What Does Caffeine Do To The Body
Caffeine exerts various effects on the human body, primarily enhancing alertness and prolonging attention, and it does this through direct stimulation of the central nervous system. This is why a cup of coffee can make it much easier to focus on tasks that are often boring!
The stimulant action of caffeine occurs due to its action as an adenosine antagonist and adenosine receptor agonist. Through this action, it plays a role in the regulation of brain activity as well as the states of wakefulness and sleep.
This has caused many scientists to become interested in the many ways in which caffeine consumption may affect human health. The subject is highly controversial, especially with regard to the relationship that exists between caffeine and chronic pain.
Give Yourself A Topical Relief Massage
Massaging your muscles feels good, whether or not youre dealing with muscle spasms. Massaging the affected area with a topical pain relief cream like Hempvana Platinum Pain Relief Cream will provide a whole host of benefits.
The massage itself will help to promote healing, while the pain relief topical will work to ease any uncomfortable sensations associated with your muscle spasm.
Understand What Causes Persistent Muscle Spasms Like Cline Dions
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Singer Céline Dion postponed the concerts that were scheduled for November in Las Vegas, USA due to health problems.
In a statement, the artists team informed that the withdrawal from work activities was due to severe and persistent muscle spasms, located in the legs and feet. However, information on the causes of the clinical condition was not disclosed.
One of Céline Dions relatives told Here magazine that the singer is unable to walk and that she can stay away from the stage for months for treatment.
She can no longer get out of bed, cant move, cant walk. She suffers from pain in her legs and feet that paralyzes her. She is very weak and has lost a lot of weight, the source told the magazine.
Experts consulted by CNN explain what muscle spasms are, what are the possible causes and how the treatment is done.
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What’s Behind The Link
”Only high levels of caffeine were associated with urinary incontinence,” Gleason says.
What is it about the caffeine? “There is evidence that caffeine has a diuretic effect,” he says. The diuretic effect increases the amount of urine you make.
Caffeine may also make the muscles that contract when you void overactive, he says.
You’re Anxious & Sweaty
In this sense, caffeine in high doses has quite a lot in common with Adderall, the stimulant prescription drug: too much of it can cause excessive sweats, as if you’ve just run a marathon. To understand this, you need to get to grips with the actions of stimulants in the system. Caffeine is classed as a methylxanthine, a neuro-stimulant that provokes the body into heightened levels of awareness, sensitivity, and arousal, meaning essentially that all systems are on alert. Hence the sweating. The perspiration is only made worse if you have a tendency for anxiety, which may be exacerbated by too much caffeine and creates a fight-or-flight adrenal response in the body that also increases sweating.
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Caffeine Withdrawal Symptoms: Top Fifteen
Caffeine withdrawal is no laughing matter and can be very debilitating for those who are suddenly without caffeine.
If you are or have been an avid coffee, tea, or energy drink consumer then you are aware of how addictive caffeinated beverages can be.
Just a few hours after missing your scheduled dose the caffeine withdrawal symptoms start to set in.
Here are the most common caffeine withdrawal symptoms. Youll be comforted to know that you arent really dying but just detoxing from the caffeine.
Even if you arent normally a habitual caffeine drinker, you may experience negative symptoms when quitting caffeine even if you only consumed it for a few days in a row.
Drinking Too Much Caffeine Can Cause You To Have Heart Palpitations
We all know of the oh-so romantic notion that your heart will skip a beat when you see something you love cough, coffee, cough but your excessive cups of caffeine could literally be causing your heart to beat differently. “Caffeine causes your brain to release compounds like adrenaline, which can increase your heart rate,” Dr. Andrea Paul, physician and medical advisor to Illuminate Labs, revealed in an exclusive interview with Health Digest. This effect can cause you to have an inconsistent heartbeat or even palpitations if you choose to pick up an additional cuppa.
However, just like how our hearts all have their own rhythms, everyone reacts differently to caffeine. “Some people are more sensitive to caffeine than others,” Dr. Paul added. So, when it comes to these irregularities with your heart, you should be aware that “it really depends on the individual.”
Fortunately for us caffeinated drink enthusiasts, it’s rare for palpitations to lead to long-term heart problems. Still, if your off-beat heart is bothersome, you can look to give up caffeine entirely .
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If Youre Having Trouble Breathing
Have you ever had spasms in your chest accompanied by shortness of breath? An article published by the Integrated Physiological and Behavioral Science Journal states the diaphragm often causes it. This muscle separates your chest from your abdominal cavity, and you can experience painful spasms that affect your breathing.
How To Manage Caffeine Symptoms
If you find that you from suffer chest pain, insomnia, or any other undesired symptoms from caffeine, the best solution is to cut back or stop consuming it altogether. As mentioned earlier, caffeine is not retained by the body so stopping consumption is guaranteed to relieve your symptoms. However, as caffeine can be addictive, going cold turkey can sometimes provoke withdrawal if you ingest it regularly. In this case, moderation and slowly reducing the amount of caffeine you ingest will be a better option.
