Quitting caffeine is hard

"gmctavish needs more space" (gmctavish) 12/15/2016 at 12:40 • Filed to: I want caffeine

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I’ve had a headache for 4 days now, and I’ve been lethargic and tired all 4 days as well. Over the last few years, I’ve gone from 3-5 cups of coffee a day to 1 cup of tea a day. I was having 1 coffee a day, but coffee has been bothering my stomach a lot. I love coffee, and making myself stop drinking it was disappointing enough, I figured I may as well go all the way and quit caffeine altogether. I’m rethinking that now...

Christmas Wagoneer for your time

Future next gen S2000 owner > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 12:44

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Simply replace coffee with jack and coke. Looks the same!

Hammerdown > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 12:48

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I quit a couple years back. The first few days suck but it gets easier. Drink lots and lots of water. You’ll soon feel better.

vicali > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 12:49

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It get’s better.. I cut down because I was getting weekend headaches when I didn’t imbibe. Went from a lot of cups a weekday to none cold turkey- it sucks for a week or so. Then it’s good.

I’m back to one cup at my desk in the morning, but no sugar/.  

Roundbadge > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 12:49

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My gf quit caffeine for a while a couple of years ago. She had the same headaches and such for a couple of weeks.

I quit soda at the same time and just drank one cup of coffee a day. I’m up to on average 2 cups a day now, but I have not ever attempted to quit caffeine. Luckily, no one has told me I need to yet, so I’m not chomping at the bit to do so.

yitznewton > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 12:49

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Have you gotten checked out by a doc recently? Could be some health thing, mental health or otherwise, causing you to feel this way or making it worse.

TheRealBicycleBuck > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 12:54

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On a dare, I quit caffeine cold-turkey. I went from 6 to 12 cokes a day (it was college, don’t judge me) to nothing. The shakes stopped after a couple of days, but the headaches lasted a week. Miserable experience.

gmctavish needs more space > yitznewton 12/15/2016 at 12:56

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I haven’t, but I don’t think it is. I mean I’ve had at least one coffee or tea every morning for probably 7 years, and Monday morning I decided not too, and I’ve had a headache and felt tired since then. Once my benefits package takes effect I’ll probably go to a doctor, it’s been a while

gmctavish needs more space > TheRealBicycleBuck 12/15/2016 at 12:57

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Jesus that’s a lot of coke. Whoever dared you probably helped your health a lot in the long run

Chariotoflove > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 12:57

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What is your motivation to quit besides the stomach? I gave up caffeine because it kept my blood pressure up, made me talk too much, and made me have to pee a lot. Nowadays, I still allow myself decaffeinated coffee and tea. It still has caffeine, but not enough to cause problems.

gmctavish needs more space > Chariotoflove 12/15/2016 at 13:00

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Mostly the combination of driving for a living and having to pee too much. As much as the headaches are sucking, not having to pee is nice

Chariotoflove > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 13:08

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Yeah, my dad is one of those who can do a transcontinental road trip fueled by nothing but McDonald’s coffee and never have to stop (except for more coffee). It was hell for those of us in the family with mortal bladders.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 13:10

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I couldnt do it. Even limiting myself to 3 coffees a day as I am now, I get cravings often.

gmctavish needs more space > Chariotoflove 12/15/2016 at 13:12

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That’s impressive and would also be aggravating

TheRealBicycleBuck > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 13:13

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He was in the same boat as me. It all started with Lent. We were all harassing one of our friends about what she was giving up. She turned on another of our friends. We didn’t even know he was Catholic. We goaded him until he decided to give up cokes. Somehow, I got caught up in the meelee and ended up giving them up too.

But you’re probably right, it wasn’t a good path to be on.

gmctavish needs more space > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 12/15/2016 at 13:15

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Cutting back from usually 4 or 5 was really hard....actually sleeping helped with that a lot though. I’m not sure it’s gonna be worth it for me, but we’ll see. I also ordered 250g of my favourite tea last week so this was a dumb time to try and quit

Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 13:52

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Are there any benefits to quitting? I don’t usually get addicted to things, but I’ve noticed lately I’m tired if I’m not drinking coffee.

Shane MacGowan's Teeth > Future next gen S2000 owner 12/15/2016 at 14:02

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Nah, nicotine. Gives a great little buzz, and no empty calories!

yitznewton > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 14:13

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Oh OK, I get it now. Yeah, I have withdrawal symptoms like those on fast days too.

gmctavish needs more space > Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes 12/15/2016 at 14:21

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Having to pee less while driving all day for work is the main benefit, but I’m not yet sure if it’s worth it

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 16:05

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Id like to cut back a bit more, but itd be a bit uncomfortable. I find tea too weak as a replacement.

