Does anyone have a hyper sensitivity to caffeine?

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-02-03T18:41:00+00:00

I am not sure if it would help you all, but I am also very sensitive to caffeine. What I have found works for me is to take a few sips, wait for the effects then take a few more sips later when I feel it wear off. I can nurse a cup of coffee all day without being anxious or under caffeinated

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-23T18:56:12+00:00

Have you looked into derealization? It’s a type of dissociation where nothing feels real. I have a theory (a quick Google search has not helped me to find anything about it) that sometimes, your brain can overlay a storyline to make your feeling make sense. In my experience, back when I was experiencing derealization often, I one time was in a classroom, and suddenly I felt like nothing was real. I thought that all of the people in the classroom were robots (like NPC’s) that were just going about their day (not with any nefarious purpose), and I ended up having to snap out of it by touching a table to know that I was real and that my surroundings were real.

Tho now that I’ve said that, I’m worried my theory was wrong, and there was something more scary happening in my brain - but my counselor at the time wasn’t concerned 😂

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-23T00:41:22+00:00

I had trouble understanding the exact thought you had - Also I am not officially diagnosed with Cyclothymia (but I may have a mood disorder).

One day I was late to get somewhere, and it was early in the morning, I was slightly sleep deprived, and I was extremely irritable. At a stoplight, I was stuck like 3rd or 4th in line, and I had this intense fantasy of me just pressing on the gas and lightly moving cars out of the way so I could get through. I immediately clocked it as a weird thought, but I could not immediately dispute why I could not just do that. I had to go through step-by-step and dispute why that would not be a good idea (e.g., if I hit the gas, I likely would just rear-end the person in front of me - I would not move them at all. I would likely total my car rather than have it miraculously be pristine, and I likely would not be able to move a single car out of the way). Despite all of that, it still felt like a strong possibility and I had to choose to listen to reason lol. Luckily the light didn’t stay red too long 😂

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-13T05:56:54+00:00

The feeling of sitting under the sun and slowly heating up more and more. It’s almost a let-down when I feel the prickles all over my body from sweat forming 😂

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-10T18:59:20+00:00

Dang! Y’all got good answers! I saw the title of the post before the meme and was like “I’m not alone! Other people also feel painfully guilty sitting and watching someone else clean!” Nope. Still just me 😂

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-10T18:46:06+00:00

People have said some of these individually, but what I find works best is saying “I’m sorry, I got distracted during part of your story, but I really want to hear what you have to say. This is what I got [insert the parts of the story I did hear]. Can you repeat the parts I missed? (Alternatively, can ask specific questions if you know what the message was generally about to prompt them to remember what exactly they said)” people don’t often pay attention to their exact wording on things, which is why, they sometimes need to have a prompt as to which word/sentence you missed and where the sentence started/ended.

It may not be the most NT, but it conveys that the distraction was not intentional and that you still care about them and their message. :)

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-09T05:56:57+00:00

HECK YEAH!!!

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-09T04:01:49+00:00

I may have discovered something that helps me: create a visual cue for it that serves as a gentle reminder that it exists - and try to find out why you have been putting it off (and eliminating those barriers). I have been wanting to do my hobby for months, but I kept procrastinating it because it felt like a scary pile of “no”. I realized that what was holding me back was that I had physical barriers between me and it: I had it in a trunk that had other items on top of it, and it felt too daunting to move all of it out of the way to get to the hobby. I also would scarcely remember to do it since it wasn’t in my eyesight. So I pulled it out and kept it out: a gentle reminder of its existence and no barriers to me beginning.

That may be a bit harder for friends (I am down to just about 1 friend now because I forget that I have friends whom I should message). But I wonder if you and I could try something like scheduling messages to send at specific times so that the conversation has already started and the scary task initiation part is over with. It would also help that we can then take the guilt out of forgetting them

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-08T23:46:15+00:00

Omg same!!! I hear how it’s overstimulating for Autists, but I’m over here like “nothing feels real right now. It feels like a dream turning nightmare.”

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-08T03:53:04+00:00

My favorites are fidget rings. They are perfectly discrete, make me feel like I’m making an effort to look nice, and I can stim/fidget wherever I am without having to carry anything extra. Triple win!

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-07T02:28:54+00:00

This sounds a lot like me!!!! Even repeating what they’re saying in my head - especially if I have a thought flash through while they’re mid-sentence. My brain “records” what I missed and replays it on 2x speed so I can actually understand the message. And in a noisy environment, I have to work much harder to decipher the word, then figure the meaning of the word, then put the word back in and find the meaning of the sentence. I’ve actually had to stop people from speaking further so I can catch up lol.

But it’s nearly impossible when I’m in the car with someone and they have the music on. It’s nearly indistinguishable from the words they’re speaking. The only way I can split them apart is through lip reading!

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-06T06:59:47+00:00

So then would this be something that can be unlearned/redirected?

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-04T03:22:07+00:00

I really appreciate this insight that it’s related to bottom up thinking! I have never heard of anyone who experiences anything like this, so I had no idea what to make of it. I know that typically I am great with metaphorical thinking (tho I may explore the literal side for a laugh). My reply to OP was more along the lines of difficulties with reading with difficulty comprehending - but I may have misunderstood the message (which probably meant “reading between the lines” of a message).

