to make us feel productive and awake. But there’s a lot of people who have a propensity for feeling very intense reactions when consuming caffeine, which can cause them jitters, sleep issues, headaches, and more.

Caffeine sensitivity tends to be pretty easy to notice, but sometimes, the symptoms aren’t all that clear. When experienced, it may be uncomfortable to a manageable degree, or it might simply make you feel terrible. If the latter is the case, coffee might not be the drink for you.

In order to know whether you experience caffeine sensitivity or not, Healthline recommends keeping a food and drink log to help you realize how much caffeine you are consuming and whether or not it produces some side effects. So you have an understanding of what caffeine sensitivity looks like, here are some of the most common symptoms that people who are sensitive to caffeine experience:

Your face gets hot

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A lot of people with caffeine sensitivity experience a hot or flushed face right after consuming a good serving of caffeine. This experience can result in people feeling flushed and even sweaty.

You have to use the bathroom often

Caffeine has an effect on the GI tract, meaning it can result in a lot of unwelcome visits to the bathroom. It’s not know how or why this happens, whether it’s a shift in hormones or some elements that are present in coffee, people just know that this occurs with surprising frequency. Another symptom is experiencing the urge to pee more often; since caffeine is a natural diuretic, people with a sensitivity to coffee may find themselves in the bathroom for a whole bunch of reasons.

You can’t sleep

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Some people need to cut off their coffee intake earlier on in the day since it messes with their sleep patterns. A sip of coffee can leave them jittery and wired for hours after they consumed it. While annoying, this symptom is manageable if people cut off their coffee intake early, having their last sip of coffee no later than around 4 p.m.

You feel uneasy or anxious

Some of us feel more anxious after consuming our coffee, something that might go unnoticed since it’s usually early and we have to deal with a variety of stressors, like getting to work on time and completing our commute. There’s a reason for this — caffeine increases your stress hormones. Like stress itself, caffeine results in an increased heart rate and in higher blood pressure.