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Best Way To Beat A Caffeine Addiction?
ethanms writes "I'm pretty sure that I'm addicted to caffeine... I get nasty headaches if I skip coffee and soda for a day. If I go even longer, then the headaches get worse and I start to become (even more of) a pain in the ass to those around me. Within five or ten minutes of a cup of joe or can of Mountain Dew the headache is gone and I feel fine... There's plenty of advice out there for dealing with addiction, but I'm really interested in how other /. users have managed and controlled their own caffeine intake, especially considering how heavily it is pushed by many development / engineering communities. 'Just drink more' isn't really the answer I'm after either."
Start smoking.
How about just stop taking caffeine, nicotine, or whatever it is you are addicted to (if you wish to stop that is).
Just stick it through and soon enough you'll be free. Learn to drink water instead.
----
Go canucks, habs, and sens!
get yourself addicted to crack or heroin, or CmdrTaco's dirty underwear.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
masterbation
1: coke
2: smack
3: weed
4: crank
that's fix your caffeine addiction.
The last time I quit caffeine (it only stuck for a few months), I killed it good by ALSO giving up cigarettes, sugar, and drinking at the same time It creates a situation where you feel so fucking miserable that really, you stop worrying about caffeine or really anything else, for that matter Anyways, caffeine exits your system after about three days. I suggest giving it up when you next have the flu, next have a really, REALLY bad bender, or next time you have a fever. The other feelings will be so painful, additional misery shouldn't bother you (much)
And don't suddenly stop your intake. Reduce it gradually, in transitional stages. This can be difficult, but it's worth the patience.
Slashdot: when news breaks, we give you the pieces.
One... go cold turkey, take some pain reliever, and suffer for a day or two.
Or
Two... drink less and less each day (over a week or so) until you're not drinking any.
Just drink less.
Seriously, if you lowered your intake progressively, you should be able to kick the caffeine.
Well, I haven't seen a Cafitrol patch, so the best way I've seen is to step down gradually and keep tylenol around. That is how two of my friends beat the addiction. It took about 3 weeks to get off completely. Me? I've thought about it, but I don't have the willpower *grabs bottle of Bawls*...mmm....bawls....
Why did they name it c# when clearly they mean for it to be c$? Wrong finger I guess...
Ask your doctor rather than ask Slastdot.
That would probably work.. have tubgirl printed at the bottom of a coffee cup.. after you drink your cup of BROWN LIQUID coffee, you see her and never drink coffee again!
You're a genius!
To trying to get first post!!!! But really, why don't you just ween yourself off? Have the small cup of coffee or only half a can of Dew.
I removed sugary drinks and candy from my diet two years ago and I am working on Caffiene. So far I have had moderate success by limiting my intake. For example I now only drink Caffiene at lunch and then only one glass of Diet Coke. In a few weeks I will trim it down to Once every two days etc.
It seems to be working for me so far...
The best way I've found is to taper off your caffeine usage to maybe half a cup of coffee per day, then just stop.
Yes, it sucks. Yes, you'll get headaches for four to five days. And yes, you may end up with some weird flu-like symptoms after about a week.
But, after all the feeling-like-crap for a while, you'll be over it. You just have to deal with it.
What about slowly bringing the level you consume down? With coffee, you could make a pot which is part decaf and part regular. Start with mostly regular and proceed to mostly decaf, slowly. You might also be able to do this with sodas assuming you have a diet/caffeine free version to mix in.
Same idea as anti-smoking patches/gums/etc.
Took me a week of cold turkey to get over the headaches when I gave up my 32ozs of coffee every day. I found neither Tylenol or Advil made any difference either.
I know how you feel. I was that way as well, and I was going nuts without a couple Cokes during the day (about 92-128 oz a day). I basically decided to give it up cold turkey, which didn't work that well either. I finally kicked it by switching to 7-up and Sprite, with an occasional Diet Coke.
Lost a lot of weight too.
just stop taking it
.. i've had three ;)
.. caffeine will be so damn easy to break once you've gone through that hell
i know its hard, for sure
this might help : get addicted to heroin or ghb for a few months, then break THAT
The first 2-3 days I would have a headache, then I would be caffeine and headache free.
A. Rightmann
I managed to quit smoking after 16 years of two-packs a day, but I can't shake my caffeine addiction. I've been drinking coffee for decades, and find if I don't have a cup before noon, I get a wicked headache.
I guess I just decided to continue on with the coffee, as long as it's not hurting me any other way.
No matter where you go... there you are.
"Caffeine is the Christian drug of preference. Drink a glass of red wine or light up a cigarette during Sunday Night Fellowship Hour, and you will be thrown out on your ear. But a two-hundred-gallon pot of black adrenal-rush will bring friendly smiles of delight. The meeting would not be the same with the absence of its nutty aroma filling the church basement. Little white Styrofoam cups floating in small clusters of heavenly conversation." link
Otherwise, I found this interesting: Scientists cast doubt on caffeine addiction.
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
Asprin will help you beat it. That's how I did it. Just take a couple a day around when you normally drink soda. If you get a headache take an extra one. Slowly taper off the Aprin and you'll be over soda within a week or so...
I've gone five and a half years now without drinking caffine. And, yeah, it's hard, but it wasn't as hard as quitting coke (the other kind).
I did have some rather severe stomach problems at the time, so stopping was a matter of some very basic health issues.
My best advice is just to hole yourself up and be really, really busy. That's been my plan for all my addiction-kicking.
Grin, bear it, be productive.
Alternatively, dilute your fully caffeinated coffee with decaf. Start with a 3caf:1caf mix and then bring that down to 1:1 and then 1:3 and so on.
Good luck.
mix hard alcohol in with your coffee/soda. It might not help your addiction, but you won't be such an uptight asshole either.
It really is that simple.
Gradually cut down your intake rather than cutting it all in 1 go.
Might help if you keep a note of how much you do ingest so you can then monitor as you cut down, but as long as you reduce gradually over weeks or even months (remembering your addiction grew over months and years), you'll be fine.
People should not be afraid of their governments - Governments should be afraid of their people.
You could try looking for a support group or a rehab clinic. Just don't get addicted to those support groups, we all know what follows that... THE BEST MOVIE EVER MADE!!!
True story.
What I did:
Switch to 1/2-caffeine coffee in the morning. Have a single, smaller cup of it, instead of a Flagon. Let it work its way through your head, and the morning fog disappears.
Instead of immediately refilling, hold on as long as you can - by the time that you 'need' another cup, it might be lunchtime. Food/water are good to distract you, and the blood sugar perks you up.
If you MUST have coffee in the afternoon, do a small cup of 1/2 caffeine coffee.
Eventually you will stop the afternoon coffee.
Switch to all-decaf in the morning, the addiction is as much morning ritual as it is a need for speed.
Studies have shown that people DO perform better mentally on small doses of caffeine, so there's no real need to go completely on the wagon. Just do small cups, of 1/2-caff.
Good luck! I went cold-turkey once and slept for about 4 days. The weaning method works better - you're still functional, a little crabby, but no headaches.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
What has been working for me is to slowly reduce the amount. Right now I'm taking my morning coffee (I'll never give that up!) and 1 or 2 cokes during the rest of the day. Because I also got headaches, I went from 5 cokes a day to four, stayed on four for several weeks then went to three and so on. Good luck!
When I was going through caffeine withdrawals, orange juice seemed to help a lot. I've heard varying things about the effect that citric acid has on the way one's brain handles caffeine, and orange juice has a very high glycemic index, so that may help as well. In any case, it couldn't hurt.
And before taking aspirin for your headaches, remember that it contains caffeine. Whether that's good or bad is up to you, but just make sure you're aware of it. That said, I think cold turkey is the best way to quit anything. Good luck.
You could always try medical marijuana. Odds are that'll get rid of the headaches.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
Just develop an allergy to it.
I went from drinking a 7-11 "Super Big Gulp" of Dr. Pepper for breakfast to wake up every morning to just not getting up.
Start running/jogging an hour a day, every day -- this should be enough to get you going when you feel sleepy or tired.
Luckily you won't have to change your lifestyle too much. Caffeine-free soda and decaffeinated coffees are readily available.
In other words, if you consume 1 'dew every 4 hours, first comsume 0.5 'dews every 4 down to off over 4-5 days.
a few hits of that and you won't really care about caffeine anymore.
It only takes about 4 or 5 days to get over the headaches... Withdrawal is never easy
Drink half decaf for a week, then all decaf for a week.
Seriously, if you can't stop drinking caffeine, you're pretty weak.
Well, doh, just drink none. I had a friend this happen to. He went cold turkey, problem solved itself in a week or so. Now he drinks caffeine free beverages only and is fine.
Gee, I guess that's not the answer you wanted, but get real. If it hurts you, stop doing it!
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Here are a few key facts that frequently come up on the Psychiatry board exam:
According to the DSM IV, there is no caffeine dependence or abuse. There is however caffeine intoxication. On a different note, there is such a thing as nicotine dependence. There is no nicotine abuse or intoxication however.
Switch from drinking 5 cups of coffee everyday to drinking 4, and have one cup of apple cider or hot chocolate. Go down in one day increments, but still have a hot beverage as a replacement. Once you get to about a week or so off caffeine, there should be no headache problems. If you start to get a real bad urge, drink tea instead (not as addictive to me as coffee, I don't know about others).
WARNING: When you start drinking coffee again, use moderation. It is very easy to fall off the wagon.
Sincerely,
Starbucks Anonymous
"If you think you have things under control, you're not going fast enough." --Mario Andretti
Just do it. I had headaches for a week, but I've been free 18 months now.
Some hints for this approach - drink a lot of ice cold water. Use pain relief without caffine (some pills have caffine in them) when you need to feel normal. Eat healthy and exercise.
I'll suck, but it'll end.
There was a time towards the completion of my undergrad when I needed a cup of coffee ever so often.
:)
I found that the best way to deal with it is reduce your intake slowly over time. It took me almost two months to get over it.
Also, make sure you sleep a lot - that effectively reduces the time you're awake and consume coffee. And everytime you feel tempted to have something, drink a lot of water.
I first cut it down to timed intakes - one cup in the morning, two in the afternoon, two in the evenings. Then to one in the morning, one at noon and one in the evening. And then to two a day and then to one a day.
And now I've a nice and proper routine - one cup of black coffee in the morning and one cup in the late afternoon.
Just move towards that regimen, and you'll get over it! Goodluck!!!
I used to drink nearly a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper per day. One day, I decided the addiction wasn't benefiting me, so I just quit. Keep headache medicine on standby, and get ready to feel more rested when you wake up in the morning.
I've gone five and a half years now without drinking caffine. And, yeah, it's hard, but it wasn't as hard as quitting coke (the other kind).
I did have some rather severe stomach problems at the time, so stopping was a matter of some very basic health issues.
My best advice is just to hole yourself up and be really, really busy. That's been my plan for all my addiction-kicking.
Grin, bear it, be productive.
The linux hacker
Drink lots of water.
Take Bayer aspirin (contains a little caffeine) or Aleve to help with the headaches. (Motrin didn't help - YMMV.)
Do not set your alarm - sleep as long as possible on the day you decide to quit. If I slept through the normal caffeine-consumption period (usually morning) I felt better. I don't know why.
Oddly enough, going cold turkey (vice gradually decreasing caffeine intake) worked better for me.
Good luck!
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
Unless you're talking about a particularly nasty heroin addiction, the only way to quit anything is cold turkey.
I quit caffine for six months (back at it again, unfortunately). I was also worried about the withdrawl headaches affecting work, so I quit on a friday afternoon and took the following Monday, Tuesday off. That worked well--i was pretty much done with the headaches by then and was already noticing the benefits of quitting (most notably, more energy throughout the day).
Look out for the pitfall that got me back on caffine again. After being off caffine for about 6 months, I came to work one day with only about two hours of sleep the night before...so I said, "well, just a can of Coke this one time to get me through today." Boom, that's all it took. Now I'm back to my regular pot of coffee or so every day. God, I love coffee. Damn you, caffine!
DaC
My brother and I just quit cold turkey one day... we stopped buying cokes and stopped ordering them when we ate out... ya, there were headaches for a couple days.. but after that first hard week, you do get better... drink juice and sprite and whatnot... many rootbeers have no caffine. It was about 3 months before I had another coke.. I was thirsty, it was the only thing available to drink, so I had one... and I was fine... no urge for more... I've had maybe two or three other caffinated drinks since then, and I feel no urge for more.
In college they used to let us fill up as many sodas as we wanted with our meals in the dorms. I thought that was cool and always filled up 2-3 classes with pepsi or coke. It got to the point that I got way too jumpy. People would walk into the bathroom and I would get startled. I said forget that and quit cold turkey. Yeah it sucked back then. But it has been 10+ years for me with very minimal caffeine which I get from chocolate (which I eat a little here and there only) and from tea. I don't drink coffee or any caffeinated drinks at all. I buy caffeine free pepsi for drinking at home, though mostly I drink juice or water. If at a restaraunt and I want a soda I alwasy go for the sprite, 7-Up or Sierra Mist. No caffeine for me. And you know what, I love it. I get my needed sleep and have no need for coffee or caffeine beverages to keep me awake at work. I sip water at work and have no problems with staying awake. You should try it!
WTF?
Sounds like a serious problem there pal.
You sound like weening a child off the nipple.
What will you complain about next I wonder?
Be a man and just f*****g quit.
You will be ill for one or two weeks. Revel in it. Use it as an excuse to tell off everyone you know. Later you can blame it on quitting caffeine. Be as selfish, crabby, and bitchy as you've always wanted to be. That's what I did when I quit smoking seven years ago, and any day now I'll start behaving again.
cat * >> sig
How about just stop drinking the stuff. (And for Gods sake stop all that whining and moaning, if it
's that difficult do it during a holiday.)
but a good part of our Xmas Eve dinner was spent talking
to a 30yr old woman (teacher) who detailed her life of
caffeine addiction. There were many amusing stories from
childhood of drinking the extra soda in the closet, trying
to hide her coffee and soda use from her young students
(whom she told 'its not good to drink soda in the morning').
But the bottom line is... she quit cold turkey. In her
case, the headaches and very bad migraines were the medical
symptoms of the caffeine addiction. After a very bad event,
she stopped. This was about 6 months ago. From what she
said, it wasn't nearly as difficult as she thought it would
be, nothing like what people who smoke go through. Evenso,
she now has a new addiction to seltzer!
yes, this is all true
Classical conditioning at its best... by best I mean the-most-disgusting-thing-I've-ever-seen-what-were -you-thinking-I-could-have-had-a-heart-attack-why- didn't-you-use-goatse.
True story.
I'm a 4-5 cup of coffee/day kind of person (since about '82) but every time I get a bad head cold, I just seem to prefer tea. (green or herbal, not strongly caffinated black tea)
If it's a one day cold, then I'm back on coffee right away. If it's a week-long sinus infection, then I can go for a month or two without any withdrawl headaches.
Of course, I'm not really trying to quit, so I start back up again eventually.
Oh, and I have two school-aged kids. If you need to get a good viral cold, just stop by for an afternoon.
--
I'm curious about the other side of the coin. I do about a six-pack of Diet Coke a day, but I don't seem to show any signs of addiction if I don't get my caffeine. No headaches, no jitters, nothing. In addition, it doesn't seem to affect my ability to sleep. The only difference I can tell between the caffeinated and non-caffeinated versions is taste.
Granted that's my major source of caffeine (I don't do coffee or tea) so in any case I don't get a lot. I wondered whether other people have seen similar effects, and how widespread this might be.
Someone you trust is one of us.
Just stop drinking caffeine. If you can't, it's because you're weak.
Basically, just stop drinking caffeinated beverages (cold turkey). If you're tired, just take a nap. If you get a headache, take an ibuprofen or something (not Excedrin since it contains caffeine), following the directions on the bottle, of course.
Also drink fluids and make sure you're eating. It never hurts to be well-hydrated.
The easiest way is probably to wean yourself off of caffeine slowly. Start at your normal intake, then decrease that amount daily, replacing it with water. You'll most likely feel a lot better in a couple of weeks after all of the caffeine is out of your system.
Just drink the recommended 8 or so glasses a day, replace at least some of your usual beverage intake with something of lower content (like, go from coffee to tea), and take aspirin (not modern faux-aspirin painkillers, I'm talking salicylic acid). You'll have headaches for a couple days and take a leak every 12 minutes, but before long, you'll be fine.
Switch from drinking 5 cups of coffee everyday to drinking 4, and have one cup of apple cider or hot chocolate. Go down in one day increments, but still have a hot beverage as a replacement. Once you get to about a week or so off caffeine, there should be no headache problems. If you start to get a real bad urge, drink tea instead (not as addictive to me as coffee, I don't know about others).
WARNING: When you start drinking coffee again, use moderation. It is very easy to fall off the wagon.
Sincerely,
Starbucks Anonymous
--
Posted in the name of sacred jihad
The linux hacker
Just do it, man. Seriously, just suck it up and tought it out. I used to drink 5+ cups of coffee per day, but recently started a workout plan that involves Creatine (which doesn't work well with caffeine). It killed me to quit, but after the first week it's not much of an issue.
Load up on water during the first few days - I mean keep yourself floating (drink upwards of 32oz every three to four hours). That seemed to help me a lot.
Ibuprofen, lots of it! :)
Periodically I get hooked on caffiene, it is poor discipline on my part that I feel a need to develop a comfort habit. It takes me about two weeks to get through withdrawl and I am back to normal and I feel much better than when I ever started doing whatever.
My advice is take something that will reduce the symptoms that is not dangerous and only when you really need them. Eventually your body adapts to its new situation just don't create a new addictive situation! :) The question is can you hold out long enough for your body to make the adjustment. Just ask a smoker if he has tried to quit and how many times, it is not necessarially an easy thing to do.
Good Luck
We should take it a step further and help fat Slashdotters lose weight by printing the Goatse man on dinner plates! You finish your reheated macaroni and cheese and then BAM, Goatse! I bet THAT would make you lose your appetite for a few hours!
Try this stuff: Teeccino. I used to drink a cup or two of coffee every morning until I discovered Teeccino. It's expensive, and I need to make it really strong, but at least I'm caffeine-free now.
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
The best way to stop doing something is to stop doing it. If you want to cut back on your caffiene intake then do so. Just because other people drink a lot of caffiene where you work doesn't mean that you have to. If someone is pushing you to drink coffee to meet some deadline or whatever then that is a sign of other problems within the organization.
I don't know how much coffee etc you drink, but I'd start out by cutting down. Try half-caf coffee instead of the full strength stuff. Drink less. Keep track of how much you are drinking and work to lower that ammount week by week. Eventually you should switch to decaf coffee and either drink sprite or drop soda altogether.
I do hope no one mods me up to "insightful." Nothing I've said here is anything other than obvious.
Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
I feel your pain. I tried to work my way off several times during college, and failed miserably. (Anyone else ever get that carmalized feeling in their throat/stomache? Where another swig would make you sick of soda/coffee?)
What I found worked for me, and helped me cut down to a resonable level was a mix of poverty and logic. (I don't recommend the poverty, but the logic sticks) I couldn't afford to constantly be buying soda and coffee, so I started drinking water whenever I had the need.
I still fed the need for the caffene, but I found that by also uping my water intake I wasn't suffering headaches nearly as bad. Yes I got them, but they were more of an irritant then a distraction. Basically, work your way down slowly, and replace water where you would normally drink some caffene.
(Just be aware you will hit the bathroom _much_ more with the water, being that soda/coffee is a diaretic, and water isn't)
Hope that helps.
I wanted to quit so I waited until I got sick. You normally get headaches from a fever so any headaches from caffeine won't be noticed.
I got sick about a month ago and had no apatite and headaches. Three days later I got better and was off of caffeine!
Well, simple in theory, but a little harder in practice. You have to wean yourself off it, going cold turkey will just cause more pain, be harder and most likely won't actually get you off the stuff! If you usually drink 6 cups of coffee every day, drink 5 and a half and reduce as you feel comfortable. You have to have some discipline, but it's definitely the easier, more managable way to do it.
... and don't start drinking the stuff to begin with. Give me water, or alternatively, a sweet, non-carbonated beverage.
Coffee is almost the opposite of drinking water. Dehydration has been suggested as one of the many possible causes of quite a few diseases, including alzheimers. True or not, if you drink nothing but coffee all day long you are going to feel like crap by the end of the day, purely through dehydration.
Just out of curiosity, if you are a coffee drinker, did you start drinking it because you liked it or because everyone else around you was drinking it?
by switching to crack which, he claimed, was easier to quit but I personally consider smack and crack far more detrimental to one's health than cocaine so it does not seem beneficial to addict one's self to heavier stimulants and/or intoxicants.
Anyway, I drink lots and lots of pop (probably a 12-pack a day of diet cokes) and smoke about a pack-a-day of cigarettes and I've quit both on occasions cold turkey. Is there pain involed? Yes, of course there is - it is tough but if you can bare with it a few days you'll soon be over your addiction but you may find it much easier by utilizing more of your time exercising such as on an exercise bike upon which you may use your computer and/or read. I highly recommend this approach because it gives you something else to do plus it should counter-act the weight gain you'll experience after stopping caffeinated pop.
You might want to get checked out for diabetes.
Fast machines, powerfull AI, impulsive invention,... All I lack is a good espresso machine!
I used to be just where you were with Dr Pepper. If I didn't have it, I got horrible headaches that would instantly disapear as soon as I had a can. I just gradually cut back, slowly replacing the Dr Pepper with Sprite and caffiene free Dr Pepper. After several months, I was down to one caffinated Dr Pepper a day, at which point I decided to quit entirely. The first couple days weren't easy, but because I had gradually cut back, it wasn't too bad. I haven't had a caffinated beverage in three months, and any effects the caffiene had on me are finally gone.
Sunwalker Dezco for Warchief in 2016
I have to say that it's comments like yours that keep me feeling appreciated for my work. Thank you for sharing your experience with me.
Plesae join the slashdot jihad and fight the injustice.
--The Man with the plan
It certainly did the trick for me!
Bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated.
JUST STOP DRINKING IT.
;)
Start drinking lots of water. If your water tastes bad, put a dash of lemon or lime cordial in it. Or get a water filter.
Coffee dehydrates you. If you can not stop drinking, always get a glass of water with every cup of coffee.
The soda drinks also have massive amounts of sugar which is by far the worst part.
So at the least stop drinking the soda drinks, and drink coffee without sugar.
Write down everything that you put into your mouth for a week. Then see someone about your nutrition.
You need to not have any for a month. Stick it through, and give up all caffiene.
Perhaps try drinking tea instead to start with. Or hot water with a little bit of ginger. That way you can still drink something warm.
The soda companies are fucking evil imho. They get kids addicted before they know what is good for them. Thier teeth rot, they get fat, they loose bladder control, and they buzz big time
Coffee/caffiene is one of the socially acceptable drugs that lots of people use at work to get through the day. It does *not* increase your performance, unless you always work whilst using it. You get used to working in the coffee hazed state, so you will actually work better that way. Only way to fix that is to stop drinking it entirely for quite a while. The first week will be hell, and you may get little done.
Have fun!
I'm Catholic, and I give up drinking sugary and caffeinated beverages on an almost-yearly basis. I start reducing my caffeine intake by half on New Year's day. So, if I normally drink two or three colas, coffees, etc., I cut down to one a day.
I try to be as strict as I can be during this time, knowing what's to come.
When Lent hits, I give up caffeine completely. I am somewhat irritable for the first couple of days. I do get headaches, but usually nothing that a couple of Aleves can't handle. I find that drinking LOTS of water helps a great deal...on the order of a two-liter bottle before 2 pm and another two-liter bottle between then and bedtime.
My caffeine delivery device of choice is Coca-Cola, so I find that drinking something carbonated really helps. Instead of sugared soda, I drink flavored seltzers. They have the tongue of soda because of the bubbles, and they come in convenient liter or two-liter bottles. They DO take some getting used to, however.
It's TOUGH keeping away from caffeine. It's in EVERYTHING. I try to stay away from coffee & teas (even those that are decaffeinated).
(And a nice added effect, I usually drop between 5 and 10 pounds during Lent because of the reduction in calories...)
One unexpected side effect of quitting is that my contact lenses work better. Coffee had the effect of dehydrating me to the point where my contacts would dry by two in the afternoon.
Good luck. The first few days are the worst.
"Under the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you and you sold me."
Addictions are not good things. I have been addicted to smoking and coffee. The way I dealt with it was to gradually, over a period of months, decrease the rate of consumption. This was not very painful and it worked.
I decided I had enough when I was downing 2 liter Pepsi bottles over an hour at work. Before that it was 8 cokes while working on programming projects at university. I was came home every night with the shakes and couldn't sleep.
Cold Turkey worked for me. I stopped drinking caffeine one day in 1995 and I haven't looked back. About the same way I decided to quit alcohol in 1988 (I was 14, but that was mostly rebelling against my parents). Thankfully I've never picked up a cigarette.
Yes, I know. I'd probably be Amish if it weren't for the lack of religion and all the kinky sex.
My friend was having several spoons of sugar with his coffee, but wanted to use less to make it 'healthier'. As he gradually cut down on the sugar he realised that coffee tasted really bad and stopped having coffee altogether.
.. and you will feel 10 years younger afterwards.
blasphemer!!!
http://www.essential-skills.com/3dmind.htm
These guys deal with beliefs (what caffeine addiction is made up of).
Don't worry, the caffeine addiction is mostly a thought problem. The withdrawal effects will go away in a couple of days.
Why would you want to get off caffeine? The stuff is beautiful! Break up a couple Vivarin capsules, cut a line, sniff it up and it'll be the thrill of your life, I guarantee.
Go two weeks cold turkey and you're free. Drink lots of water during that time.
One word of warning though: if you're injured afterwards, avoid "Tylenol #3" if at all possible. It has a lot of caffeine in it (to keep you from falling asleep due to the codeine). "Ratio Emtec 30" is the same thing (acetomenophen and codeine) but without the caffeine.
Well, working for software companies that give it away for free makes it tough to kick... I was (and am back up to) drinking around 7-8 sodas a day.
The best way is to slowly drink less each day.
Maybe drink one soda (or coffee) less every week.
You may need to stay with one or two at the end... but is that so bad?
Controlled addiction is better than an out of control one.
"PC Load Letter? What the $@#% does that mean?!"
You could just have someone tie you to a bed until you stop screaming.
When my Dad had to work third shift, he would drink big glasses of Mountain Dew with a couple of spoonfuls of coffee grounds stirred in. He called it an eye opener.
Unknown host pong.
As someone who has actually been addicted to something substantial in their lifetime and gone through all the nonsense involved with it, it's incredibly annoying to see whiny crap like this. If you think having the occasional headache or being crabby makes you a victim of addiction, I have some other drugs for you to try.
Dude, drink coffee/soda or don't. Really, is it that difficult? If you don't want to, stop and deal. If you don't like having headaches, then relax and enjoy. It's really not life-altering, is it? I'm guessing you're a young person. Do you really think you're going to go the rest of your life drinking decaf? Probably not. So quit bothering the world with your self-indulgent worry about being an "addict."
The plus side is that in the long run it actually *helped* me get going in the morning (I can get up and go without needing to stop for coffee now), and now that I'm allowed the occasional cup of coffee by my docs, on the rare occasion that I really need a pick-me-up (like boring business meetings in the afternoon in a warm, dark room), coffee has a lot more kick than it used to...
Best of luck for you, you'll be better off for it...
Painful way: Cold Turkey.
