I am an imbecile and have become addicted to large quantities of daily caffeine (400mg+) while also taking my Adderall every day. 😔 I feel like I need them all to get through these awful 12+ hour days I’ve been having. My chest does not feel great and I’m sure my blood pressure is through the roof. Would love any advice from anyone who has overcome something like this.

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Taper off the caffeine if it’s causing problems for you. Decrease by half a cup per day and your body will adjust without your really noticing. You could probably do it more aggressively. If you’re concerned about your blood pressure or heart rate, get it checked out by a medical professional or buy your own blood pressure and/or heart rate monitor

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Therapy and a medication vacation. And probably a real vacation, or at least a full day off where you don’t work.

Also, go see your pcp. Chest tightness is probably stress/anxiety, but generally chest pain isn’t normal. I learned that when I was having similar issues during a particularly bad stretch. I was taking more meds than was prescribed to get through my long days.

A brief break helped me get back to my usual dose. Therapy helped me set better boundaries (granted, that took some time and is a work in progress).

Eating at regular intervals and hydrating have been game changing and were things I could do immediately. I actually feel it makes my meds effective for longer.

I’m trying to integrate exercise, but I go in fits and starts. Feeling a lot better about it though.

Take care, and try to go easy on yourself. I know it’s hard though.

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Start reducing caffeine intake in increments—set goals. If you use caffeine pills or energy drinks/snacks, I recommend switching to coffee or tea, bonus points if you drink it without creamer/unsweetened so it doesn’t feel like a treat (assuming you don’t like the bitterness of black coffee/tea—if you do then maybe try adding extra sugar or sth). I think caffeine pills can get super addictive and are just too convenient, so if that’s how you get caffeine I would really consider switching.

Also, with that much caffeine + stress I can’t imagine you’re sleeping well. It becomes a bit of a feedback loop—reduce caffeine—get better sleep—feel less tired and need less caffeine. If you’re on a high dose of adderall or if you use adderall XR it might also be affecting the quality of your rest so maybe talk to your doctor about it.

If you use caffeine to help you focus, reflect on/research strategies to improve your focus so you feel less dependent on caffeine.

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How? Coffee makes me fall asleep lol

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What is your adderall dosage? If possible, may also try to scale that back. And if you just like the ceremony of coffee, move to decaf. I personally had to completely cut out caffeine when I began taking adderall b/c it was clearly too much stimulant for my body.

This is psychotic but I just went cold turkey from coffee and even though the withdrawals were horrible it was a wake up call to show me how dependent I was on it. Suffered through the few weeks and then never looked back. You could also be normal and taper but honestly I feel great

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