So, I’m addicted to caffeine. And I haven’t been drinking much water at all. But, this weekend, I didn’t drink as much coffee/Pepsi as usual and was going to try to drink some water today before having my coffee, but my head aches! I get these headaches if I don’t maintain my usual quota of coffee/soda, etc. a day.
Anyone know how to make the withdrawals any easier? My system is completely dehydrated, I don’t get enough other-liquid intake to make up for the normal amount of coffee I consume, and if I try to stop, I get these headaches. This happen to anyone else?
It’s happened to me a few times. I gave up caffeine cold turkey both times I was pregnant. I had really bad headaches the first 3-4 days and then they went away. I cut down on my caffeine a lot in the last month but I did it gradually. I used to have three cups of coffee in the morning and I drank 4-5 sodas during the day. Now I drink 2 cups of coffee in the morning and 1 soda during the day and the rest of the time it’s water or milk. Just do it gradually and you won’t get the headaches.
Heloise, I get these, too. I’ve found that if I quit cold turkey, I get the headaches for a day or two, then they’re gone. They weren’t horrible, mind-splitting migraines, just there, and annoying. Aspirin didn’t seem to help much. If you want to quit, try tapering off 1 less each day, and replace it with juice or water.
I don’t drink caffeine anymore. When I quit I had a caffeine headache for about a week. It went away rather quickly. Now, the few times that I have drunk a caffeinated (sp) beverage I get high. It is really pretty nasty feeling. On the plus side, I sleep well and easily every night now.
These headaches could be more of a dehydration thing than a caffeine thing. Caffeine is a dietetic, anyway, so drinking a cup of coffee is only going to dehydrate you more.
My doctor took me off caffeine completely, because apparently my tummy couldn’t deal. (item #324 that was taken out of my diet) Along with caffeine was cabonated beverages. I learned to drink a LOT of water. In my fridge at this moment is a Brita pitcher full of ice cold water, and no other beverage. When you don’t give yourself any other option, you rehydrate yourself real quickly.
Get a water bottle at work, and make sure it’s ALWAYS filled. Gives you an excuse to get up and move away from your desk, which is something I forget to do unless I have a reason. Once you’re hydrated, you’ll feel the effects of the caffeine withdrawls less, and as Rachelle said, after about 3 or 4 days, they’re gone. I was delighted to notice that I’d go to bed at night and SLEEP! Good luck!
It could help to know HOW caffeine has poisoned your system.
Caffeine causes your blood vessels to constrict making it more difficult for blood to flow to really important places like your brain.
But the body has this wonderful ability to adapt. It adjusts to regular consumption of caffeine. Now when you quit drinking caffeine “cold turkey” you wind up with too much blood coursing through your brain – hency the headache. Taking things like aspirin or other pain remedies that thin the blood makes it easier for even MORE blood to get to the brain.
The advice to withdraw gradually is sound. Cut back by a relatively small amount and level off for a week. Perhaps a cup a day, a Pepsi a day, a glass of tea a day, etc.
Good luck. I need to scale back, too. Perhaps we can “suffer” together.
I quit coffee cold turkey about 2 months ago. I haven’t had a cup since, and word has it that the local Starbucks is going under because I’m no longer solely supporting them financially
Anyway, when I quit…the caffeine headaches lasted about 2 weeks. Killer at first, but slowly got less and less painful until they were gone. Now I drink about a gallon or two of juices and water a day instead of the pot or two of coffee I used too…
While asprin may not be effective with these types of headaches (I’ve gotten them in the past too), you might consider an Exedrin product to cope if you’re set on quitting (mostly) cold turkey. Exedrin (I believe in general, but at least in the migraine formula) contain small amounts of caffeine, which I would imagine are part of why they seem to help reduce the painful withdrawl symptoms. You’ll still be getting a little caffeine, but without reinforcing the habitual caffeine use (drinking cola/coffee) which is just as much a struggle to cope with/overcome as the actual chemical effects–IMHO.