Less Painful: Tally up all caffeinated beverages you drink tomorrow. Let's say you drink 5 Mt. Dews and 2 cups of coffee. For the rest of the week, just drink one less coffee or Mt. Dew. Keep subtracting one each week and you'll be off caffeine within 2 months. The important thing is to keep track of your intake and not to cheat yourself.
Buy a picture of Nancy Reagan and look at it every time you get the urge.
Medicinal marijuana. ^_^ Won't solve your problems, but hey! You can smoke pot! Woo hoo!
I've done it many times. [Stolen from Mark Twain] Seriously, though, I have. I'll tell you the easiest thing to do is to taper. Diet Pepsi is my drug of choice (gets me moderated down I'll bet). I just cut the dosage in half each day, or if I'm not feeling adventurish, every other day. I feel a little on edge, but not too bad when I do that, no serious headaches. And I find that I am more awake in the morngins and my sleep is more restful. Usually, though, I get a sinus infection a couple of months later and have to start drinking again to keep working effectively.
That's gotta fit into your schema somewhere
It worked for me.
I recommend you give it a shot (no pun intended).
don't jsut give it up..drink half decaf for a week....then just a demitasse of coffee...THEN quit. and drink a lot of water while you do it.
Cut the amount you drink in half every other day. So if you have a normal mug you fill up only drink half that tomorrow. Do that for a couple of days and then cut that in half as well. When it gets ridiculous switch to green tea for a while. After a couple days of mild headaches you should be good to go. Takes a week or two depending on how bad your addiction is. The hardest thing was how tired I felt after quitting. That lasted for a week. Somebody said it was because adrenal function gets screwed up by coffee but I don't know. At least it's easier than cigarettes. I quit smoking 8 years ago and it is still hard to control my impulse to grab a smoke.
I would get a migrane just looking at something with caffeine in it. Building up a tolerence to caffeine took a bit of work, but now I get the headache without the coffee. There are even some benefits to caffeine, so moderation is the word. Drink tea instead of coffee or soda.
In Soviet Russia, Nigel makes plans for you!
I've withdrawn from both fairly recently. My advice to you is, just deal with it for three or four days, then no more problem. That even applies to going cold turkey off cigarettes.
I experienced headaches from the caffeine withdrawal, so I took ibuprofen. Drinking lots of water helps. Like, one to two gallons a day. You'll urinate a lot, but there are worse things that can happen.
Nicotine withdrawal was...interesting. First you have to be serious about wanting to quit. You are going to feel like crap. But, truth be told, having a common cold feels worse. So just be prepared to deal with it. I went cold turkey. I couldn't sleep on the third night, so I felt extra crappy on the fourth day. But by the fifth day there were no more symptoms AT ALL. For this reason, and because every single other person I know who quit smoking did it by going cold turkey, I strongly advize not buying any nicotine gum or patches. Just show the guts it takes to freaking quit, and do it.
I feel that most addiction withdrawal pains are psychological. I still think about lighting up every now and again. But it's not a craving -- it's just a little part of my years-long habit poking its head up out of the hole I buried it in to say "hi" every now and again.
Fun with Anagarams! LADS HOST, SHALT DOS. HAS DOLTS. AD SLOTHS, HATS SOLD. ASS HO, LTD.
Why would you want to.
IT IS JUST WRONG.
Must have caffine.
My precious...
Some doctors have considered prescribing nicotine as a cure for a variety of ailments, including schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, attention deficit disorder and colitis.
I'm thinking about it!
Get rid of everything Micro and Soft: Buy Viagra and/or Linux
You don't get something for nothing, keep in mind that once fully off it you'll have more energy overall than you did on it. Caffine doesn't give you enery out of thin air without extracting its price.
:)
I didn't drink any at all until I got into IT industry. Eventually I managed to stop and was amazed how much more energy and how less drained I felt on a daily basis...and that I was even more productive codewise.
Just going to have to accept that there will be times when your brain isn't firing on all cylinders just as there are even on caffine ( or it's firing on more than you have! ). That's what slashdot, irc and email are for
You may also have to force yourself to get enough sleep, instead of doing the 5 hours a night thing then pound a big coffee in the morning. Take your breaks and don't work lunches, give your brain time to rest.
Try orange juice in the morning also. It gives me a boost, and I think there are studies showing 8 oz of OJ before tests boosts test scores. At least my psych 2 teacher claimed there were.
I quit heavy caffeine use every year or so, and stay off for 6-9 months. I ween myself from 2 x-large coffees in the morning down to a medium, then quit cold-turkey. 2-3 days of raging headaches follow, but they go away after that. Stick it out, and use a pain killers, and you should be fine.
(Thanks for the reminder. I think I'll quit again)
_______
2B1ASK1
Good-fucking-God, this has to be one of the most pathetic attempts at faux-heroin chic around. Anyone who says they have a caffeine "addiction" is just full of shit, they're just looking to try to saddle themselves with a made up malady to show they they too are "vice badasses" of a sort. When you make up problems for social posturing, it means life is too good.
I myself drink 3-4 sodas a day by choice, simply because I like the taste. Then there are days I don't (and drink other items), and guess, what, I FEEL THE FUCKING SAME! No headaches, no shakes, no withdrawals, nothing. I don't wake up every morning "jonesing" for a soda like some crack addict (in fact, I haven't had one all day today). We have enough true diseases on the world without having to listen to some wannabe "geek druggie" pretend he's caught in a supposed addiction.
10-1 odds if this punk lost his income tomorrow and had to make every dollar count, his supposed "addiction" would vanish immediately, replaced by other needs such as food, shelter, water.
I was drinking a pot or more of coffee each morning with a couple of cokes and shots of espresso in the afternoon. I was getting light headed and would get tired randomly throughout the day. I decided it could be the caffeine so I tried to quit cold turkey and had similar problems quiting. The headaches were the worst part for me. My solution turned out to be a new blend of beans.
I'm a Peet's Sumatra fan so I went to my local Peet's and had them blend a 50/50 mix of decaf Sumatra with a regular Sumatra. This alone cut my consumption by half and I didn't even notice the missing caffeine.
I also dropped the espresso in the afternoon and I drink about half the coke that I used to.
I'm thinking about dropping to a 25% caffeine blend of Sumatra and brewing two pots a day. It still will be less caffeine than I used to drink and it gives me something to drink in the afternoon.
Good luck. Be happy you aren't trying to quit crack. My half crack plan doesn't work as well as this.
I've given up hard liquor, cancer sticks, and a lot of sugarwater, and I'm not even 30 yet. But caffeine (and THC)? Never. What do you gain by giving up such a benign altered state? Nothing.
If you give up caffeine, before you know it you'll be eating granola bars and drinking prune juice on your way to a boring grave.
--
Power to the Peaceful
He is asking what worked for people in
Nutshell version: Lighten up, Francis.
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
"Just stop. Using your will. There isn't really a recept to follow." Ha. Ha. Ha.
Since I have the same problem as the submitter, I would rather hear some answer from people which had the same problem, at least it would be more constructive.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
Do you think about drinking coffee / dew when you are masturbating? I didn't think so.
Really though, what causes the headaches (my most hated withdrawl symptom) is the capalaries in your head constricting back a bit after the caffine caused dialation and thus the headache (same w/ other headaches, just not caused by caffine).
Sex (and thus masturbation) releases natural chemicals that can reverse some of those effects.
I haven't posted in so long, my sig is out of date.
Just do it. yeah, it sucks. yeah, you'll whine and complain. maybe you can pay attention and catch yourself before you bitch out too many people, even. It goes away in a week, and you never have to do it again. (till you let yourself get hooked the next time.)
Not high caffine ginseng teas, but something like the Celestial Seasonings Antioxident Tea (I mention that cause it has a neat little 'caffine meter' comparing the amounts of various drinks on the package, it has less than coffee or cola). You're probably used to waking up to a hot drink, so that'll help. I like the Antioxident tea since it's got a lot of vitimin c, which gives me a little boost that I otherwise would have relied on caffine for.
Also, try mixing regular and decaf coffee together. And don't skimp on the quality of the decaf you buy either. If you're used to drinking cheap caffinated coffee and you switch to a quality decaf, you'll might start prefering the decaf inspite of the lack of caffine. And buy a good coffee pot and keep it clean. Again, if the decaf tastes better you'll be more apt to drink it instead of the regular you're used to.
For soda, Mug Rootbeer is caffine free, so are the Minute Maid brand sodas (I don't know about the Crush brands). Hunt around to find something you like as least as much as the caffinated stuff. You might try substituing juice or tea here too. I've seen several vitamin fortified drinks on the market here in Arizona, drinking those might give you a boost without the caffine like the Antioxident tea does.
Anyways, that's how I cut back my caffine intake.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Actually, I'm allergic to coffee. Not the caffeine, because I drink 2 liters of Diet Pepsi per day. But give me a good whiff of coffee and it will affect my entire gastro-intestinal system for a few days. Bad enough to have me running to the big white phone every few minutes for a few hours.
You will get some serious headaches, which I guess is already happening, but also be prepared for muscle cramps.
The headaches can be taken care of using regular painkillers. Use whatever you can - Ibuprofen, paracetemol, aspirin etc. For the muscle cramps use calcium and selenium.
Coming off caffiene usually only takes a day or two, then you need to deal with the social pressures that got you drinking so much of the stuff in the first place.
I kicked caffiene 2 years ago today, and let me tell you, it's one of the best things I've ever done. I sleep better, I have more (not less!) energy, and I'm more pleasant to be around in the morning. (For the record, it was merely movement from "asshole" to "tolerable," but still an improvement, to be sure)
The only caffiene I take in anymore comes in the form of chocolate, Excedrin headache capsules, and decaf coffee. I miss Coca-Cola (caffiene free just doesn't taste right), but aside from that I'm really much, much happier without it in my life.
Some prefer to forego soda altogether. I'm not one of them. You'll find yourself getting creative at the soda machine. Root beer & sprite/7-Up/Sierra Mist get old fast. Mixing the lemonade in with the sprite at the self-serve soda fountain gets you a sparkling super-sweet death beverage. Squirt is caffiene-free though, where you can find it. Various orange sodas are or are not caffienated. Barq's Root Beer IS caffienated, but Mug isn't. Hot chocolate actually has tons of caffiene, as I found out the hard way.
Once it's been out of your system for a few months, you'll find yourself very, very sensitive to it. The aforementioned cup of hot chocolate left me bouncing off the walls like a 5-year-old for the better part of an afternoon.
The only other detriment is that, like TiVO, it makes you a bit boring at parties for a while. The change in your life this seemingly innocuous thing you have done causes is so positive that you begin to evangelize and people don't talk to you about it for a little bit.
You're in for a rough two or three weeks, but it's all worth it. Good luck.
Even Jesus hates listening to Creed.
To kill -- or at least reduce -- the headaches, make sure you drink enough water. Works for most headaches, (hangovers too, but that's self-inflicted).
What is enough water? Untill it makes you pee... ask for a desk near the toilets.
Good luck.
Maarten
The trick I found was to swap in a cup of hot tea to replace a regular cup of coffee, every now and again. Continue this until you feel your intake of caffeine is right. One cup of coffee, on average, has about 130 mg caffeine. The same amount of hot tea has about 40 mg caffeine. While you are trying hot tea, make sure to sample various different flavors of tea. Of the teas that are readily available in most American supermarkets, the brands made by Bigelow are very good samples.
My personal favorite, also very common in Europe, is Earl Grey. Lipton makes a fairly decent pre-packaged variety of this tea.
Over 2 weeks I gradually reduced the amount of real coffee I put into a cup and increased the amount of decaf until I had nothing but decaf. I then stopped decaf cold turkey as decaf still has some caffeine in it. I know people will think I am a wimp, but even stopping decaf gave me a headache.
Why gives up caffeine? It's not like cigarettes or crack which wreck your health. Study after study has found that people who consume caffeine actually have a lower risk of depression and suicide than those who abstain (Arch Intern Med. 1996;156:521-525). That same study also found no link between caffeine and stroke.
I'd rather be awake and happy then sleepy and suicidal. Give me my caffeine baby!
We see this all the time. I'm a company commander of a BCT Company (in the summer) and maybe 5~ of 220 kids have this problem. Most of the time the headaches are so bad they get kicked out. Otherwise they get 800mg Ibuprofen "horse pills", and tough it out.
Typically, they're drinking 5-10 cans of soda / cups of coffee a day before they show up. It takes about 2 weeks for them to get back to "normal".
CPT S
Switch to Yerba Mate.
.@.
For medical reasons I had to drastically reduce my caffeine intake. On a typical day I was drinking 1 carafe (10 cups) of American coffee and maybe three or four cafe con leches. I started by substituting a cup of tea for each cup of coffee. No matter what some folks will tell you, garden variety Lipton or Nestea has no where near the amount of caffeine as an equivalent cup of American coffee (there are extra-caffeinated teas but I'm not talking about those).
The problem with coffee is that it's a neverending cycle. Lots of coffee prevents you from getting a good sleep. In the morning you're not rested so need coffee. Throughout the day you snag another cup or two. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. By cutting out the coffee and drinking a small glass of water before sleeping you'll wake up more refreshed (and will wake up, since that water will go through you).
Coffee can also act as a diuretic and you don't sleep as well when dehydrated. And despite what some chain letters may say about the benefits of water, your body does retain the majority of the H20 in a cup of coffee. For lontime coffee drinkers this percentage goes up.
You can also try cutting the coffee with maybe half decaf. I can personally taste the hideous metallic bitterness of decaf so don't do this myself, but others don't seem to mind.
You can also try substituing hot chocolate. Some chocolates have a good amount of caffeine so you'll have to check the labels. They generally have less caffeine than American coffee however.
If it's not the caffeine that's bothering you, try a different brewing process.
Today, Karl Malone wanna talk about coke. Seem all these folk getting abdicted to white powder. Now, Karl Malone know about the Trail Blazer and their drug problem, but at least they don't go around telling advertisement about how they all abdicted.
See, here Karl Malone whole thang: if y'all are so eager to get rid of your money by spending it on buying coke and mountain brew, y'all should just use the money to see Karl Malone play basketball. It go to a good cause since I help other to fix onto the right course. Don't waste your money on drug. This here Karl Malone.
True story.
FWIW, you don't have to quit cold turkey. If you have 5 colas/coffees/etc per day, cut it down to four for a week or two, then three, then two... The other thing to know is that caffeine headaches seem to be triggered not just by quantity, but also by time interval during the day. So, as you cut down, don't just go from four coffees during the day to two in the morning - have one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Imagine how much harder physics would be if electrons had feelings! -Feynman, maybe
My name's cavebear42, and I'm a caffeine addict. You see, I used to drink coke then I switched to Diet as that it has more caffeine and no calories. I currently drink 4-6 liters on the average day. If I haven't had one by 10AM, I get the splitting headaches, by 2PM I can't keep my hand steady enough to hold a screwdriver. When I realized it was a problem, I quit. A week of water and Aspirin (please note that most non-aspirin pain killers contain high amounts of caffeine) and it was all over. The problem then came from me not having the load of artificial energy, my friends all wanted to know why I seemed so down all the time (recommended counseling), my grades slipped, my boss told me that I was working too slow. Life was bad. Then I realized that caffeine is good. Sure, the $300/month soda budget kind of wears on you, but my quality of life makes up for any of the negatives. So as I crack a fresh one, Ethanms, I'll drink this one to you.
If you want to ween yourself away from caffiene make sure you read the labels of your headache meds before gulping a few pills down to cure that cafeinne rebound headache. Excedrine and many similar OTC meds have lots of caffeine in them.
I'm not 100% convinced that caffeine is such a horrible substances to be addicted to, BUT I do think that if you rely on any such substance for your daily operation you should be concerned.
Also if you absolutley NEED a pick me up and more energey try switching to something with Guarana, Yohimbe and Arginine like Sobe Energy drink... In my expirience it gives me a huge boost of energy but not the blahs and "addiction" that comes with caffiene. I only drink it maybe one or twice a month though.
Another chunk of advice that works for me is to eat healthier, lots of fresh veggies and fruit to give a clean source of energy. It's not easy to eat lots of them but juicing helps.
It may also be worth your time to examine WHY you are addicted to caffiene in the place and addressing THAT rather than just the cafeinne. Maybe less timeing browseing Slash at night and more ZZZ's would help? Is it a social excercise to sit around the coffee pot chatting with co-workers? Have the Coke, Mt. Dew, Pepsi, etc, etc, etc advertising gurus really sunk their claws that deep into you?
~Z
P.S. I am addicted to sunflower seeds, Sioux City Cream Soda. BUT I am an expert at quiting... I do it almost every day!
However, it takes quite a bit of persistance and even more will-power:
Drink lots of water.
That's it. It took about two weeks to beat the headaches, irritability, and lack of energy, but it's worth it. I have plenty of energy now, my complexion is better, and am able to concentrate much better. Plus I save quite a bit on drinks.
Just drink less.
Your problem is addiction to a thing. Coffee is just a symptom. Try this: Some tribal women in India have problems with weaning a kid from breast-feeding. So they smear their nips with a red color powder to make it look dangerous and scare the kid away. In the same way you can put some crazy things in coffee (black pepper, mustard sauce, leftover chicken broth, etc) to make coffee disgushting to you. Be creative! Make sure the coffee-concotion is disgusting. I mean do not get hooked to a coffee-mixed-piss! Slowly you will be weaned away, and be master of yourself again.
the excellent mind numbing effects of tv will help you forget about where to find coffee that was my 2 cents..
Try the 12 steps used by alcoholic anonymous et al. I don't have any first hand experience but I do know the 12 step program has been around a long time and has helped a lot of folks. I personally welcome my caffine overlord.:)
"Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
Cohen
That was my experience. I didn't stop wanting caffiene until about three weeks after I'd stopped. After that, no more headaches, no more cravings.
And I felt a lot better. Going off caffiene halted a bunch of health problems I'd had for a long time. It turns out caffiene reduces the effectiveness of the body's immune system. Crazy.
So a lot of folks have talked about how to reduce intake, deal with the withdrawal, etc. But for those who are not as of yet addicted to caffeine, here's what I use to keep the amount I drink sane:
1. I found quickly that the less caffeine I drank, the more 1 dose would do for me. I went from 1 soda being worth 1 hour of alertness to around 4 hours. So if you start feeling the urge at 8 AM, remember that it will cost you at 8 PM when the project is due the next day.
2. Decaf, Decaf, Decaf, Decaf. (Geez, I'm starting to sound like Steve Balmer.) Separate out the habit of drinking coffee, tea, soda, whatever with the caffeine rush.
3. Don't give yourself a reason to need to stay alert for more time continuously than you can reasonably handle. That means avoiding all-nighters, long days, and procrastination. If you aren't able to get the work done without caffeine, that means you have too much to do. Remember Scotty's method of reporting how long a task takes (The time it should take * 3).
4. Remember that when on caffeine or other mind-altering substances you lose a bit of your judgement. Yes, you will feel more awake, but that segmentation fault error will be more obscure drugged late at night than it will the next morning.
Hope this helps someone avoid becoming a coffee freak.
I am officially gone from
I read once that a large apple has the same wake-up power as a cup of coffee without caffeine. I don't know how it works though.
I finally broke a caffeine addiction that I have had since University a decade ago. Just get sick so bad you are near death. You won't want to eat for days. Don't worry about the craving beacuse you will be only semi-conscious anyways and the kitchen, Bridgehead, Starbucks, etc will all be too far away. Even the smell of food, will make you run for the loo. When you get mobile, you will be dehydrated. You will probably prefer to drink water as it hydrates you, I mean it is its job. By the time you are feeling better, eating, moving, breathing, your body will have forgotten about coffee. Drink another one at your own peril and don't get a flu shot.
I make a reasonable middle-class wage by going to work and not spamming blogs with scams.
Just substitute soda with orange juice or any other tangy fruit juice. Slowly start to switch over and soon enough you'll be addicted to OJ rather than soda. (And that's not TOO bad is it?) I'm a caffeine jinkie, though if I have orange juice or other tangy drink (even Sprite), I feel just fine.
- Plenty of water - keep a full bottle at your desk and you can easily drink 2 or more litres each day.
- A little Advil - just to keep the withdrawal headaches down to a dull roar.
Your cravings and headaches will be worse when you're mildly dehydrated. Drinking enough water and refilling the bottle will give you plenty of reasons to take breaks throughout the day.-- Daniel Ashton - PGP key available - ICQ# 9445142
Cold turkey ... its the only way. You'll have a headache and feel sluggish for a day. Then it will be over. If the headaches get to bad take something for it but look at the label to make sure it has no cafine in it. Drink lots of water and stay away from sodas, the sodium could make the headaches worse.
Just my two cents,
BMax
drink it all day long! http://www.guayaki.com/
(and take ginko biloba 3 times a day)
I used to drink lots of soda, but I gradually worked how much I drank everyday down to 1-3 cans of cola a day... If I want cola later then I will drink decaf coffee in the morning, etc
its much easier this way
It's not easy, but you can do it.
I gave up caffeine for about six months at one point for fear that it was exacerbating another problem. (It turned out to be unrelated, but that's way off topic.)
What worked for me was to stop the caffeine intake on a Friday evening. For me, it was easy to drink water on Saturday and Sunday. By Monday, the caffeine was out of my system.
There's a couple things to be aware of though. First, I suppose this should be obvious, but you're gonna need to sleep more. Get in the habit of going to bed before midnight. It gets easier after a while.
Next, find something else to drink. Ice water's a good place to start, but it gets boring. I'd suggest you avoid the non-caffienated sodas, that makes it too tempting to grab a caffienated one.
Finally, tell your friends you're quitting caffiene. If they're good friends, they'll make sure you stay on the straight and narrow.
Good luck.
Ok, not being quite serious, but I loooove my java. Actually, I had a pretty bad case of it when I got out of the army. 72 hour shifts and the hurry up and wait life of a paramedic. At it's worst, I had a 15 cups a day habbit. That also made sure that I was pretty hyped on the 4 am emergency calls.
You won't get around feeling like shit for the first few days when you start cutting down, but coffee is not crack cocaine, and it will be over in a few days to a week. The best advice I can give is not to do it in your normal environment, or while you are at work. Take one week off, go somewhere where you don't have access to a coffee maker 24/7 and do something fun. I went on a hiking trip, but diving lessions, vegetating on a sunny beach, or going on a guided tour of Italy also worked for some of my addicted friends. And remember, get a cup if you get the shakes, but try sticking to the smallest one you can find.
The only remaining problem seems to be that I developed caffeine insensitivity. I still love the taste (ILLY RULES!!!!), but I can have a few cups of coffee or Diet Coke and go straight to bed nowadays.
I cut back on the coffee, down to one or two cups a day. I don't think you need to go cold-turkey - I still like a cup of coffee in the morning, just like the Folger's commercial says ;).
I would cut down to one cup a day - that helps with the headache thing, at least with me. It's not like quitting smoking, where you're spitting vomit and your head is spinning in a couple of hours. You might get a headache towards the end of the day, but I guess you have to deal with it to a certain point :).
Also, I started drinking herbal/fruit tea in the afternoon instead of coffee. It takes care of that "I need to drink something hot" fix, sans caffiene. Now I'm addicted to tea, but I haven't seen any white warnings on the side of tea boxes lately, so I guess it's okay :).
Natural Nincova Root is what I used to kick the cafeine habit.
... but THEN he said that there was no evidence of cancer in my body!!!
Natural Nincova Root worked for me by increasing my body's natural cleaning processes, and by removing harmful beta impurities which slowed me down and gave me headaches, cancer, and a violent temperment.
Since I've been taking Natural Nincova Root, I've been feeling great! I'm level headed, happier, and feel so much cleaner after getting out of the bathroom. My doctor thought I was crazy when I told him my health problems had disappeared
I have more friends, lost those ugly love handles, and I just got promoted because my boss says that I'm focusing more!
Try Natural Nincova Root, I hear that some company is giving away a FREE 60 day supply if you buy a year's worth! Natural Nincova Root is worth every penny!
Try cutting back now but don't sweat it too much. Particularly if you have deadlines looming or other external factors that will make it difficult, trying to kick an addiction when you are under pressure is damn near impossible.
Wait until an opportune moment. You are going on vacation for a week or two. Or spending some time visiting family in another state. It should be some point at which you anticipate pressure will be very low and you will be in a new environment that takes you away from the habits that reinforce your current addiction.
Then as you approach the time away, start cutting back. The idea is to try to wean yourself mostly away from the substance before you depart. Then use the low-stress time away to quit cold turkey.
In 10 days or so you should be over the physical addiction. That is not the hard part but it is an important step.
The hard part comes when you come back. Think about what kinds of things reinforce your addiction, and alter your habits and schedule to minimize your cravings.
Also if you are truly physically addicted, you should probably just accept the fact that you'll be craving the substance to some degree for the rest of your life. However, after 30 days or so, provided you minimize the psychological triggers that tend to contribute to your addiction, the cravings should be manageable.
Good luck!
-- My choice of computing platform is a symbol of my individuality and belief in personal freedom.
#1: 12-step program. works, really works. I have direct contact with two "programme" people: my mom (got rid of 1 pack of cigarretes that she smoked everyday for 42 years); her husband is an AA and did not drink for the last 20+ years.
#2: sheer willpower. My dad got rid of smoke (smoked half a pack per day for 20+ years) this way. I smash my caffeine habit when it becomes very nasty this way. Beware: the return rate here is much higher then #1... My case: I stayed caffeine-free (no colas, no coffee, no cocoa, etc) for a full year. but today, I drink at least 1 liter of coffee everyday, or else, the same symptoms you described appear.
Hope I have helped.
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
I have gotten myself off of caffine a few times. Each time with exactly the headaches your describing.
My hypothisis is that the headaches are caused by dehydration that caffine masks. I have noticed that if I drink a big glass of water every hour for the first two days of withdraw the headaches don't come.
Just a side note, things I noticed when I get off caffine. First, I am way less irritable. I was known to be short tempored, this virtually stopped when I stopped drinking caffine. Second, I don't think you go into REM sleep when your on heavy caffine. My dreams are not as vivid. As soon as I get off caffine, my dreams become very vivid, so much so I can get up in the morning and write them down. Lack of REM sleep would also explain why you feel so much more rested after going off caffine.
Oh, this is a no-brainer.
You say that the problems only start after a day or more of abstinence, right? So indulge! No more problem!
There are plenty of third-world kids who never get to enjoy that little twitch, my friend.
My
Limekiller
Caffeine is the cure, not the problem!!
I am a firm believer that caffeine stops headaches.
If I were you, I would just drink my coffee earlier in my routine, so that I stop my headache faster.
Seriously tho, if you buy High quality coffee (I buy mine here) , you will find you can go days without, and not get headaches. I drink the espresso supa crema - a very strong and dark blend - brilliant taste, and never get headaches from not having it.
So to recap,
Drink Top Quality Beans like the espresso supa crema from those guys above
This will allow your body to adjust, and should allow you to get off of it easier.
Its time for a new years resolution anyway!
Most drinks, like most cigarettes or pet foods, are addictive by design (ie, drugs). Quit drinking that shit and get real coffee instead.
I drank for years up to 10 cups/day of real italian not decaffeinated coffee and when I decided to stop I simply did it without any problems.
i just stopped intaking anything with caffiene in it, carbonated beverages, non-carbonated beverages (cocoa, coffe, teas), foods with it (chocolate, etc), after about 4 days i was fine. /shrug.
Its not that hard to grasp..
.. reduce it each day until you dont drink any...
Just dont drink so much
Works for most chemical addictions.
Oh, you also have to WANT to get off... if not, dont bother.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Quitting drinking coffee's easy. I've done it thousands of times. Manta PS. Old joke, for the humour impaired.