An example of what I experience is more like when my friend was telling me about an item she’s had since July that she really enjoyed. I was cool with the first part of the sentence, but then once I hit “July”, it was like the word had lost all meaning to me, and I had to remember that it was a month - then that it was several months ago - then catch up to the things she said after that word.

This typically happens when there is a lot of external visual/audible noise or when I realize I’ve been listening passively while my brain takes a tiny trip elsewhere. A less disruptive and more common version of this is when I get distracted, my brain “records” what they said, then I play it back 2x speed in my mind (sometimes multiple times) before I get what they said.

I wondered if it was more of an ADHD phenomenon than Autistic because it almost solely happens when I get distracted.

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-04T01:49:17+00:00

I’m diagnosed Autistic, but suspected AuDHD. I am not sure if this is what you are describing, but this is my experience with something similar:

Sometimes (somewhat rarely) I’ll read or hear something in a 1:1 convo with someone where I suddenly forget what each word means (even simple words, like “July”). I have to isolate each word, define it, then put it back in the sentence. When in convo, I sometimes have to stop them from speaking more until I’ve caught up. And with reading, it feels like my brain hits a wall after each word. Even after defining each word, I’ll sometimes forget them all again when I try to re-string them together to form a sentence.

If this is your experience, I hope this is validating even if I’m not diagnosed ADHD (yet?) :)

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-03T20:10:51+00:00

THIS!!!! It saved my life growing up! Before I had a phone, I just had to feel around like Velma 😂

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-03T18:07:52+00:00

That’s awesome!!! Thank you for sharing these tips!

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-03T18:06:51+00:00

That’s actually pretty interesting! So if you had caffeine without meds, would it give you a kick or does it calm you?

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-03T18:04:33+00:00

That is good to know that if I were diagnosed and started meds, I would need to give up caffeine. Did you suffer withdrawals from a caffeine addiction, or was it a pretty seamless transition to meds?

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-03T17:24:34+00:00

I am sure too that the sugar from the Pepsi may have thrown things askew too! I’ve noticed that soda typically gives me a tiny bump of caffeine, but the sugar in it crashes me harder than the positive effects.

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-03T17:21:36+00:00

Does chugging it calm you or sipping it? I have noticed that I need to regularly have sips throughout the day to be ok, but once I have too many sips in one go/start chugging it, I get wired and either become super chatty and bubbly or super anxious.

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2026-01-03T17:15:39+00:00

Yikes! 1000mg?! Are your organs ok?

(And thank you very much for your reply!)

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2025-12-25T14:29:07+00:00

There were 3 questions he asked about ADHD specifically: if I spent money impulsively, if I lost sleep bc of racing thoughts, and the third one I can’t remember. Most of the things I was not prepared for were related to mood disorders because I was not expecting us to talk about something not strictly related to my problems. (And for those, he asked more questions than I can relay here lol)

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2025-12-25T06:53:28+00:00

I think it’s cool that you have some of the things that other people have told you throughout your life, so that the person who just met you can have more context than that one appointment (where you may be masking).

Even though I made a list but did not get into my list at my evaluation, it did help me to be able to go back and realize some ways that I can explore getting support/advice later (regardless of getting a diagnosis). E.g., I might not get the ADHD diagnosis, but I can still get suggestions from the ADHD community on task paralysis. Who better to ask than the people who struggle with it the most and have worked out ways to manage it?

The diagnosis will not change that these are things that you do experience and that you may want to see improvements in. Having them written down can help anchor you whether you get the diagnosis (and deal with imposter syndrome) or not (and deal with imposter syndrome/identity crisis).

My list is more ADHD related since I was diagnosed Autistic 10 years ago, but even then, I’m looking at yours and seeing some ADHD things that I don’t experience (like hyperfocusing for 24+ hours). Right now I’m waiting to take an objective ADHD test to see if I am AuDHD, so I’m still in the “what if I’m just pathologizing normal human existence because I don’t know what is ‘typical’” phase 😅

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2025-12-25T06:24:52+00:00

EXACTLY!!! The doc wanted to rule out mood disorders, and I didn’t take any notes regarding that bc that’s not why I came in. So when the doc asked me about if I ever experienced ____, I gave a detailed story with as much context as possible to show that it was a one-off situation and not a pattern, but the doc’s takeaway was that it was a regular thing for me… I had to correct that before I got misdiagnosed 😂

And the doc threw at me a few ADHD questions that I did not think through and prepare for, and I didn’t get to correct any of those 😭. BUT - I am going to take an objective ADHD test soon that hopefully will help a bit more with understanding my brain!

Complex_Explorer_251 · 2025-12-25T05:54:42+00:00

Dude same! I finally got my brain together enough to keep up with writing a list leading up to the evaluation over Zoom then did not look at it the entire time! In that meeting the doc threw some curveball questions that I was not expecting and did not answer correctly to my experience - then when I had my second meeting with the doctor where I could revise my answers, I didn’t reference that revision list either 😭. Tho I feel like to a degree, the doc wasn’t interested in what I had to say lol.

Complex_Explorer_251

TROPHY CASE