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Undue Strain On The Body
Muscle strain can cause muscle spasms. Muscle strain due to improper posture or bad form while exercising can cause muscle strain. Using a posture aid or working with a personal trainer can help to prevent this kind of strain.
If you work at a desk, make sure your chair properly supports your back. Be sure to stand up and move around several times a day.
Drinking Too Much Caffeine Can Cause You To Feel Anxious And Stressed
You may drink caffeine so you won’t fall behind in school or work, but it can actually leave you feeling much more stressed than before. “Drinking or eating too much caffeine can cause you to feel hyper-alert, anxious, and jittery,” Dr. Esteban Kosak, medical advisor and physician, told Health Digest. With that increase in energy, our anxiety can also be cranked up big-time.
Caffeine enters your bloodstream and breaks down the barrier to your brain. Usually, this barrier “acts as a sort of bouncer that selects which substances … can interact with the central nervous system,” Dr. Thomas Pitts, board-certified neurologist, explained. And that’s an issue when it comes to dealing with anxiety.
Even only enjoying small amounts of caffeine can take a toll on our uneasiness “especially if you already struggle with a general anxiety disorder,” Kosak said. For those who are usually anxious enough as it is, overconsumption of caffeine can even prompt panic attacks. ” is a stimulant, which triggers your body to go into ‘fight or flight’ mode,” he added. This is our body’s biological response to dealing with danger, so it’s a big deal if you drink too much caffeine.
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Your Digestive Issues Could Be From Drinking Too Much Caffeine
For those of you that have decided to indulge in your fair share of caffeine, digestive issues may unfortunately be something you’re used to dealing with. Yes, caffeine can be a major kick in the gut.
“Caffeine’s stimulatory characteristic and diuretic properties make it a potential for poor gut health,” registered dietitian Trista Best explained to Health Digest. Since caffeine moves through your body so quickly, it doesn’t give it much time to be digested properly, and that can lead to some pretty uncomfortable digestive issues. Since caffeine causes water to leave your body so fast, it “can create imbalances in gut bacteria and even dehydration if allowed to persist,” Best warned. It may be in your best interest to leave your caffeinated coffee in the cupboard.
Certain medications you’re taking can also influence how long caffeine stays in your body. “Speaking to your physician about how your specific medications, supplements, and medical conditions interact with caffeine is important for any regular caffeine consumer to consider,” Dr. Thomas Pitts, board-certified neurologist, recommended when chatting with Health Digest.
You Have Chronic Insomnia
As a symptom this may seem faintly obvious, but you’d be surprised. For one, the life of caffeine in the body is longer than you may think after eight to 10 hours, according to WebMD, only 75 percent of it has been processed by the liver. This means that a little caffeine in the morning may not stimulate you at night, but that too much will take a very long time to break down in the body, preventing a proper sleep cycle. Serious sleep disruption and insomnia have been associated with just drinking coffee at the wrong point in the day , according to the National Sleep Foundation, and overdosing will just exacerbate the impact, keeping your nervous system on alert far beyond its sleep time.
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Spasms Caused By The Abdominal Muscles
Muscle spasms felt within the rib cage may also be caused by the abdominal muscles.
The major abdominal muscles include the transverse abdominals, the rectus abdominis, and the external and internal oblique muscles.
The rectus abdominis runs between the ribs and the pubic bone and supports movements between the rib cage and the pelvis.
Similar to other muscles in the body the abdominal muscles can have spasms that can occur from muscle strain, over-use, fatigue, and dehydration.
According to Health Grades, abdominal spasms that are abnormal can occur as the result of acute disorders of the intestines such as bowel obstruction, perforation, or diverticulitis.
Gallstones, hernias, and ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm may also cause muscle spasms.
If abdominal muscle spasms are caused by strenuous exercise, the problem is not serious and can be treated easily at home through massage or stretching.
However, if the need to stretch or massage muscles regularly due to cramps and spasms, consider the possibility that there might be a serious underlying cause that may need treatment by a medical professional.
Spasms that are not exercise related but are persistent or severe require immediate medical attention.
If the spasms are accompanied by green or bloody vomit, blood in the stool or urine, chest pain, confusion, or a high fever, you should seek immediate health care.
The Jitters: Muscle Spasms And Restlessness
In the same way that caffeine stimulates the brain, the stimulant effects translate through the central nervous system into the muscles and heart, affecting motor activity as well.
Its not unheard of for a person whos had even 50 milligrams of caffeine to experience an increased heart rate, or tachycardia, and agitation, according to a study published in The Medical Journal of Australia. The CNSs overactivity is to blame for this, and in just the same way that it causes the heart to overreact, it can act like an electric shock to the rest of the body, too.
