Can Caffeine Make You Dizzy – Science Explained

Ivy Smith February 22, 2023 in Kitchen & Food, Coffee Maker, Food - 10 Minutes

Read Time:10 Minute, 2 Second

Have you ever been drinking coffee when all of a sudden you felt queasy and lightheaded? If the answer is a definitive ‘yes,’ you’re not alone.

When caffeine is consumed in high doses and on an empty stomach, dizziness is a frequent side effect. Dehydration brought on by caffeine can make you feel lightheaded or even presage vertigo.

If you’re ready to figure out the answer to this question once and for all, keep reading. I’ve done the research so that we can put these questions to rest for good!

Why Does Coffee Make Me Dizzy?

Let’s get to the point right away. Every coffee drink (including decaf!) has a certain level of caffeine.

Caffeine is a stimulant, which means that it speeds up messages between the brain and the body. For some people, that translates to feeling queasy or agitated. Others claim that it makes them feel queasy.

Caffeine also lowers blood flow to the brain concurrently. What that does is cause lightheadedness or wooziness.

Now, drinking a cup of coffee doesn’t guarantee that you’ll feel lightheaded later in the day.

Some people might not experience this symptom at all because everyone metabolizes coffee differently. But if you do, keep your cool! There is no cause for concern and it is entirely normal.

Other Reasons Coffee Causes Dizziness

Okay, so you are aware that caffeine generally causes drowsiness and coffee consumption.

However, there are a few more things to think about when contemplating the causes of coffee-induced vertigo.

Medications and Supplements

For starters, if you take certain supplements or medications, coffee may make you dizzy. A few of the more common ones include:

Ephedrine: this is a substance found in decongestants that can mix with caffeine and cause dizziness
Theophylline: this medication has similar side effects to caffeine and can enhance any lightheadedness you already feel
Echinacea: this supplement can increase the concentration of caffeine in your system, worsening dizziness
Ciprofloxacin: this antibacterial drug can increase the effects of caffeine and make you feel dizzy when you drink coffee
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors: these antidepressants can mix with caffeine and increase dizziness and lightheadedness

Not included on this list are numerous other drugs and nutritional supplements that can make you feel lightheaded when you drink coffee.

It wouldn’t hurt to discuss your medication and supplement use with your doctor.

He or she will be able to tell you if your meds are what’s making you dizzy when you drink coffee. They’ll also be able to suggest solutions and alternatives!

Read More to learn the effects of drinking coffee:

Stress

You might not be aware that stress can cause you to feel lightheaded when drinking coffee!

Stress can have some pretty devastating effects on our bodies. Stress can lead to a number of negative side effects, including wooziness, anxiety, and a racing heart.

As such, it’s probably no surprise that when you mix that with too much caffeine, you can wind up feeling woozy.

If you have high-stress levels or struggle with stress in general, it might be best to cut back on your coffee intake. By doing so, you can contribute to avoiding these kinds of symptoms.

Lack of Sleep

A two-edged sword is caffeine. It aids in waking us up but can also keep us from getting enough sleep. In terms of feeling lightheaded after drinking coffee, the latter can be a major problem.

Caffeine interferes with your ability to fall asleep, you see. Caffeine can affect how you behave throughout the day, even if you only consume a small amount.

Even worse, if you’re sleep deprived, you might already feel lightheaded or dizzy. Then, when you couple that with a potent, caffeine-filled cup of coffee, those symptoms get worse!

Your body is already weak from lack of sleep, and now you’re also limiting the blood flow to your brain. The outcome is a recipe for fainting.

How to Avoid Feeling Dizzy When Drinking Coffee

We’ve already mentioned that feeling lightheaded after drinking coffee is completely normal. But, that doesn’t mean you have to tolerate that sensation!

You can actually avoid feeling lightheaded after drinking coffee in a few different ways. Let’s examine some of those strategies.

1. Avoid Coffee on An Empty Stomach

Coffee consumption on an empty stomach is probably the main contributor to feeling lightheaded.

The effects of caffeine may be much stronger if you are not currently eating. This is so you don’t experience any negative side effects because the food helps to dilute the caffeine.

Consider having some food to go along with your morning cup of coffee if that’s your routine. Usually, a small piece of toast is sufficient to keep the room from spinning around you.

2. Stay Hydrated

Another reason why coffee makes you dizzy is that it’s a diuretic. In other words, it dehydrates you.

Your body needs both water and electrolytes to function properly, and when it is dehydrated, it lacks both. As a result, you might feel lightheaded.

Taking a sip of water at the same time as your coffee can help you prevent this from happening!

By doing this, you maintain adequate electrolyte and water levels in your body.

3. Don’t Drink Too Much

A major factor in why you might experience dizziness after consuming coffee is if you consume too much.

Adults should not consume more than 400 mg of caffeine per day, according to health experts. Approximately 4 regular coffee cups are consumed daily in this amount.

Now, while the verdict is still out on this (some people claim you can have up to 6 cups of coffee!), it’s definitely a good rule of thumb to stick to.

Caffeine toxicity is a condition that can be brought on by excessive caffeine consumption. Although it won’t kill you, it can have a number of unpleasant side effects, including dizziness.

On top of that, there are situations in which you might want to drink even less coffee.

