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Many of us don't just relish that first cup of joe in the morning—we need it. As this ScienCentral News video reports, a new study could wake up doctors to the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal.
Java Jolt
The world's most popular drug is something you could very well have in a cup in front of you next to your computer right now—caffeine.
"Caffeine is the world's most widely used mood-altering drug," says Roland Griffiths, professor of behavioral biology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "Some 80 percent of the population use caffeine on a daily basis. Caffeine is so available in our culture and society that many people consume coffee and soft drinks without the realization that they're actually involved in a drug self-administration behavior."
According to Griffiths, physicians haven't recognized withdrawal from caffeine as a disorder that can affect our performance—or even make us sick. "Most people are aware that caffeine is a mild stimulant drug and they're aware of those stimulant effects when they take caffeine," he says. "Fewer people really appreciate the extent to which caffeine produces withdrawal when they try and stop their caffeine use." He points out that the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal haven't been systematized as a disorder in the DSM-IV, or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, considered the bible of mental disorders.
So Griffiths analyzed medical studies of caffeine withdrawal dating back 170 years. "Sixty-six different studies had been done over time, most of which actually had been done in the last 10 years," he says. "We went about determining which symptoms of caffeine withdrawal were valid, which symptoms occur reliably, and then we determined what proportion of the population experiences these symptoms. And we asked the question, 'Are these symptoms clinically significant, that is, do people experience distress when they abstain from caffeine?'"
Griffiths reported in the journal Psychopharmacology that 50 percent of caffeine users who abstain for 12 to 24 hours experience at least one of four main symptoms: headache, fatigue or drowsiness, bad moods including irritability or depression, or trouble concentrating. And 13 percent feel downright ill.
"Many people will report difficulty concentrating," says Griffiths. "At lower rates, but very compelling when it occurs, [is that] people will sometimes report flu-like symptoms including nausea, vomiting, muscle aches and weakness. In fact, some people will inadvertently abstain from caffeine and go to bed thinking they have the flu because of these symptoms…when in fact all they're really doing is experiencing caffeine withdrawal."
Griffiths also found the more caffeine you consume, the more likely you'll have withdrawal if you skip your fix. He hopes to see caffeine withdrawal included in the next edition of the DSM, and that doctors will wake up to this diagnosis.
He adds that caffeine users should be aware that avoiding withdrawal may be what drives much of their caffeine consumption. But does he have any suggestions for those who are already hooked? "If you're a coffee drinker, mix caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee together and change the proportions," he says. "We would recommend depending on your sensitivity to caffeine withdrawal that you do this over the course of several weeks or a month or more to absolutely avoid caffeine withdrawal symptoms."
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