Caffeine and menopause
You might be really surprised to learn the degree to which caffeine can impact the way you feel and the symptoms you may be experiencing daily. I've recommended reducing caffeine for many, many years, just because I know from personal experience that too much certainly didn't do me any good at all.
So, in this blog, I look at eight symptoms that can either be triggered solely by caffeine or can be made worse by caffeine intake. Plus, how taking caffeine at the right time and in the right amount can have much more positive effects.
I'm not suggesting giving up completely. I would never ask anyone to do anything that I couldn't do myself. And for me, I love a good cup of coffee. I enjoy it so much; but I've learned over the years when to take it and when not to.
Sources of caffeine
Some of the common sources of caffeine include the obvious ones such as coffee and tea, but there are some others that you might not be aware of such as drinking chocolate and chocolate bars. Fizzy drinks and energy drinks sometimes contain three or four times as much caffeine as a cup of coffee.
Also, some medicines have caffeine in them. So, if you're taking a combination of different prescribed medications, it may be a good idea to have a look at the ingredient list just to see if caffeine is one of them.
Caffeine intolerance during menopause
The problem is that we become much more sensitive to many things when we're going through perimenopause and menopause; and I've learned over the years, from everybody getting in touch, just how much caffeine can impact everything. Some of you may find that you have to give it up altogether because you can't cope with the side effects. For some of you, you may find that just reducing to one or two cups a day can make a huge difference.
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Symptoms that can be impacted by too much caffeine
Here are 8 symptoms that can be impacted most obviously by caffeine:
1. Hot flushes and sweats
Very often, hot flushes and/or sweats are triggered maybe half an hour to an hour after you've had a cup of coffee, sometimes even sooner.
2. Anxiety (including jitters, palpitations and panic attacks)
Caffeine can disrupt your sleep and accelerate your heart rate, making you feel more anxious than normal and contributing to things like a jittery feeling, panic attacks, and palpitations.
Palpitations are a really common side effect of caffeine. Getting palpitations was the thing that made me click that I was having issues with caffeine during menopause. Just remember that caffeine also drains potassium from your body and, along with dehydration, that can be a big factor in palpitations. If you're getting palpitations regularly, just be aware of that.
3. Headaches
Headaches are another big factor with caffeine. The reason can be that caffeine affects blood pressure, pushing it up and then causing it to crash. Fluctuations in blood pressure can cause spasm in small blood vessels taking blood to the head, and that tightness is not helpful if you are already prone to headaches. Also, caffeine drains your magnesium levels, and magnesium is necessary for muscles to relax. Tighter, tenser muscles make headaches far more likely.
4. Mood swings, the ups and downs
As blood pressure fluctuates dramatically with caffeine intake, it affects our blood sugar levels. The body releases stored sugars in a dramatic response to the ‘emergency’ it perceives as caffeine enters the system and triggers adrenalin release. This rise in blood sugar levels is quickly followed by a surge of insulin release and a fall in glucose provision. This is bad for brain function and makes us feel irritable, moody, and less competent. We may also feel the need for another cuppa, to ‘perk us back up again’ – entering a destructive roller coaster of negative emotions.
5. Poor sleep
Now, one of the things that happens with caffeine is that when you take it, the effects of caffeine can be whizzing around your system seven or eight hours after you've had that cup of coffee. So, imagine having a cup of coffee at 3:00 in the afternoon. That is going to impact your sleep when you're trying to drop off at 11:00 at night.
6. Bladder problems
It can cause bladder problems. Caffeine is really acidic. One of the things that can happen during perimenopause and menopause is that the bladder can become much more sensitive. Caffeine and all the other chemicals that are in coffee and tea can irritate your bladder, which can make you run to the toilet a lot more than you would normally.
7. Bone health
Caffeine can affect bone health as well. It can impact the way your bone copes with calcium uptake, so that's a really important one if you're thinking about preventing osteoporosis.
8. Blood sugar and insulin control
Caffeine can have a big impact on our blood sugar levels and insulin control. It can rev up your blood sugar, as I explained above, but there will then be a really big dip. And it's that big dip that can trigger a lot of the symptoms that I have just talked about, plus sugar cravings. So, for those of you who are trying to control your weight, that extra cup of coffee a day that you may be having could be a contributory factor to sugar cravings.
