I take a cocktail of various OTC drugs with atavan, which often does not work, but I am hesitant to increase the dose for fear of a never-ending dose increase.

I have been drinking decaf for years, and only drink 1 - 2 cups of decaf a day.

I just read that decaf may have just enough caffeine to disturb some people sensitive to caffeine. Well, that report sure disturbed me! I eat a very limited diet, I have few food pleasures except the Wholefoods blend for which I shell out $12.99 a pound. (I don't spring for lunch or dinner but I will for good coffee!)

For a few days this week I did not have any decaf, and I could net really tell a difference. (Big sigh of relief!) Has anyone else expeienced a problem with decaf and anxiety?

Thanks.

Where are you in your trip through menopause?
I can't imagine that the decaf coffee is causing your problems. But......I really think the amount of caffeine in decaf is really variable. In fact, one time, I got some that seemed totally caffeinated.
I do know that the decaf bothers my stomach just as much as the caffeinated stuff. I also know that if our GI tracts are stimulated, our brains are also stimulated, and can keep us awake and cause night problems. In fact, the nights that my GI tract was going crazy, I was too!!

When do you drink your 2 cups? If before noon, I'd say don't worry about it being that.
I also would quit eating anything after about 6:30p.m. if possible.
Our GI tracts are called our "second brains" because they secrete tons of neurochemicals, just as our brains do. So try to keep your GI tract calm at night.
When I was in the middle of perimenopause, I could pretty much count on a panic attack every night. Not fun! They are sooooo real. No one could tell me I wasn't dying!
Sometimes those sleep medications can do the opposite of what you think they're doing for you.
I'm afraid I couldn't find much to keep my nighttime panic attacks from happening......except to treat my GI tract better. Also......after having so many of them, I started realizing that they weren't going to kill me, and that helped a little.
Have you ever tried breathing into a paper bag, as soon as your panic starts? I found that that helped too.
Sometimes our biochemicals go a little haywire during perimenopause, and can actually cause an alkalosis in us that brings on a panic attack. Breathing into a paper bag can help reverse that.
Have you tried taking something like Estroven?
I hope this helps a little. You have my sympathy!

I have been told I am in menopause. (That was 18 months ago.) I do only drink the decaf in the morning.

Thanks for the information about not eating after 6:30PM. Makes sense about the GI tract and keeping it still.

I do take something like estroven, and I think I have received some relief from it. No more hot flashes. But the insomnia and anxiety really are horrible.

I do deep breathing when I feel the anxiety coming on. But I want it to stop. I hate it.

Thanks for your advice.

So, I have a theory that maybe it's not the caffeine at all, but something they use to process coffee to decaffeinate it. I haven't found out what it might be yet though, or why I developed the symptoms after years of drinking decaf coffee. Maybe because I was in menopause? I don't know.

I still stay away from decaf coffee because when I do, my head feels off-kilter, I start feeling anxious and I now dislike how it tastes. It's not worth it.

Just wanted to put that out there, in case anyone else has experienced this.