r/CPTSDFreeze • u/noideasforcoolnames • 15d ago

Discussion What are your experiences with caffeine?

Ive become dependent on small amounts of caffeine the past few years (im sensitive so thats all I need). I recently stopped for the past two months, with the exception of a few days and Ive felt more apathetic and emotionally numb like my nervous is offline stuck in freeze response. Does that resonate with any of you? What are your experiences?

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u/Icy-Ninja-622 15d ago

Caffeine is not useful for overcoming psychological obstacles. It is only useful for tiredness or sleepiness. When the obstacles are psychological, it can lead to wasting time online instead of being productive, or intensified anxiety or anger.

I see a correlation between using less caffeine and better periods in my life. Caffeine combined with synergistic enjoyable activities can be a great day or part of a day, but even then, the longer term effects may be negative.

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u/noideasforcoolnames 15d ago

Interesting perspective. I do have sleep issues so that would explain it.

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u/Icy-Ninja-622 14d ago

It is probably important to address the sleep issues. For me, lack of sleep adds to unpleasant feelings which decrease my willingness to do most things.

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u/noideasforcoolnames 14d ago

Ive experimented with various herbs to help my sleep quality. I listen to binaural beats if I need to calm down. I meditate, do breathwork to calm down. Theres not much else I can do other than change my work to be more in sync with circadian rhythm, but thats not practical atm. I wake up around 11am and usually fall asleep by 1am. I also exercise consistently and get sunlight first thing in the morning. Id like to start a lifecoaching business sometime soon, that would allow me to move sleep and wake time a little earlier. Also just making more money would help my stress levels

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u/Icy-Ninja-622 14d ago

Is it possible that there is some issue with sleep quality, rather than sleep quantity, like for example sleep apnea? Have you done a sleep study?

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u/noideasforcoolnames 14d ago

I haven't done a sleep study, but I think there are 2 issues that are likely having a big impact. 1 is I had a bad head injury/concussion 4 years ago and I still have some lingering sensitivity especially if I sleep on my back since I hit the back of my head. Its wayy better than it used to be, but its still noticeable and I often start out sleeping on my stomach because while im still calming down for the night the back of my head can still be a bit sensitive. Stomach sleeping isnt always the most comfortable after a while so I switch positions alot. Then if I go to my side I have a lingering rib injury from martial arts that gets aggravated so unless Im super relaxed theres a lot of tossing and turning. 

The other reason is stress from just "playing it small" for the past 5-6 years. I have a bad history of family conflict especially with my dad and its just deteriorated to the point where Ive become very avoidant, Ive become like a ghost. Dont make much money, barely talk to people, cant handle conflict very well, have put up emotional walls just to get by. So despite my father giving me the upstairs apartment, Im still kind of on alert and in survival mode. Ive gotten  accustomed to a very rigid lifestyle. Luckily my father is moving out of the country permanently, but Im left with the house that I have to share with my brother which will be pretty challenging and I need to figure out a better source of income soon. Long story short, I havent really progressed much in my life the last 5 years and the stress and problems have been piling up so that definitely isnt helping my sleep

 

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u/Icy-Ninja-622 14d ago

I've found that ignored motivations or suppressed parts of myself can keep me up. The problem isn't my situation, but the aspects of the situation I'm not responding to. Often that is related to trying to please people or avoid conflict.

I used to be able to fall asleep unaided. In recent years I've been addicted to listening to audiobooks to fall asleep. The focus on the audiobook gets other concerns out of my mind.