Mineral water. IMHO that's the perfect substitute for coffee - especially in the morning. It gives the perfect wake-up effect even faster since it's carbonated and thus "feels" even more refreshing than just water. But if you're addicted to the taste of coffee you can try decaf but especially if you're used to drinking coffee black it won't taste very good (it tastes better with a lot of milk but then the taste is nowhere near that of black coffee, of course).
Karma. Moderation. Is my
If I notice I'm getting addicted to caffeine again, I start drinking water... Then when the inevitable headache comes, I just take 1/2 dose of Excedrin Migraine. It contains some caffeine (But 1/2 dose is less than what is in a soft drink, I think). Anyway. One day of drinking water and taking one half dose of Excedrin and I've beat it.
My mother was a serious caffeine addict, but didn't know it. She did know she was consuming a lot, and decided to stop. When she stopped, she started getting really bad headaches. It didn't take her long to figure out that caffeine made the headaches go away and not taking caffeine would invite them back. Her solution was remarkable for its simplicity and ingenuity. It was true nerd solution, but not produced by a nerd (I think the nerdiness alleles passed to me by my parents were recessive, but got the chance to shine and show what they could do in me).
Here's what Mom did...
She was buying coffee beans and grinding them herself. She got some decaf beans. She started with almost all non-decaf beans and just a little bit of decaf, ground them together, and made her coffee normally. After that, over the course of a few weeks, she ramped up the decaf percentage (ramping down the caffeine-filled beans at the same time, of course). After those weeks were over, she was drinking almost pure decaf, and then the transition to 100% decaf (or thereabouts-- the decaffeination process is not perfect and is probably worse in whole beans than in grounds due to the relatively low surface area) was easy.
Mom's body apparently reacted to changes in caffeine dosage like the famous frog in a pot of hot water. I've been told (usually in the context of a discussion on eroding civil liberties) about an experiment that showed that if you put a frog into a pot of really hot water, the frog feels the high temperature and just hops out. On the other hand, if you put the frog in a pot of cool water and start gently heating it, the frog does not notice the gradual temperature changes and ends up dying when the water gets hot enough. Similarly, when Mom tried to go from lots of caffeine to zero caffeine, her body freaked out, and she had to suffer through splitting headaches. On the other hand, when she gradually ramped down her caffeine dosage, the body was able to adjust to the small changes, and she was able to go to full decaf without headaches.
BTW, I was forced to quit caffeine toward the end of the Fall quarter of my 2nd year in grad school. At the time, I was drinking multiple 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke at home every day, plus several coffees and Diet Cokes on campus. I had to drink Diet Coke; if I'd consumed the same volume of regular Coke, I would have weighed about 900 pounds. Anyway, I started having serious problems with my stomach. Basically, my entire upper digestive system would convulse like I was vomiting, but nothing would come up. The Doctor asked me if this might be stress-related, and I laughed and told him I didn't know. He understood-- I was never NOT under stress, so I had no control for comparison. Well, he suggested a really bland diet, cutting out a whole bunch of things I consumed regularly. I looked at it and thought "I can either start eating like a very old man at age 23, or I can drop the one thing I know I'm abusing." I quit caffeine cold turkey. At the time, I already had a cold. The next week was a living Hell. I had headaches that made me want to scream, plus the symptoms of the cold, plus the lovely symptoms of the effects of the caffeine on my stomach. Oh yeah... and I had my final problem sets and the preparation for finals. Ugh. But I did get over it. The cold cleared up in the normal time for a cold, and the headaches only lasted a week or so. The symptoms of the damage to my stomach, on the other hand, lingered for years. I can now drink a guarana (Brazilian soft drink made from a berry that naturally contains caffeine) or really strong coffee and not have to heave and retch. But for years, I couldn't. Beware the dangers of caffeine, everyone.
Anyway, for anyone who doesn't HAVE to quit caffeine RIGHT NOW and can take a few weeks to try to do it right, I recommend trying my mother's approach-- ramping down the non-decaffeinated portion of your coffee from 100% to 0% gradually, over the course of a few weeks. It worked for Mom.
--Mark
"It is nice to know that the computer understands the problem. But I would like to understand it too." --Eugene Wigner
It sounds like it could be dehydration, are you drinking 2/3 liters of water per day?
Have you stopped drinking caffinated products, and not replaced the liquid with something else?
Alex
I'm pretty sure that's how most people get their shots of caffein (me included). This is how it goes :
... the stupid collegue unhelpfully opens his mouth to say : "want some as wel ?"
The pressure is high, the pot is within reach, It's hard to resist, you might just manage but
I know is hard, but learn how to say : "later maybe", "Not right now, thanks", "nah, just had some" or the more final "No thanks"
The other thing to do at work is to NEVER ASK OTHER PEOPLE IF THEY WANT SOME COFFEE WHENEVER YOU TAKE SOME!!! Otherwise you could put them in a position to accept coffee while in fact they don't want it. Everybody should take care of his own addiction.
Ernest J.W. ter Kuile
I've quit a lot of things. Caffeine was the easiest. It's easy to quit because the addiction is mostly physical. You'll have to put up with some headaches and maybe drowsiness for a little while, but aside from that you'll be OK. Compare this to, say, quitting smoking. That shit is hard! Cravings drove me mad for weeks. Every other thought was, "I want a cigarette right now." That doesn't happen with caffeine. You just have to endure a little physical pain and then you're free.
next week drink one cup less than usually. the following week drop another cup, etc. it's hard to get rid of it quickly, but lower the amount of caffeine you take little by little. the same applies to food if you want to get rid of extra kilos. i lost six kilos in six months pretty easily by leaving few candy bars away and few extra sandwitches...
Last time I had a toothache, I was drinking mostly water and decided I was quitting caffeine and sugar. (was drinking a 2liter of pepsi per day) Next day I had nothing but caffeine free diet pepsi in the house. I don't know what did it other than a decision. (and as someone mentioned, the extra pain and misery from something other than the withdrawal helped)
... after I stopped drinking normal pepsi which is in a blue bottle usually, I found I wanted that blue bottle instead of the ugly gold one for diet caffeine free... what was in it didn't matter, just doesn't feel right.
The only advice I can think of is just decide to do it. (I wish that worked for other things in life...) Find something you can handle drinking instead of coffee or softdrinks.
I noticed a weird psychological effect
Oh, and I've stuck to it for about 6 or 7 months now.
I was addicted to Bawls for a few years until I decided to cut back. I started eating Altoids instead whenever I felt the craving for caffeine. I ended up healthier and eat better, unaddicted to caffeine, and grew 2 cavities.
Damn Altoids are half sugar!
drink tea!
Im not kidding. Instead of giving up coffee completely..
substitute one cup(or 2) of coffee with tea the first week... and so on until you're drinking only tea.
And then gradually cut down to 3 cups of tea a day.
Look around for good quality tea). You might have to experiment a bit.
For caffeine and flavor, I'd suggest black tea. You can make it the same way you make coffee
but strain the concoction a second time through the filter.
Understand that caffeine and sugar are a killer combination. Both of
these(alongwith a sedentary lifestyle) accelerate the onset of diabetes.
1. Taper off your consumption to 2-3 cups per day and then quit.
2. Expect to have headaches for a couple days.
3. Expect to feel sleepy for a week.
4. Expect to feel somewhat lowe in energy for up to six weeks.
Then you will feel normal.
Coffee does not give you any more energy. It just allows you to have some control over when you have the energy. If you have an important meeting or a tough bug, a cup of coffee is great. (Not as good as a cigarette but tobacco is baaad medicine).
- see the outdoors
- breathe the fresh air
- get yourself physically away from the readily-available caffeinated products
- have some exercise (ideally, get yourself exhausted by the end of the day)
- pack nothing but good wholesome food
- bring along some kind of headache remedy, but keep in mind some of them have CAFFEINE added
And no I'm not a tree-hugger, just recomending a "get yourself where caffeine is impossible" solution if you choose to go the "zero caffeine intake" route.Back in the day, I would drink up to 3 StarBux Tripple-Venti-Lattes daily. Although (for some reason) I never had the 'addiction' issues/symptoms. On the flipside, I once went caffeine cold-turkey for an entire month, just for the hellavit. No headache/etc, nor was I more irritable than my usual self (apparently).
Visit CryptoGnome in his home.
About a year ago, I decided to "officially" get diagnosed with ADD. My doctor asked me when I first noticed that I had a problem staying focused. I told him that I quit drinking coffee during the day. He told me that people with ADD usually find that they concentrate better when drinking coffee, because the caffeine keeps them "stimulated".
If you're like me, you'll just end up replacing one stimulant for another. If you decide to "kick the habit", you might find out that there was a reason why that caffeine was so good!
When I decided to give up coffee I bought some 222s in Canada. They have 300mgs of aceteminophine, 15mgs of caffeine and 8mgs of codeine. Take one of these in the morning for about 3 days and you will be fine.
Worked for me.
That sure beats getting off of Allegra. Imagine it... 3 straight days of nothing but horrible, HORRIBLE severe itching that's never sated by scratching. Absolute torture that.
I've been off Allegra for 2 months now. I can finally live again!
I was a major caffeine addict for many many years. One day I just decided to quit cold turkey and let me tell you i felt horrible for about 3 days. After that it started getting easier, and now I feel 10 times better without all the caffeine. Before I quit when i got up in the morning i felt terrible and groggy until i got that first jolt of caffeine. Now when i get up after a quick shower I'm ready for the day. Other than the occasional coke.. (maybe one every two weeks) I've been caffeine free for about 6 months now.
What I find hard is that its not always easy to find non-caffeinated drinks where i work. We do have bottled water in the office, but the only place to eat close by only has caffeinated drinks.. and in Florida you don't drink the tap water unless you are really brave. Since I work on an air force base (cape canaveral / KSC) there aren't many other choices to eat other than to travel off base. So i have started bringing my own drinks to work and keeping them in the fridge, and just bringing the food back to the office to eat. Sure.. its a little extra trouble, but without all that caffeine... its worth it..
I feel 10 times better and get twice as much done in the morning, while all my co-workers are still dragging around the office waiting for the caffeine to kick in.
Well, I gave up all caffiene about 4 years ago, and am very thankful. it has made my life a lot better IMHO.
I was at a dangerous point (unless people think a whole packet of nodoze-plus in one go is normal..) and just decided to stop.
Now I am ultra sensitive to caffiene, but just don't need it. It is a very bad physically addictive drug.
My advice - avoid sugar as a substitute - you can get diet caffiene free cock for example (well, here in NZ anyway).
Also avoid chocolate, coffee, many caffinated soft drinks, most energy drinks, tea, and any form of 'diet' pill.
decaf coffee and tea can help, but keep the amount down, BREAKING the addiction is the aim.
It took me about 3 weeks cold turkey to get back to 'normal'. Asprin and Neurofin in moderate quantities are your friends during this time (NOT paracetamol, it is bad for you!)
Don't try and wind down the amount - caffiene addiction cannot be addressed like that, the physical addiction will not leave untill your body is clean of it.
Once it's gone, it's not that hard to avoid.
Good luck!
Drink water. LOTS of water. Any time I feel the need to kick my Coke (of the Cola variety) habit, I just carry around a 1-liter nalgene bottle and make a point of finishing it at least once per hour. The more water you drink, the less of a headache you'll have.
No.
But as much encouragement as possible is always good.
This of course, is all in my own experience.
I used to drink 6-8 cans of coke a day - if I missed drinking for any period of time (14 hours or so) I could feel it. I drank coke in the morning to avoid the headaches. One day I just stopped. I haven't touched a soft drink in almost two years.
The best advice I can say, is never faulter. If you allow yourself to fail once, then it is opening the door and welcoming failure in the future.
With any practice of conviction (such as not wanting to have sex before marriage), I find that if you make a decision while you are level headed (no hormones or addictions to please) and put that thought into your mind when you find yourself tested by temptation and find your decision wavering you can always go back to the thought you had before and know that in an emotional state you don't always make the right decisions.
For me, this works. Anything that I decide to change in myself I always do cold-turkey. For others, I know they can't do it this way. Good luck to you.
I tried to taper off caffeene for about a year. I went from 2 20oz bottles of Mtn Dew to 1, then one half. Suddenly I was back up to two again. Finally I just quit cold turkey. It sucked mightily, I got the caffeene headaches, etc. After about a week I was ok. Now I just drink water or juice at work.
"The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money" - Thatcher.
This story on k5 from -- wow -- 3 years ago already... is quite a good one! Checket out
Berto
... out of money :-( out of luck. So I quit on Monday. Wicked headache till this morning, now its just a gentle stabbing pain.
Si vis pacem, para bellum! For evil to succeed good men need only do nothing!
People,
The caffeine in tea doesn't do anything because it's opposed by theanine.
Just take a couple theanine capsules a day for a week and you will be in the clear while you drop your caffeine intake.
No fuss, no muss and no caffeine withdrawal...
I'm an addict, and I wear my addiction badge proudly.
Don't eat until at least midday. That will quell the headache. Be around people and stay active; engage in something!
For the long term i don't know. Hanging around nerds is probably bad, as mostly they drink coffee. I wonder, are there any great hackers who don't drink it?
Sometimes it seems to me that the internet, the whole tech revolution, perhaps even the industrial revolution, was caused by coffee.
Maybe a change of career is in order.
Simon.
I've found that its much much easier to quit caffeine than nicotine or alcohol, because the withdrawal symptoms are not much more than a headache and they go away relatively soon.
A funny story, a friend of mine had a huge caffeine addiction (drank 20 or so cans of Coke a day) and decided to quit.... he was telling me about how he never has any caffeine any more while drinking his huge iced tea. I asked him about the iced tea, and he had no idea it was caffeinated. "Maybe thats why after I quit drinking Coke, I started drinking a ton of iced tea!"
So be sure to know that caffeine is found in a bunch of stuff, like tea and chocolate.
One day I just made the decision to stop. I went through about a week solid headache but after that the craving was gone, it really wasn't hard to get rid of.
A year later I couldn't find anything to drink but a coke so I tried one and couldn't stand the taste. At this point I don't think I could ever drink Coke again, the taste is just nasty.
Over time I finally moved myself to mostly water. Being a sugar addict also it took a little while to get used to drinking water. Water works well as an appetite suppressant as well as keeping you well hydrated. Your headaches may not be due to lack of caffeine as much as lack of water.
The downfall is that you run to the bathroom more than anybody you know. But to trade that for less headaches, a happier stomach, and overall better health was definitely worth it. You'll find that drinking water instead of anything else will make you feel better. I found that feeling better was a big contributing factor to me being more productive, both at work and at home.
Take a week and make sure you are well hydrated. WELL hydrated. A glass an hour. If your urine is almost clear you're doing well. If you get into too much water it may be good to replenish yourself with a sports beverage once in a while.
That's another issue. When I drank coke all the time I thought Gatorade was too bland and didn't have any flavor. After a few months of dedicating myself to water a glass of gatorade tastes like pure sugar to me. Suddenly I don't crave sweets as much. Cakes, cookies, candy - they all seem a bit overpowering.
All these positive things just from dropping the sugar and drinking water. Everybody was stunned when I first went to a restaurant and ordered water. Even I felt odd. Now it is just the obvious choice, everything else tastes far too sweet.
Give it a try and let me know how it works for you!
I was addicted to caffeine and sugar, big-time. Also I ate take-out every day and weighed 270lbs.
Solution:
- I stopped drinking 3 litres of pop every day. After 36 hours, the migraine went away and I had no more physical need for caffeine.
- I weaned myself off of sugar over a month by drinking Kool-Aid with gradually less sugar addedd. Once I could handle that, I switched to 2 litres of plain water a day.
- I learned how to make stirfrys (and a few other quick/easy things) and stopped eating takeout.
Result:14 months later I've lost 70 pounds, eat healthy vegetables every day, and no longer drink pop or coffee.
I'm a caffeine addict and not afraid to say so. I started with No-Doz when I was 15. I'm 52 now and in very good health. I generally take 1.2 to 1.6 grams (200 mg x 6 to 8) of caffeine per day, sometimes a little less. There was a time when I used it more heavily. If I don't get my caffeine I can't think, not surprising since caffeine speeds up the synapses. I can tell you, I never would have been able to accomplish nearly so much without it. Evidently there are a lot of us caffeine addicts out there, and they don't all rely on coffee and cola. Every drugstore I've ever seen sells No-Doz and Vivarin. Simoniker, I don't understand from your message exactly what it is you're afraid of. Is it the idea of being addicted to something?
It won't help (much) with the caffeine part, but
:) Green tea is also supposed to
it might help replace the hot-beverage ritual.
I drink green tea all day long, after (mostly)
kicking the coffee habit.
It still has a little caffeine, but overall it
helps keep me from getting dehydrated - which should
have the added benefit of making my brain work
better, too.
be good for you, what with antioxidants and
such.
Here are some excerpts:
Most modern coffee-drinkers are probably unaware of coffee's heritage in the Sufi orders of Southern Arabia. Members of the Shadhiliyya order are said to have spread coffee-drinking throughout the Islamic world sometime between the 13th and 15th centuries CE.
To this day the shaikh is regarded as the patron saint of coffee-growers, coffee-house proprietors and coffee-drinkers, and in Algeria coffee is sometimes called shadhiliyye in his honor.
The beverage became known as qahwa -- a term formerly applied to wine -- and ultimately, to Europeans, as "The Wine of Islam."
Throughout the first few centuries of its history in the Islamic world, coffee's popularity engendered great controversy. Many were suspicious of the effects of caffeine and the gatherings in which it was consumed -- they seemed debauched to some and subversive to others.
Coffeehouses competed with mosques for attendance, and as unsupervised gathering places for wits and learned men, provided spawning grounds for sedition. The wags of Istanbul jokingly called the coffeehouses mekteb-i 'irfan, "schools of knowledge." Efforts were launched, and persisted for at least a hundred years, to declare coffee an intoxicant forbidden by Islamic law.
In Persia, coffeehouses evolved into hotbeds of lasciviousness and political dispute soon after they were introduced.
In private valises, coffee reached Venice in 1615, Marseilles in 1644, and London in 1651; but it did not make its official debut into European high society until 1669, when it was introduced to Parisians by the Turkish ambassador, Suleyman Mustapha Koca.
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
work out. endorphins are your friend.
filter: +3. Hey, look! all the trolls went away!
Seriously, though, it's not the bear that quitting nicotine is - - I did that about 11 years ago, succeeding on the third try. I keep coming back to caffeine because it's "harmless," but then I start thinking about how the quality of both my sleep and my concentration is marred by ever heavier consumption of strong black java during the morning hours. Anyway, when you're getting off caffeine, be sure to wean yourself off and take aspirin with lots of water before the headaches start. I started keeping both caf and decaf beans and increasing the amount of decaf in my morning thermos. In about 10 days, you'll be free. Until you start missing the taste of that fresh roasted Sumantran, that is . . . .
I wish you luck. I'm thinking about quitting, too. Again.
It's only funny until someone gets hurt. Then, it's hilarious.
caffeine is a poison that can be used as an insecticide in plants.
that'll be enough to scare you from drinking caffeine products.
Live your life each day as if it was your last.
isn't asking this question here like going to skid row for advice on how to kick heroin?
Other than being "slave to an addiction", what are the health issues of using caffeine? I suspect it won't be what kills me.
1. Try taking Emergen-c, not only is it healthy, portable, and gives you a boost. My girlfriend is a waitress and instead of drinking massive amounts of coffee she drinks a few of these per night.
2. Break your habit, say you drink coffee, by drinking other less caffeinated drinks. I started drinking ginger teas and making my own blend of Chai -- these taste a LOT better then coffee and making your own saves on the pocketbook.
3. Take mental supplements, or so-called "smart drugs, such as Acetyl-L-Carnitine and Choline/Lecithin. Check out a copy of Smart Drugs and Nutrients from your local library and do some research.
I was a large coffee drinker, two tall cups a day, and then I tried these things but ended up switching to espresso. I feel less guilty but my plan to quit wasn't exactly a success. One thing I discovered is that when you are physically active in the morning it lessens the need for a caffeine boost. I started biking to work and having an espresso at 10 or 11. I still enjoy it but don't feel the same dependancy.
However, I have found that after 4 or 5 days of NO caffeine your headache will go away.
If you're looking to stop being addicted -- but still able to enjoy the occasional cup of coffee and caffeinated soda -- then you'll have to either go cold turkey [the sudden stop] or taper off [the gradual less and less program] until you're "caffeine free".
Try substituting non-caffeine drinks like root beer or fruit juices or lots of water.
As a last resort, pretend you're diabetic and your life is at risk -- watch how fast your attitude and addiction to caffeine will change then.
Both I and my wife sometimes drop our caffeine intake in the blithe hope that the potency will increase next time we need it. We've both found, however, that neither of us like ourselves when we're off caffeine. She gets randomly b|+chy just because she feels like it. I'm mostly just blase and detatched from reality. Neither state is a good one to be in. So we'll be taking our daily shots of caffeine until we physically can't any more.
In the meantime, though, limit yourself to two hits a day and then try to get it down to just a single hit per day (coffee or soda instead of both). It may also help if you switch to an insanely expensive and high-quality cola (www.xtz.com) instead of the usual sludge that Coca-Cola or Pepsi produce.
YMMV; mine doesn't.
-- Mr. Kaze
I've given up caffeine twice in my life. The second time being only about two months ago. My method is just quitting completely without decreasing dosage. I get really sick for a couple days, but psychologically it's easier for me.
The Unfolding Project
A lot of people have said that I was addicted to caffeine. However, I have stopped intaking caffeine for weeks before with no problem. Moreover, caffeine has only the effect I desire it to have. If I wish I can have it make me more alert or put me to sleep. Yes, I can understand it sounds strange but, I figure drinking 11 bottles of Bawls in the duration of just a few hours then going to sleep is proof of something. Drinking a 12 pack of Mountain Dew at LANs and staying up all night or just drinking just a few bottles of Bawls and staying up for two days. I dunno, I guess I'm weird. It's either I can control the way my body processes the chemical or it just simply doesn't have the same affect it does on other people. Ramble ramble ramble... So to answer your question... become immune!!!
-illumina+us "I put on my robe and wizard hat..."
I was doing a pack of penguin mints every 48 hours for the last couple weeks of this past semester (and sleeping about 6 hours every 48 as well) and I quit cold turkey when the semester ended. I promptly lost the ability to stay awake for more than 6 hours. Then I tried having a soda when I woke up, a soda at lunch, and a soda when I got home from work, and getting a little extra sleep. After a couple days I stopped having the morning drink. After another week I did away with the late afternoon drink. I'm still having the caffeine at lunch, but when you work university tech support around the holidays, you need something like that anyway. I did have a bit of the headaches along the way, but it was worth it to get un-wired.
WARNING: there is a trojan on your
I read somewhere that caffeine is a laxative. I started ordering water with my lunches, and found that the frequency of my afternoon "hair on fire" trips to the bathroom decreased dramatically. That was all the incentive I needed. For the headaches, I took tylenol (which contains no caffeine like excederine) and otherwise just toughed it out.
My wife would barf any time she smelled coffee.
Of course, now she's nursing and STILL can't drink it, but wants it again...
There exists no way of exchanging information without making judgments. --Bene Gesserit Axiom
Strong black tea. Then you could move on to green. Both contain caffeine, but the green tea is actually good for you, black is not bad either. It would probably be easier to break a green tea habit than a coffee habit.
Or is it SUGARS?
http://www.sugar.org/health/definesugar-s.html
It may be that high fructose corn syrup that you
are really addicted to...
replacement works well in terms of reducing, beating your addiction
find a cup that matches your favorite soda
(ie big red cup for all those coke addicts)
buy or rent your own office water machine.
Get clean, good water. With a machine and
good water, most complaints about why you
won't drink water goes away. ie insta cold,
no funny tastes/smells, insta hot, etc...
start with a goal of x cups of water a day. As
you get hydrated again, you won't want the
"sugars" as much anymore. And those headaches
won't bother you anymore, and your teeth will
thank you.
then, a little over a year ago, i moved from oregon to connecticut and during the drive across country, i started on coffee again. i drank it up until the week before this recent thanksgiving, when i got really sick and was laid out for 2.5 weeks. that was 2.5 weeks of no caffeine. when i got back on my feet, i just figured i might as well stay caffeine-free again.
so, yeah, you could get sick for a couple weeks. but my recommendation would be, put yourself in a situation where no caffeinated beverages are (readily) available. you could do it on vacation or you could just lock yourself up in the house for a few days.
motivation is the key, though. it has to be something you want to do, not something you think you should do. in the latter case, it probably won't happen but in the former case, you can just keep trying it. just because you dropped it and started again a few days later doesn't mean you "can't" do it. it means you have to try again and just keep working at it.
my personal motivator is that i don't like being addicted to anything. booze, cigarettes, coffee, anything that makes me feel like i don't have control over my actions -- i don't like it. you may need something similar to get clean.
mp
"The secret to strong security: less reliance on secrets." -- Whitfield Diffie
I was in the same situation as you once. I knew I was addicted to caffeine, I hated the fact that I was addicted to something (ever read Requiem for a Dream? It makes addiction seem not so fun), so I decided to quit. I was off caffeine completely - no soda, no coffee, nothing - for well over six months. During that time, I never really felt as sharp as I did when I was drinking coffee. My memory seemed to work poorly, I just didn't feel like myself. So, I experimented with having just one cappuccino per week, and... you can guess the rest. Now I'm happily back on caffeine, and I'm ok with that.
One thing I didn't expect that you might want to consider is that several of my friends told me after I went "back on the bean" that, during my caffeine-free phase, I had been rather self-righteous about it - I had no idea!
Bottom line - going off caffeine wasn't worth it for me. Someday, maybe I'll try it again, but until then, I think it's better to drink coffee in moderation so I can focus on my more important vices, like too much time spent reading slashdot.
That's how you beat it.
:) I can have the occasional cola and suffer no ill effects the next day. Moderation is the key once you cut the ties. A little taste isn't going to kill you, but I know that if I put down a 2 liter in one sitting, I'd be back on that train again.
When my son was first born, my Mountain Dew habit went from a few cans a day to a few 2 liters a day (plus a few cans from the school vending machine, plus a Big Gulp on the way home...). After that, I got a job where one of the perks was a soda fountain - all the Pepsi / Coke products you could guzzle, at no charge! Geek heaven, it was... until I realized that not only was I an unbearable bastard on the weekends as I came down off of my buzz, but I'd put on another ten pounds. (My wife later informed me that she was getting ready to leave me, and take the kid with her, because of my non-caffinated attitude problem.)
So after sitting down and thinking about it one day and figuing out that I could cut over 1000(!) calories a day out of my diet by quitting the Dew, and make myself an easier person to be around on top of it, I quit. No coming down gradually, no easing off, I just stopped. In the middle of the week, at that. I made sure to warn those around me about it, to keep them clear of me, and I also made sure to replace the Dew with water - LOTS of water, since I got 90% of my daily fluids from that yellow nectar.
Holy flurking shnitt, did I have a doozy of a headache! Lasted me two days! But by the weekend, I was in pretty good shape. I made a few mistakes after that... like drinking it again about a week after I'd "quit". I got right back on the train with the very first drink; killer headache the next day. It took a few trips like that before I realized I couldn't touch the stuff AT ALL for a LONG time after I'd quit.
So now, 2+ years later, I can hardly stand the taste of Dew - something I thought I'd never say
Just quit the stuff cold turkey. Your body, and the people around you, will thank you for it.
Come to the University of Mars! Classes starting soon!