For example, individuals with heart conditions or who are pregnant or nursing may be advised to drink less caffeine.

What is Caffeine Sensitivity?

To varying degrees, each of us is caffeine sensitive. Oversensitivity is the stage at which you begin to experience the negative effects of coffee, the majority of which are described above. Normally connected to a neuromodulator called adenosine, caffeine binds to neuroreceptors. Adenosine, a central nervous system depressant, is typically responsible for drowsiness and preventing feelings of arousal.

How Caffeine Affects the Nervous System and Brain

Adenosine loses its ability to bind to receptors as soon as caffeine enters our brain and begins to metabolize, taking precedence. Then comes waking up, along with increased alertness and a positive mood. However, if you’re sensitive to caffeine, then you feel the effects and latent side-effects much stronger. Similar to drinking too many shots of espresso, a few sips of regular instant coffee can make you feel sick.

How Long Coffee Lasts in the Body

After drinking that cup of coffee, caffeine lingers in the body for a very long time. Because caffeine has a half-life of about five hours, half of the amount is still present in your body after that long. The effects of a regular coffee drinker with a normal metabolism rate are still present at 10 PM. If you’re over-sensitive, you’ll have caffeine present in your system for longer, making you more likely to feel dizzy immediately after drinking that second cup.

Caffeine Intolerance/Sensitivity

The rate at which caffeine is metabolized is determined by our individual metabolism. Caffeine has different effects on different people and stays in their bodies for various amounts of time. People with low caffeine tolerance or extreme sensitivity to coffee metabolize caffeine extremely slowly. Because caffeine stays in the body for a longer period of time, more side effects and more pronounced wakefulness are experienced. Genetics plays a major role in caffeine sensitivity, with hypersensitive, normal sensitivity, and low tolerance emerging among all people.

Causes of Caffeine Sensitivity

Increased caffeine sensitivity is caused by a variety of factors. Women metabolize caffeine faster than men, making men more likely to feel dizzy when drinking coffee. Age also has an impact because as we get older, our bodies become more sensitive to caffeine because we take longer to metabolize it. Caffeine sensitivity may also rise as a result of birth control pills and other treatments that block the production of estrogen. The effects of caffeine are also known to be enhanced by some herbal supplements, including echinacea and guarana. Absent any coffee consumption, there is a higher chance that no tolerance will develop, which could result in extreme sensitivity as well.

Caffeine Allergy

Caffeine allergy, as opposed to caffeine hypersensitivity, may be the most severe adverse reaction to even the smallest amount of coffee. If your body is misidentifying caffeine and sending out antibodies, you’ll experience a combination of these symptoms:

Latent anxiety with coldness and jitters
General chest pain
Cold sweats and flushing
Loss of balance and unexplained dizziness
Ongoing unexplainable fatigue
Headaches and migraines
Irregular heart rhythm
Mysterious joint and muscle pain
Diarrhea and an increased need to urinate

We advise you to see a doctor to confirm your suspicions if there’s any chance that you might be allergic to caffeine. If you have an allergy, caffeine must be avoided at all costs.

To Sum Up

Numerous unpleasant symptoms, such as lightheadedness, can be brought on by caffeine.

There are, however, a variety of things you can do to stop feeling dizzy.

Adding a few changes to your coffee-drinking game, like drinking more water and implementing decaf, can make wonders.

But if that doesn’t work, you can just stop drinking it for the day.

Frequently Asked Questions About Coffee’s Side-Effects

One has to remember that coffee is a stimulant and not everyone is suited to the chain reaction of cardiovascular events that follows drinking a strong cup of joe. Lightheadedness can also result from a sugar rush, and for some shakey coffee drinkers, falling electrolytes exacerbate the condition.

Why Coffee Makes Me Feel Weak and Shaky

Some people discover that these substances suddenly make them feel tired instead of giving them an initial buzz followed by unpleasant side effects. Certain coffee drinkers experience lethargy, which causes them to feel as though they need to sleep but are much too awake to do so. Coldness is common, with cold and awake creating an annoying condition. The jitters typically persist through all of this, leaving you feeling shaky with a worsening weak feeling. If this applies to you, you most likely have a severe caffeine sensitivity or allergy.

Why Does Coffee Makes Me Cold?

When we drink hot drinks like coffee, it increases our core temperature. To cool itself off, the body reacts by producing sweat and changing the direction of blood flow. As sweat evaporates, rapid cooling gives a lasting cold sensation rather than the fleeting feeling of cooling down when you drink a cold drink. Warm drinks, such as hot coffee, have a prolonged cooling effect as opposed to the brief cooling effect of cold beverages. It’s important not to confuse the chill you feel after drinking coffee with the jitters and underlying anxiety.

Does Coffee Trigger Vertigo?

Though not in all patients, caffeine can hasten the onset of vertigo and aggravate symptoms. Most coffees cause a mild ringing in the ears for those who experience this unfortunate condition, with high-caffeine roasts being a major contributor to spinning sensations. When the body is under the influence of caffeine, vertigo occurs as a result of the body’s struggle to control blood pressure and blood flow. Coffee can cause caffeine-induced vertigo, but teas, colas, and energy drinks are more likely to be the culprits.