What to do to reduce your caffeine intake and lessen its impact
Firstly, one thing to be aware of. Please don't go away today and say, "Right. I'm giving up my coffee," because you will have a miserable couple of weeks. Caffeine is a drug. And if you stop it really quickly, you will get severe withdrawal symptoms like headaches, mood swings, and maybe even the jitters. So, if you want to cut out your coffee, reduce by one cup a day for a week, then another the next week – do it really, really slowly. That way, your body will gradually get used to having less caffeine.
So, here are my tips to help reduce your caffeine intake or reduce its negative effects:
Don’t drink coffee first thing: This is an important thing to change first - never have a cup of coffee first thing in the morning when you get up. Your body will be severely dehydrated from all those hours without water. If you then take a cup of coffee, it's going to rev up your nervous system quite dramatically, when it is often already on alert first thing in the morning.
It's also going to spike your blood sugar levels, which is going to make you crave things, and you're going to have a big dip shortly afterward. So, that first cup is really important to deal with. If this is the only change you make, it can have quite a substantial positive effect. Instead, the first drink that you should have in the morning is plain water, and then have your coffee later, after food. That way, the food is going to buffer the caffeine, so you're not going to get a really sudden caffeine hit.
Track your caffeine intake: It's quite interesting to see that most symptoms from caffeine will happen within about an hour or two, if not sooner. I know, for me, I learned a long time ago that having a cup of coffee in the afternoon just gave me palpitations. I find that even now, if I have a cup of coffee, maybe about 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning after I've had breakfast, about 15 minutes later I get a feeling of heat for 2 or 3 minutes. That's fine. I can cope with that, but I certainly couldn't cope with hot flushes again.
So, you might actually find that an hour or two after the caffeine, that's when you get your hot flush, or your panic attack, or your anxiety, or the cravings for the sweet things.
You can substitute with non-caffeine drinks: Rooibos is a really nice tea substitute. You can get that in different flavours such as Earl Grey or ginger.
You can also try our Bambu coffee, which is our lovely coffee substitute drink.
A.Vogel Bambu® Fruit & Grain Coffee Substitute
-
Tasty, instant and caffeine-free alternative to coffee
-
100% natural, organically grown ingredients
- Contains Chicory, Figs, Wheat, Malted Barley and Acorns
"It has a lovely mild taste which is similar to a mild coffee great if you are cutting back on caffeine"
You can also try Dandelion coffee. And with these ones, the likes of the Bambu and the dandelion coffee, you can still have them with milk if that's how you normally have your coffee.
Try not to drink your coffee after 12 in the afternoon: Remember the eight-hour rule. If you have a cup of coffee say at 7:00 in the morning and you have another one, 3 or 4 hours later, and another one 3 or 4 hours later, at some point, you're going to have the caffeine from 3 cups of coffee whizzing round your system.
If you tend to drink a lot of coffee in the morning, you might find that between 4 and 5 pm is when you start to get sweats and a lot of these particular symptoms. And also, at that point, you're probably going to have a huge energy slump.
I had one lady tell me that all she did was cut out her after-dinner cup of coffee, and within less than a fortnight her night sweats had completely disappeared. She was over the moon and she just decided to have her cup of coffee a lot earlier in the day. So, this is a really important one. If you love your coffee, have it before noon, and then you can have your other drinks for the rest of the day.
Stay hydrated: This is important. If you are drinking coffee, have a good drink of water maybe an hour or two later just so that you avoid the potassium drain and the dehydration that's possibly going to trigger your palpitations.
So, I hope you found this one helpful. I know, for me, just going down to one cup of coffee many years ago made a huge difference to how I could cope with everything.
So, if any of you have stories or tales about caffeine, what did you do to help yourself? What did you realise it triggered? Was there some strange symptom you got that you finally tied to caffeine? Please share your stories. You know I always love them.
Until next time, take care and have a lovely week.
You may also find these topics helpful:
3 ways caffeine can make your hot flushes worse
5 drinks that can upset your menopause
5 surprising menopausal food problems
