9 replies to this topic

[Mr Serendipity]

Hey guys.

I've been reading so many success stories on Theanine and Caffeine giving people amazing zen like focus without building tolerance, on this forum and on reddit.

So I bought some theanine the other day, and some caffeine powder. However; however much I try to become a coffee or tea person in the past, like the rest of the addicts in the world/UK, I would always react badily. So I just stopped trying.

For example with caffeine I get:

• Really hot. I just feel incredibly hot inside, though my skin isn't any warmer.
  
• A lot of the times I get brain fog.
  
• I get angry and agitated. And I'm generally not an angry person. Under stress I've always leant toward crying/sadness/depressed, rather than angry/lash-out/violence.
  
• Can't sleep. Obvious side effect, but some people don't get it.
  
• Weird hot, swirling feeling in my chest, maybe part of the anger/agitation. This is probably the most annoying side effect, I've got it right now.

So this morning I tried a 50mg dose of caffeine, and I think roughly 500mg-1g of theanine (the bloody scales turned off before I could put the theanine in). Come to think of it now, this shouldn't have been a problem, as I had already measured 50mg of caffeine in the glass. So if I had just started the scales up again, the glass with caffeine in would have reset to 0mg, and I could have measured the theanine up seperately. At least I'll know for next time.

But I definitely know I got 50mg of caffeine, and right now I'm feeling symptoms of 1 and 5 a lot. People say they do a 2:1 dosage of theanine:caffeine. Which for me would mean 500mg theanine, 250mg caffeine! But right now 50mg has set me off big time, and I hate this feeling.

The reason I'm stating this all here, is to ask whether any caffeine sensitive people have tried the theanine + caffeine combo, and acheived the results they wanted on a consistent basis?

I can't seem to find any threads anywhere with caffeine sensitive people and theanine.

From what I've read, without the caffeine, theanine isn't half as effective.

My next dose tomorrow might be 25mg caffeine, and 500mg theanine. What do people think?

Or 10mg caffeine and 500mg theanine, 4 times throughout the day. That way I have a total of 40mg caffeine in total by the end of the day, and 2g of theanine.

So I don't exactly know what questions I'm asking, more for general input and anecdotal experiences.

[Absent]

I can definitely attest to the usefulness of the combo. I wouldn't declare there to be a universal ratio for everyone, though. Caffeine is providing a stimulation effect and theanine is acting to smooth that out while keeping the momentum going. The ratios that work best for a person would entirely depend on their natural biochemical dynamic.

When I started the combo, the perfect dose for me was 200mg L-Theanine, 100mg Caffeine - it gave laser like focus. I had stopped it for a while and endured heavy drug use in my teenage years, and when I picked it back up, my natural energy levels were way down. I had to take 200+ mg of Caffeine and 150mg+ of L-Theanine to get a similar effect. The effects seem to be cumulative so it wasn't long until my natural energy levels were back up to a reasonable level.

I believe the effect to be cumulative because with the use of L-Theanine, a person can still get adequate rest at night without the caffeine keeping them awake for long-periods. On this combo daily I would go to sleep, have amazing dreams, wake up entirely rested, yet, still with a mental-driving energy. Take L-Theanine out of the combo and I would be faced with staying up all night, sleeping in, poor sleep, among other things.

[Mr Serendipity]

Well just an update, not a big one.

Today I took 12mg of caffeine. And I still had to rush to the loo with diarrhea, just as I did on a 50mg. My gut sure is sensitive to caffeine power.

Does this mean anything, when a measly 12mg of caffeine really makes you go?

[Absent]

Caffeine speeds up the digestive system. I used to be the same way. Even a soda would make me get really bad shits. Persistent to experience the supposed cumulative effect of this combo, I continued to take 100mg-200mg of caffeine each morning. The shits got less and less each day. After a week the caffeine had no uncontrollable effect. There could be a bunch of reasons for this, but I just imagined there's no way the caffeine could sustain this undesirable effect if the body is gotten used to it.

[Mr Serendipity]

Well typing this while on the loo using my ipad, I can definitely say caffeine is still having a big effect. This time it wasn't diarrhea, so I think last time I didn't have anything to expel except the powders I had ingested. So what I'm trying to say is it doesn't really cause diarrhea, rather it is speeding up the digestion as Siro said. I accidentally took 17mg of caffeine this morning and 1g of theanine. Also the most important part of why I'm writing this post, is it comes on quickly and uncontrollably, literally as soon as you feel it, you won't have any time to hold it off, you have to be in the toilet in the next 30 seconds, that's how fast it comes upon you. So this is a warning for people experimenting with caffeine powder, do it when you're at home, I'd actually be worried of craping myself if i was at work, we'll until your body is use to it. Also I like to time how long the effects take after I ingest my powders using a stopwatch, and I had t just gone pass the 1h mark, like 1h5m. So I hope my body gets use to it before I start my new job . Also just to be on the safe side, I'll take the combo only on my days off, or only the theanine.

I forgot to add, even though caffeine is renowned to do it, I think also the theanine is making me angry and short tempered with people.

[Mr Serendipity]

Well I'm still taking thanine. Stopped taking the caffeine to see if I can get a decent sleep pattern going.

I don't know whether it's the theanine having a cumulative effect, or some else, but I think it's effecting my mood in a positive way. Recently I've felt a lot more happy, happy about everything, high on life almost. Happy to be alive.

[Mr Serendipity]

And now theanines worn off since this morning. I feel angry and short tempered again. A rebound effect when it wears off?

[Mr Serendipity]

I gave my mum some theanine for the first time earlier today, 1 gram; she's already a regular coffee drinker (including today).

Then she went off her rocket at my dad later on, uncontrollably. She does this once in a blue moon when my dad does something stupid or wrong, but 95% of the time she tolerates his bad behaviour.

So it makes me wonder whether theanine causes you to shorten the fuse.

Me on the other hand, theanine definitely has this effect, as I never get angry or have a short fuse. If anything, I would end up getting depressed, say, or cry. So I wonder how many people don't report this negative side effect, because they don't want to believe it rather than not having experienced it?

[Mr Serendipity]

Ohh I remember something else theanine did.

It makes my eyes sensitive to light. Like when I'm walking outside or something, sometimes the sunny outdoors hurts my eyes. Almost like someone with too much serotonin?

[Mr Serendipity]

Also my friend today told me he got zen like focus with theanine yesterday. But he said he had a lot of coffee earlier and at the time of the theanine. He said even opening a draw, he was totally focused on doing it. He said it lasted roughly 45-60 mins,