GABA and Caffeine

[goingsobermum]

I've been reading about caffeine and found this which I thought was interesting as many of us have taken Gaba to calm us down, but at the same time we use tea and coffee to keep us going. Without the caffeine maybe we wouldn't need the caffeine. I am trying to stop but was hindered by the most foul withdrawal symptoms and had to have tea to calm it down. I'll let you know if I'm calmer.

GABA'S ROLE IN THE BRAIN

GABA is made in brain cells from glutamate, and functions as an inhibitory neurotransmitter ? meaning that it blocks nerve impulses. Glutamate acts as an excitatory neurotransmitter and when bound to adjacent cells encourages them to ?fire? and send a nerve impulse. GABA does the opposite and tells the adjoining cells not to ?fire?, not to send an impulse.

Without GABA, nerve cells fire too often and too easily. Anxiety disorders such as panic attacks, seizure disorders, and numerous other conditions including addiction, headaches, Parkinson's syndrome, and cognitive impairment are all related to low GABA activity. GABA hinders the transmission of nerve impulses from one neuron to another. It has a calming or quieting influence. A good example to help understand this effect is caffeine. Caffeine inhibits GABA release. The less GABA, the more nerve transmissions occur. Think what too much coffee feels like: that is the sensation of glutamate without enough GABA.

Suz:nutso:

[goingsobermum]

GABA and Caffeine

goingsobermum wrote: . Without the caffeine maybe we wouldn't need the caffeine. :

Sorry that should say without the caffeine maybe we wouldn't need the GABA.

Suz

[xtexan]

GABA and Caffeine

Caffeine has been a real sore spot with me. It's one thing that I have had a lot of trouble cutting back on.

20 years ago, I probably would have 15 cups of coffee a day. Now, I am down to three in the morning for sure, but it still seems too much.

I would start out trying to stop it completely, but then work pressures to go faster would pile up, and I would get another coffee to fire up.

I like the GABA about an hour before bedtime with other things, but you are probably right in that if caffeine were cut, so would the need for the GABA.

[Guest]

GABA and Caffeine

Hey XTexan,
Have you ever tried cutting the coffee with decaf? Like half regular, half decaf? Sorry if you are a decaf hater, but this little trickaroo really helped me during times when I tried to cut back on the pregnancies. I agree some of the decaffinated ground coffee is crap, but if you grind your own beans, say you are making 8-10 cups of coffee, throw 2 tbsp of regular coffee beans in the grinder and 2 tbsps of decaf ones. The coffee still tastes great (I can't tell the difference...) and you're getting half the caf!

Just a thought.
Good post, Suz. Interesting.

[xtexan]

GABA and Caffeine

becca:

Oh yes, I have tried the half/half deal. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be related to how much actual liquid I drink, but how much of the gol-darn speedy caffeine I get into my body. If I used half/half, I always end up drinking twice as much. But then, if I get a really strong cup, like espresso or something, I only want half as much. Go figure.

Anyway, making some progress still on that one. I used to make a small pot in the bathroom while showering before heading out to work. I stopped doing that a few months ago, so its a slow weaning I guess.