Safeway has a sale until the 14th of this month. 24 cans of Mountain Breeze (Mountain Dew knockoff that tastes much beter, IMO) for 3.88. You will need a club card/membership.
That's how I'm taking care of my addiction. No, but really, wean yourself off it. If you usually drink three sodas a day, do only two one day for a few days, then cut it down to one soda a day, then finally cut yourself off. Keep a bottle of ibuprofen nearby
Urgo: "I want to live. I want to experience the universe and I want to eat pie!"
Jack: "Who doesn't??"
I think it was a Saturday Night Live skit with Bob Newhart. Meant to be funny of course (and it was), but at the same time it's the single best piece of serious advice I've ever heard for anyone addicted to anything.
STOP IT.
That's it. Don't gimme all this psychobable, don't gimme all the physiological reasons it's not that simple, because it f'ing is.
JUST STOP IT. STOP, STOP, STOP IT.
If you don't want to drink soda any more...
STOP IT.
It you don't want to touch yourself 10 times a day...
STOP IT.
If your a crack whore...
JUST STOP IT.
Cigarettes shortening your life?...
F'ING STOP IT.
Your a 400 pound fat-ass that's about two porkchops away from a heart attack?...
Say it with me...
STOP IT!
Just stop being a weak-minded fool, deal with the discomfort that will probably result from going cold turkey, and get over it all. JUST F'ING STOP IT. NOW!!
If a pion (n-) collides with a proton in the woods & noone is there to hear it, does lamdba decay into the source pa
Okay, so there isn't a patch, but there should be.
To keep myself from turning into a raving lunatic without my coffee, I make a point of drinking one less cup of coffee a day for a week. Saturday night I take an ibuprofin, and sunday I go without coffee (or other stimulating beverages) completely. No withdrawls.
Besides the fact that I'm incredibly poor and have a tendency to run out of coffee at the worst times, this is a habit I picked up when I was working 80 hour weeks. It had the added benefit of making the effects of my monday morning coffee all that much more stimulating. And of course, mondays were when I needed it the most.
The magic key to success here is to drink lots of water. The best habit I have is to keep a 1 liter bottle of water with me at all times. It helps a lot with caffeine withdrawls, but only if you start drinking the water well before you start getting headaches. (I'm talking days before hand)
Karma: 0 (But I wield a mean +10 Vorpal Apathy)
most addiction is based on ritual. i've found that substituting that 'ritual' for something similar is the best starting point. your mind (and your body) are used to a certain way things proceed. if you get up and pour a cup of coffee, pour a glass of oj instead. if you get to work and immediately go to the coffee pot, substitute a cup of water instead. i decided to kick caffeine after i realized how jittery i was, you've set the date, now you just have to stick to it. sometimes you have to 'fool' your body by performing similar actions. a can of fruit juice instead of a coke, a cup of water instead of a cup of coffee. step back in moderation. 4 cups of coffee in the morning? just drink one. 3 cokes in the afternoon? one at lunch. eventually getting to none. the headaches will come. just ride them out, or look for a pain reliever that doesn't have caffeine (alot of them do). but give it 4 or 5 days and they'll be gone. believe me, i know. and just know that afterwards, you wake up in the morning wore awake than you ever had before and falling asleep is just as easy. good luck!
...is to never start, of course!
:)
I've had about 3 coke cans worth of caffeine since Feb '03, when I was hospitalized with an atrial heart fibralation. Basically the doc said my computer geek lifestyle was to blame - no exercise, lots of caffeine, and very little sleep. While I still don't get any exercise, the other two are no longer a problem. I think my point is this - you just need the propper motivation, and a visit to the hospital with a heart problem was more than enough for me.
-chris
You should eat fiber-rich food in the morning.
:P
No light bread, cereal or skipping breakfast.
Then replace coffee and soda with fake-sugared non-fruit tee, warm chocolate and bottled water over time.
Note that plain water makes you urinate way to often.. sugar-molecules takes longer to break down etc..
So try different combos to match your body.
I still consume coffee. even though I'm hyper-allergic to the stuff..
But I am down to 20 percent of what I consumed before.
Unfortunately I'm now kinda addicted to warm chocolate..
Maybe I should try cocaine to fix that
Start drinking Tea,there is caffeine there but not in as copious amounts as in coffee.
Wanted : A Signature.
Of course, to be of value you mustn't start up again when you get home, which I usually do cos it tastes so darn good...
It took me longer, roughly 5 days, to kick it. The withdraw was more severe than many I've read here, having flu like symtoms and constantly feeling cold while sweating.
I found that after I was clean I got sick less often, felt more rested in the morning, and I could actually taste my food.
Fortunaly, I finally figured out the connection between caffeine intake at work and what turned out to be simple withdrawal symptoms on weekends when I wouldn't usually have any tea.
After some experimenting, I've settled on two methods that I now use to keep things under control when I decide to not abstain entirely:
- Keep the dosage steady: If I keep the dosage steady, I never get headaches. This means regular intake of controlled doses at fixed times.
- Ibuprofen: A dose of Ibuprofen taken when symptoms first show keeps the headache under control. It is key to take painkiller early, I've found it very hard to eliminate the pain after full onset.
Your mileage will vary. Ask you doctor. Also make sure you are actually looking at caffeine withdrawal symptoms and not something else entirely. A coworker of my wife's keeled over at his desk a couple of years ago. He hit the ground dead. He'd been suffering from severe headaches that he bandaged with painkillers, but never went to see a doctor. A ruptured aneurism ended his life.Back in sophmore year of college I was addcited to the stuff. I was drinking 3-4 mountain dews a day and only sleeping 4 hours a night. A little caffeine is alright but at the levels most people drink it your best bet is probably to just quit. Like most addictions, the best solution is to not drink the stuff. What you probably need is a good kick in the ass to stop yourself. With me it was a week with only 20 hours of sleep total. Afterwards I slept 15 hours a day, three days in a row. Of the six hours I was awake, I had one of the worst headache's you could possibly imagine. It was two weeks before the headaches went away, and a full month before I was sleeping like a normal human being. If you have the time, cold turkey is probably the best route. If you don't, your best bet is to drop coffee and mountain dew and stick with normal soda.
In the meantime, try to limit your intake and get as much sleep as possible. It is not just the caffeine but also the lack of sleep that is the big danger of it. A chronic lack of sleep has all kinds of harmful neurological side effects. Add that to the damage your probably doing to your heart from the elevated blood pressure you get from the stuff and your setting yourself up for a world of future health problems. Treat caffeine the same way you would treat any other drug: it has its occasional uses nd beenfits but long term use of it in any significant quantity outweighs those benefits. Any other time, drink water.
There's a growing sense that even if The Future comes,
most of us won't be able to afford it.
-- Lemmy
Excuse me?
7 29
Caffeine is hacker fuel! The major problem I have is how do I get MORE caffeine!
Right now my vector is the coffee bean. I drink two double lattes a day.. That's 4 shots of espresso!
The major problem I have is how do I get more caffeine into my diet. Coffee stains your teeth and it's just not very good for you. I'm also pretty picky about where I get my fix and I WON'T go to Starbucks.
The Coders guide to coffee is pretty good.
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/4/25/13272/5
If you haven't had REAL espresso you have't lived. San Francisco and New York are the only places I've been where you can get decent coffee at a moments notice.
If you live in San Francisco head up to North Beach and you can't go wrong.
I've actually thought about taking caffeine pills with me when I leave SF or got to a conference. Either that or I can just take my own espresso machine and my own coffee and get my fix that way... hard to lug around though.
ThinkGeek also has a number of products that include caffeine:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/
I did the same. First I recorded (or at least thought about) how many cans of Coke or whatever I drank in a day.
First week, I went to one can a day less. Next week, one less can. And so on. Eventually it was down to caffeine only with meals, then not with supper, then not with lunch, and so on.
Actually I did this twice. While I was caffeine-free for a few months, it wasn't total abstinence. After a while I was drinking iced tea with meals, except in the morning when I'd have hot tea. A couple months ago I cut back the same way. It took a couple weeks, and I started getting to sleep earlier - for a while.
I didn't notice any nasty withdrawal by going slow. And since then, I can't say for sure, but I think I get headaches less often.
I feel better overall, don't have problems getting up in the morning, and find that now, several weeks later, I tend to be able to stay up late as ever... if I want to.
I don't subscribe to RMS's GNUtopian vision.
Why not buy an expensive espresso machine and explore the depths of your addiction? After all, you'll never discover your true character until you face down the demons, right? I recommend coffeegeek.com. It's like slashdot for coffee geeks, or slashdot geeks for coffee, or something. . .
The real killer is the psychological addiction - people often go back to smoking (and such) not because of the nicotine addiction (as someone pointed out withdrawal only lasts a week at most) but because they miss the pyschological aspect of it (taking a break to smoke, smoking as something to break monotony and boredom). So as you are coming off the caffiene get some decaffienated herbal teas or other decaf stuff. If you feel the need, have one of those instead.
Your mileage may vary with this - different techniques suit different people.
especially considering how heavily it is pushed by many development / engineering communities
You don't seem to know who is responsible for your addiction. (hint- it may not be your professional collegues)
who are those slashdot people? they swept over like Mongol-Tartars.
If you don't have a problem then you don't need to quit. Anyway, no one likes a quitter.
Now excuse me while I go make myself some chai with shots of espresso.
When you get the flu, typically you feel like crap, can't work, and stop drinking coffee. This is the easiest time to reduce or stop. I've also quit all caffeine on a Sunday, just planning a down day, then reducing the following Monday.
nice. a litte faith no more in the house.
A life, a woman, and a large object for blunt force trauma.
I don't know, but it seems to me someone with a caffiene addiction really isn't trying hard enough to get that brain shattering cranial crushing stroke inducing migraine we all long for.
That kind of headache requires at least two jobs, one toddler, a pregnant woman in her 9th month, and repeated blows with a lead pipe on the temples (the last one is for tweaking).
--"It's Bradford Company, slash your last name, dot your first name"
Having failed the slashdot typing challenge again..
Yes, as people seem to find it required to correct me, that should be caffiene free diet *coke*.
Then again, I prefer to avoid 'soft' drinks anyway, a little lime juice cordial in cold water is just as nice, IMHO.
Sigh.
Eat lots of cold turkey. Or is that eat lots of cold, turkey. Or is that ... Oh never mind.
When I figured out I was addicted to caffeine as you described, I went cold turkey (stopped drinking caffeine) for about 3 or 4 days. All my symptons cleared up and I started drinking Dr. Pepper again just in lower amounts. I got addicted again next summer and went cold turkey again for a few days. Back to normal. It's not like being addicted to heroin or nicotine.
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
How hard it is for someone to give up an addiction varies from person to person. There is some evident to suggest this may be heredity. No links come to mind, but there has been alot of work on this in the area of alcoholism.
Anyway, the best way may be cold turkey. Whatever you do remove any negative influences that may cause you to relaps. Try and work out if there are any triggers that may cause a relaps. For example, stress triggers a relaps in many smokers and devise methods of dealing with these another way. Make it clear to your friend that your not drinking or consuming anything which contains caffeine. This may be a good time to take a holiday and go on a camping trip or something. If you still find it difficult to give up because you have an addictive personality or have been a heavy consumer of caffeine see your local quack, er, doctor. They may be able to help you or recomend a specialist.
I had to quit caffeine a while back due to a stomach condition, and the sad truth is that the only way to beat a caffeine addiction is to tough it out through painful withdrawal symptoms. Just to make things worse, if you go off caffeine for long enough, you become far more susceptible to caffeine then you were before... Again, speaking from painful experience...
There's nothing you have that they can't take away: Absolute zero, Gentle Jack, bottom line.
If you taper it down, you just prolong the agony. The headaches and stuff from stopping brick-wall style might be more painful, but having terrible headaches for a few days was better than having generally unpleasant headaches for a few weeks.
I would dring several liters of caffeinated beverages a day, so when I dropped it, it *really* hurt. Still, since then, headaches are very rare (only when I've been up all night, say, New Year's Eve), and driving cross country is a lot more pleasant now. (I drove 7364 miles in 6.5 days, and I felt fine when I got home.)
All this talk about coffee has made me thirsty...
I'll be back in a minute!
Once you understand WHY you get those lack-of-caffeine headaches, trust me, it'll help keep you motivated.
:)
Here's the way it works: one of the many effects that caffeine has on the body is the shrink the blood carrying capacity of the capillaries going into the brain. When you stop drinking caffeine, these capillaries slowly start to expand again.
So why the headache? Your head hurts because you're getting the normal amount of blood into your brain - except, you're not used to it.
I dunno about you, but if I'm going to be coding all day, I think getting as much oxygen carrying blood into my brain as possible would be desirable
Memorandum
To: Everyone
From: Me
= = = = = = = = = = = =
Message:
To everyone I work and live with. I'm quitting caffeine again. That means I will be an ass hole. Well more then usual. So you know the drill; hide the letter openers, clean out the office in the basement, and only leave me voicemails, don't talk directly to me.
If I call you a dumb f&%ker it not that I didn't mean it. I really did. The caffeine just helped me to repress it.
BTW: Management, if you think about firing me I will file a claim of drug addiction.
Have a nice day.
You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?
I had the (mis) fortune of having every Coke I drank start to react like I was having a heart attack - e.g. shortness of breath, chest pain, heart burn. Got me into a Dr. toot sweet. Found out the ticker was OK, but I had to give up caffine - let me tell you nothing like a heart attack to make you give up caffine.
Sera
Slashdot, where armchair scientists get shouted down and armchair theologians get modded up.
will get your mind off the headache.
Stop whining. Get in touch with the part of your brain that doesn't want the caffeine. Show some willpower.
You fools addicted to caffine are weak! Weak I tell you!
Now excuse me while I go outside to have a smoke.
I'm also addicted to caffeine and know what you're going through. I have quit in the past, though. The last time was about a year and a half ago. I'd just finished grad school where I lived next to a corner grocery that sold Jolt. I tried unsuccessfully to quit for weeks (after a few days I felt like I'd been beaten by a baseball bat across my neck and shoulders) until I started taking Tylenol (not aspirin, Ibuprofen, etc. but Tylenol brand). The pain went right away, and I was able to quit.
Staying off is another matter altogether.
David Cole
www.davidcole.net
Personally, exercise has always been for me the best to keep my head in check. In high school I decided to give up my 3-4 can (I know its not *that* much) habit. I felt like shit, so decided to supercede that feeling by running. Go run even a mile or two a day and you'll feel tons better even by the end of the first week. Keep it up for a month and you won't even urge for caffine anymore. The first time I had a Mountain Dew after this period I actually hated the taste, although now I'm in college, the story is obviously different.
"The truth suffers from too much analysis"
FWIW, when I was in grad school doing a 2 year MBA, I was seriously addicted to caffeine. I was drinking about 6 cans of coke each day, several fountain drinks with caffeine, and having some coffee in the morning. When I'd get home at night, I had a 2l bottle of coke that I'd drink with dinner... (no I'm not a lard ass, I'm just super hyperactive). More caffeine came from candy bars, or from drinking water joe (caffeinated water).
On the saturdays when I had class, I'd get up at 6am, and make a POT of espresso. That's 4 shots. But I'd subsitute water joe instead of plain water, so it was more like 8 shots in strength. Then I'd add in a 1oz shot of Vanilla Rocket syrup (100 mg of caffeine/oz), about 4 tablespoonfuls of sugar, and a shot of milk....
BANG ZOOOOOOM! It kept me up and alert thru micro/macroeconomics (shit classes).
Anyway - I did this for about 2-3 years... And never thought too much about it... One day I'm on a training class in Dallas, and didn't happen to have time for drinking soda all day. I got off the plane, and I had these shooting pains in my thighs. I physically couldn't move. Couldn't walk at all. Finally some Red Cap took pity on me and found me a wheelchair.
I told this guy what was going on and before he asked me if I wanted a Dr., he said are you a computer guy? I said "uh yeah...", he wheeled me over to the bar, and asked for a Coke... I drank it and felt like Popeye after eating spinach...
He said his brother had the same problem...Caffeine withdrawal is a real bitch when you've been taking it at extremely high levels...
The whole cold turkey, headache, tough it out thing wasn't for me. So what I did was to start tracking my caffeine intake (not to the mg) by the item - say can of coke, coffee, etc. For a week, and I was astounded at the sheer quantity of that stuff I was taking in.
Over the course of the next two months, I started reducing it by one can here, one can there, a candy bar here, a cup of coffee there... When I wanted to drink something, I drank water. Sometimes if I started to get a headache and I was at home I'd toke a bong or two...
Finally I got it down to a decent normal level.. Something like 2-3 cans of coke a day, a glass or two of coke at night with dinner (sometimes not, sometimes just some Sprite). And coffee is one of those rare treats that I have after dinner...
I don't have headaches, my thighs don't ache, and I'm much less irritable...
It took about 6 months to do it, but I now realize just how bad I was. Now when I use caffeine, it actually works to perk me up, but I've also started sleeping on a more regular schedule, and having more REM sleep which means better sleep anyway (you know you had it when you realize you were dreaming and remember them).
Just track it, then cut back gradually... When you get a headache, drink some soda... just enough to get rid of the headache... Eventually you'll be free and clear...
Good luck...
Addicted to coffee? Coffee??? I used to suck dick for cocaine
Interesting. Any suggestions on how to beat the opposite problem? I'm deadly serious.
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking.
about a six-pack of Diet Coke a day..
.. formaldehyde.
Check the ingredients on Diet Coke, the formalin is killing your brain cells
See you. I'll stop by your jar later.
What a dumbass question you pussy.
I had a stage where I was abusing caffeine. I would drink 5 or 6 mugs of strong filter coffee during office hours, and I would also make a coffee or two before bed, especially if I'd had a drink. So I would be wrecked every morning and need more stimulation to get going.
But after some health problems, I cut down. I don't enjoy my day as much with no coffee at all, and 1-2 coffees before mid-day seems to be tolerable, so my natural level is about 2 coffees before noon on average, with special dispensation for Friday and Saturday if I will be able to stay up as late as feels good, and then (and just as importantly) sleep in to make up.
Maybe absolutely zero coffee would be best taking the strict view, but, you know what, we'll still die anyway.
According to a doctor I know it takes about a week of terrible headache, then you're out of the addiction. I don't drink coffee myself, so I'm "clean".
Martin
It could be because you havent had sex in the meantime.
cold turkey worked for me when I was playing around with Atkins a bit - the first few days were pretty hellish, then everything was back to normal - energy levels were up consistently throughout the day.
:)
It stayed like that for several weeks...
Until I took a vacation to Vegas, had a few espresso drinks and got rehooked on it. Oh well. I suspect I'll be in and out of caffeine for the rest of my life. It's just so good.
www.prestigepublishing.com
I just stopped one day. It hurt for 3 days. I simply drank water like a maniac throughout, so that I continued to flush my system. It sucked, but not as bad as some things.
Suck it up!
legweak --"a book is like a leg, only it doesn't bleed as much when you stab it with a knife." --sum yung guy
I've found that off-the-shelf ginseng and ginko biloba make really good replacements for caffeine. Although not approved by the FDA, they are usually good for boosting your energy level and clarity of thought. Other herbs like yerba matte also do the trick. While these are good replacements for caffeine, nothing beats a good dose of daily vitamins.
Not to diminish your advice, but precisely what chemicals are these "toxins" you are referring to? Can you measure them with a blood assay? Perhaps there are such things, but I see the phrase "flushing out toxins" most often in the context of homeopathic remedies and such whose main benefit is to enrich their promoters.
My guess would be simply that your brain has been accustomed to expect caffeine and it takes a while for it to readjust. But then I'm no expert.
The best advice I can give you is to just quit cold turkey. When I did it, I had a massive headache 24 hours a day for about 3 days, but after that it went away. Once the headache was gone, quitting wasn't too bad, although I didn't feel completely right for almost a month. Once I was totally over it though, I realized just how much the caffiene was screwing up my system. I felt much better overall. So, if you want to give it up, just go for it. The only really tough part IMHO was the first few days. On the whole it's not a terribly difficult addiction to break so long as you really want to do it.
Shawn Asmussen
Caffeine has been shown to be one of the best addictive sustances out there and is pretty mild in its side effects. Maybe you should just cut a _bit_.
This guy is way out there
I used to dring 4 mountaindews a day pulse plenty of tea. Then i passed a kidneystone. I had no problem kicking the habit.
Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification
Actually, the most important thing to remember is that caffeine is not a pain-killer, but it is a vasopressor. The headaches you feel related to caffeine are not the same class as the headaches you feel under stress for example - the regular type of headache is caused by the tightening of the band of muscles around the head, whereas the headaches you experience are related to dilation of the blood vessels in the brain. Since caffeine constricts the blood vessels, your body become acclimatized to being at a level of normal constriction with that amount of caffeine - when it is removed, your blood vessels will dilate hugely. Generic painkillers will not work for this headache - ask any migraine sufferer. You need to get some migraine medication - but watch out, because of the way migraines occur (initial constriction followed by very large dilation) you need to avoid the preventative drugs designed to stop the initial constriction, and get the drugs that relieve the pain of an already in progress headache. The class you want are known as serotonin agonists, rather than the antagonists.
I quit consuming the stuff about 7 or 8 years ago. I just quit cold turkey and stuck it out with the headache (which tapered down to "mild" fairly quickly), and haven't missed it since. I took ibuprofen to help with the headache (which lasted about two weeks it seems).
For years after I drank clear soft drinks like SPrITe or 7-up, and sometimes CF Doctor Pepper (which I had to have shipped to me by friends since it wasn't available in my area), but I've recently gotten back to drinking filtered and spring water.
Or get Altzheimer's...
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
Suggesting that one should give up caffeine is like saying "Hey, stop downloading porn and spanking the monkey!"
It's just not realistic. Once you're hooked you're hooked. Try and enjoy it. Don't fight it. And don't worry about getting hairy palms either - just wash your hands with Nair.
Hope this helps.
Quit when you get pregnant! The withdrawal stinks but you'll hardly notice it at all if you have morning sickness to begin with.
In all seriousness, cold turkey worked for me. Yes, it does stink for about a week or so but then the headaches dissipate and pregnancy is a good enough reason to kick the caffeine. If you're not eligible, then quit when your SO quits.
JoAnn
I had to go through this a couple of years ago when I developed a medical condition that demanded a reduction in my once-excessive caffeine intake. My solution?
I didn't go cold-turkey, instead choosing to drink one fewer cup per day or two, and slowly tapering down to zero regular cups. This was accompanied by a dramatic increase in the amount of water I took in, which both gave me something to drink and helped to flush out my system.
In less than a month, the headaches were gone, and I no longer had the cravings for it. It wasn't always fun or easy, but it was quite rewarding to be free of an accidentally-acquired chemical addiction.
When you get down to it, caffeine is no different from nicotine or alcohol, which are in turn no different from cocaine or PCP. All are chemicals the body does not need, and that usually develop into powerful biological dependencies. We're better off with out any of 'em. Just my not-so-humble opinion. *grin*
+++++++
"Look, dear, it's a crazy hairy scary man!"
Yeah, yeah, yeah... you say "there is a problem," but you say it in a condescending "well, since it's overuse, it must be a problem," sort of way -- a way that's rooted in the fallacious axioms of the modern war-on-drugs.
Caffeine is significantly less harmful than the air he's breathing, that I can almost guarantee. Coffee contains long chain lipids that are no good for people with heart disease, but, in most people, I wouldn't worry about it.
Caffeine is a pretty mild thing to get "hooked" on, in any case. Blood saturation takes only 2 cups, or so, which means that drinking several pots a day will produceno further psychoactive effects than what you'd get from a cup or two a day.
So, if he's worried about his mad consumption, I suggest he stick to a cup or two in the morning and switch straight to fruit juice (grapefruit juice will prolong the effects of the caffeine, without having to consume more of it) or water.
Jesus, you'd think the guy was a smoker or a smack addict. First, "heroin chic" is out, so, bud--you missed the trendy train... and second, OH MY FUCKING GOD, get some will pwoer: it's caffeine f'chrissakes... What's next?
It's probaby already been said, but I'll second... cold turkey is the best thing to do. The headaches will go away (I think I had mine for about a week), and your friends and family will (probably) eventually forgive your bastardness.
Be sure to substitute your morning coffee with some decaff (not going to be 100% decaff, but close enough) - that helps with the habit part.
My sig sucks.
You have to trade one addiction for another, I hear sex works well... But since this is slashdot, just go cold turkey.
The first thing that I thought of when i read your questionis "diabetes". My ex-girlfriend, and now my best friend, is diabetic andthe symptoms you describe are exactly the "same" she experiences inhypoglycemic situations: She has some big headaches and she gets angryfor nothing. After taking sugar, she's alright.
:/
Oh, and just a thing that makes me think your problem isnt caffeine;there's no caffeine in Mountain Dew... but only a HUGE amount of sugar...
I hope that helps
I guess no one is going to read this late comment, anyway: I "quit" drinking coffee some 3 months ago, after reading some things about its effects in a book of pharmacology (sp.) and realizing it was my only phisical addiction.
I mostly did it to end the dipendence: I am not sure coffee causes any harm to a healthy person. (Oh, well, I did it also because to drink something that has been roasted seems to be a good way to cancer; but I am not sure of that either)
I used to drink between 3 and 7 cups a day, the bigge figure before stressful deadlines and the like. I began drinking a cup less every some days, and after 2 weeks I tried not to drink it at all.
I managed without headache; I was a bit sleepy, that's all.
I kept on drinking a cup or two a week, and only if I was feeling to tired to do anything useful.
It's funny how you notice how strong caffeine is as a drug if you take it only now and then: I feel it a lot now.
That's it. I just drink some really light green tea in the morning, and sometime I eat chocolate or drink cocoa: remember that those contain a little bit of caffeine, it helps to wake up and not to suffer the splitting head aches.
Good luck.
Like many people, I also kicked the caffeine habit, years ago in my case. I used to get bad headaches now and then, and didn't know why, until eventually I realized it happened when I happened to go without caffeine for a few days. I decided I'd better either have caffeine every day, or give it up (in my case, I used to drink iced tea pretty much all the time).
After years being mostly caffeine-free, I'm terribly sensitive. If I have a can of coke today, and a can tomorrow, then I will almost certainly get a headache the day after.
I really love chocolate, but limit myself to just a few bites a day. If I have more than that, and then lower the amount again, I get a headache.
I don't mind, I just have to be careful about what I consume. And I make sure I only buy headache medicines which are caffeine-free, otherwise, it just postpones the problem but doesn't really help in the long run.
When I travel in China, sometimes it's not easy convincing people that no, I really don't want to drink tea. (And I do like tea, so I'll have it once in a while, but I really have to be careful to space it out, just once every several days at most.) Chinese people are so polite, and they think I'm just being polite, so I really have to explain that no, it'll give me a headache, which they often think is just crazy.
By the way, a friend of mine who knows about my sensitivity to caffeine cut out a little chart from a box of herbal tea she had, which I have hung onto since then, since I found it interesting. It shows the rough amounts of caffeine in various things, in milligrams per 8oz cup or equivalent:
herbal tea: 0 (of course, that's why they put the chart on their box of herbal tea)
decaffeinated coffee: 5mg
chocolate bar: 25
antioxidant green tea: 30
cola: 45
drip coffee: 90
double espresso: 160
Take it with a grain of salt, but there it is.
Step 1> Buy a large amount of bottled water to take to work and have at home
Step 2> Whenever you'd normally have coffee/coke, drink that bottled water instead
Step 3> Whenever you get a headache, take excedrin. It contains caffine and will get rid of the withdrawl headache without exposing you to caffine in a drinkable form.
