For awhile I've been finding myself drowsy - a lot. I attributed it to many things; a meditation side effect, perhaps aging, or maybe something scarier like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. As a dedicated coffee hobbyist I've wondered whether I was developing a tolerance for caffeine. Was my body was getting tired of being pushed? Then I remembered that some medications have paradoxical effects, specifically the stimulants prescribed to calm people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I also recalled a recent thread on Home-Barista where that possibility was discussed.

Coffee and Sleep

If this were true for me, what would it mean for my hobby and the great enjoyment it gives me? More on that in a bit, but suffice it to say this is about finding balance. I am not posting this thread to scare people or turn them against caffeine, but as an alert that some of you may be more sensitive to its downside. And I may have that in common with you. My response is to experiment with cutting back on caffeine and find my own personal balance. I've already done a coffee review at night where the sampling was done without swallowing. After all, if someone's a wine taster they're in trouble if they drink everything they taste. I've met more than one serious coffee professional who limits their caffeine intake. And there may be practical wisdom in trying the single basket that's usually supplied with a new Italian espresso machine.

I've begun to research the subject, but I'm not a physician, so this is more about asking good questions and making lifestyle choices than offering an authoritative opinion. Home-Barista is not a place to get medical advice, anyway. If you have concerns please consult your physician. Even if some of our members who are physicians join this discussion, it's about coffee and at most an alert for you to medically check out any concerns.

An H-B thread from 2011 explored the article,
"Seven myths about caffeine,"by Melissa Bryer, published on Yahoo! Shine and linked here.

In that article Ms. Bryer says it's a myth that caffeine causes insomnia and cites a literature review stating it's not addictive. She encourages drinking caffeine in moderation and cites health benefits of coffee. I find it a worthwhile read at the surface level but don't believe the author sufficiently addresses individual differences.

My initial Google search was problematic because it pulled up scientific journal articles for purchase. I don't have easy access to medical libraries. So I tried a Google search for "paradoxical effect of coffee free article" and found a comprehensive and accessible report, but one that's quite dated. It seemed much more helpful in starting to think about how a paradoxical caffeine reaction may work. The article is "Health: Does coffee make you sleepy? Researchers now understand how caffeine effects the nervous system. For some, it may cause the opposite of its intended effect." By Roger Downey, http://www.Chicagoreader.com, May 24, 1990.

Here's a brief summary. The article covers this in greater depth. (If any of you can recommend something similarly comprehensive and much more recent, please let us know.) The article by Downey describes caffeine's ability to block adenosine receptors. Downey writes that adenosine has many functions, among them, sedation. Also it's common for the body to counteract receptor blockade by creating more receptors and more of the chemical that attaches to them, so that caffeine may eventually make some people more sleepy.

Downey cites early genetic research on mice that showed some were little effected by caffeine. Others were effected in the extreme, and at least two genes were involved. He hypothesized that people may fall along a similar spectrum.

He also discussed the metabolizing of coffee and how this relates to consumption habits. Someone stopping in the morning will clear most of their caffeine by the next morning. Yet others who perk up with coffee throughout the day may carry a higher dose all the time.

An implication of the animal research and anecdotal reports was that some people could drink coffee in large amounts without difficulty. Others may be very sensitive. Downey suggested that for the most sensitive who use caffeine to fight incessant fatigue, it can even be addictive and contribute to depression, irritability, anxiety and insomnia. And caffeine sensitivity may increase with age. (I'm in my early sixties.)

An additional search beyond that article revealed that adenosine helps regulate the body's inflammatory response. This may be significant for those trying to control that response. And although coffee is said to be beneficial in many ways, what if the paradoxical effects can occur here too? I don't know and again suggest consulting your physician.

Here is what I've started doing to understand whether I may be suffering from a caffeine-induced lethargy. My usual consumption has been four or five espressos a day, into the mid afternoon. Two days ago I had only one espresso with breakfast. I had better energy throughout the day but still felt a slight lethargic dip. Today I had a delicious single with breakfast. It perked me up without subsequent lethargy and my overall stamina felt better. My diet is otherwise unchanged and I doubt this is a placebo response. But that cannot be proven, nor am I trying to. I will have my physician check my inflammatory response.

