Caffeine Addiction

[SearchingforPeace]

I am a caffeine addict. It has been going on about 35 years. It began simple enough: buying a Dr. Pepper walking home from middle school. It felt so good. To this day, drinking a Dr. Pepper activates all those feel-good chemical reactions in my body and I get a few minutes of pure bliss.

The problem is I am an addict. I get headaches and start jonesing for more. I sneak to grab some caffeine. I have bought caffeine pills just to have in case I need a hit and I don't have any.

And it is no longer effective. Outside the intial hit of pleasure, I don't get any other benefits. It doesn't help focus. I don't get extra energy. And the headaches come quickly, even if I just had a huge dose. I suspect it increases my anxiety and depression.

I have stopped using caffeine many times in my life. It is a week or two of hardcore withdrawals. And then it is good. I stopped for about six months once. I usually go about a month, and then have just a little. And then more, and more, and more.

Each time I get off, it is more difficult to do so. It used to only take 3 fays, then a week, now 2 weeks.

So, I am SfP and I am an addict.


And I am going to try to get off again, maybe permamently this time.

It has been 33 hours since my last caffeine and I am really jonesing for some caffeine.

 

[highlander]

I just quit caffine a week or so ago. Mostly, I'm just more tired. No headaches or anything.

 

[geedoenfj]

I just quit caffine a week or so ago. Mostly, I'm just more tired. No headaches or anything.

I have a couple of eczema patches on my face right now, so I can't take coffee because caffeine irritates my skin
A week ago, my head was killing me, but now I think I'm on my way to getting used to it

 

[kotoshinohaisha]

I think i should quit caffeine too.

 

[SearchingforPeace]

It has now been 45 hours. The headaches are hitting hard and advil isn't helping. My body has odd sensations all over. I feel awful. And it will only get worse.

I know if I can get through the next few days, it will eventually get better.

About a decade ago, I was randomly browsing the stacks at a large library and encountered a book on caffeine. It mentioned all the different body systems hurt by caffeine, like the digestive system and adrenal system and nervous system. It recommended a variety of herbs to offset the impact. It seemed to help, so I should pick some up. Milk thistle was the herb suggested to help the digestive system and it seemed to work.

I hate being addicted to caffeine. It is a horrible limitation on my free will.

And I read something else recently that caffeine is toxic and overtaxes the liver. And then the liver can't do its job.

Anyway, hopefully this will be the last time I need to suffer through this. I have done it 15 to 20 times and I would think I would learn....

 

[thepink-cloakedninja]

I think i should quit caffeine too.

LOL yeah, you already have too much energy.

 

[Yara the Corpse]

Caffeine used to give me a pleasant energy bost now it just makes me feel like cancer and unable to enjoy the moment and be calm

 

[Kanra Jest]

I only have Starbucks(fraps, with the occasional caps) Idk if that counts. I have it most any time I go out to do something. It's partially a reward method to keep me getting out of bed as a certified night owl/morning sufferer I am.

I use to have normal coffee (with cream, of various kinds and some sugar to drown out the black coffee taste, ick) since father was an addict throughout my growing up and would have 5 cups a day addicted. I just followed suit for a nice taste sensation but nowadays I can't hardly stand it. Once I drink it I end up feeling horrible. I get so drained feeling and tired, as well as the discomforting feel it leaves in ones mouth. It's the same way with pop now, so I can't have that either and with how horribly carbonated it is. Makes me feel a bit sick. So I've stopped drinking it since and only stick to occasional routine fraps generally but the caffeine is much more faint.

 

[kotoshinohaisha]

LOL yeah, you already have too much energy.

Hahahaha. Lol xD i should decrease it [emoji14]

 

[SearchingforPeace]

66 hours have now passed. Last night I was very exhausted and had a massive headache, so I went to bed at 10. I actually slept 8 hours!

This morning, no headache yet, but a lot of weird sensations around my body.

I suspect today will be really bad, but if I can get through the next 2 days, it should get easier.....

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Is there a way you can wean yourself off without going cold turkey?

I've been trying to cut back. I was drinking 4-6 cups of coffee daily (strong coffee, usually). I'm trying to replace my second and third cups with a lot of water, then maybe a cup in the afternoon and an evening cup on weekends.

It's pretty bad how much I drink, because others notice. We have free coffee at work, I'm at the coffee machine every couple hours. People make comments. Fuck those people. It helps me tolerate them.