If quitting caffeine hurt you, maybe you should have more. There’s this great beverage called Bawls (http://www.bawls.com) that should more than help you. It even tastes good!
About 2 months ago I pretty much quit coffee altogether. I averaged a half a pot every morning. The strange thing is I didn’t suffer any headaches at all.
Immediately I started drinking water – I average 40 ounces first thing in the morning. I wonder if that is why I didn’t get the headaches.
Occasionally on mornings like today, when I haven’t had enough sleep, I will have about 1/2 the amount of my old usual amount of coffee.
For those that have panic attacks or similar problems. I noticed my attacks become less problematic.
Count me in with the group that has had to suffer through these headaches. Mine were very similar to what my wife described when she told me about her migraines. They just about blinded me they hurt so bad. Like everyone else here I started loading up on water and fruit juices instead. Which lead to another problem…
I have to go to the bathroom about every 5 minutes. I’ve since learned that it takes your body a little while to get used to the increased water consumption, and until your system adapts you just have to keep getting up and going. I will be so glad when I can get through the morning without spending half of it at the urinal.
Thanks for the advise. I relented and had a cup of coffee. My head was just hurting too bad and I didn’t want to yell at any users calling in.
I have some gatorade, but the water here tastes really bad, so I’ll have to either get some for my break (it’s on the 8th floor, I’m on 17) or just have another cup!
SouthernStyle, misery loves company, so if you really want to suffer with me, I’d be happy to suffer with you!
I’m a total caffein junkie… but im wondering how bad it is for me? Like… why should i consider cutting down? i dont lie awake at night or have any problems sleeping at all… but is there stuff i should worry about?
I usually have a 2L of Pepsi a day during work, and perhaps a cup of coffee or 3… and then i usually take this caffienated energy-drink (equvilent to RedBull if anyones familiar with that) before i go home coz i get off owrk at midnight and have a long drive home (just to make sure ill stay away all the way home u know)
When I was pregnant I used to drink nothing but water and lots of it. I probably drank a gallon a day. Since having the kids I quit drinking water. I have about 2 cups of water a day and that’s it. I know I need to drink more water but I just don’t want to spend my day in the bathroom and I know that’s what’s going to happen! How long does it take to adjust your body to drinking 8 cups of water a day?
caffine not only dehydrates you it also leeches out calcium.
for the headaches i reached for my favourite drug advil. if you take some an hour or so after you wake up you can avoid the headache.
another way is to have one and only one caffinated beverage in the morning.
I gave up caffeine once. Aside from the headaches (which were constant, and which no drug could assuage), I was a real serious bitch for about a week. I decided to stop torturing everybody (including myself) and got back on it. And I only drink two cups a day.
Since misery does love company, count me in, also.
I’m trying to quit too, but my problem is that I get migraines, which withdrawl headaches turn into so it’s a little bit more than “a bitch” for a couple of days.
Ironically, if you don’t drink caffine and get a headache, caffine can cure it. (which is how I usually get started back on it)
The secret is baby steps. Also replace one of your daily drinks with caffine free Coke classic. It tastes the same and it kind of fools the body into thinking you’ve had a caffine drink. At least for me.
Finally, I agree with t-chick68. If you have any kind of panic-related disorder, you should definately not be on caffine. And of course have your Xanax on hand
Having cold-turkeyed on several occasions (OK, so I’m a backslider), I can sympathize about the headaches. Mine typically lasted 3 days, and I just put up with them–I wanted to get off the stuff fast, so that my tolerance would go back down before the next set of finals. They were nowhere near as bad as my migraines, so they didn’t slow me down much.
When I finally broke the physical addiction, though, I did it by tapering off and drinking lots of water–which is a good thing anyway. I didn’t notice it sending me to the porcelain goddess any more often–maybe because I was no longer consuming a diuretic, or maybe just because I’m one of those “Pit stop? Already?” types.
I consume some caffeine now, but not enough that I have headaches when I don’t drink it.