Quadradeuce > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 16:06

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I had to cut back on caffeine due to migraines. I went from 6-8 cups a day to just one in the morning. It took almost a year before I didn’t notice any withdrawal effects. But now I have much more energy in the afternoons. Basically, I’m evened out now instead of being hyper in the mornings and crashing in the afternoons. Keep going, you might be surprised at how much better you feel by getting it to a smaller habit.

gmctavish needs more space > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 12/15/2016 at 16:21

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Tea is too weak a replacement, but coffee was giving me too much stomach trouble to keep drinking. I really love coffee and sometimes still have one even though it’s rough

gmctavish needs more space > Quadradeuce 12/15/2016 at 16:29

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Oh wow that’s a difference, I’m gonna work something out. I don’t know if fully quitting is the answer, but definitely some form of cut back

DynamicWeight > Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes 12/15/2016 at 16:30

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I don’t use caffeine as a habit. I wake up in the morning feeling well rested and continue to feel that way throughout the day until bed time where I naturally become very tired. I fall asleep quickly, sleep soundly through the night, and wake up without my alarm clock, again, in good spirits and well rested.

I am so caffeine free, that if I do drink a coffee (which I love btw), I clean my whole freaking house or destroy a project at work. This is great to have in my back pocket.

Like anything, forming a habit causes dependence. If you don’t mind being dependent, that’s fine. But for the most part it will cost you more, and degrade benefit. For my part I treat caffeine like every other drug: there is a time and a place where it is wonderful, save it for those times.

Quadradeuce > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 19:57

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I couldn’t quit altogether. Still need that pick me up first thing in the morning. Caffeine is a hell of a drug...

NJAnon > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 20:31

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gmctavish is having the “transition”. also known as your body going back to normal. :P I went through my transition when I stopped with the cheesecake and soda, etc. and restarted exercising on routine. $*%&! I don’t want even to remember the restless nights....

sn4cktimes > gmctavish needs more space 12/15/2016 at 21:28

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I get cluster headaches and specifically drink coffee to help alleviate the sinus pains I get from them. But 4+ cups a day is quite a lot of go juice. I too have found that a general lower level of caffeine leads to higher energy levels. I’m normally a 1-2 cups a day person. Or some tea if I’m not in a coffee mood (which is not common).

gmctavish needs more space > sn4cktimes 12/15/2016 at 22:44

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Oh god cluster headaches sound brutal. That’s good that something at least alleviates some of the pain. 1-2 was where I was at when I was sleeping better, but still not well. The last year or so I’ve actually had a normal sleeping pattern and more than 1 cup of coffee or tea hasn’t seemed necessary most of the time

gmctavish needs more space > NJAnon 12/15/2016 at 22:45

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I think I’d need to quit drinking in order for my body to go back to normal....but I eat pretty well, I just need to start exercising regularly

NJAnon > gmctavish needs more space 12/16/2016 at 00:43

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Im sure our doctors will tell us the same thing “I didn’t say anything about change being easy in my check up” and “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. Well thats what my doctor said. He doesn’t really care about niceties which is probably why I’ve stuck to this workout thing so long. :P

sn4cktimes > gmctavish needs more space 12/16/2016 at 05:59

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Yeah..... they’re not fun. I can’t take pain killers either. But I have a pretty high pain tolerance so at least Mother Nature didn’t entirely shaft me there.

On a scale of 10, the first Cluster Headache I had was THE 10. I’d never felt worse, and haven’t since (come close) I actually thought I was dying. The GF (now wife) was about 2 minutes from calling an ambulance when it started to release me a bit and I could think straight again. Migraines are awful from all the “other stuff” that happens: spins, nausea, actually throwing up, halos, extreme sensitivity to light, sound, touch, the malaise, the pain, etc. I’ve had about a dozen strong Migraines in my life.

C.H.’s are mostly bad for two reasons, the primary being the pain obviously. But you often know the triggers, or times when they’re GOING TO GET YOU, and then can’t do anything to prepare/prevent/or mitigate them. The pain is horrible, awful shit; but often the psychological terror or knowing it’s coming is almost as bad.

Silver lining is that they happen WAY less often and WAY less severe now that I’m in my mid thirties. But yeah, long story short I have MAJOR sympathy for headache sufferers.

gmctavish needs more space > sn4cktimes 12/16/2016 at 12:11

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Holy shit, that sounds like a bad time. My gf gets really bad migraines, thankfully not very often, but she sometimes can’t do anything but lie in bed in the dark and wait for it to go away. I guess I’m lucky that I don’t have anything like that, at least yours are less often and less severe now