Caffeine and Alcohol w/ Bipolar

I usually drink a few cups of coffee every day and occasionally 1 or 2 occasionally to 4 rarely (max) drinks of alcohol (beer or wine usually). I am male and weigh 220 so this is not a lot of alcohol for my body weight.

I find that coffee in the morning makes me happy, but too much can make me feel slightly hypomanic. Alcohol on the other hand also makes me happy but seems to slow me down and relax me (good in the evening).

I understand that these are mood altering drugs and that bipolar is a mood disorder so I have tried to cut back on alcohol, but coffee seems to be fine as long as I am getting adequate sleep.

I take 6mg invega daily in the morning and I notice that alcohol is not suggested, but I don't think I can go my whole life without a beer/glass of wine now and then.

Does anyone else avoid alcohol/caffeine completely or at least try to limit themselves?

I haven't noticed caffeine having much effect on mood. I drink a lot of tea over a day, may be lower dose of caffeine per mug compared to coffee, but getting it in more constant manner.

Alcohol instead have curious opposite effect on my memory&awareness. And it relaxes&makes falling sleep and dreams more vivid, too. Even if I drink enough to get drunk, it's usually over several hours at slow pace. And my metabolism seems to burn alcohol fast and without serious side-effects; I can just sleep over entire hang-over without ill effects worse than occasionally slight headache.. Ever so funny to see classmates grey faces in school after previous night's party. Especially because I can recall practically anything that happen. Heck, I can recall what happen in parties over a year ago, while most people I've met can't recall what happen previous day.. Which is curious because sober I can barely remember details like "when was last time I ate" or "did I remember to take my pills yesterday" and "did I take my pills today, or was I only supposed to.."

Sadly I may have inheritable flaw from father's side regarding addiction. For him and his father it was alcohol.. So I'm trying to keep my alcohol consumption within reasonable level regardless, and hope I dodged the genetics.

Only nourishmental vice I've got is hypo throwing a switch of "proper food" straight to "sugar". Food still tastes amazing (compared to depression which makes everything taste like cardboard), but I can completely forget to eat - and instead go quite far with some candy. :p

So far I've figured the "don't use with alcohol" warnings mean don't wash the pills down with a glass of vodka..

The final drop for me when making a decision to never drink again was finding out that depakine ruins my liver even without help of alcohol. My liver values are elevated slightly above safe all the time -- without a drop. It's a shame, I used to adore whisky. But, well, tea is lovely too and it's kind of the same colour.

I drink coffee, but I've never felt it affected my mood. On average, I'd say about 5 cups (espresso) a day. However, I've seen lots of people here say that coffee is poison to their mood, so I guess it really depends on the individual.

I'm a lot more careful with alcohol! Before my diagnosis I once became very violent while drunk. Fortunately, there weren't any consequences, but it was pure luck. It only happened once. Since I first went to see a psychiatrist, I noticed that alcohol acted a lot faster, probably due to the anti-depressants I was taking. It only happened once, I genuinely forgot about them... It wasn't pretty! Two words: projectile vomiting...

As with almost everything, I'd say that moderation is key. Try to be aware of how coffee and alcohol affect you (which you already seem to be doing) and don't go overboard.

oliveira wrote:The final drop for me when making a decision to never drink again was finding out that depakine ruins my liver even without help of alcohol. My liver values are elevated slightly above safe all the time -- without a drop. It's a shame, I used to adore whisky.

Wonder how long it'd take to show. From last bloodtest nurse went fast through it and mentioned my liver is doing great..

oliveira wrote:But, well, tea is lovely too and it's kind of the same colour.

I cannot tolerate alcohol and, as I've only just been diagnosed with Bipolar II, it has occurred to me that the disorder might be why, or at least part of the reason.

I have no tolerance, I tend to black out and do very reckless, dangerous things, and it makes me feel terribly sick, headachey, and groggy the next day. I have also had a tendency to use it as a coping mechanism or a justification for not being functional or getting things done. So I had to say goodbye to it.

Caffeine and I get along just fine, though.

my alcohol tolerance is really low when on antipsychotics.i try to avoid alcohol except for one or two drinks on special occasions. Having said that when i'm really depressed I will indulge in alcohol and valium to ease the pain & help me fall asleep. Caffeine is fine for me in the mornings but i try to limit coffee after 5 pm.

However I've noticed that in my case alcohol works as multiplier with mood. In elevated mood it'll make me more social, open and happier. In sort of meh-mood it'll be pretty much just relaxing effect. And depressed it'll make it just generally worse in every aspect. I didn't even dare to try what a drink would do with paranoid crash from highest hypo to lowest pits of depression..

Lanka wrote:I didn't even dare to try what a drink would do with paranoid crash from highest hypo to lowest pits of depression..

Oh, my last suicide attempt coincided with my last hangover... long ago, fortunately.

I'm scared of more than one cup of coffee. Once, I drank a full small cup of latte, so that I could actually do some important schoolwork. And, I did. Thanks to the caffeine. But, after two hours, while I was waiting for the bus, watching the cars (I like cars!) go by, suddenly, I had this urge of throwing myself into the road. Like, such a strong urge. Scary as hell. Basically, for me, caffeine during depressive states results in a mixed state. Everything gets out of control. So, yes, I definitely avoid caffeine as much as possible.

Alcohol is okay, I guess. It calms me down. But, then, I end up doing pretty stupid and embarrassing things. So, in general, I try to avoid alcohol and caffeine as much as possible.