Bipolar Disorder & Coffee

Coffee Double Double
A coffee or caffeine conversation will probably come up at some point with your doctor after being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.

It'll probably just be an aside, something to the sort of, “You might want to reduce your coffee intake.”

I want you to understand a couple things about being diagnosed and coffee if you're a coffee drinker. First off you don't have to quit coffee altogether and second, yes you will have to reduce your coffee intake.

You may even want to get off it altogether.

I know what some of you may be thinking, “What??? Are you crazy? How am I going to ever get through the day. I can't function without my two coffee's before 9am.”

Trust me I know.

I used to be that guy as well but after being diagnosed that had to
change. One of the reasons is that coffee puts a strain on your already strained kidneys.

Your kidneys are already getting a little beat up because of the medication so let's try to limit the damage being done to them.

Some of the crazy things that can happen to the body when drinking coffee are:
Ï Insomnia
Ï Restlessness
Ï Irratibility
Ï Nervousness
Ï Headaches
Ï Hand Tremors
Ï Extra Heartbeats
Ï Inability to Concentrate
Ï Interuption of normal sleep cycles
Ï Mood Depression
Ï Anxiety
Ï Heartburn
Ï Bowel Problems

If you're going to drink coffee please try to reduce your intake to a couple of cups a day.

The key to being able to still drink caffeinated beverages is to increase your water intake.

You'll already need to increase your water intake because of the strain from the
medication but even more so if you continue to drink coffee.

Some handy things that you can do to increase your water intake are:
Ï When you get a coffee get a glass of water at the same time as well
Ï Have a glass of water on the hour every hour
Ï Have a glass of water while you wait for the kettle to boil.
Ï Set an alarm to remind you to have a glass of water
Ï Have a jug of water near you at all times