What are the implications for my hobby? I enjoy the social aspect a lot and will still participate in the Portland Coffee Crawl I'm organizing for next weekend. I'll watch my caffeine intake. I don't have to swallow everything I'll taste. I enjoy restoring machines, turning people onto coffee's gourmet possibilities, and I look forward to firing up my new propane roaster. I recently read that someone entered the World Barista Championships awhile back. After placing third he announced that all of his coffees were decaffeinated. I may build more experience than previously expected roasting decaffeinated greens. This is an unfolding, personal story. I look forward to your responses.

If you notice a dip later in the day, could this be the "caffeine crash"?
As for the mechanism, this preview discusses a little but the full text is unfortunately behind a paywall...
http://www.deepdyve.com/lp/elsevier/d-r ... 5VZFi0xF5G

Thank you, Chris. I've noticed the dip after drinking a threshold amount at times, maybe past the third espresso. However the other day I noticed a slight dip after one espresso. I may experience what that article summary describes as a caffeine crash later in the day too. Let's see if someone responds who isn't blocked by paywalls.

Have you been checked for sleep apnea?

Yes. When last checked I don't have it. After losing weight I also snore much less. But if my physician wants to re-check that's a good call. Thanks, Marshall.

Kudos to Dan for designing a great site that pulls up similar threads. I looked below this post and found a short thread that led me to a recent article in the Smithsonian, entitled "This is how your brain becomes addicted to caffeine." By Joseph Stromberg, Smithsonian.com, August 9, 2013. Its focus is caffeine addiction but it also summarized caffeine's more complex effects and cited a book on the subject, Braun, Stephen. Buzz: The science and lore of coffee and alcohol. Oxford University Press, NY (and everywhere else), 1996. Probably some of you have read it.

Here's the thread on our site:

Smithsonian Article about how our addiction to caffeine works.

Here's a brief but informative thread linked to an article on safe doses of caffeine including caveats that people's tolerances differ and there are drug and other biochemical interactions.

Interesting article about safe caffeine levels

Too much caffeine can be a double edged sword. It disturbs your sleep patterns so you don't get enough rest & really isn't that effective at perking you up the next day when you are dragging once you've built up a tolerance.
I find it beneficial to do a caffeine detox about once every 6 months or so. Luckily for me the withdrawals amount to nothing more then one bad headache about 4am the first day/night which is easily controlled with a couple Excedrin. I seldom last longer then 4-5 days but it's long enough to completely clear the caffeine.

JohnB. wrote:I find it beneficial to do a caffeine detox about once ever 6 months or so.

That's a good idea, John. Thanks.

I, too, have been forced to reduce caffeine consumption lately. I had a heart attack in March, which took me quite by surprise as I'm pretty young, I eat well, and I'm in good shape. Despite those factors, I apparently have some abnormal genes that cause my body to overproduce cholesterol and which also make me unusually susceptible to atherosclerosis. I came through with relatively little long term damage, but I did have a long talk with my cardiologist after the fact about my caffeine consumption, and whether it was likely to contribute to future problems. He thought that 1-2 250ml cups of coffee a day (which translates to 2-4 ristretto shots per day, given the relative levels of caffeine involved) were unlikely to give rise to any serious cardiac risks, and might have some long term neurological benefits.

So that led me to focus more on espresso for a while, because I thought four ristretto shots per day gave me more room for exploration than two cups of filter coffee. Subsequently, I read on this site about the link between metal-filtering coffee and higher LDL cholesterol levels, which made me take a second look at the advisability of consuming most of my coffee as espresso. So now I have maybe 10-12 espresso drinks/week, and I try to get at least half of my coffee as a paper-filtered brew each day. I also have learned to resist my former practice, which was to slurp most of the coffee in a cupping bowl (at least when I liked what I was tasting). Now I use cupping diagnostically, and pour most of the brew down the drain when I have got all the information I am looking for. Likewise, when I am dialing in shots, I sip, spit, and dump the remainder until I've gotten to something excellent, rather than waste my daily caffeine intake on anything subpar. I haven't started spitting coffee out in public yet, but who knows, maybe I'd cross that bridge at some point, for instance if I had minimal time to explore a city with tons of excellent options (like your new home).

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But to answer the question in the thread title, as far as a direct "paradoxical effect" goes, I've never experienced anything like that. For me, caffeine always has the un-paradoxical effect of increasing my energy and altertness. But over time, it also can contribute to my insomnia, and so over the long term there is a secondary effect of increased sleepiness. Reducing my intake, for the reasons described above, has also helped treat my insomnia, which was fairly debilitating in the past.