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Caffeine Withdrawl

miss fortune

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I'm supposed to give up on caffeine consumption according to my doctor (a different one than the idiot who is good at mixing up charts!). Of course, I tend to drink something like 12 cups of coffee a day at minimum, so this is absolute hell- no matter what I do I have a horrible headache and waking up in the morning takes signifigantly more time than I'd prefer for it to :(


Anyone have any tips on how to make this any easier? It would be greatly appreciated! :)
 

Randomnity

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Can you switch to tea (whether as a first step or permanently) or is that still too much caffeine? Then you get a bit of caffeine plus the nice hot drink.

edit: theres decaf of course too, for the nice psychological aspect/taste, although I'm sure you've considered that!
 

GZA

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I can't offer any advice, but I do have some questions about caffeine addiction, so here I am! If it helps... just try to quit cold turkey.

So what I'm wondering is, how bad is having a caffeine dependance (and by dependance I mean having cravings (if that happens) or, for example, waking up with headaches untill you have a coffee)?

Also, I havn't actually started drinking coffee yet... should I even bother getting into a coffee routine where I'll want my "morning coffee" or should I skip it entirely?
 

Randomnity

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As useful as it is, coffee doesn't have to become a routine. I love my coffee but saving it for the days I'm most tired or crave it most makes it more enjoyable than if it was just my morning "thing". I have a large, strong cup probably 3 times a week on average, though I used to drink it every day....I don't think dependency will be an issue if you keep your consumption reasonably low.
 

kelric

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I'm supposed to give up on caffeine consumption according to my doctor (a different one than the idiot who is good at mixing up charts!). Of course, I tend to drink something like 12 cups of coffee a day at minimum, so this is absolute hell- no matter what I do I have a horrible headache and waking up in the morning takes signifigantly more time than I'd prefer for it to :(


Anyone have any tips on how to make this any easier? It would be greatly appreciated! :)

The only thing I can think of is to drink a lot of water... but it sounds like that may not be enough :(. I think that if it's really, really bothering you, the first thing to do would be to call your doctor and see if stopping altogether is the best option, or if you can stop gradually (say, over the course of a week, go from your usual 12 cups to 10, 8, etc.). I don't think you can get rid of the headaches completely, but maybe scaling back gradually would help you ease through it? Or maybe it would just mildly uncomfortable for a longer period of time... I don't know.

Only thing I can think of is to call your doctor and see if there are any options to just suffering through it. The headaches will stop - I've been there, and they do stop!

:hug:
 

miss fortune

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:) thank you! Headaches are a rather miserable thing and unfortunatly it's the weekend and the doctor's office is not open. I'm supposed to cut out all caffeine, which seems rather cruel to me.

I've been drinking water- it keeps me awake to be doing something! Plus- it's a good way to wash down medicine for headaches (but not excedrin :laugh:)
 

Dizzy

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I would just try to quit cold turkey and starking bulging green tea.

I drink coffee in cycles, a few months two per day and after that I quit for a few months. I hate to see myself becoming dependant on anything. In this way the coffee really works too, I don't need more and more.
Although I am getting an espresso machine soon, so maybe things will change after all..
 

LostInNerSpace

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Reduce gradually by two cups a day. Then go cold turkey. The widthdrawl is nasty but temporary. You'll get past it with two or three days.
 

Athenian200

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Oh... did they say why you needed to do this, or did they just decide it wasn't healthy and told you to stop? Just curious.

Anyway, I pretty much live on caffeinated soft drinks, although I don't drink coffee. I would really hate being limited to water or the like, because it just seems so tasteless, and I get a headache when I don't have any caffeine.

The only advice I can give would be to stop completely, and try not to exert yourself. You have far less energy than normal for a while after you stop drinking caffeine, because your body becomes dependent on the energy boost from it to maintain homeostasis.
 

Tigerlily

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I quit drinking anything with caffeine in it to lessen anxiety and I can really see a difference in my behavior. Sometimes (like at a restaurant) it's unavoidable as they don't offer diet caffeine free beverages so I'll have a diet coke and I can feel my energy changing from calm to jumpy.

Tell yourself that you're suffering from allergies while you're detoxing (thats what I did and it worked). And like others have said drink lotsa water! Good luck!
 

mippus

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Become a super-demanding coffee snob: only drink espresso of the very best types. They contain far less caffeine, taste so much better but due to the intensity, you can't drink too much of it and -yes- they are expensive so you won't drink them mindlessly. Letting people know you are so demanding when it comes to coffee will make them offer you less.
It never made me popular, but it worked very well for me... :)
 

Totenkindly

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Like others have said (although I guess i differ on a few points):

  • Stay hydrated (caffeine makes you urinate, you can get severely dehydrated and even constipated if you don't have enough water intake).
  • Interestingly, though, I found that coffee also acts almost contradictorily as a laxative for me (sorry if TMI)... and one time when I went cold turkey, everything got stuck and I was a mess for two weeks. Which leads to:
  • Wean yourself off if you have been drinking a LOT of coffee. If you cold turkey, besides the problem I mentioned, you will probably just completely crash. Each week or half-week, cut back your daily intake by 1-2 cups a day until you get it down to something manageable. If you try to just stop, you'll probably go through all the withdrawal -- exhaustion, lack of energy, lack of focus, etc. Sorry, but withdrawal was a bitch for me... having a full-time job means I can't afford to crash for a few days by cold-turkeying it.
  • Drink coffee that is less strong. If you want, you could switch to diet soda which I think is less concentrated in terms of volume vs caffeine, but maybe that won't work for you.
  • Like others have said, decaf tea (along with decaf coffee) is a nice replacement. Merely exchange one of your coffees for a decaf partway through the day. Alternately, you can also add hot water and "water it down" .. or you could mix decaf and regular, to make the coffee half-strength.
  • Take smaller portions of coffee. Instead of filling up your cup each time and gulping it down, fill it halfway, then go back only at the regular times.

It will realistically take you a few weeks to go completely off without wiping yourself out, if you want to be functional over that time.

But I think the main problem with the caffeine is that it lets you put a lot more strain on your body without you realizing it. My opinion is that basically the caffeine allows you to ignore signs of tiredness your body would otherwise make obvious to you... so it's essentially like running a car that is overheating because your overheating light is broken/turned off. Yes, you go further, but eventually you'll blow your engine or wear out the other parts of the car.
 

Geoff

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Today, I am wearing my Homer Simpson socks.

They say : "Alcohol, now there's a temporary solution"
 

Ivy

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Do you really have those socks?! Me want!

As for the OP- I have quit caffeine many times. There is always a few days of lethargy and headache, even if I taper. The best thing I've found is to try and do it when I'll have a couple of days to run on half steam, if possible. For example, quitting the week before a deadline is a bad idea.
 

skip

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If you find yourself a little constipated, try psyllium seed husks.
 
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