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Brad Schipke explains how caffeine raises cortisol, the stress hormone, and can worsen PTSD symptoms. He suggests switching to decaf or waiting two hours after waking before drinking coffee.
Brad Schipke explains how caffeine raises cortisol, the stress hormone, and can worsen PTSD symptoms. He suggests switching to decaf or waiting two hours after waking before drinking coffee.
Does caffeine worsen PTSD? The answer is yes, and here's why. We have a hormone in our body called cortisol. Cortisol is otherwise known as the stress hormone. Now, when you have PTSD, that stress hormone is on high all the time, so you are constantly stressed out. Your cortisol levels are already maxed out. Now, when you drink caffeine, guess what it does? It spikes your cortisol level up even further. So you may want to consider switching to decaf coffee, but if you have to, have to, have to have your caffeine in the morning, Wait 2 hours. Wait 2 hours before you consume your first cup of coffee. But yes, it definitely spikes your symptoms. It makes things a lot worse. But test it out for yourself and let me know in the comments.
