Coffee Accelerant

[Vincent K]

I just experimented with my twitches. If you have doubts about weather or not you have BFS. Drink a bunch of caffeine and see what happens. I neurological disease would not react like this. Twitch, Twitch.

[bobajojo]

Yep, coffee definitely increases my twitching especially in my tongue. One cup and it feels like pop-rocks all over.

[Ghayes420]

I am going to have to disagree here.

Or else if you are right, I guess I don't have BFS.

I have never been a coffee drinker or any caffeine at all as I am very sensitive to stimulants.

This past week I decided to give coffee a try, about a cup or two now every morning just to see what would happen. I do feel the stimulating effects of the coffee but it does absolutely nothing to increase my twitching at all. If anything it makes me more amped and active and let's me forget that they are actually happening for just a bit.

I also did this experiment to see if there would be an increase, and unfortunately it doesn't.

However a very good MND specialist said I have BFS.

Go figure.

[Yuliasir]

Well, it depends:) For example, I am going to be sleepy on coffee And I have read about other people who experience rather sedative effect from caffeine... weird receptors! weird brains!

[fargo]

I think coffee increases twitching in regular coffee drinkers / especially in those who have magnesium imbalances/, for the rest it won't matter imo.. If you don't have electrolyte imbalances a cup of coffee now and then won't make a change.. In my case coffee was a killer - and I drank lots of it till my hands were cold and trembling, I just couldn't stop Now I'm free of this stupid habit and it happened overnight , then for 2 years no stimulants and now I drink green tea which is great I suggest you give the switch a try ..

[aztwitchy]

i doubt you can use coffee or caffeine to make the diagnosis LOL

with that said, one cup of coffee and my twitching goes into overdrive! same with green tea, soda, anything with caffeine...I have sadly had to avoid it as well as chocolate. i miss them both very much but sanity is better.

[chicagobfs]

Drinking coffe can dehidrate your body and washed down the important minerals. So I guess that's why you can twitch more..? Bug I guess that's when you really do nothing than drinking:) which i did in past week( finals )

[BFSBurger]

Its not a dehydration issue.

Its a stimulant issue.

If you have a cause / effect with BFS then the logical thing to do is learn what the cause does. What changes does it make?

If you can determine that, maybe taking something that does the opposite will provide relief of symptoms.

I haven't looked into caffeine but I know it increases the release of dopamine which causes the feel-good sensations you get.

[BFSBurger]

Evidence shows that caffeine intensifies muscle contractions, masks the discomfort of physical exertion and even speeds up the use of the muscles' short-term fuel stores. Overdoing it can over-stimulate the nerves and generate some pretty nasty side effects. It can leave the drinker feeling restless, irritable, and make his hands tremble. In extreme cases, it can create severe insomnia.

BTW Green Tea has caffeine. Its insanely healthy but I've avoided the stuff since this started for the caffeine reason.

[chicagobfs]

Yes it is a stimulant you right but it can also deplete your body from magnesium etc? At least that's what I have heard

[chicagobfs]

"Drinking coffee can affect the levels of magnesium in your body. When you drink coffee, your intestinal absorption of magnesium decreases. Although coffee does not directly deplete magnesium from your body, the decreased absorption of magnesium can cause your body to gradually lose magnesium, potentially resulting in a magnesium deficiency. The more coffee you drink, the less magnesium your intestines can absorb. This becomes more important as you get older, as magnesium absorption typically decreases with age."

[BFSBurger]

Interesting - but is that just for coffee or is it related to caffeine in general?

I definitely had the onset of my symptoms after heavy dosing on caffeine, but I dont drink coffee. I drink this loose leaf white tea that is heavy heavy on caffeine. More than coffee I think in this stuff. Serious rush ....

Honestly it almost reminded me of adderall when I drank it.

"When you consume caffeine, it temporarily acts like a diuretic, which means that you may be flushing magnesium and calcium out of your body every time you drink a caffeinated beverage. A 1994 study conducted at Washington State University showed that magnesium and calcium excretion was increased for six hours after test subjects consumed caffeine. Researchers caution that if you regularly consume caffeine, either in food or as a part of an over-the-counter diuretic, your body may be deficient in the minerals magnesium and calcium, which puts you at a higher risk of developing osteoporosis. Magnesium deficiency can show up as anxiety and irritability, low blood pressure and poor nail growth, and it can even lead to abnormal heartbeat."

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/47117 ... z2FBK6Xc2y

Interesting! Its too bad my electrolyte levels were 'normal' and supplementing with calcium and magnesium didn't help.

I may try it again though.

[aztwitchy]

interesting posts guys but the problem is many people who are truly diagnosed with BFS have already ruled out magnesium or calcium deficiencies through bloodwork. I ultimately think caffeine should be avoided...its a CNS stimulant and that is the opposite effect most people with our condition want. Especially considering how many people on this board end up having to take benzos when things get bad. Benzo medications are almost the exact opposite of caffeine.