After about 3 days, it gets rid of moderate addictions, and after a week it gets rid of bad addictions.
Want to see every step I took to start my company? http://www.rowdylabs.com/blogs/pitchtothegods
There is caffine in the American version of Mountain Dew not the Canadian Version, so his statement still stands.
For coffee drink Hot Chocolate in the morning. For soda, drink sunny delight :)
Then you'll get only one person's opinion instead of a whole bunch. The combined thought of a whole bunch of people beats the thought of an expert every time.
I consume an average of around 8-10 cups of leaded a day, but have no trouble sleeping after drinking coffee (other than having to get up to pee later) and very rarely have trouble with headaches on withdrawal. The key for me is random consumption with a high standard deviation.
Caffeine appears to be only very short-term physiologically addictive to me, and it doesn't seem to take hold until after a period of consistent intake. By periodically but randomly skipping having any caffeine at all for 16 hours here, 20 hours there, a day over there, I avoid the headaches when I stop for any particular amount of time.
I am so glad people like you are not responsible for any facet of drug policy. Not that the people in charge of US national drug policy are any less wanker-rrific than you.
;)
First: you know you're in the privileged West when someone claims or complains of "caffeine" addiction.
Second: THC is nonaddictive. Everyone can smoke some dope on the weekend and resume "normal" activities. No, being a pothead, unlike being a smack addict, is a voluntary pursuit
This past Lent I decided to give up caffeine, since I could never go without meat for 40 days, I was horribly addicted to caffeine, and I couldn't think of anything else to give up.
I started a week before Lent. I drank 2 20oz bottles of my preferred soda a day for 2 days, then I switched to 2 12oz cans for the next 2 days, 1 12oz can for the next 2 days, and finally nothing on the day before Lent. I didn't have any headaches at all(and the last time I had tried giving caffeine up I got violently sick, I'm talking nausea and vomitting here).
And you might think I wasn't really addicted, but I was drinking 4 of those supersized
ountain Dew Code Red bottles you can get at Wal-Mart (2 6packs for $5) a night, combined with what I drank while I was out.
So I gave up caffeine, cold turkey. I used to routinely get bad headaches, but when giving up caffeine I had the worst headache I've ever had, which lasted about ten days. I wasn't able to do much of anything during that time.
After that, I had no trouble avoiding caffeine, and I no longer had headaches except in the morning.
Since then, I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, and treated with a CPAP machine. That completely eliminated the acid reflux, headaches, and other problems. I feel much better.
I probably could drink caffeine again, but given what I went through to give it up, I think I'll just continue to get by without it.
On rare occassions, such as early morning meetings, I still have a bit of trouble staying alert. Now if I drink 1/3 of a can of Coke it will keep me alert for hours. But I don't make a habit of it. I think I've had maybe a total of 32 oz. of caffeine-laden soft drinks since I quit, and no coffee or tea.
Back when I was an addict, I could drink a quart of coffee, tea, or soda, and immediately afterward go to bed and have no trouble getting to sleep.
Dehydration is something that causes sleepiness. Most people don't know it, but they're chronically dehydrated. When you feel a bit tired around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, it's not because you didn't get enough sleep, it's because you don't have enough fluid.
Most people have a cup of coffee in the morning. Caffeine is a mild diuretic, so most calculations that I've seen say to treat the beverage as having only half the amount of fluid in the cup, for hydration purposes. Sometime partway through the morning, you go have a pee and sit at your desk not drinking anything until you have another coffee a bit later. Net fluid intake? Half a coffee cup.
If you just have a glass of juice in the morning and drink something non-caffeinated during the day, several times, you'll feel more awake. If you can actually stick to 8 glasses a day, you'll definitely feel more awake. I can guarantee that at the very least, running to the bathroom every half hour to pee will keep you more awake than before.
Coffee is the problem, not really the caffeine. There is a complex set of alkaloids in the coffee bean that does more then just stimulates the adrenal system. Though the caffeine is a big contributor it isn't the only one. Trying to use soda as a substitute isn't the best way to go either. The caffeine in soda comes from the decaffeination process used with coffee and will have a similar effect.
To deal with all the pitfalls, switch to tea and then taper off. Tea contains a theobromide that is similar to caffeine but isn't the same. You will likely miss out on having the headaches if you go the tea route. Green tea is the best bet because it's been proven to have the most inclusive health benefits. Black tea is almost as good but since it is fermented there are less virgin plant components to help out. Black tea also has more of the caffeine-like chemical than green tea, about 2 times as much.
You might want to try a gingko supplement as well. Though it reality gingko does not increase memory, it is a stimulant that increases blood flow to the brain by increasing the size of the capillaries in your brain. This is similar to what coffee does except it seems to be gentler. At least in my experience it is.
Some of my information is admittedly anecdotal, but most isn't. I hope that this helps if you actually read down this far.
Asprin should not be taken on an empty stomach. It should really be taken after meals (or food-like drinks). Paracetamol is better, but you had better minimise any alcohol intake as some paracetamol plus any alcohol inside a day is a problem for the liver.
See my journal, I write things there
Best way to quit is to substitute coffee with something like sparkling water and starting an exercise regime.
-----
One is born into aristocracy, but mediocrity can only be achieved through hard work.
As a suprising side effect of going on the Atkins diet I found that without all the carbs I didn't need the caffiene kick. This was especially noticed in the morning. Before the diet started I would be a total monster before getting my first cup. Now I can take it or leave it any time of the day and no caffiene headache withdrawls either. YMMV
TT
Coffee and soda are nasty stuff, but there is nothing wrong with caffeine. You will feel coffee on a good long bike ride. Don't even try to slake your thirst with carbonated corn syrup. So the toxcity of these things is demonstrated. While you might not want a Penguin mint on a bike ride, it won't hurt your stomach or make you sick. I'm not sure why people villify caffeine. A search of JAMA articles turns up nothing harmful and the AMA family medicine guide only cautions against drinking multiple pots of coffee a day without saying why.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Yeah, it's because everyone was too flabbergasted by the enormity of this retarded story.
The best way is to taper off gradually. If you go cold turkey, you will get the headaches. I used to be 2 cups coffee in the morning and 2-3 cokes a day.
In my case, I dropped 1 coke for 2 weeks. Then I dropped another coke for the next 2 weeks, and so on. After some time, I was caffeine free and found myself with more energy naturally.
To help you get through the mornings, try drinking caffeine free hot tea. Also, tell friends and co-workers that you're trying to quit and ask them to help you stay accountable. This is the biggest help of all!
Don't start.
The best way to lose an addiction is to start another one. I find sex is very good to ween you off of anything - just get laid a lot.
I used to be adicted to caffeine, until I realized I was contributing $1600 of my income to the coffers of Coca-Cola. Yikes!
The thing is, I could go all weekend without a coffee or a coke without any problems, but on a weekday, if I didn't have a coke by 9am, I would get headaches and stomach pains.
I ended up quitting easily, with no withdrawal symptoms, when I quit my job to go back to full-time study.
A lot of the addiction is in your mind, not your body. Change your lifestyle so your mind isn't thinking about it so much.
My apologies to Coca-Cola for the sudden drop in sales.
If you're disinclined to quit cold turkey one addition to the gradual quitting method is to not consume the bject of addiction (caffeine) at the same times or same places everyday. It makes a big difference in breaking the psychological ritual part of the habit as well as supposedly (according to my college psychology class) reduce one's chemical addiction. The idea was partly that your body anticipates chemical stimulations at certain times in your circadian rhythm and alters its chemistry to match, leading to increased need for the caffein at the usual time. If there's no usual time, the need is slightly decreased.
I understand wanting to cut back, but if drinking a moderate amount of caffiene a day will not cause any health problems for you, why give it up completely? It's not like crack. You can have a little each day and not risk your health.
I drink 1/2 a cup of coffee a day and a can of soda. Yes I get a headache after a day or so if I don't have any caffiene. But I figured I enjoy coffee and I enjoy the soda, so I'll live with the small amount of caffiene. I guess I also enjoy the little pick me up from the caffiene too.
The only way i can quit caffiene (specifically chocolate) is to focus on something that i cannot do with shaky hands and the tendency to dehydrate quickly that comes with high levels of caffiene in the blood. Sports based on precision and endurance are excelent examples of this.
I still indulge in my chocolate addiciton during christmas and in the off season (from olympic riflery), but the added benifits of the lack of caffiene in my blood stream (steadier hands and eyes that don't dehydrate as fast) are enough to get me through the headaches...
Caffeine might heighten your short-term intellectual awareness, but overall it diminishes your intellectual performance. Mainly because
1) You are less able to focus while on caffeine.
2) All that caffeine does is speed up the consumption of noradrenaline in your brain. For a while I tried to take heavy doses so I could cram a lot of study in little time, but one's brain has a limited stock of noradrenaline that takes some time to refill, and if you take too much of it and/or try to renew the effect after it's wearing out, you're bound to be _really fscking dumb_ for a period of time that will vary with your intake. I remember situations where I was totally braindead for three or four days. It can be despairing.
My academic record has improved immensely since I started taking caffeine only for entertainment purposes (and during my vacations!). Please, save yourself the trouble I got myself into. (
My problem is I can't get laid. How does your catch all solution of "JUST STOP IT" work for me? You insensitive clod.
Caffeine is just one of many substances (toxic or not) being stored in the body. A fast gives the body a chance to clean house.
A fast is giving up everything for a period of time. You drink distilled water and nothing else.
You also stop any supplements and, if possible, any medicine, but see your doctor first if you take meds.
For a fast longer than 4 or 5 days see your doctor first, he might not agree with the idea. If he does then you should see him every week for monitoring while on the fast.
Our ancestors survived famine to get us here so fasting is something that the body is hardwired to do when needed.
A fast is also the right time to give up other bad habits like smoking.
For reference check out, "Fasting and Eating for Health" by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.
I started one today.
I used to drink diet coke all the time, I then slowly changed over to caffeine free diet coke, then flavored seltzer. Took a while, but I feel a lot better on a daily basis, you'll be glad you did.
Stay hydrated, you can get headaches from not being hydrated.
http://www.drugstore.com/qxp41752_333181_sespider/ gnc_herbal_plus/standardized_guarana_250mg_capsule s.htm
this is the only way i can get through a day of IT.
all the perks of caffine.. none of the side effects that i've seen. No jitters or headaches.
I'm a developer. I drink 7-10 cups a day, only now it's decaf. I'm not exactly how much lower the caffeine amount is but from what I've read it's low enough to make a significant difference.
Ya see a couple of years ago I applied for life insurance and part of the drill was a physical. The doctor noticed something about my heart so I was sent to a specialist and had several test done (all day monitor, etc.). The results came back showing 17% of the time my heart would either skip or give a double beat. It was determined that the amount of caffeine (I also added pop in my daily intake) had a great deal to do with it.
So that day I went out and purchased Decaf coffee and I've been drinking it since. Sure, once in a while I'll have a high-test in the afternoon if I'm really sluggish, but I'm 98% decaf. I really don't remember if the swithch was tough but I have no problem getting by on the stuff and I know I'm better for it (and I didn't have to give up coffee)!
So a couple of years ago I decided to quit. I personally had to go cold turkey; tapering off was too hard to contemplate. And yes, it sucked for a week; bad headaches, tired, cranky, etc.. I second the good advice already given to sleep alot and drink lots of water. After a week though, the physical symptoms are pretty much over.
Then, for me at any rate, the craving really set in. I sort of figured that after awhile it would just be out there, something I didn't drink anymore and used to like. After years of not drinking coffee I lust after it more than ever. Walking past the coffee aisle in the grocery store is torture. Hanging our with friends in a coffee shop makes me want to chew my nails off. All I can say is, I'm glad I never got going on something like cigarettes or heroin.
So my advice? Think hard before quitting. Do you really want to? Are you willing to go through life always wanting it and not doing it? For me, for some perverse reason, the answer is yes. But if it isn't for you, why put yourself through the initial pain of withdrawal?
Best of luck.
Emile Snyder
www.talentcodeworks.com
I was similarly hooked on caffeine until a few years ago. I used to drink so much diet Coke that the cashiers at the grocery store thought I was stocking up for a huge party every few days. I used to joke that Coke's stock would fall if I quit drinking the stuff. I HAD to have it all the time. Based on a lot of things, I decided I wanted to get it out of my system.
For me, there were two keys. First, I had to simply accept that I was going to feel lousy for several days -- and I did. I had horrible, pounding headaches while my body was de-toxing. The second key was to drink a LOT of water.
One of the things I realized in retrospect is that I had been dehydrating my body by drinking soft drinks instead of water. I had assumed the the water in the soft drinks would have the same effect as drinking water, but I've discovered (both from reading and experience) that that assumption was wrong. I now drink somewhere in the neighborhood of four or five liters of water every day. When I first started doing it, I had to go to the bathroom more often, but your body seems to adjust. You might also find that you feel your thirst more than you formerly did, and you realize that it's WATER you want instead of the caffeine.
One other factor, for me at least, is how much sugar or other carbohydrates I consume. I can't speak for everyone, but I KNOW that I feel much better and have lots more energy when I get sugar out of my system, too. In general, the way my body is "happiest" is when I'm eating according to the methods promoted by the Atkins Center, which was founded by the late diet doctor and nutritionist Dr. Robert Atkins. If you'd like to know more about their nutritional approach (not just for weight loss, contrary to popular belief), see their web site at http://www.atkins.com/
Stop drinking caffeine and deal with the headaches for a while. If they don't go away, go see a headache specialist.
If you have migraines, you're pretty much fucked for a while. Ibuprofen won't do shit if you have a bad migraine and you're getting off of caffeine. Get some nuts (I like almonds) and chocolate, and eat them when you start getting migraine symptoms. Note that migraine symptoms can include things like visual anomalies (seeing stuff out of the corner of your eye that isn't there) and other stuff. And take afternoon naps when possible.
Then again, if you are a fat fuck (like most slashdotters), I'm guessing the chocolate and afternoon naps are already part of your life. Shrug.
I've quit caffeine twice (make your own joke). Cold turkey both times. As addictions go it's probably one of the easiest to beat. I get two days of pretty serious headaches, and feel kinda "off" for three more, and then it's done.
And it's so worth it. I sleep better, I'm less tense, and my days don't revolve around getting my next fix.
Do it!
Put away your coffee machine at home.
Give away your unused coffee.
Get rid of your mug at work, preferably on the day before the long weekend of cold turket begins.
Good luck.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
I did it.. It's rough at first, but after a few weeks, it gets better, and after a month or so, you don't even think about it.
I was drinking several cups of coffee in the morning, and 5-7 mountain dews a day up to the time I quit!
I have since started on caffiene again, but in moderation. I will have a cup of coffee in the morning, maybe 2 cups some days, but that's about it!
yup.. just like smoking, there are patches and gum out there.. and if you go to a herbal store, there will be even more "help" aids.
I used to do this once a year when I was working at a dot com where they had espresso machines everywhere. I'd start 2 weeks before a trip, and gradually cut back from several double espressos a day to one coffee to a small chocolate bar. Then I could go on long backpack trips; or stay at conferences at really weird places, such as Provo, Utah, where one can't get coffee on campus legally.
I walked away from cigarettes, cocaine and several other unspecified alkaloids at the same time 30+ years ago. Take Nike's advice - Just do it...
"Straddling the sword of technology..."
I was just like you. I think I drank so much coffee because I was constantly chasing the caffeine headache.
Best way to quit (it took a few tries; different approaches): taper slowly until your done with it.
For me, I found I didn't need the morning coffee as much as the afternoon. You may be different; point is, start with the one that you need less. Taper down until that craving/headache hell is gone. Then move on to the harder one.
Good luck. It's a much better way. Cleaner, and you won't be tired all the time (it may take a month or two, however). You'll be overall healthier, in my opinion.
The first time I had to deal with this I used Ibuprofen or Aspirin to get through the pain. It counters the effect of caffeine withdrawl pretty well. The pain usually lasts for just over a day at most, after that I feel amazingly free. I got into the habit of avoiding coffee for a few days before going abroad, so I didn't have a shitty time if I couldn't get good coffee. Over the last few months I have made a point of drinking no coffee at all at the weekend. This keeps my habit nicely under control, minimises the withdrawl symptoms, and makes the caffeine much more effective on Monday morning.
Caffeine is one of 3 methylated xanthines, the others being theophylline and theobromine. Taking the others can serve to reduce withdrawal. Caffeine is the most addictive because it's the fastest acting of these, just as crack is the most addictive form of cocaine. You can find these chemicals in:
. asp?ID=356). You'll notice it says "(nor)adrenalin" instead of (nor)epinepherine. Same chemicals, outside or inside the blood/brain barrier. Yeah, caffeine gives you adrenalin.
1. Chocolate. It has 10% of the caffiene of coffee, but contains these other also. It also contains PEA, "an endogenous neuroamine, increases attention and activity in animals" (http://www.chocolate.org/pea.htm). PEA may be the most neglected and useful of the brain amines. Chocolate makes many people just feel better; this may be why.
2. Guarana: An "herbal" (actually the inside bark of a tree) that contains all 3 of the chemicals, caffeine least. However, it can become a substitute addiction, and it costs more than chocolate. There was a soda that had guarana, but only as a flavoring, not a "suppliment". Some "power drinks" have guarana, but can also have ephedrine, which is not a good thing.
3. Foods: Caffeine acts by increasing norepinepherine (NE) levels in the brain. Take it away and NE drops. This is the mechanism of addiction. Any foods high in phenylalanine or tyrosine are good dietary precursors to replace the NE the body isn't getting now that caffeine isn't forcing its production. High phenylalanine or tyrosine foods are typically your high-protein foods, meats and fishes, dairy products, whole oats and wheat. Here's a picture of the metabolic pathway involved (http://www.life-enhancement.com/article_template
Caffeine truly is addicting. However, it is one of the weakest addictions. It's easy to break and the withdrawals are not bad. Also, it can typically be used safely by those previously addicted, without necessarily causing re-addiction.
I am not a physician. But then I'm not prescribing anything, and what I offer as suggestions are not controlled substances. I am, however, a professional neuroscientist with a fair amount of experience in psychopharmacology, and prior to getting my doctorate, worked for several years as a licensed substance abuse counselor.
Me, I'd go for the chocolate. Whether I need it or not.
Q: Why is there no twelve step group for caffeine addiction?
A: I DON'T HAVE TIME TO WAIT AROUND FOR THAT.
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
The best way to beat caffeine addiction is to just stop. If you lack the strenght then caffeine addiction is the least of your problems - you're probably a total loser.
(ex-caffeine addict)
I gave up caffeine a few years ago. As others have mentioned, it only takes a few days for the headaches to go away. I took an occasional Tylenol or Advil and it was fine.
The reason I quit? I used to have a REALLY hard time getting up in the AM, but now it's much easier. Also, I don't have those tired moments, when you need a soda to pick you up. And the best part: If you ever need to stay awake for an extended period of time (or just want to freak out your co-workers with your hyperactivity), a Mountain Dew will send you to the moon.
The only drawback is the lack of drink options (I drink Sprite now), plus I really miss Mountain Dew...
I probably mis-remembered 'liver damage' for 'kidney damage', but paracetemol definitely has a damaging effect every time, and too-regular or too-big a dosage will begin to cause irreversible damage -- which is why the warning on the packet -- and codeine is even a restricted drug in the UK because of it, though strangely not in NZ or Australia.
I used to suffer from bad migraines, and it's unbelieveably effective against them where the others (incl. ibuprofen) won't make a dent. Pity, really, because my Grandfather being a doctor warned me of the side-effects.
... so it was real easy for me to quit. I drank the equivalent of two pots a day for years. Then one day, I started feeling sick constantly. Not just physically; I started to think I was going mad. The daily panic attacks and anxiety took its toll on me after a year or so; I had lost 20 pounds and had a very hard time getting through the day without having some thoughts of suicide. It never occured to me that it was the caffeine that was causing the symptoms.
Finally, after two years of not being able to work or basically function, I saw a doctor. Turns out that my extreme caffeine addiction turned into an allergy, and I was told to quit immediately. After a few days of splitting headaches, the anxiety, panic, and depression disappeared.
A couple of weeks ago, I was accidently given a regular cup of coffee at a restaurant instead of decaffeinated, and I was sick all fricking day. I've since cut out the decaf. I NEVER want to go through that shit again.
"You're getting brutal, Sark. Brutal and needlessly sadistic."
"Thank you, Master Control"
-Sark and the MCP
...you insensitive clod!
A little over two years ago I ended my caffeine addiction of over 20 years pretty much by accident. I had a nasty cold/flu and drinking Coke just wasn't appealing. After a week of being miserable with the cold, I realized that I had gone a the entire time without any caffeine with no (additional) symptoms. So, I decided that was my golden opportunity to kick the habit without dealing with annoying withdrawal symptoms.
I haven't had a Coke or other significant caffeine since. I feel better, sleep better, and can power through late nights just as well as I did when I thought caffeine was helping me stay awake.
Before that I had tried several times to quit, unsuccessfully. Finally, I had solemnly resolved to give up trying to give up caffeine. I'm glad to have broken that vow.
Most people don't realize that a can of soda has the carbohydrate equivalent of roughly 3 baked potatos! Drinking a 2 liter jug of soda every day will burn out the isulin producing cells in some people's pancreas, and make them diabetic.
Here is a snippet about sleep and addiction.
Sleep and addiction
The most important long-term problem is the effect that caffeine has on sleep.The half-life of caffeine in your body is about 6 hours. That means that if you consume a big cup of coffee with 200 mg of caffeine in it at 3:00 PM, by 9:00 PM about 100 mg of that caffeine is still in your system. You may be able to fall asleep, but your body probably will miss out on the benefits of deep sleep. That deficit adds up fast. The next day you feel worse, so you need caffeine as soon as you get out of bed. The cycle continues day after day. This is why 90% of Americans consume caffeine every day. Once you get in the cycle, you have to keep taking the drug. Even worse, if you try to stop taking caffeine, you get very tired and depressed and you get a terrible, splitting headache as blood vessels in the brain dilate. These negative effects force you to run back to caffeine even if you want to stop.
Quit cold-turkey, and substitute apple juice in the morning -- it will help take the edge off it
At the height of my addiction I was three extra large skim latte's a day, and coffee right before i would go to bed
I share your pain -- I too was a "slave to the bean"
Old age and treachery almost always overcome youth and skill.
you sound like someone who's never had a cup of coffee in his life.
if yr a caffeine addict (as i am) you know that during withdrawal you are too debilitated to type let alone exerise.
now, i've quit coffee twice successfully in my life (and returned voluntarily and deliberately) and have developed a "formula":
good luck!
2 1337 4 u!
Just do what I did. Join the Marines. Three months at Parris Island without caffeine, nicotine, or alcohol should do the trick. You'll get plenty of water to drink (albeit luke warm from a canteen), and the excercise will help keep your mind off of whatever it was you're supposed to be craving.
In all seriousness though, looking back I wish I hadn't gone out the morning after I returned from boot camp. I should have just stayed home with the family. Instead I went straight to the nearest 7-11 and nabbed a pack of smokes and a steaming hot cup of coffee. It was like pouring regular unleaded into a sports car! I was in the best shape of my life. All I had to do was stick with it, but nooooooooooo... had to have a smoke. Duh! That was twelve years ago and I'm still smoking. I did manage to drop caffeine for a few months (went cold turkey), but other than that brief period a few years ago, it's a pack a day and almost a pot of coffee a day (plus sodas at lunch and dinner).
Turn back now while you still have the chance. In the words of Monty Python in their quest for the Holy Grail, "Run Away!!! Run Away!!!".
-- Stu
/. ID under 2,000. I feel old now.
Here's some advice from Dr. Weil on how to beat caffeine. The Q&A Library has lots of other useful info too.
I used to drink coffee and a few caffeinated sodas every day. I decided I didn't like the fact that I was getting 3 hours of sleep and the color my teeth were turning due to the coffee. I stopped drinking coffee and caffeinated drinks a few months ago, and now my teeth are white and I can get anywhere from 7-9 hours of sleep every night.
I've been known to kick back some Dr. Pepper every once in awhile before a class I know is going to be hard not to sleep through, sure, but I mean caffeine isn't a hard drug, c'mon.
And here's a handy tip for dealing with headaches - take some Advil.
I belong to the ______ generation.
(script for Dr. Strangelove at :m l
http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0055.ht
)
Ripper:
Have you ever seen a commie drink a glass of water?
Mandrake:
Well, no I... I can't say I have, Jack.
Ripper:
Vodka. That's what they drink, isn't it? Never water?
Mandrake:
Well I... I believe that's what they drink, Jack. Yes.
Ripper:
On no account will a commie ever drink water, and not without good reason.
Mandrake:
Oh, ah, yes. I don't quite.. see what you're getting at, Jack.
Ripper:
Water. That's what I'm getting at. Water. Mandrake, water is the source of all life. Seven tenths of this earth's surface is water. Why, you realize that.. seventy percent of you is water.
Mandrake:
Uhhh God...
I had a similar caffine problem for many years after I started drinking coffee while in the Navy. About five years ago I was on a business trip and got samonella food poisoning during the trip. I barely made it home and was down for six days. Believe me, I had no desire for coffee during that time. After I recovered, I decided that since I hadn't had any coffee for almost a week, I would quit. It worked.
I gave up caffiene cold turkey about 32 months ago.
The key was picking the right time to do it. I didn't quit at the start of a project, or during a high stress time in my personal life. I picked a time when a project had just been completed, and I was heading out of town for a week for training.
Being away from home meant that I didn't have the caffienated products lying around, and the lighter schedule meant that when I felt tired (or had a bad headache), I could just go to sleep. I sleep a lot that week, but it really worked out for me.
Another piece of advice, for keeping the tempations at bay, was the I kept off decaf coffee, caffiene-free Coke, etc. until I had a month or two under my belt.
In my teens we would sit around the coffee shop drinking refill after free refill.
One night I lay in bed twitching, until five or six in the morning, only to sleep until the next evening, and awake with a horrible headache.
Right then I decided (foolishly maybe) to quit ala Trainspotting's Renton.. "one room which you will not leave; one mattress; tomato soup, ten tins of..."
Ok no soup.. but a couple days of hell later, I was free.. mint tea at the coffee shop wasn't as much fun, so a year of managing myself I decided I was allowed to moderate my caffeine intake, read: Drink Coffee!!
Here I am 30, with a coffee cup tattoo, I make espresso on my gas stove, and rarely drink horribly drip coffee. But some nights at work, I still hit the espresso machine until all I can see is light.. and I need four or five pints just to fall asleep..
Ah they joys of being an adult..
I hate spyware and spies
I realize I'm late to this topic, but I figured I'd post my two cents anyway... This is slashdot, afterall. =]
Roughly a year and a half ago I was drinking anywhere from 12 to 24 12 ounce cans of MD a *day*. I never had any problems going to sleep at night but I had major problems waking up the next morning. I never drank MD for the caffeine; I actually like the taste of it. It never seemed to give me 'more energy' after I drank a can. It never helped me 'think more clearly' after a can. I just liked the stuff.
As time went on, I was having more and more trouble waking up in the morning. I was at a point where I was waking up more tired than when I went to bed. It was getting to where I'd get up and be at work by 08:00 and home by 17:30. I'd usually fall asleep on the couch by 20:00 (after having eaten something for dinner) and wake up to my alarm the next day, still tired.