 

[SearchingforPeace]

Is there a way you can wean yourself off without going cold turkey? I've been trying to cut back. I was drinking 4-6 cups of coffee daily (strong coffee, usually). I'm trying to replace my second and third cups with a lot of water, then maybe a cup in the afternoon and an evening cup on weekends. It's pretty bad how much I drink, because others notice. We have free coffee at work, I'm at the coffee machine every couple hours. People make comments. Fuck those people. It helps me tolerate them.

No can do. Cold turkey is the only way it works for me. When I just taper off, I end up going right back up. And if I don't cold turkey it, I don't get free of all the physiological and psychological issues involved.

Sometimes a price must be paid and the price is often pain and suffering. I just hope that this time I will stay off rather than go back in a few months......

Caffeine helps me deal with life, but the side effects make dealing with life harder, like increasing the difficulty on a video game. I am much much happier free of it, even though I miss the short fix. The short fix is really an illusion, as the poison that is caffeine deceives before it hurts.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

No can do. Cold turkey is the only way it works for me. When I just taper off, I end up going right back up. And if I don't cold turkey it, I don't get free of all the physiological and psychological issues involved.

Sometimes a price must be paid and the price is often pain and suffering. I just hope that this time I will stay off rather than go back in a few months......

Caffeine helps me deal with life, but the side effects make dealing with life harder, like increasing the difficulty on a video game. I am much much happier free of it, even though I miss the short fix. The short fix is really an illusion, as the poison that is caffeine deceives before it hurts.

This sums up my feelings about marijuana. It helps me cope, in the short term. It creates more problems to deal with though. It makes me more antisocial, less sharpminded. It helps my creativity if I do it on a rare occasion, but when I do it a lot, I lose creative drive and just want to lay around watching movies and eating.

 

[SearchingforPeace]

This sums up my feelings about marijuana. It helps me cope, in the short term. It creates more problems to deal with though. It makes me more antisocial, less sharpminded. It helps my creativity if I do it on a rare occasion, but when I do it a lot, I lose creative drive and just want to lay around watching movies and eating.

Most escapes and addictions are likely similar, short term benefit and long term loss. The underlying issues people have do not go away and once the addiction is less satisfying and more taxing, everything is worse off. We all run away from reality and it is not good for any of us.

Dumping each addiction only frees us and empowers us to dump the next one, which may be much more challenging. Eventually we can be free to enjoy life and without these weak crutches....

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Most escapes and addictions are likely similar, short term benefit and long term loss. The underlying issues people have do not go away and once the addiction is less satisfying and more taxing, everything is worse off. We all run away from reality and it is not good for any of us.

Dumping each addiction only frees us and empowers us to dump the next one, which may be much more challenging. Eventually we can be free to enjoy life and without these weak crutches....

I'm working on nicotine now. I'm not ready to give up caffeine yet.

 

[SearchingforPeace]

I'm working on nicotine now. I'm not ready to give up caffeine yet.

Kick one addiction at a time....no reason to try to change too much at once and fail.

 

[Galena]

I would like to cap the strength of the caffeine I drink at green tea, and then getting one nice coffee out per week. I have been very dependent on caffeine for years, but even that has become much more extreme lately due to work. But now that the pressure is off there, I suddenly have more energy and desire to put work into more personal things. A rung up the hierarchy of needs, perhaps.

Also, I have a mental illness that is well known to be aggravated by caffeine and sleep deprivation. I hate sleep and hate having different limits from other people (unless they're higher, of course), but feel guilty about not taking responsibility for the reality of what kind of body and mind I was given.

Started this yesterday because the thread appeared, and why the fuck not. The headaches are no joke.

 

[SearchingforPeace]

90 hours in and I am feeling pretty good. No headache now. This has been the least painful withdrawal I can remember.

It is funny almost how I put off doing this over concern over the process. I will still likely get killer headaches later, but until then, I will enjoy their absence.

 

[Neal Caffreynated]

Wow, I never knew you could get addicted to caffeine Personally, I am not sure if I am totally addicted but I rely pretty often on coffee to be more energetic in the morning... I drink a lot of Coca Cola too, never tried to cut on caffeine yet though, maybe I should try for a while

 

[SearchingforPeace]

Cold sweats and dizziness hitting. Feeling really lightheaded. Not fun. Limbs are quivering, too...................... it feels like a really bad case of the flu.

FYI, I have been a serious caffeine abuser for decades. Not everyone will experience the same symptoms. It used to be mild. I just need to remember to not start again......