Tell me your experiences of giving up caffeine

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

I used to drink nothing but Mountain Dew. Nothing. It got to the point where every morning I’d wake up with a splitting headache and it wouldn’t go away until I had a can of soda. Even after waking up and drinking a soda, I’d have headaches pretty regularly. I never thought it was weird: I thought it was normal for people to go through buckets of headache medicine like I did.

When I lost my job and had no money, I switched to water and Kool-Aid, exclusively. About a week after I gave up my precious Mountain Dew, I hit bottom and experienced serious withdrawal symptoms. There was a two day period where I had a constant, agonizing headache (I wouldn’t say it was the most painful headache I ever had, but it was up there, plus it lasted all day) that made it impossible to do pretty much anything but sit around throbbing.

After the headache subsided, I felt way better than before it’d set in at all. I’m back to drinking soda but I stay away from anything that has caffeine in it (Crush, Sprite and Squirt are my drinks of choice) and I haven’t had headaches at all.

I’m not sure if I was just an extreme case, but to anyone out there who has headaches on even a semi-regular basis and thinks it’s normal, I seriously recommend giving up caffeinated drinks. You’ll feel loads better once you do.

42

I gave in and had a can of coke. Feeling pretty bummed out right now. Can I really not manage something as simple as giving up caffeine?

43

Fail.

Why do you still have caffeine in the house? Were you just thirsty? Get non-caffeinated soda. Whatever you do, don’t say “well, I’ve already broken my promise to myself, might as well give it up.” Grow a pair and control yourself.

44

Yeah, my doctors actually recommended caffeine to me as a treatment to help knock down a migraine in process. But of course, that puts me right back on the caffeine cycle again. I only drink a can or two of soda a day, but I still need it else I get a withdrawal headache, unless I taper off.

45

Whenever Mr. Panda detoxes from caffeine he gets a bad headache and he’s generally awful to live with for a couple of days. (As in, so bad I’d send him to a hotel for a couple of days if I could afford it.)

46

I had a heart attack a few years back and had to stop using caffeine.
Not much pain from withdrawing compared with everything else that was
going on.
The hardest part was wanting that boost that caffeine gives.
that goes on for a long time (months in my case):smack:

47

I quit cold turkey myself. Yes, I had headaches for a couple of days afterward, but they paled in comparison to the horrible migraines I got with it.

48

I gave up cold turkey ten years ago. For two weeks I was in a blur.

I coworker asked my why looked so bad.

My - explanation -

Me - “You know when you first wake up in the morning and you sit up in bed and you just sit there for 10 seconds because your head is groggy?”

Coworker - “Yes”

Me - “That’s my whole day”

After two weeks though I cleared up and haven’t missed it much.

I drink decaf coffee now and, on occasion, have one cup of regular.
I can actually feel a caffeine kick from chocolate and some painkillers. I never was much of a cola or Mountain Dew drinker.

49

In the last month of my pregnancy, I weaned myself off gradually. I didn’t want baby born with a raging headache. I didn’t have any withdrawl symptoms at all, and baby is a month old and a real peach.

50

Give up caffeine? Give up caffeine? Are you daft? Hmm???!?!?

Nevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevervnevernever!!!

Well, I might cut back just a bit.

We have a surgeon on staff here who reportedly drinks 22 cups of coffee a day. When you talk to her on the phone you have to hold the earpiece half a foot
from your ear.

"Captain! She’s operating at warp speed!

51

My best friend in high school was a preacher’s kid. One Sunday his dad gave a sermon on addiction, basically gist: Any addiction is as bad as any other and they’re all examples of gluttony.

After that sermon his mom, realizing she was addicted to caffeine decided then and there to give it up, since it was sinful and all. About 4 days later his dad, the MINISTER, was saying, “Forget what God wants, honey, we all NEED you to have your coffee.”

She stuck it out and there was no body count, but no one was allowed to come and visit for two full weeks until she got the jones under control and got past the headaches.

As a result, I’ve never been motivated to cut out caffeine, but I wish you the best of luck in your attempt.

52

I’ve done it. For the first time, I woke up this morning with a clear head. I’ve got my usual energy levels back and I feel great!

53

I’ve given up caffeine a time or three, usually unconsciously. Sometimes I’ll realise I haven’t had a cup of tea or coffee for over a week. I’ve never noticed any side-effects.

54

Good for you. I’ve given up caffeine tons of times because I suffer from debilitating migraines on Day 2 if I drink a lot of Cokes on Day 1. The last time I gave up Coke, I went 6 months or so before falling off the wagon. Now I drink one Caffeine Free Coke each day, but on the occasion that I’ve drank a regular Coke, I don’t get headaches anymore. It’s all about moderation.

Here’s my personal formula for going off caffeine cold turkey:

Day 1 - Take 2 Excedrin (the ones with Caffeine) at the first onset of a headache but preferably early in the day because otherwise I have trouble sleeping. Expect your brain to feel numb for a while, but it takes away the headache in less than 5 minutes.

Day 2 - If needed (most times I don’t), take 1 Excedrin at the same time that I took yesterday’s.

Day 3 - Caffeine free!

Granted, the most I ever drank was 2 cans of Coke, so this may be too mild for a heavy coffee drinker.

55

A casual glance at this thread got me a-thinking and a-researching and looking up “caffeinism”.

For the first time in my life I realised that the two phrases: “I drink 12 cups of strong coffee and tea a day” and “I have chronic insomnia” might not be unrelated*.

I usually have three cups of coffee first thing in the morning, then another when I get to work, and alternate coffee and tea about once an hour all day, then when I get home I have another 1 or 2 cups. I’ve got a very fancy espresso machine and it is just so damned appealing…

So I thought what the hell, I’ll give it a go.

Diary of the week so far:

Monday: The usual 12 cups. The usual 6 hours’ sleep that night.

Tuesday: 3 cups in the morning, no caffeine all day. Headache kicked in about 14.00 and was put in its place with ibuprofen. Yawning all afternoon. Got home from work totally wiped out. Slept for ten hours uninterrupted!

Wednesday: 2 cups in the morning, no caffeine all day. Just wanted to crawl away and snooze in the afternoon. Headache ditto the day before. 8 hours’ sleep.

Thursday: 1 cup of coffee in the morning, no caffeine all day. Headache ditto. So sleepy all day. Went for a nap after work. 7 hours’ sleep that night.

Friday: no caffeine all day. Headache ditto. Was socialising that night and went to bed late, spontaneously woke up early; 5 hours’ sleep.

Saturday: no caffeine. Felt like I gradually slipped into wakefulness over the course of an hour, rather than kick-started it at a specific point. In the morning, had a normal bowel movement, for the first time in years! Saw someone getting a latte in a café and thought “mmmmm that looks soooo good” - I never drink latte, only black unsweetened coffee. Afternoon headache worse than before. Regular dose of ibuprofen had no effect, so took a second dose and it went away. Drank booze in the evening. Went to bed very late and had to wake up early with an alarm to get a train.

Sunday: no caffeine, a hangover, and only five hours’ sleep. Felt like I was greasily sliding into the day this time over the course of three or four hours. Weird taste in my mouth. Exhausted on the train but couldn’t sleep. Felt completely spaced out in the late morning; probably shouldn’t have been driving. No afternoon headache but had serious cravings, especially when I made my friends espressos after a late lunch. The coffee can smelled divine. When they left, I lay down at 16.00 and woke up at 18.30.

It’s now 19.15, coming up to 90 hours since I last touched caffeine, and I would love a fucking coffee right now.

*Also, “I have IBS and chronic diaorreah”.