I finally went to see a doctor by that point and found that not only did I have mono (which explains the seemingly sudden tired feelings I had right after work, no matter how much MD I would drink), but the amount of caffeine I was taking in each day was preventing me from getting the REM sleep I needed, if I ever entered REM sleep mode at all (or so my doctor told me. It's all greek to me). Anyway, I just stopped drinking anything that had caffeine. I took any of the 12 packs of MD I had back to the store and exchanged it for Caffeine Free MD. I now drink that, and many other caffeine free soads that are on the market (Pepsi's Nu Grape, Orange Slice, etc).
I never suffered from any of the headaches I was told I would have. After only a week without caffeine, I was able to tell a difference in the morning when I woke up. I felt so much better. After all this time (about a year and a half, or so.. time flies so fast these days) I might have one or two sodas a week that have caffeine, but no more. I've never been a coffee or tea guy, so I never had to worry about either of those.
I don't know why I didn't suffer the headaches. Nor does my doctor. I guess I was just lucky. Dunno.
Guess I'm done rambling now.. Thanks for reading.. =]
bork bork bork!
Mix half caffeine, half decaf coffee for one week, then three fourths decaf one fourth caffeine. In 2 weeks, you dependency will be minimized. I would also use a cone filter versus the flat bottom drip units. You will get a more robust flavor using less beans. Get a coffee pot that has a slower drip option, you will use less coffee and get the reduced caffeine buzz. By the way your adrenal gland is the organ being stressed with the caffeine. A great book is "Adrenal Fatigue" by Dr. Wilson. My best-- druglessdoc
drink something else. the headaches will go away after a day or two.
the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Drinking that much coffee is not good for the body. I learned the hard way: wore out my adrenal system.
It's not so easy to quit as some people suggest.
First time I quit cold turkey, spent three days in bed with wracking headaches and no appetite for food. The headaches became less severe after three days, but my body was not yet at peace. Suffered unproductively for the better part of two weeks and then started drinking coffee again to get on with my life. But a lot less than before.
Another iteration of quiting and unquiting got me down to about two or three large cups a day.
Then I had a prescription medication that interacted badly with caffeine and I had to quit again. Still had the headaches for several days, but this time my life didn't stall completely. A month later I still couldn't function at full intensity, so I started drinking one cup each morning.
At one cup of moderately strong coffee, I can quit anytime without a headache. At 1.5 cups per day, missing a day is risky. At 2 cups per day, I'm fully addicted. It can vary over a wide range from one person to another.
After many hard fought battles, I figure it takes the best part of three months for the body to fully adjust to a different caffeince consumption level. People forget that coffee has hundreds of other alkaloids, not just caffeine. Decaf coffee affects cognitive structure (not in a good way) without causing the same vascular effects.
Now I stick to about one cup a day, the level where I know I'm not addicted. Can miss a day with only a little blah to deal with.
Tea never worked at all as a caffeine substitute for me, nor do any of the colas. It's not just the caffeine you have to live without.
The best trick I learned was to change my brewing methods.
First, use a high quality dark roast with intense flavour. Dark roast has less caffeine, because some of the caffeine is destroyed in the roaasting process. If the roast is good, I find I'm less tempted to cheat on the ratio.
Don't use a French press. I love the body of a French press, but it comes at the price of extracting in triplicate. I switched to drip, which was (un)depressing at first, but I got used to it.
Grind your own beans. Some roasts can be ground a lot finer without losing flavor or becoming bitter. A fine grind with a quick brew cycle will extract more flavour relative to the amount of caffeine. Don't ask me about the physics, I don't understand it either.
Brew in smaller batches. I used to use brew length as an indicator for the quality of a roast. If the roast can be extracted in a French press for more than four minutes without becoming nasty, the roast is really good. With a French press, the coffee tastes better if you pour from about ten inches above the top of the Bodum in a slow drizzle. I could never figure out why this worked, but then I learned that this is just enough time for the water temp. to drop below 200 degrees. Water right at the boiling point does something nasty to coffee beans. But, oh, I was saying don't use a French press only the memories are too good.
Even with a drip, the extraction cycle is important. The problem is that if the coffee tastes like crap, my first instinct is to fix the problem by tossing twice as many grounds in the filter basket.
Drip coffee makers don't scale: the length of the extraction cycle varies with the amount of water processed. Shorter extraction cycles are better for getting good coffee with less caffeine.
For my small Braun drip, anything over half a pot creates difficulties with balance. I drew a black line at the fill level which produces an optimum exrtraction cycle: it works out to two 10 ounce cups.
Even with the black line, I had a constant battle with an expanding miniscus. Some days I could make that miniscus so large, I could squeeze an entire third mug out of the deal.
The stroke of genius was to throw the caraffe away. Now I brew my coffee
I'd smoke some sinsemilla. The headache will be more interesting that way.
The first day is hell. After that the addiction ;->
is broken and you can get on with your life.
I've done it a few times. I was in so much pain
from the ulcer the first time I barely noticed
the additional pain in my head
Of course after 20 years of the stuff, I like
coffee too much to want to kick it for real.
For example:
"How do I foo?"
"Ask the foo mailing list, or hire a foo consultant, you moron!"
There are no trolls. There are no trees out here.
Now, I haven't taken the time to read all the other replies, but it does sound to me that its not an addiction you have, but rather a chemical dependency that you've developed. If you are serious about getting rid of it, you should definately speak to a doctor because if a caffeine dependency is anything like more infamous dependencies then just trying to quit on your own could have some very negative side effects.
---Excuse the bad English, I'm American---
Some of the people above recommend cold turkey, and I have to agree. I just quit Mountain Dew for the second time, and cold turkey is a lot better than weaning off of it, at least for me. It's etter to just have one day of incapacitation than spreading out the headaches for multiple days. Also, I found that Aleve helped my headaches a lot, even at their worst. Your mileage may vary.
Oxygen is a poison. Acetone (which is one of the first in line on the "bad things in cigarettes" ads) is naturally produced in plants which we eat regularly. But people see acetone and think paint thinner. There are genuinly bad things in cigarettes. Acetone isn't really one of them. But the ones that are really bad no one recognizes.
Natually occuring tobacco is much healthier (relativly speaking) before the cigarette manufacturers get to it.
Like all things you need to know the limits. It's not what you eat or drink that matters but how much.
Ben
Work Safe Porn
You people are a bunch of pussies. Just quit. I was a heavy caffeine user through high school and college. I quit easilly by just stop consuming it completely. Cold turkey is the only way to go, you can't allow yourself even a little bit.
Fucking pussies.
Nice. That guy's post really showed that the parent poster's "research" was flawed, or he was too stupid to understand what he researched.
From a professional who treats addictions, the key step is making a commitment.
This will bring all subconsciously anticipated problems to the surface as well as prevent you from making half-hearted attempts or putting it off.
Address all your fears as best you can and then isolate yourself from all sources of caffeine (presumably over a weekend).
Naturally, look after yourself: eat healthily, get some exercise, sun & fresh air.
I could go into more depth, but chances are nobody will bother to read this anyway...
I hear about caffeine withdrawal headaches, and I've never had them before. I drink lots of coffee and have gone for long periods where I'd drink 2 pots a day. I could quit cold turkey for months and never have a problem (other than not being quite as perky in the morning).
Cigarettes on the other hand are a mammoth burden and I can't seem to kick the damn things. They're surely going to kill me one of these days. I'd take a caffeine addiction over cigarette addiction any day. To you kids: Don't smoke! When you finally figure out it's not cool, you're screwed!
I also don't get regular headaches, though. I get migraines when I get headaches. Again, I'm really fortunate because they're treatable with Advil (in fact Advil is better than morphine for me, for any kind of pain.) I guess I'm just chemically imbalanced or something.
Then you'll get only one person's opinion instead of a whole bunch. The combined thought of a whole bunch of people beats the thought of an expert every time.
So by that reasoning.... "Hey Slashdotters: I'm a 26 year old male with a hard nodule in my left testicle. What's your combined experience with this? Should I just drink more coffee, see a doctor, or wait for the testicular cancer to metastasize? I'd like to proceed by getting your combined thought, rather than asking an expert."
Just go cold turkey. Yeah, it sucks, but just take 2 or 3 advil every time you feel the headache coming on and you'll be fine. I was a bit nauseous, and I broke out in pimples like a motherfucker. The headaches go in a day or two. The nausea in a day. The zits in a week or so.
It's actually fairly easy.
I myself quite caffeine several years ago. Here's some free advice and random info about it.
Once you quit, you probably won't find it hard to keep off it. The biggest reason to drink caffeine is a lack of energy. In my experience, once I had quit and given myself a few weeks, my energy level was very noticeably higher than when I was on caffeine. If you allow your body to recover and be totally free of caffeine, you will not feel like you need caffeine. That is, caffeine itself is a large part of what creates a need for caffeine.
If you drink a lot of soft drinks, explore other drinks that you'll be able to order out. The biggest bummer for me was that I missed having an occasional Coke with a cheeseburger or Dr Pepper with a plate of enchiladas. You can buy decaf versions of most soft drinks at the grocery store, but they are not available in restaurants. Sooner or later, you'll get tired of drinking water or Sprite.
If you quit cold turkey, yes, you will feel like crap for a week or something. But after (if you're like me) 3 days or so, you'll feel yourself rounding the corner. You'll feel better on about day 4 than you did on day 3. On day 5, you'll feel even better. And probably, on day 10 you'll feel better than you did on day 0 (before quitting). Hopefully that is a good incentive to push through.
Speaking of incentives, if you need one, go have your blood pressure taken. If it's high (it may very well be since caffeine causes hypertension, a/k/a high blood pressure), then take a look at loooooong list of negative health effects that hypertension has. It is a risk factor for heart disease, kidney disease, strokes, etc. Basically, your blood vessels are specced to take a certain pressure, and high blood pressure means you're out of spec. It's like overclocking your circulatory system. Maybe you'll get away with no problems, but maybe you'll see a big failure out of the blue one day. Naturally, quitting caffeine will help reduce your blood pressure.
Back to the subject of energy real quick. You may have started drinking caffeine in the first place because of a lack of energy. So, doing things that will increase your energy level could be a good idea for two reasons: (1) it might make it easier to deal with the week of lethargy you'll experience when you quit, and (2) maybe you can solve the energy problem and obviate the need for caffeine. For increasing your energy, I recommend some exercise. Strength training and some cardiovascular exercise. It will actually give you more energy than caffeine does, and you'll feel better all around. It might not be a bad idea to start exercising a month or something before you quit.
You people are a bunch of pussies.
While you're just an arsehole who knows nothing about addiction, dependence or the physiology and psychology of other people.
Just quit. I was a heavy caffeine user through high school and college. I quit easilly by just stop consuming it completely
Big deal. I used heroin for five years and easily quit without any withdrawal symptoms. You know why? Because -- like you -- I wasn't actually addicted at that time. It was just a rather enjoyable habit with a few inconvenient side effects.
Of course, I went back and used again -- after all, why not? Quitting was so easy. When I tried again after another five years, it was a very different kettle of fish.
I quit easilly by just stop consuming it completely
Perhaps now you could try and quit being such an ignorant arsehole? But I warn you, you might not find that such an easy path to follow as you clearly value that aspect of your personal identity.
Smoke pot. It'll make the headaches go away and isn't addictive.
I have a major Coke habit. I loved Coke and drank it often but was relatively normal until I joined my current company that provided free soft drinks. Then I went on a major Coke binge that lasted 5 years. I would literally, literally have 6+ Cokes a day for 5 years straight.
I know I needed to stop because I was getting physiological problems from the caffeine (stomach problems, diarrhea, etc) and I gained around 40 lbs since joining this company, in part due to the massive amounts of sugar I was ingesting. So I went cold turkey and switched to Sprite, like a heroin addict going to methadone. It gave me a similar burn when I drank it but just didn't have the caffeine.
Sprite by itself didn't do the trick, but it does require a massive amount of willpower, too. There is no quick fix for a disease like what we share.
It's been over 1 year, and it has really done the trick. Oh, I still love Coke and will have it maybe once a month. I love Coke. I love Coke. I love Coke. But I don't drink it in nearly the same amounts as what I used to, and with the Sprite, I usually drink around 2-3 a day instead of 6+. I hoping to switch to either water or fruit juice soon, except those are prohibitively more expensive and more inconvenient to drink (I need to have a glass that I wash, instead of a convenient can that I can throw away). Costco water makes me piss every fifteen minutes which really sucks for a programmer.
The best way to lose an addiction is to start another one. I find sex is very good to ween you off of anything - just get laid a lot.
I think I've been out of the loop for a while... 420 == sex? When did that start?
Umm, anyway, the real answer to your caffeine addiction is pretty obvious. Sue the cola makers for not putting a warning label on their Deadly Addictive Product(TM)! Caffeine has been linked to heart disease, the #1 killer in America. Heck, the Surgeon General only had statistical correlation between cigarettes and lung cancer (#2). Think of the punitive damages! If people can sue Oscar Mayer for making them fat (thus increasing their risk of heart disease), certainly you can sue Coke for increasing your risk to heart disease and giving you headaches and brown teeth! Just think of how much better the whole world would be then! $3 for one 12 ounce can of soda, you know, to protect our children.
Go ahead, mod me down. I've got karma to burn :-)
works every time for me *cough* ...
"I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you" (Freddie Mercury)
> There's plenty of advice out there for dealing /. users have managed and controlled their
> with addiction, but I'm really interested in how
> other
> own caffeine intake...
I had to give up a 10 cup a day habit last spring for health reasons. I tapered off over three days. I had a few minor headaches, but nothing serious.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
A funny book for anyone who thinks about coffee is Memoir from Antproof Case by Mark Helprin--the protagonist has a lifelong semi-irrational hatred of coffee and "coffee apologists".
A friend of mine was addicted to caffeine - mostly diet coke. He got really seriously bad migraine - like headaches, enough to sometimes take him out for a day. He thought that if he didn't take caffeine almost constantly throughout the day, his headaches got worse.
Turns out his blood pressure was extreme, almost lethally high. But it wasn't the caffeine. In fact, the caffeine *may* have been helping to keep him alive by acting as a diuretic. He had a malformed kidney, detected by ultrasound scan, which was apparently the source of the underlying BP problem, though it took some weeks of diagnosis.
Just a thought.
I had to quit caffiene a few years ago, ,I apparently developed a sort of allergy or something to it, getting heart palpitations and chest pains from it now. Weird, it happened all ofa sudden, and had drank a few cans oc cola or Mountain Dew a day for years in college... Yes, you get headaches if you go cold turkey. Yes, some caffiene is about the only thing short-term to get rid of these headaches. But if you come off it gradually, froma few cans of soda a day to one a day for a couple weeks, then to none, I was fine. Now, if I have the occasional can of soda I'll probably get a headache after a day or two, and I take a half can or so to ease off it, and I'm fine again. But I've gotten used to Sprite, Sierra Mist, and decaf colas, so don't have the problem very often anymore. Never did like coffee, so don't care about that, and decaf cola and iced tea is fine with me, it's all that diet stuff I won't go near. :)
Drink tea. EB in the morning, Darjeeling in the afternoon in the garden, and an Earl Grey late at night in the drawing room before retiring.
I didn't want to carry fuel enough for brewing tea or coffee, packing soft drinks would have been insane, and I left the caffeinated mints at home. No liquor, either. And certainly no internet. Whether it was the environment, the exercise, the experience, or a combination, I was fine the whole time.
The catch, of course, is not falling back into the same habits once you return to civilisation, where 2 liters of non-calorie caffeinated goodness can be had for 99 cents plus deposit. But at least now I know that I can quit.
I see lots of recommendations for drugs, which I suppose are fine if you don't mind the side-effects and aren't worried about not finding the cause for the symptoms. But if you're more interested in removing the cause of the pain rather than taking something to mask the symptoms, I would suggest chiropractic. If that recommendation seems odd to you, or you're thinking, "but I don't have back pain, you moron," track down a good chiropractor who holds free information sessions. I'd recommend chiropractic to absolutely everyone, whether they have health problems (read: symptoms) or not.
I once quit caffeine "cold turkey". I was an ass for two weeks with headaches every afternoon until dinner time. Then all was well. The funny thing is, after that, the withdrawal lasts just a couple of days when I feel inclined to quit, now.
There are only 6,863,795,529 types of people in the world.
I hiked the Appalachian Trail this year... After trying to choke down instant coffee or the really horrible tea they sell in the South for several months, I eventually gave up on it. It helped that I was exercising all the time (basically 12+ hours a day) so that negated the crankyness a bit and I didn't feel like I needed any caffeine at all after awhile.
;)
Of course, now that I have a job and am back in the 'real world', I am back on my daily cup of tea in the morning...
"Instead of thinking that a cup of coffie will fix the problem, remember that it is the source of the problem"
Because for a lot of us it makes our lives crappy. I couldn't control my addiction. Before I quit I had a cup of instant at home, a grande latte in the car on the way to work, a cup of work coffee when I got in, another at about 10, one at 11, a diet coke with lunch, an espresso after lunch, a cup at 2:30 a coke at 4 a coffee at 5 and tea after dinner. If I was without for a couple of hours I started to feel sleepy and irritable. In the mornings I felt awful, I got depressed and very irritable before coffee. If I was in a place without coffee my day was ruined. I always felt a little queasy because of all the coffee I drank. Now I feel awesome, have no trouble waking up and I sleep so damn well its amazing. I can't recommend quitting enough. And that's why I villify caffeine.
Sig removed because it was obnoxious
since I am a doctor, and have a caffeine addiction of my own. Like many geeks, I've come to love that particular methyl-xanthine, and have a weaknesses for it (a hankering for mountain dew, to be specific).
There's no easy way to go off caffeine... there's no magic, or I can assure you I'd use it on myself. I've found the gradual wean to be the best route (speaking only for myself, of course).
Mostly, I live with my caffeine habit. It comes from years of working night shift, and it helps me to function and take better care of patients. If it helps you, and you're not going nuts with it, why not keep using it? It's really a fairly harmless drug in moderate doses (DO NOT take too much... I've treated caffeine-induced illnesses including supra-ventricular tachycardias, seizures, etc, in my ER... even sent a few to the ICU... moderation is key). Women seem to have more problems with caffeine, primarily related to fibrocystic disease of the breast. We sometimes use caffeine theraputically... post-lumbar-puncture headaches, and migraines are often curable with caffeine. Feel a migraine coming on? Try slamming a 20oz dew; patients have reported success with that trick. Again, YMMV.
So anyway, that's the extent of my caffeine knowledge, free for the digesting.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
The only way is to do it cold turkey. You will feel sick. At times really sick. There is no easy solution. I was addicted to caffine for 30 years. I quit last year. If you try to quit and use excedrin or motrin etc it will not help. Look at the ingredients of excedrin. It has caffine. To replace the liquid that your body is expecting drink water. You do not want to do the non-caffine diet drinks. Tastes different anyway. Some people have problems with nutra sweet, the most common sugar substitute in colas, because it makes them crave carbohydrates. If you look at the bigger picture regarding sugar drinks, look at the diabetes epedimic that is raging.
It's not specific to cola.
In Canada, fruit flavoured juices are not allowed to have caffine added.
On the other hand, vegetable flavoured juices are. Thus cola's (flavoured from the cola nut, which is, apprently, a vegtable), and Irn-Bru (ordiginally a Scottish concoction, various vegetables) are avaialble caffineated.
Mountain Dew is the only well known fruit flavoured normally caffineated soda. (Well, I've never seen any others, and I'm a label reader to a freakish extent).
From time to time I get REALLY bad caffine related headaches, and this is what I do...
1) wait the day or two until the headache gets bad.
2) drink several cups, etc., in a single go. The headache usually goes away in a few minuites.
3) repeat...
It typically only takes two or three cycles of none and dosing up before I can then go completely without any caffine and not get any more headaches.
Bestialist Professional.
Being a pro isn't easy. Alarm clock, bathroom, shower, shaving,
suit, espresso, toasts, laptop, suitcase, phone. I'm about to face
another business day.
I walk out and head to my car while calling James, and
requesting report from the farm.
- The medium stallion ready 100%, the big still not in
condition for sex. Expected recovery in two days.- he reports. I sigh.
The stallions broke lose a week ago and fought about which one is to
mate the porn star.
- Mini stallion ready. Two mares in heat - James continues. -
Goat 100% ready. Llama 100% ready. Cow still sick.
- For god's sake call the vet and force him to get her ready!
We can't afford another day of delay!
- I could borrow another cow for a few days.
- No! Customers want this one! She starred in "Moooonshine",
"The Horny" and in a dozen of other porn bestseller movies!
- OK. I'll call the vet.
- Pigs? - I ask while opening the garage door.
- Pigs ready.
- Dogs?
- All 3 danes, mastiff and rottweiler males 100% ready. The
collie and saluki bitches in heat. But...
- But what? - I shout into the phone while getting in my car.
- The german shepherd bitch is missing!
- Find her. - I turn the key. Dead silence.
- And the cow?
- The cow is the highest priority. - I get off my car and head
outside.
- Will be done. The new mare returns from training tomorrow.
- And the rhino? - I close the garage door.
- 13 days in quarantine left.
- OK. Now call the vet, look for the GSD bitch before the vet
arrives. Call the police if needed, tell them I asked.
- Understood. Good-bye.
I call taxi service. They answer there's no taxis in my area.
In quick pace I head to the train station, I have 5 minutes for the
train. Meantime I call assistance, to pick my car and have it fixed.
Ticket office, a friendly wink at a big bulldog bitch led by a small
girl and elder lady waiting in queue, the train arrives, I get in.
A fast suburb train. Quite a few people. I take a place by the window.
Phone rings. The ringtone indicates "User Support Gold service", a
helpdesk customer in deep distress, $10/minute plus $200 pay ahead.
- Bestiality helpdesk golden service, how may I help you?
- I want to fuck a mare and that *knock* damned horses just
*ouch* won't leave me alone!
- Please describe your current location, your legal status at
that location, your current time of day and your problem.
- Can't you fuck look at a watch?
- Excuse me mister, but this is an international service.
Right now my clock shows 8:14AM but your local time may be very
different. Above all please calm down, you can't have successful sex
while you're so nervous. Please note we are a professional service with
98% success ratio as long as our customers follow the instructions.
I hear a few deep breaths.
- OK. I'm in a friend's stable. A small building, twenty yards
from his house. It's his birthday and everyone else is dead drunk and
asleep. It's something about 3 in the night. What do you mean by legal
status?
- Are that your horses, if not, does the owner consent or
know, are you there legally or trespassing etc.
An elder man sitting on the seat opposite to me, gave me a
strange look.
- I'm here legally, but he doesn't know and wouldn't be happy
to learn.
- And what is your... - I get interrupted with shouts "Go
away! Leave me alone!" - What seems to be your problem?
- For two hours I've been trying to set a bucket behind the
mare. She is willing, winking, accepting my finger. I want her, I need
her, that is my life's dream... But there are several other horses here,
a foal that keeps nibbling on me, others push me around, look for
carrots, knock the bucket over...
- How many horses?
This is a good idea, not only to defer yourself, but because of the headaches you are having, which is, amongst other things, one symptom of dehydration.
Nuff said.
It wasn't really an addiction though, I was just having enough coffee to cause the headaches when I stopped. I stopped, had headaches for a week and was fine from them.
Now I generally have 2 cups a day in the morning (unless I don't want to sleep at night). For me it's just under the "addictive" theshold so I can easily miss my coffee for the day and not get a headache. 3 cups does wonders for me when I'm tired but if I do that for a few days the headaches return. I have a supply of instant decaf in case my body decides it needs more coffee. Better than real coffee and my body doesn't seem to notice the difference.
FYI - I have a big insullated cup (holds about 3 standard mugs) that I put 2 espresso shots + water and milk into. I like this arrangement because I get "lots" of coffee without having to have lots of coffee.
electroshock therapy!
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
I would suggest that if the addiction is so bad that it is causing headaches you should probably make your first step "see a doctor." The headaches may be simply a symptom of caffiene withdrawl and something that you will get past in a couple of days but what if the headaches are a side-effect of another )possibly related) problem.
The doctor can recommend a process to follow (ie:cold turkey or gradual withdrawl) and he may be able to perscribe a drug to help deal with the headaches (ie: Imitrex).
Caffiene is a dangerous drug when used in large quanities or over a prolonged period of time. It can cause irregularities in your heartbeat, throw your bloood pressure out of whack, contribute to strokes, cause migraines...
My son used to drink a 12 pack of "Dew" a day. At the ripe age of eighteen, he landed in the CCU at a hospital after having a heart fibrulation . The clinic made him go by ambulance. While in the hospital, the doctors detoxed him while he was hooked to a heart monitor. When he was released, they told him no more caffieneated beverages - period.
decaf is good advice... didn't really consider adding that to get rid of the social stigmata...
now if I can just get the devil on the left shoulder and the angel on the right shoulder to both stop saying "shit dude, just go get a cup... one cup won't hurt... come on! it's only 10pm... go get one... it tastes so good... you need it"
I know it isn't the answer you're looking for...
Drink more. Seriously; coffee has never been known to kill anyone, except possibly Honore De Balzac. It, without a doubt, makes you more lucid, and gives you the ability to carry on longer. It may even provide health benefits in that it may fight Colon Cancer and Alzheimer's. And in this job, a lot of us are sitting on our asses prime for feasting on candy and junk food; having a cup of coffee keeps my hand off the snacks, leaving me relatively thin.
A bonus if you like the taste as I do.
So yes, it is a vice. But considering all the other vices you could have, gluttony, smoking, gambling, sloth, excessive drinking, and so on, I figure coffee/caffiene addiction is pretty low on the totem pole.
I managed to cut down to 4 Cokes/DrPepper per day. This was still too much. I can't stand coffee (except iced with sugar and icecream), so after a year of this, I decided to cultivate a taste for tea . This was before all the hype about how good for you tea is supposed to be.
Initially, I made orange pekoe/black tea with 1 bag in 12 oz water - and 4 teaspoons sugar. Hey, that's a lot less than 11 tsp that come in a 12 oz Coke. Then I cut that to 2 teaspoons. I drank as many teas as I needed to stay alert. This was way better than with coke because of the decreased sugar (and no thank you on those fake sweeteners). Then I switched to green tea because a web site said that according to Chinese tradition it was superior to black tea for "scholars" - which I assume applies to programming - and has somewhat less caffein than black so as to produce "tea mind".
The green tea has a very different taste that made is much easier for me to eliminate the sugar entirely. I was now feeling much healthier. A few times, I fell off the bandwagon and got a Coke. It was calling to me - so cold and bubbly and sweet. But now, I would feel puke sick about 20 minutes after drinking a 12 oz Coke. Of course, I knew the sick feeling would go away as soon as I drank another one - but I knew better than that. I just endured the sick feeling - mentally reinforcing the association of the pain with its cause - that can of Coke.
During that time, my co-worker was kicking the cigarette habit (and is still free). I'm sure that's much harder, but we commiserated and checked on each others progress. After a year, the yearning for a Coke began to diminish to where it didn't interrupt my work any more.
The final step was to introduce decaf (CO2 process) green tea, and cut down to only 1 caffeinated tea in the morning. At this level (about 40 mg), there were no withdrawal symptoms on the weekend. I didn't want to eliminate caffeine entirely, because there are some studies showing that moderate levels protect from some brain disorders such as parkinsons.
Final data point. I recently upped caffeine intake to 2 teas per day (about 80 mg). This produces a very mild withdrawal on weekends.
Oh, and one last thing. Coke sounds like a villain in my story - but the sugar and caffeine are much less of a problem when consumed during vigorous exercise (you know, like in the commercials). And pressing keys doesn't count. According to the tea website Chinese tradition recommends black tea with its higher caffeine content for "labourers".