In turn, the overcaffeinated person experiences muscle spasms and restlessness. According to the National Institutes of Health, caffeine is among the top three causes of eye twitches. These twitches are characterized by repeated and uncontrollable spasms of the upper eyelid, a sensitivity to light, and blurry vision.
But these effects can be felt anywhere in the body. From tired leg muscles, which may be especially prone to spasms after a workout, to your throat and voice box. Spasms in the latter two areas can cause people to stutter and have difficulty with speech, as they not only struggle to control how their words come out, but also have difficulty focusing on their speech patterns.
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What Are Muscle Spasms
Spasm is an involuntary contraction of a muscle or a set of muscles, which can happen in different situations and affect people of all ages.
Spasms are divided into two groups, tonic, which are associated with persistent and painful stiffness, and clonic, which alternate moments of muscle contraction and relaxation.
It can be a small muscle or a set of muscles. When were tired and we have that eyelid muscle contraction, for example, its a kind of spasm. In this case, of a small muscle group, which usually happens when you are tired, stressed, sleep deprived, explains Christiane Cobas, a neurologist at the Hospital Sírio-Libanês, in São Paulo.
Is Coffee Contributing To Your Back Pain
Do you like grabbing a cup of coffee with friends or camping out at your favorite little coffee shop in town to catch up on work and emails? Is coffee a social aspect for you, or are you someone who relies on that caffeine boost to get you up in the morning, and keep you going throughout the day? I personally am the latter! However, something so trivial and helpful throughout the day can actually be causing harm. If you drink coffee regularly and also experience back pain, it is possible that there may be a connection.
Although drinking coffee won’t physically injure you, it can cause back aches and enhance previously existing aches and pains. According to The Healthy Home Economist, caffeine specifically places stress on the adrenal glands. These are round disk shaped organs that sit atop each kidney on the posterior side of the body. Stressing out the adrenals all the time with an unchecked caffeine habit weakens not only the adrenal glands but the entire area around them which includes the lower back, reports the publication. Weak adrenals can also take vital nutrients away from the ligaments and tendons, which can then affect the joints. This can include the sacroiliac joint which supports the weight of the entire body.
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Muscle Spasms: What Do They Mean And Should I Be Worried
Occasional muscle spasms are normal, but heres how to tell if your muscle spasms may be something more.
Most people have experienced a muscle spasm at one time or another in their lives. Have you ever noticed that sometimes, as youre trying to go to sleep and just about to drift off, your entire body will suddenly twitch uncontrollably? Well, that unexpected wake-up call is actually a muscle spasm.
Muscle spasms can occur as a result of a lot of different things, from being tired to stress to certain medical conditions. In many cases, occasional muscle spasms are nothing to be concerned about, but read on for more information about when your muscle spasms might warrant a check-up with your doctor.
What is a Muscle Spasm?
As the North American Spine Society explains, a muscle spasm is an involuntary contraction of a muscle or muscle group anywhere in the body. Muscle spasms can range from the small muscleslike when your eyelid wont stop twitchingto larger muscles, like that charley horse in your leg when you flex it the wrong way.
What Can Cause a Muscle Spasm?
There are many different things that can cause a muscle spasm. Most of these causes are not serious, although they may require some action on your part to prevent them from happening again . Some of the factors that may lead to a muscle spasm include:
When Should You See a Doctor About Muscle Spasms?
You should see a doctor for muscle spasms if you encounter any of the following situations:
You Experience Muscle Twitches
Muscle twitches, known technically as fasciculations, are the sort of things that make you look decidedly unnerving to other passengers on your train. And it turns out that caffeine overdose is particularly likely to cause them, because of excess stimulation and an amped-up nervous system. The stimulants in caffeine can, in high amounts, cause small involuntary tensions of muscle fibers across the body, though this isn’t universal and can start happening at quite low caffeine levels in certain people. Remember that fasciculations aren’t a giant twinge or cramp in your bicep they’re individual muscle fibers, and will likely show up as a very small shiver or tic, anywhere from your eyelid to your calf.
Images: The WB Giphy
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Caffeine And Muscle Cramps: A Stimulating Connection
- Baziel G. van EngelenCorrespondenceRequests for reprints should be addressed to B.G. van Engelen, PhD, Neuromuscular Centre Nijmegen, Department of Neurology, 935, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, P.O. Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry.J Appl Physiol.
- Couturier E.G.M.
Ned Tijdschr Geneesk.J Neurol.J Appl Physiol.
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Caffeine Sleep And Chronic Pain
The majority of studies agree that not having enough sleep or having poor quality of sleep predisposes people to chronic pain, increases the severity of the symptoms, and the recurrence of the attacks because it is associated with hyperalgesic changes. In other words, when you dont sleep properly, your body starts feeling pain differently.
Its well known that excess caffeine intake, or consuming it too late in the day can negatively impact ones ability to get to sleep. This reduces total sleep time, thus increasing the likelihood of creating more problems with pain sensitivity.
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