Why doesn't the sleep specialist want you on Ambien if Ambien was working for you?

Ambien wasn't working every night. So far, trazadone isn't working any night. Also, I think she's gotten more than a little excited about my migraines. Why does every doctor (apart from my pain specialists who could not care less and refuse to prescribe or endorse any pain meds) get so hot on them, like no one has ever tried before? The amount of time I spend going "I know, but..." and not feeling like they're listening is way too much.

I'm thinking I'll work out how much Red Bull has as much caffeine as a cup of coffee and drink that instead. I find it much more refreshing, and since it will have less volume, more space left over for my diluted juice.

I don't see it having a major therapeutic effect on people who aren't already addicts.

It's actually the opposite - if you drink coffee every day, the only thing it will do for you is get rid of your withdrawal headache. You can only use it to wake up if you're not an addict.

But since it only takes about a week of regular consumption to get addicted in the first place, it's really not a reliable performance enhancer - after a few days it'll stop working unless you start drinking more, and at some point most people will start to get rebound headaches that are worse than the caffiene withdrawal.

(For me it was 4-5 cups every day for months before I noticed. I cut down to 1 cup a day and my headaches went away, but a caffiene overdose headache is not chronic migraine.)

Jessica, insent.

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It's actually the opposite - if you drink coffee every day, the only thing it will do for you is get rid of your withdrawal headache. You can only use it to wake up if you're not an addict.

This. I have cut down to one iced coffee a week as my only caffeine consumption period (at least in terms of a caffeinated beverage), and boy can I feel that sucker. I have it on Fridays and/or the last work day of a given week since I like getting to bed later when I have a day off the next day.

Ambien wasn't working every night. So far, trazadone isn't working any night.

That seems to work out to Ambien:1, trazadone:0, right?

It's actually the opposite - if you drink coffee every day, the only thing it will do for you is get rid of your withdrawal headache. You can only use it to wake up if you're not an addict.

I don't think it's either/or. I've been drinking coffee regularly for decades and I only *need* about 1/4-1/2 cup of coffee a day to stave off the headache, so a cup in the morning easily provides both satisfaction of my addiction AND a bit of pep.

Stabbed by a fish! Now I got this to worry about: [link]

I don't think it's either/or. I've been drinking coffee regularly for decades and I only *need* about 1/4-1/2 cup of coffee a day to stave off the headache, so a cup in the morning easily provides both satisfaction of my addiction AND a bit of pep.

Yeah, I'm curious about this. Anyone got links?

That seems to work out to Ambien:1, trazadone:0, right?

In my scorecard, yes. But, you know, I only know me, not medicine.

I should also note--I went 41 years without using caffeine to wake me up, EVER. I resent that a sleep specialist is telling me to add another crutch, when I just want to be more normal.

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Down with the kyriarchy!

I can't stand the bitterness of coffee (or most teas) and don't like sodas either. So the only caffeine I get is courtesy of pills -- about half of one is a coffee cup's worth, so I dole it out in the morning in small increments. Keeps the kick, when I really need it like for a late night drive, that much stronger.

Here's an article - I'm trying to find a link to the original study:

[link]

[eta: And here's a link to the study as published in Nature, but it looks like you need an academic login to view more than the abstract:

[link]

Caffeine, a widely consumed adenosine A1 and A2A receptor antagonist, is valued as a psychostimulant, but it is also anxiogenic. An association between a variant within the ADORA2A gene (rs5751876) and caffeine-induced anxiety has been reported for individuals who habitually consume little caffeine. This study investigated whether this single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) might also affect habitual caffeine intake, and whether habitual intake might moderate the anxiogenic effect of caffeine. Participants were 162 non-/low (NL) and 217 medium/high (MH) caffeine consumers. In a randomized, double-blind, parallel groups design they rated anxiety, alertness, and headache before and after 100 mg caffeine and again after another 150 mg caffeine given 90 min later, or after placebo on both occasions. Caffeine intake was prohibited for 16 h before the first dose of caffeine/placebo. Results showed greater susceptibility to caffeine-induced anxiety, but not lower habitual caffeine intake (indeed coffee intake was higher), in the rs5751876 TT genotype group, and a reduced anxiety response in MH vs NL participants irrespective of genotype. Apart from the almost completely linked ADORA2A SNP rs3761422, no other of eight ADORA2A and seven ADORA1 SNPs studied were found to be clearly associated with effects of caffeine on anxiety, alertness, or headache. Placebo administration in MH participants decreased alertness and increased headache. Caffeine did not increase alertness in NL participants. With frequent consumption, substantial tolerance develops to the anxiogenic effect of caffeine, even in genetically susceptible individuals, but no net benefit for alertness is gained, as caffeine abstinence reduces alertness and consumption merely returns it to baseline.

And the press release from the research team, which is basically what Reuters published:

[link]