Thanks for letting me share.
green tea contains a chemical cousin to caffeine that is not nearly as harmful to your body, so you can switch to this in small doses during withdrawal
Voodoo Girl is the bomb!
You just added number 5 to my "good intentions" for 2004. Great.
Then I worked from home one day and was out of both sugar and milk (yes, I'm a wuss). Meant to go out. 1.5 blocks to my coffee shop, back when they were manned by cool people with good music who made a decent wage. Never got there.
Spent from 4:30 on in bed with the shades drawn and a headache and "extreme stomach discomfort". (this is a family site.) Decided enough was enough. Got some mountain dew to at least ween off it. (I was drinking 4-5 espresso's/day).
I now generally stop drinkiing it in July. I get righteous and mock my friends who need coffee. But then, Aug 1, I make a tripple dose latte and enjoy that rush that's been missing for a year. Woo Hoo! That's the payoff
So:
Reduce intake - duh. Unlike cigarettes, you don't have CRAVINGS for coffee. You have a headache and feel like crap - for a day.
Drink water (not soda, not beer, just plain water). it's good for you in general. I keep a nalgene bottle by my desk. It hydrates you.
Caffeine opens blood vessels. Drink water, pop a couple asprins.
When you really cut off, do it on a wasted saturday (rainy, useless, no thinking needs).
A Week!? I suppose if you drink 8-10 cups a day. On the other hand, cut back first. My boss switched to decaf in the afternoon. Then started cutting his post-10 AM coffees with half decaf. Ended up with 2 cups of caffeinated per day.
A day is quite reasonable cause you'll be fuzzy and might feel like crap. And suck it up, this ain't morphine or nicotine. It's freaking coffee. If you're addiction is soda, then it's about sugar.
Oh, if you're in Europe (france, italy), the above applies less. My french friends mock american coffee. They make me coffee and pass me a glass of water to dilute it to "american strength". (I just dump 2-3 sugars in instead).
I swear french coffee is:
- Make 2 espressos.
- change the grounds
- dump the 2 espresso's back into the machine through the fresh grounds.
No needle? Use a cup to injest it.Drink less of it
Drink more water.
Repeat until no caf.
Several years ago my doctor told me and I quote "no drinking, no smoking, no citrus, no caffeine, no chocolate, and no eating after 7:00 PM". Or I could learn to put up with internal bleeding - the choice wasn't difficult.
It took about three days for the headaches to pass and this is normal caffeine withdrawl. This was six or seven years ago and I find that I don't really miss it - I periodically celebrate with a Turkish coffee at a local Persian resturant - a one time special treat doesn't reactivate the physical need and its kind of fun to experience the caffeine affect without having it being a way of existence.
FYI sooner or later *all* men have prostate trouble - stop having caffeine and you'll be one of the last in your peer group
I am very easy to get along with, but I don't have time to waste being nice to people who are being stupid. -Theo
I've smoked 16 years 20 a day at least. During those years I've tried to stop a couple of times, albeit half-heartedly, and of course never succeeded.
A little over two years ago a friend (also smoker - or ex-) got me a book. A guy named Allen Carr has written one called Easy Way To Stop Smoking. You smoke while you read it, and when it's done - you put out your last cigarette and throw the rest out.
I did that on a monday - on the following friday I went to a party and drank hard - All the while looking at smokers thinking "YES! I'm glad that isn't me!" - I can't really tell you how EASY it was! Amazing! - Oh, yeah, and that was two years ago.
Check it out! You can get it at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk or even at Barnes & Noble.
Any technology distinguishable from magic, is insufficiently advanced.
The problem with water filters is that, while they do filter out anything which might taste a bit odd to you, they actually remove a number of helpful things from the water, which are added by your local water department (e.g. vitamin B, and fluorine, the dental benefits of which are substantial and documented), and some things which aren't (the amount of iron accumulated in processing and pipes is well within the range of useful to your body). Other sediment picked up along the way isn't particularly harmful either, although it does nothing for you.
So really, if you drank nothing but fresh and clean, pure water from day one, you'd have awful and horrible teeth. Ask your local dentist about the benefits of fluoridized water if you don't believe me.
---- I'll take you in a Hunt deathmatch any day.
I get up first in the morning and make the coffee. She asked me to get her off of caffeine without the headaches, and I did it. It took about three weeks.
I simply mixed decaf beans in with the "leaded" beans gradually over time until they were 100% decaf. Like I said, I did it over about three weeks, maybe 80:20 for 5 days, 60:40 for 5 days, etc. The day I told her she was completely decaffeinated, she was surprised. No headaches, no side effects.
Please don't flame me immediately and gripe how this is so stupid. I'm just going to propose something that really isn't scientifically based...just based soley on observations of people I know who complain that they must be addicted to caffeine. So, just take it for what its worth, and if it is nothing to you...then no worries.
Now that the disclaimer is there, what I wonder is if there is really such a thing as caffeine addiction at all...at least not with the caffeine consumption level that the grand majority of people have?
Someone else must of shown this already in a post, but from poking around other caffeine content studies I found that the following drinks (in ounces) have the amount of caffeine (in milligrams) in them listed after the drink:
I put the "~" or approximately in there just because some brew tea weaker or stronger depending on what they like. Same with coffee.
But what that means is that the 16 ounce glass of coffee I buy from my local coffee shop in the morning has approx. 330mg of caffeine in it...assuming that I drink the whole cup. That is like drinking SIX cans of Mountain Dew, except for one thing......no sugar.
The USDA recommends that the average person have no more than 10 TEASPOONS of sugar PER DAY (40 grams). But look at the sugar content in these drinks and food items:
So by drinking ONE 12oz CAN of Mountain Dew you exceed the USDA's recommendation by 1.5 teaspoons of sugar. Most people that I know who drink soda generally have two 12oz cans or even two 16oz plastic bottles of soda per day. Or others even have those 24oz "refill" cups.
Now for me, even though I have ~330-660mg of caffeine in my one or two 16oz cups of coffee each day...I can easily take a weekend off without coffee and suffer absolutely zero side effects. Now...this wouldn't be the case for my mother, as an example, who drinks FAR more coffee per day than I do. She drip-brews fresh ground coffee all day long...so she might have 32-64oz EVERY day, and she does get headaches if she goes without, unlike myself with my intake.
So, what I'm suggesting is that most people who claim they are caffeine addicted are more likely addicted to the sugars they get with their soda, or the sugars that they get with their "treat" they have with their coffee, since the body can become addicted to sugars as well far more easily than caffeine.
Thoughts?
Disclaimer: I'm an ER doc, and I treat several migraine patients a day.
The origin of migraines is incompletely understood, and the vascular theory is only one of the hypotheses that are used to explain the origin of migraines. In addition to the vascular theory, some evidence points to serotonin and dopamine receptor involvement... the truth of the matter is that nobody knows.
However, that said, read this thread and you'll understand why an entire industry has grown up around migraine treatment... everyone's are different. There are entire clinics and centers that do nothing but treat migraines... do an internet search and you'll find some. There are neurologists out there who make a good living treating nothing but migraines.
If you read the list of medications that are used to treat migraines, it reads like a pharmacy inventory... everything from cardiac medications to anti-seizure medications, sedatives, steroids, anesthetics, narcotics, anti-psychotics, and everything inbetween. If a person has migraines long enough, they eventually find out something that works for them, primarily through trial and error... once you go through the common drugs with no relief, there's almost no other way to find a treatment for refractory migraines.
For my own part, I've found one thing that almost universally relieves migraines: sleep. Sometimes the treatment of a particularly severe migraine involves nothing short of knocking a person out with drugs so that they can go home and sleep it off.
Back on topic, however... caffeine is an effective treatment for migraines, particularly in the early phase of the headache. Keep in mind, however, that one man's meat is invariably another man's poison: caffeine relieves migraines in most people, but causes them in others.
All I can say is know your triggers, avoid them, and treat EARLY.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
I've quit both smoking and caffeine, each of which I started intetionally, for the effects of the drugs (hey, I'm a student, and they've got measurable benefits on my grades!), and my experience has been this:
If you want to break an addiction, do it multiple times. This will kill you at first if you've been addicted for years, but after a couple of cycles you'll be able to drink coffee whenever you want the caffeine, with no worries about a relapse. What do you is take up your addiction, then stop for a couple of weeks, until you're functional. Then start drinking it again if you want it, but be sure to quit after a week or so and stop for a couple of weeks. After awhile of this, you get pretty good at breaking addictions, and it becomes no trick at all not to get addicted when you _do_ want coffee or a cigarette because you need to be extra-sharp.
---- I'll take you in a Hunt deathmatch any day.
Buy some decent coffee. Avoid all other caffeinated beverages Start by drinking a cup of good strong coffee at breakfast time and lunchtime. After a month, quit the lunchtime cofee. After another month drop your volume of breakfast coffee by half, or start drinking tea instead. After this, consider whether you want to continue with drinking caffeineated beverages or not. At this stage, withdrawls should be minimal. You can substitute a week for a month in the above recipe if you like, but coffee is nice and enjoyable so why move too fast? My wife has gone from a two cup a day person to a no cups a day person using this method both times she's been pregnant.
"...we should just trust our president in every decision that he makes and we should just support that." B.Spears 2003
I do this every year, and each time, I quit cold turkey. Man, is it painful. I normally drink in excess of 12 cups of STRONG coffee per day, plus an additional turkish cup of coffee (it's like an espresso on steroids), and/or some soda.
It takes me 2 - 3 weeks each year, but by the end, I have beaten my addiction. In the mean time, I just deal with the headaches. Unless you've tried quitting, you won't understand the pain involved with the headaches, or the changes in personality, but quitting cold turkey is the only way to go.
Typically, the first week, I just pass out after 5 or 6 in the evening. The pain in my head is so intense, I have no other choice. Make sure that you drink PLENTY of water, and get lots of rest. The second week, I find that the headaches tend to drop off a lot, and I don't get sleepy until 7 or 8. The need for sleep scales back, along with the pain in my head. After 2 weeks, I'm ok, and after 3 weeks, I'm good to go.
Some words of advice. What ever you do, under NO circumstances should you think that you can just take a little bit of caffine and ween yourself off. This does not work. It never works. Also, makes sure that you get a lot of rest, and that you drink a LOT of water. Weekends are the worst, as they represent unstructured time, which leads to temptation... on the other hand, you're probably going to be passing out by 8 PM on Friday night, and sleeping in until noon on Saturday!
Make sure that everyone around you knows that you are trying to quit.... not so much for emotional support... it's meaningless while you're being pissy... more so that you don't feel guilty, and so that the people around you cut you a little slack.
I don't know anyone who drinks more coffee than me, and I've tried every possible routine you can imagine until I finally figured out that I just needed to quit cold turkey. It's a hard thing to do, and unfortanately, there is no "Caffine Spa" pill that can make this hard thing easy.
On a psychological note... I never really got the will power to quit until I decided to make it a test of will power. There may be health-related reasons for you wanting to quit. I know that in my case, 12 cups of coffee a day is not healthy. But what gave me the strength was the determination that I was going to show an inanimate bean that I have control over it-- not the other way around. I don't know what kind of personality you have, but thinking of it as a test of will power might help.
Good luck!
P.S. for more help, email me: jyamisha@the_free_web-based_email_service_with_the _word_hot_in_it.com
i want to live life, not just go through the motions
Why is it you're trying to quit, exactly? What benefit do you expect from it? Is there a reason, other than you think it might be better for your health?
I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it!
Yup. After pretty much living on Pepsi and then Coke for my high school and college years (though I was never a coffee drinker), I stopped cold turkey in January 1992. I had a headache -- constant, low-level, not piercing -- until that April. Then my head was fine.
What amazed me most was that my digestion improved dramatically. After about a month, I realized with great surprise that my whole food tube worked smoother than ever; my colon had been virtually tied in a knot for years. This may seem excessively prosaic, but believe me, well-working innards are an unfathomable blessing.
A couple of years ago, in my usual post-prandial sleepyheadedness, I decided to try a Frappuccino. BAM! I was awake! I was mentally productive! I was ON! And, very shortly, my abdomen was vaguely crampy and bound-up. I tried it again the next day: The mental effect was far less pronounced, but the digestive malaise was back in full force. That was the last experiment I needed.
After quitting, I did have a more pronounced fuzz in my head in the morning, much harder to shake off. But I've found that an all-night decongestant removes that and lets me bounce easily out of bed in the morning -- it seems to be breathing-related, not a matter of caffeination (though the two may be linked somehow; IANAMD).
It's hell for a while, but if you stick with it, you may find that quitting caffeine (and paying separate attention to your other problems) makes you a lot healthier in the long run. Did for me.
I was able to quit smoking cold turkey 35 years ago, but I could not quit caffeine - 7-8 cans of diet cola per day. Somehow the caffeine was worse than cigarettes, and they were really hard to quit.
I quit when I ended up in a hospital recovering from a bad accident. I knew I would be pretty well doped up for a week, and I figured I would not notice the caffeine withdrawal much under the circumstances. It worked, and I was careful not to take any caffeine during the rest of the hospital stay.
It worked but it is probably best not to plan on this route!
The reverse is, ah, "fun" to experience, also.
Spent a year without a drop of coffee and little in the way of caffeine from other sources. Then, returning home (I was backpacking), I stayed up all night with an old friend and together we drank three and a half carafes. I was seriously fucked up. Shakes, sweating, couldn't think straight, head hurt. Never before had it hit me the extent to which these legal drugs we are so used to really are drugs with all the connotations that follow. All the more bizarre that certain drugs are demonized, not for relevant differences, but because they are drugs and that is bad.
Of course, you realize what this means: Coffee drinkers are terrorists!
I just read in one reply about someone complaining about 2 liters of soda a day being bad and quiting from that. I drink between 12-24 or more cans a day on average... (More during the holidays)... I have constant head aches, I blame it on my eyes though... I get real real real angry at people around me when I dont have a soda... How much caffiene do you guys take in on average? and what do you consider alot?
I quit cold turkey several months ago. Sure, I got slight headaches a bit for about a week after, but ever since, no problem. No blinding headaches, no severe grumpiness (well, technically I was grouchy ass even when I was drinking an eight pack of MD every day, and I'm no better now, but I didn't get any *worse* either). Was I just lucky that I could go from such an extreme amount of caffiene everyday to none with no major problems or side affects?
(For a note, I do drink caffiene again, but in very slight moderation, simply because even with caffiene I'm dead in the morning. I drink one bottle of either MD or Bawls in the morning when I first get into work, and nother but water the rest of the day. This is after about 4 months of no caffiene at all, tho.)
Time-release 100-mg B complex, with plenty of water. Also good for hangovers if you take the B last thing before hitting the sack.
I have gone off caffeine cold turkey a couple of times this way.
I've had a caffeine addiction for the past 6 going on 7 years... since I was 12 years old... I have recently managed to give it up for the past 8 months only by drinking Cordial and water... The water gives me a full stomach amd the cordial gives me my sugar fix... The caffeine headaches went away for me after about a week. After that, I'm back in school, doing the best in the class and I no longer stay up to 6am! I'm happily caffine/headache/sick free for the past 8 months :D
Coffee has a lot more caffiene than soda (I think it's about 3x), so you should probably get rid of it first. Reduce by maybe half a cup every day or two until you're off of coffee (while maintaining the same number of sodas every day), then start reducing by a can of soda every day or two until you're where you want to be. Two or three cans a day is a good level.
Then just schedule your cans of soda during the day. Maybe one in the morning, one noonish, and another in the evening. Drink water the rest of the time, because you will need to replace the water that you're now not getting in coffee or soda.
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
I have also tried, unsuccessfully, to kick caffeine for many, many years - but could never get through the agonizing withdrawal headaches. OTC medication like ibuprofen didn't even take the edge off. What finally worked for me were kidney stones - I was on heavy-duty prescription pain medication for ten days, during which time I didn't consume any caffeinated beverages. After that was all over, I just didn't drink any more caffeinated beverages...and, much to my surprise, no headaches. The withdrawal symptoms were apparently masked by the meds and by more excrutiating pain elsewhere. Not that I'm suggesting that you abuse prescription medication, but other posters have suggested lots of water or fruit juice, OTC pain relievers like ibuprofen, and so on. That never did it for me - the headaches were just too much to bear. If they don't work for you either I would suggest that you talk to your physician. Perhaps something can be prescribed for you that will help.
starting on the first day, I don't have caffeine after 8pm. After two days, I don't have any after 7pm. And soo on.
This way I taper off it. Plus I always got the headaches in the morning. This way I avoided the morning headaches.
Drink Juice that has some Vitamin C in it.
I actually feel better without [too much] caffeine (Pepsi, actually). Even that at some point i couldnt drink it anymore; it was disgusting.
In fact, I can get so many colds (if I dont drink alot of Vit. C) that its not even funny, like once a week (due to some pollen allergy). Go figure why, but drinking works.
"...a generation of kids has grown up thinking Trance is the shittiest music since country and western." - Paul van Dyk
Well I had a 4-5 a day Mt Dew habit. I stopped August 4th and haven't had one since.
Here's how I did it.
1. Cut back for about 2 weeks - just enough to avoid the headaches. Choose something else to drink instead when you can.
2. Then after that just quit the biggest source(s) cold turkey. I had a pop for lunch or dinner. That was enough with pain killers to keep the headaches from being constant.
Then the hard part wait it out. It won't take more than a few days for the headaches to go away. Drink lots of water too.
Good luck!
I got off of caffine by gradually mixing regular coffee beans with decaf coffee beans. After about a couple of weeks, I was off of caffine. However, I discovered that one addiction grows to overtake the void left by a previous addiction, a weird variant of Boyles Gas Law, so chocolate has come to rule all. The results of dropping caffine is about 50 lbs. My advice, keep the caffine and take saw palmetto as caffine can contribute to enlarged prostate problems. Take it as a variant of Newton's "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" law. If you have an addiction, you will have to come up with something to mitigate its affects. If you get rid of an addiction, your other addictions will grow to take up the space vacated by the departing addiction.
The moral to the story is: life is stressful, addictions help mitigate the stress, stress and addictions both contribute to a reduced life span, fear of death causes us to question our addictions, which increases our stress level, etc............ It's all about the math.
Get up in the morning. take two of the strongest legal pain killers you can find. Repeat every eight to twelve hours for two or three days. Worked for me. Nothing more then a mild headache. At the time I was constantly guzzling iced tea and diet coke. Net effect on my ability to stay awake and be productive? Next to nothing since I was so adicted that it had next to no effect in perking me up. Every year or two I'll be in a situation where I'm really tired and have to stay alert. One can of Coke later I'm back on track for an hour or two. I view this as a nother benifit of having quit. IE, it doesn't take much these days for me to see a benifit. On a serious note I had a good friend who died way too young in part because he was adicted to caffiene. Slept maybe two or three hours a night and it ruined his immune system. I'm not a real fan of the whole caffiene culture in high tech for this and many other reasons.
Yes, lie to your doctor. You're an idiot.
Do like I did with smokes and caffine - just quit
It all goes away after a short time.
Summary: I kicked the caffeine addiction. The lack of caffeine had me sleeping incredible amounts of time during the withdrawal. Tylenol kept me functional for the months of headaches. I substituted other drinks with varying degrees of success until water became my main drink.
---
I was a major caffeine addict. I sometimes drank a few pots of coffee at night, but my major addiction was to Pepsi. I drank at least a gallon of Pepsi each day for 8 years, and sometimes finished 4 2-liter bottles in one day. Sometimes I drank Jolt instead, but still in large quantities. I usually slept about 2 hours per day, with a crash for 12 hours of sleep once a fortnight.
Pepsi destroyed my stomach. I did not have an ulcer, but I did have constant acid reflux. This may also have become a problem because before the support job, I rarely had to speak much. As phone support, I was talking for 10 hours per day. The new pattern of my mouth constantly moving may have caused my stomach to believe that food was coming, and I rarely ate while doing support. (Anybody doing phone support should have some kind of snack to keep the stomach happy. If you are over-weight, make the snack something like Pirate's Booty that has no value except to give your stomach something to work on.)
I was transferring from support to administration. My first day as an administrator would not be for 2 months, but I definitely had the job, so I was not worried about my performance in support. It seemed the perfect opportunity to kick the addiction.
I first switched from Pepsi to Mountain Dew, thinking that the lemon-lime drinks had less caffeine. (You can laugh now.) After reading the label and realizing my mistake, I switched to Gatorade. No caffeine, but tons of sugar to match the Pepsi.
I slept 10 hours every day during withdrawal, and woke up still tired. I had headaches for the first time in my life. I learned the joys of Tylenol, which was necessary so I could think while learning my new job.
Withdrawal lasted almost 3 months. After the first 2 months, the sleep I required started to reduce until by 6 months I was sleeping 4 hours a day, which is what I needed before the addiction.
After about a year, I switched from Gatorade to Sprite. That lasted another year, then I switched to water. I actually overdosed on water. The lack of sugar meant that my tastebuds did not recognize that I was drinking, so I was constantly thirsty. After pouring about 4 gallons of water through my system in 5 hours, my throat was stripped (and I was sick of running to the bathroom every 20 minutes.) I had to alternate Sprite and water for a week. Then I managed to stay with water with an occasional Sprite until this April, when Tropical Sprite (sold under the silly name "Sprite Remix") was released. I really like it, and it became my primary non-alcoholic drink for the Summer, after which I switched back to water.
---
After-effects:
If I have any caffeine, I feel it immediately. About half an hour afterwards, I crash; it becomes almost impossible to stay awake. I will not drive a car for the hour after I have caffeine. (This happens because many restaurants have awful-tasting water and do not serve alcohol or Sprite, so I try the root beer. Waitresses usually insist it is not caffeinated, but they are often wrong.)
---
The parent post's advice seems good. I wish I had read it before my attempt. One week was not enough for my withdrawal, but YMMV.
I spend my life entertaining my brain.
I have never drunk coffee (well, maybe a cup or two back in the 70's when I was "experimenting"), but I used to drink two liters of Coca-Cola per day.
...
One day I decided to just give it up cold turkey.
I had a bad headache for three or four days, which gradually faded after another day or two.
I haven't drunk any Coca-Cola (or any other non-medicinal caffine source) since.
Go cold turkey.
You'll feel bad for a week at the outside, and then you'll be fine.
You'll (*yawn*) also find that your energy level increases, and Zzzzz
Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
Somebody told me of a story of some guy who had been a smoker for 40 years and quit cold turkey by having himself tranquilized (and unconscious) for a week so he wouldn't have to experience the withdrawal.
Now I'm sure he would of been feed intravenously, but is that even possible? Can somebody be safely tranquilized and unconscious for a week?
I'm not sure you'd want to go such extremes with caffeine, but if it's really bad.....
I have to take narcotics regularly to counter constant head pain (almost nine years so far - car accident). What I have to be careful with is taking those drugs very often because my body adapts to many drugs quickly enough such that there would be nothing else I could take from that drug family.
By the same token, I used to drink a *lot* of iced tea becaus I liked the taste. I had to stop all caffeine as part of a drug study and haven't gone back from almost two years ago. Lipton has caffeine-free but I haven't touched even that.
Before you ask, stopping the caffeine hasn't done anything to the head pain.
I stopped cold-turkey. No muss, no fuss.
Reading a lot of journalism (enough from reputable sources), there are several things manufacturers know they have to get to you by the time you are nineteen or they more-or-less give up on getting their claws on you, figuring if they get you at all (later), it'll be luck:
1. rap; 2. coffee; 3. cigarettes. (these were not in the same article - I'm just condensing them)
I drank caffienated soda for over twenty years and decided I didn't want to do it anymore because it made me nervous. So I stopped. I had a mild headache for a day or two. It was not a big deal. I still don't drink it. I smoked two packs of Marlboros a day for over ten years. I decided I was tired of the expense, the annual chest cold and the increasing risk to my health. So I stopped. It sucked for about a week. I probably chewed up a whole forest worth of toothpicks for a few months afterword. But it's been over twelve years or so and I don't miss it at all. Frankly, after all the hype, I had thought it was all going to be much more difficult than it actually was. You can do it if you want to. It's simply a question of willpower.
When i stoped drinking all caffine and switched to water. I was drinking a pitcher of water atleast every day and I still had a 3 day headache. I find it hard to accept that that headache was caused by lack of hydration and not by quitting drinking all caffine containing drinks.
I quit caffeine repeatedly throughout my life, until the last time, and so far so good for a number of months now.
My withdrawl symptoms from caffeine were always severe; shakes, cramps, migraines, and general irritability. A number of times I tried cold turkey, but each time I tried to quit it left me suffering too much for the effort to be worthwhile.
Finally I decided cold turkey just wasn't worth it. So I went simpler; I weaned myself down, from a 2 litre a day habit of cola. First I dropped to a 1 litre a bottle a day, for two-three weeks. From there, a 710 millilitre bottle a day, again for two weeks, then down to the 650 ml bottle for another week, then finally a 355ml can a day for two weeks. After that I switched to a 455ml bottle of orange juice a day, and haven't looked back.
Best of all, I suffered next to no withdrawl; weaning it out of my system gradually helped the process tremendously.
"To pass through the jungle; silence, courtesy, ferocity, as the occasion demands." -- Kamau, "Proper Passage"
At the same time as you are cutting out caffiene, cut out sugar. If you have it in your coffee, then it is as much of a culprit as
Go to one of the good low carb diets (Eat Right 4 Your Type is my preferred one) and the transition away from caffiene will be easier than you thought.
I was diagnosed as allergic to caffeine some years back. I was more than unhappy, as I was also a true coffee-holic, putting down 3-4 pots (not cups) or more of coffee every day.
Those folks who are declaring that you can't be addicted to caffeine need to learn more about immunology, you can be addicted to a lot more things than most people think.
Quitting was not fun, and I did it cold turkey, as my allergic reaction was distinctly unpleasant (I won't go into detail). It worked for me, I don't know if it will work for you. Tapering off is another option. Again, ymmv. Will power is the real issue: Do you REALLY want to quit?
I don't recommend starting a new addiction to end an old one. You're just trading problems.
The folks who are telling you to drink lots of water are right. I would say a minimum of a gallon a day, and more, even a lot more, won't hurt things a bit.
FYI, there are some six or seven compounds that masquerade under the common appelation of caffeine. The stuff in coffee and black tea is one and the same. Green tea is a different compound, and chocolate is a third. The caffeine in soda can be any one of several variants, depending on the brand. Green tea and chocolate in moderation don't bother me. Coffee, black tea, Mountain Dew, etc., I don't go there any more.
GO FOR IT! The goal is worth the journey.
Subject says it all... very curious on that one.
Just kill yourself....i'm sure the world really doesn't need you anyway.
Seriously, no joke. Good job.
AAre yi saying I'm drinking ttoooo much cofffeeee???? WWWhyt do you sound llike my wiffee? IIts Ok. Just drink th ccoffee and take it likke a mman.
Back in 1991, I was put on Prozac for about a year. One of the pleasant side effects was I had no withdrawal symptoms from caffeine or sugar. (Unfortunately, some of the other side effects are not as pleasant -- especially the shaky hands and sexual problems. But they only get annoying after about 6 months.)
13 years later, I'm addicted to caffeine again and it's not so easy this time. Now, I only drink decaf beverages at home and caffeinated beverages at work. But, I still haven't been able to take the step of cutting it out altogether. And I can't resist that triple venti latte when I don't get enough sleep.
I don't know whether you could convince a doctor to prescribe an SSRI medication just to quit caffeine. Perhaps if your withdrawal symptoms are particularly bad and you have other health problems aggravated by the caffeine.
Is it causing you any problems? Do you have other medical problems that are exacerbated by caffeine? If not, why quit? Caffeine seems to help alertness even if you use it long term, so if you can tolerate it without any ill effects, it might help you a little. And black and green teas may have other benefits.
One thing you should stay away from: soft drinks with caffeine--not because of the caffeine but because of the sugar and/or artifical sweetener. Sugar is dangerous (weight gain, diabetes) and artifical sweeteners are not so good either. So, stick to unsweetened tea or coffee. Sticking with tea or coffee also lets you vary your caffeine intake by choosing decaffeinated versions or herbal versions--without changing your habits.
Be sure that not all your fluid intake is from caffeinated beverages--they may act as mild diuretics. Mineral water is always a safe and good choice.
Quitting was easy for me, because I associated the headaches with consuming the substance, not abstaining from it (and that's actually accurate). After a day, or two of abstinance, the headaches go away, but the trick is, you have to continue to abstain for a couple of months after that to get the whole chemical soup our of your system.
As for the caffi-centric society, just start something different. I got myself a nice big glass jug. It's great for mixing (non-caffinated) juices of all sorts in. Sometimes I'll have instant juice. Sometimes I'll have frozen juice (you do have a fridge at work, don't you?)
A $1 can of frozen orange juice will give you about a litre (quart) of fluids... A much better buy than a cup of coffee, and a good deal healthier.
When we go to a bar/restaurant I'll have decaf tea, or ginger-ale/sprite/7-up. Root beer is nice, as long as it's not Barq's (which is artifically caffinated), and most restaurants have some sort of juice.
Just remember that you don't have to choose like a sheep. People generally respect the fact that you're willing to choose something a bit different (as long as you don't preach about your choice).... Even if they razz you about it, they still respect it. Usually they're just curious about your choice.
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
That is, tea, coffee, chocolate, and caffeinated sodas. A day or two later you'll experience around 24 hours of craving and maybe a foul mood, and then you'll be ok (and feeling much better than before).
Caffeine constricts your blood vessels. So when you withdraw, the vessels adjust to their normal (larger size) and you get pain.
If you can operate your Etch-a-Sketch quickly enough to display 80Hz video on it, then you really need to cut down on the caffeine...
Make me your friend; my fans get +1 comment scores.
From http://www.cdc-cdh.edu/hospital/cardio/art44.html
Now before folks call me alarmist, this is not true of everybody. I happen to be someone with a very high sensitivity to caffeine, and one of my brothers has this too, though interestingly neither of my parents do. I discovered how sensitive I was to caffeine after it put me in the cardiac wing of a hospital for a day and a half with an atrial fibrillation, even though I am fit and don't smoke.
That experience has left me thinking that people are awfully blasee about using what can be a very strong stimulant for people with certain biochemistry. So let me add that to all the other excellent advice about getting used to drinking water.
One other thought:
If you don't have hypertension, you might try snacking on sunflower seeds periodically. The salt gives you a wicked urge to drink water, and the seeds take enough work to crack that you don't really go through that many calories.
Seriously, in Jan 2000 I was sicker than I've been in a long time, flu type symtoms, but I slept pretty much full time. After a week and a half of that I releazed that I didn't need coffee anymore. At the time I was drinking it all day too, and wanted to cut back to two cups only in the morning, but I had no idea how to. So, get sick, or take a long vacation where you can sleep in allot.
CB
free ipod and free gmail!
Drink plenty of water. The more you drink the better. You should drink about 32 ounces a day. You will be able to cut right down on caffiene. I have done it and it works wonders. Get some exxercise to your getting fat sitting in front of that pc.
This is one of those damned interventions I've read about. GET AWAY FROM ME...I can handle it...it's not a problem, I don't want to stop...NOOOOO GIVE IT BACK...GIVE US BACK OUR PRECIOUS SODA...it's ours and ......WE....wants it!!!!!!!
go cold turkey. Thats what i did.
Eat an Apple every time you feel like you need a buzz. Provides more of a buzz than caffiene, apparently, without any of the side effects (dehyrdation, diaeretic, etc), and on the upside, it's good for your teeth, w00t.
Also, PLENTY of water. You'll be surprised how many problems you have just drinking water will fix. Something like 95% of people don't drink the 2 litres of water a day they're supposed to.
The only downside to the water drinking, is that you need to pee every hour or so. But it does cleanse your system, and it's good time away from the keyboard (and since you don't want RSI, all the better!)
Nature is a wonderful thing...
Possibly, the stupidest statement I've ever read on Slashdot. If you can't see why, then, well, wow.
Chr0m0Dr0m!C
I had a severe caffeine addiction some years ago. I was drinking about 15 cups a day. Ironically, it seemed that I had built up a tolerance, because instead of feeling perky, I was feeling more and more run-down. Then I read in Earl Mindell's Vitamin bible that " a gallon of coffee will deplete all the B-1 in your body." Since the B-Complex is ineffective without all it's components, I was basically shutting down my metabolism. I immediately went out and bought a bottle of TwinLabs "StressMates" -- chewable B-complex/Vitamin C Wafers (B and C vitamins are water soluble, so you need to replenish them everyday). I was able to cut down to one or two cups of coffee a day without any side effects. Also, the coffee I did drink had the desired stimulant effect. Of course, one must also be aware of the othjer caffeine sources in one's diet, like CHocolate and Coke. Diet Coke or Pepsi may be doubly addictive because of the presence of Aspartame (Nutrasweet -- composed of phenylalanine, an amino acid) which has some neurological effects that may increase the addictiveness of the beverage. There's a whole host of other reasons why I would advise avoiding anything that has nutrasweet in it, but I want to stay "on-topic".
Traditional Chinese medicine - acupuncture and herbs - has some treatments that can help prevent many withdrawal symptoms.
I substituted green tea for coffee. A mild buzz plus it contains various healthy substances. Switching to it rather than going cold turkey was easier for me.
Some of us drink coffee and alcohol because they compensate for each other. You may need to back off alcohol while you are quitting coffee. Especially stop drinking alcohol after dinner, when it will affect your sleep patterns and make you more tired the next day.
Once you eliminate the need for a morning coffee to get going, you will wake up faster. It's almost like gaining an hour in the day.
You may be a undiagnosed migraine sufferer.
Ironically, heavy caffeine actually can alleviate the symptoms of migraine, depending on the patient.
So your situation could be more complex than you realize.
So if you can get totally clean of caffeine for a while (say a week) and are still getting headaches, definitely see a doctor to discuss it.
The following should go without saying: STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM NUTRASWEET/ASPARTAME!!!
Amen. As an average Norwegian coffee drinker (8-10 cups per day, around 3 times as strongs as American coffee), I can tell you non-drinkers or occasional drinkers that the symptoms you get when going cold turkey can be far from trivial, and includes (but is not limited to) jitters, temperature variations, hypotension, abdominal pain, priapism, sensory over- or undersensitivity, and (I hate it when this happens) loss of control and feeling of extremities. Yes, your fingers and toes, and sometimes arms and face can fall asleep. All at the same time. Without moving around helping one bit, like when it's a nerve pinch.
The physical problems with quitting heavy coffee drinking are worse than quitting nicotine, although usually less painful and less psychical. While a bad fit of nicotine craving might make you take a $100 taxi to go buy a pack or raid ashtrays or worse, a bad fit of caffeine depravation can kill you.
Be careful, and step down. Use caffeine analogues, like theine and theobromine. The caffeine in tea (theine) is almost similar to the one in coffee, but doesn't give you the rush, and sits in the system longer. As such, it's near ideal to use when trying to quit. Theobromine, as in chocolate, has a much milder effect, and won't really do much for physical cold turkey symptoms, although it can make you feel better.
Regards,
--
*Art
It may in other parts of the world, but not here in Australia. I think only cola-based drinks are allowed to have it here.
At least I know why everyone (except us) drinks it in quantity now!
but where I live, it goes down to -30 or -40 in the winter.
StepMania is cardio for people who for some reason can't leave the house. Controller sold separately.
Probably because all of the fast-twitch first posters are still too hyped up on caffeine to actually have a 'quitting' story.
Getting drunk while I was playing counter-strike until the middle of the night & smoking 1.5 packs of cigarettes. My room was littered with beer bottles, empty packages of smokes & overfull ashtrays... I turned the white walls in my room yellow. My mom hated it. When I turned 27 she finally had enough and kicked me out.
Left 4 Dead Gaming Group - http://www.l4dgg.com
I stopped drinking soda a few years ago. Advil really helped me through it. I still get headaches from time to time, but I think its more due to eye strain than caffeine.
I have been a "caffine adict" on several occasions (defined as getting bad-ass headaches if I don't get it!)
The solution is always the same... cut back.
Currently, I am working from home and I "do" only 2-3 "half-caf" cups of coffee and maybe one cafinated soda a day (diet - easy on the teeth). What's wrong with that?
If you consume too much of anything you have a problem. Deal.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
I just picked up a Jura F9 superauto espresso/coffee machine. It's like having a liquid crack dispensor in the kitchen. :)
I'm amazed crema coffee hasn't hit the US yet. Love it.
I have one severe bowl of Sanani or Harrar, brewed up Turkish style first thing in the morning...years ago I quit having having second or further cups later in the day as I would get no sleep. I asked Starbucks via the e-mail customer response on their website [they actually do answer the e-mail!] so I know I am getting around 500mcg ... its just sublethal according
to my doctors but I don't even get arhythmia.
I REALLY enjoy that cup and aside from a
tendency to focus on the exits if a morning
meeting goes over an hour, I'm able to sail
through the day and still sleep well by
midnight...but I am acclimated to the cycle
of having the caffeine run out once a day so
if I dont get my fix in the morning, I can
skip that day and not die...my code just looks
funny. And I have gotten so picky about the
coffee that the typical burnt brown bilge festering
in the pots of most offices and overhyped
doughnut shops is utterly disgusting
to me, making it easy to stick to my coffee diet.
SLASHDOT: news for people who can't concentrate on work or have no life at all and got tired of yelling back at the TV.
Caffeine is a diuretic, so when you stop using caffeine, your body is *less* likely to be dehydrated.
That's with, say, caffeine pills.
When quitting caffeinated drinks, it is fairly good odds that removing the liquid is offset by removing the diuretic effect. Since most people tend to get thirsty during the day, if you drink water *when you naturally get thirsty*, and at meals, then you're not going to be dehydrated.
Headaches from caffeine withdrawal *really are a withdrawal symptom*. It has been shown in studies. It isn't just a side effect of dehydration.
I'm not a doctor, your mileage may vary, yada yada. Just pointing out that all these posts about dehydration are a little bit off base, or at the very least, an incomplete picture of what is going on in your body.
It's not possible to live without caffeine. I wish the genetic engineers would make caffeine glands.
John Kerry is a Joke!
before you mod me down read what I hafta say...one of my favorite drugs, dextromethorphan, known as DXM, an ingredient in cough syrups... has HUGE ANTI-ADDICTIVE PROPERTIES... whereas a normal dose to help coughs would be about 15mg, and a normal dose to "get high or trip" off off would be 300mg-1gram depending on what you were after...a Dose of 80mg-100mg or so (every 8 hours, as needed) can give a person of about 175-250lb a small boost (with no negative side effects) and trip some reactions in your brain that prevent addictiveness (yes, it works on alcohol and opiate addiction even)...1 bottle of robotussin max str cough contains 354mg, enough for about 4 doses for this purpose. If you have an addiction you just can NOT quit and need extra help, give DXM a try, and don't worry, its not addictive (although it can be in HIGH doses). No, I'm not a pharmacist, but yes, I do knwo what I'm talking about in this case!
replacing it with NEW Folger's Crystals! (lets see if they notice the difference)
I've drank percolated coffee (synonomous to motor oil) along with 1.5 scoop power drip for 6 years, and I quit many times (once up to 6 months) with no ill effects. No headache, no crankyness, no tiredness.. anything. To my body, it's like drinking really hot flavored water.
I've noticed it's the same way with medical drugs I've taken long ago and with alcohol.... Takes 5-6 shots of whiskey within 1 hour (80-100 proof) before I FEEL anything.
I weigh 275 and and 6'5 and my body chemistry is really whacked out. Ambient body temp 100.0F, immune to wasp stings (feels like a simple prick- no fire), very allergic to mosquitos (they create 2 in. welts wherever they sting - they occur within 20 minutes too).
I tried kicking the habit last year as my resolution.
Here's what happened to me:
I became incredibly lethargic. I started falling asleep at work. My memory went to hell. I constantly forgot common words and would experience that annoying thing where you stand up to do something and between the impulse to stand and the actual action you forget what it was you meant to do.
In the end I gave up and gave in. I drink a couple, maybe three two litre bottles of Vanilla coke a day. More, if I'm actually thirsty.
I have gone past the point where caffeine has any sort of stimulant effect on me.
Maybe I'll quit again for fun. A friend told me to take vitamin B (supposed to have a similar effect on the brain) so maybe I'll give it a go. I would be nice to have all that money I'm spending on Coke to use for other things.
I recognize that I'm not everyone, but I kicked Coffee last week and only had mild headaches that were easily managed by hydration and NSAIDS (aspirin, acetominophin). I was a fairly heavy coffee drinker, but probably not as bad as many here, consuming 4-6 strong cups a day.
I gave it up because I thought it was contributing to my IBS after reading an article on self-care for IBS. Stopping the coffee has helped a lot. I still get some caffeine in sodas, but I typically choose non-caffeinated drinks now, and the problems have greatly alleviated.
Look, I know how condescending it can seem to be told that "it's all in your head", but if you admit the possibility that it just might be and apply a positive attitude you might find you'll have an easy time of giving up coffee. Just have some aspirin handy, get plenty of water to drink and try to increase your exercise level and you should do fine.
I used to drink a liter of Mt. Dew everyh morning, then more at lunch. I didn't do this for very long, a couple of months at most. I was never big on caffeinated beverages before then--I can't stand the taste of coffee, colas were not my thing.
I just stopped. Yeah, it was hard. Yeah, you'll feel like complete and utter crap. I missed three days of work. THREE DAYS. On the second day, I couldn't even get out of bed, I felt so horrible. The only reason I went back to work on the fourth day was that I couldn't afford any more sick days.
IMNSHO, anything that does that to you when you stop isn't worth starting in the first place. If you can't stay awake without it, don't. Sleep instead. Nothing in your job is worth it.
In Europe, the common most effective way to deal with alcholism is to cut down in steps rather then cold turkey.
I suggest the same. First thing you do is drink caffine regularly but make a mental note each time you have a redbull or cup of coffee for a given day. I forget how much caffine is in a given cup of coffee but use the internet to find out. Look up the back of redbull or mountain dew and write how much is in each. Find out how much caffine your taking in total for each day for a week and make an average.
The following week cut your intake by 10%. You will crave it slightly but with no ill side effects. The week afterwards cut it by another 10%. Your body will adapt slowly and withdrawl effects will stay at a minimal.
After 10 weeks you should little to no caffine and hopefully no headaches.
This works with alchohol, pornography addiaction, and even weight loss. If cold turkey does not work try it.
http://saveie6.com/
I'm not sure anyone will read this deep but I'll post anyway...
If the "relief" from drinking caffiene is coming 8-10 minutes after drinking... that is a psychosematic reaction ( psychological addiction vs physical addiction), your body doesn't get the caffiene for at least a half hour.
So I suggest you move to a blended coffee first cutting the caffiene in half, then in half again after a while until you reach the level you want.
The same thing happened to me. I stopped drinking all sodas for a couple of years, and now colas taste vile.
As for whether people can really taste the difference between the various cola's. Here is what my wife has done three times a year for the past three years (she teaches "strategic management" in a business school). She buys a 2 liter bottle of each Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, and RC Cola. Removes labels and swap around indentifying caps. She asks her class (about 70 students each) who prefers Coke, who prefers Pepsie and who prefers RC. It's typically half for Coke and half for Pepsi. No more than one or two hands will go up for RC.
She has them taste, and rank their preferences on the blind test. The results are flat out random. Of the six possible preference orders you get all six with frequency fully consistant with random preferences.
Now the tests are not under well controlled conditions (temperature, sequencing, carbonation levels), but any noise from this would not be systematically biasing the results across multiple trials. That is all bottles were openned and resealed at roughly the same time, all were stored in the same refrigerator, etc.
I am not disputing that people can't be trained to identify the differences under some conditions, but whatever test differences and preferences there are work out fairly randomly under typical conditiions.
When she indicates which is which, approximately half the class will have found that they ranked RC ahead of their stated favorite. At this point my wife asks the class how many of those people will switch to drinking the (cheaper) RC. The answer is always zero with a bit of embarrassed laughter. And that is when she jumps into here lecture on the cola market.
Prime numbers are exactly what Alan Greenspan says they are -S. Minsky
True but migraines are a different beast.
I live in the desert so I can have both.
Migraines are caused by error when the brain notices it has too little seratonin, glucose, nicotine, or caffine. I can get them from oversleeping, cutting down on caffine, or from not eating enough.
Really its a problem and cold turkey is not the answer but rather a gradual withdrawl so your brain can handle it.
http://saveie6.com/
You may want to look into the connection between caffeine, particularly when consumed as coffee or tea, and pregnancy. It seems many women have fertility and even miscarriages from this so-called harmless drug.
p
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art12110.as
One study found that women trying to get pregnant who drank a cup of coffee each day had a 55% less chance of conceiving than women who did not drink. Those who drank 1-3 cups almost doubled their danger rate, and women who drank over 3 cups a day tripled their risk for not having a successful conception.
Also, women who drank 2 or more cups of coffee each day doubled their risk of miscarriage, once they did become pregnant.
Day by day, cup by cup. Chances are if you get your coffee at starbucks the resulting total will be a couple of hundred bucks each month. Think about the ways you'd rather use this $2400 a year. Quit cold turkey.
I know that my caffeine withdrawal headaches feel a lot like the occasional "slept through breakfast, worked through lunch" headaches I sometimes get.
YMMV, but I'd suggest trying to eat really healthy the day you quit caffeine, particularly some brown rice, whole-grain bread, and other higher-fiber sources of carbs. The combo of fiber and carbs is the key. Because of the fiber, the sugars release into your blood more slowly, helping you keep from hitting blood sugar lows.
It may not get rid of the headaches, but it should diminish the intensity.
Start a happiness pandemic
One of the things that works well for me - a lot of what I enjoy about caffeinated sodas (besides the caffeine) seems to be critically linked to the carbonation and temperature. I've managed to taper off using club soda with flavoured syrups, basically just an Italian soda.
Another possibility - use alternate delivery systems for the caffeine. If the carbonation isn't a big issue, try starting off with something like herba mate. It tastes ok without sugar, and it's got a fair whack of caffeine - but the caffeine doesn't hit you the same way caffeine in a soda does. It kicks in over a longer period of time and lasts longer. This might be an effective way to beat the headaches while not consuming as much caffeine as before. You can taper down to something like green tea, which still has caffeine, but in very small amounts.
Herba mate can be hard to find in a decently drinkable form. You can buy loose bags/bales of it in hispanic markets, but it's not the best stuff in the world. Bija tea puts out a pretty good form, in normal teabags.
To wrap up, you have my sympathy. My Mom went through a caffeine addiction, she kicked it when she was hospitalized for something else. Nasty stuff.
~ Leilah
at all.
What stage at which the healthcare is paid makes a huge difference since it's a matter of insuring risk.
-pyrrho
I dry myself out once a year or so, and I've found a methodology that works well for me. I drink strong coffee and lots of it in general. When it is time for the annual clean-out, I just wait until I start to feel the first headache (usually takes about four to six hours), then have about 1/2 cup of my normal brew. That's enough to take the edge off the headache for a few hours. I iterate this procedure over a few days, maybe a week, and each time it is longer until the headache comes on. When I get the point where I can go over a day or so, I consider myself cured (and then prompt readdict myself).
:-)
Presumably the readdition is optional.
--ckg
Been there, gotten over that. I got over my addiction in a matter of weeks by tapering off. I took 2 bags of Folgers - caffeinated and decaffeinanted - and made a 5 day supply mixed in ratios of 9-1 caffeinated to decaffeinated, then 8-2, then 7-3, then 6-4. You get the drift. This let my body adjust to the changing amount of caffeine and there were no headaches or other side effects. Of course, I occasionally chase people around the mall with an axe, but that's because of another problem. Not related to caffeine at all!
I had the same problem. I was a 20 cup a day drinker. I'm an engineer and always relied on a cup of coffee to get me going on projects and things.
After about 5 years of this I got very sick with the flu. The thought of coffee made my stomach curl. I decided this was the window of opportunity I was looking for.
I didn't give up caffiene, I just lowered the dose. I started drinking tea. Now I have about 6 cups of green or block tea a day. Green tea has many healthy side effects and about 1/4th of the caffine per cup. I made the switch and its worked.
I get cravings sometimes (especially at the coffee shop), but I just remember how crappy I felt and it gets me through. I know how tough it is. I didn't beat the addiction, I've just managed it.
I was told that I could not have caffiene for 2 weeks due to a medical condition (that I actually did not have, I was misdiagnosed.) and that caused me to quit cold turkey. I never was a coffee drinker, but I was drinking 8-12 coke/pepsis a day at a point, which is rather rediculous. I went through the withdrawals as well, but after a week or so they subsided, and as a side effect of not taking in all those extra calories I've managed to lose 30 lbs as well (over 5mnths). I also sleep better now that I'm not on caffiene. Its all up to you, but since I'm a poor college student I'm happy I quit my coke/pepsi addiction. The money I was spending on buying drinks now goes towards buying games and computer upgrades =)
Never before had it hit me the extent to which these legal drugs we are so used to really are drugs with all the connotations that follow.
What I've never been able to forget is this video they showed us in first year chem, with these five "levels" of dangerous chemicals. I believe alcohol was in level 3, while caffeine was in the next HIGHER level.
What's also hilarious is to listen to people defend pot as 'natural', and say how they would never use 'chemicals' like ecstasy, etc, etc. What, THC isn't a chemical? There's not HUNDREDS of chemicals in pot? ARgh.
Only way.
This summer I made a bet with a friend that I could go 10 weeks without a single caffeinated, carbonated, or alcoholic drink... the alcoholic part was easy, because I already don't drink, but I was drinking between 2 and 5 Cokes every day. This bet started, I made lemonade and got Powerade from the store... I had headaches the first couple of days, but the rest of the time I was fine, and I didn't even have caffeine cravings, so the bet was easy. (Well, until day 67, when my car died and I walked about a mile from the auto shop to my place... I had three Cokes that afternoon, but they didn't count.)
If you ever need something fun to do at your next office party, you can do what we always do. There's this guy... see... lets just call him Phil. He's the guy we bully into doing all of our work for us. Thats right, the entire office.
Having so much pressure on him has gotten Phil into some pretty heavy addictions. We first started noticing about 5 years ago when he started downing Grande Extra Strong Extra Sweet espressos like they were shot glasses every 5 minutes. Within months he was shaking and quivering non-stop. Even during meetings, he would sit in his chair shaking while we presented his work. All the while muttering "mutha fucka" under his breath. Before Christmas he was arrested with 30 kilos of Speed and Crystal Meth. The office pitched in to pay his bail so he could finish the annual report for the board of directors.
Now, having no work to do, you see, can be quite boring. So, naturally we decided to throw a gigantic office party just before Christmas. Unfortunately the party, as all office parties are, was excruciatingly boring. Until we brought out the straight jacket. Now, normally I'm not one to torture the innocent... but this was just tooo much fun! After the first hour, Phil began begging us to let him out of the straight jacket. He desperately wanted his 5 minute espresso. He began to foam at the mouth and convulse when we denied him his speed. Finally he went into cardiac arrest and died. Shoot, we're actually going to have to work now.
Ahh.. yes.. Back when I first got into caffeine overdosing. lol...
I would drink coffee for much the same reasons that people would drink alcohol - when depressed, down, sad, etc go out and drink.
When my girlfriend at the time dumped me, I headed straight to the coffee shop. Ordered "Walk the Plank". This is 24oz of concentrated espresso, as the sign on the coffee shop wall calls it. And then the added bonus to this, was throwing some ice in it, to cool it down to a palatable temperature. 15 minutes later, and 24 oz of espresso less, in my glass.. order another one. This one made it about half an hour on my table. Then I got up to drive home. Had to stop at a friend's house halfway between the coffee shop and my home, and explain that I was so wasted on caffeine that I couldn't drive. I fell asleep, almost immediatly when my head hit the pillow on the couch. I woke up, about 5 hours later, SO WIRED I COULDN'T FREAKING BELIEVE it, and was then awake for the next 52 hours continuously.
I try to keep my caffeine intake down to a bottle of Mt. Dew or so a day now.
"Champagne for my real friends - and real pain for my sham friends!" http://ericblade.postalboard.com/
...i'd suggest s'pelgrino or grolschteiner (sp?)
...
:-)
I guess you mean Gerolsteiner, a "gently carbonated" Mineral water from Gerolstein, Germany.
Whenever I've felt the need to curb my caffiene addition, I've temporarily switched to black coffee. I find I drink way less coffee and I eliminate the fat and crap I get from the milk (I don't take sugar).
It may also be that you are suffering from low-blood sugar. If you take sugar in your coffee the symptoms and cure would be the same. In that case, a serious rethink of your diet might be in order, in particular the elimination of large quantities of refined sugar (in the form of Mountain Dew for example). Sounds odd but it worked for me.
3: weed
"Marijuana is not a drug. I used to suck dick for coke. Now that's an addiction. You ever suck some dick for marijuana?"
"
MOD ABUSE (Score:-1, Offtopic)
by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 01, @09:23PM (#7856634)
More moderator abuse. This post is WAY offtopic, and should be modded as such.
"
Now that's good moderating!
And, there are "chemicals" that are legitimately harmless, or even good for you like vitamins; necessary for proper health. People assume that if it's natural, or an "herb", if it grows in the ground, it must be harmless. I wonder if they realize that opium is made from poppies and LSD from morning glories.
For a nice satire about people's paranoia about "chemicals" search on the net about the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide.
Move.
Seriously. Back in May I got married, went on a honeymoon, and came back and immediately moved. That was a 2 week period during which I was too busy to care that I didn't have a soda to suck on. I gave up caffeine and television (which, admittedly, wasn't a hard habit to drop with all the crap they show - I was already down to practically no watching) when I moved - switched to water and kool-aid (with less sugar than recommended). Koolaid or other equivalent powdered sugar drinks are cheaper by far, still give you a good flavor, but more importantly keep you better hydrated (and, of course, no caffeine).
Of course - it helped a whole lot that I had the whole wedding+vacation for the first >week - because there definitely is some withdrawl. Honestly though, you could get over the initial effects with a good 4 day weekend if you start right away.
When you decide to quit though, quit. Slowly lower your intake all you like - you can't halve something into nothing, eventually you need to cold turkey it. It'll be easier after weening down, but it's also real easy to up your level right back where you were by simply sucking an extra soda down and overrunning your 'plan'. Just set aside some time and keep yourself busy and moving during it. It just kinda happened to me, buy I was damned happy for it.
cyn, free software and *nix operating systems enthusiast.
My employer has the right solution: they bought a coffee machine and they must buy a specific brand of coffee. Man that coffee is just awful. You don't want to drink it.
I don't know if that brand exists in the US, though. It's Red Pelikan or something like that...
And then he said: "I'll tell you the meaning of life. It is" and then realized 120 chars are definitely not enough...
As a child, I grew up drinking caffeine as a mainstay. I also used to get the headaches and the nausea. I never corellated the two until I got older, but it was definately withdrawals. In 1995, I decided to swear off caffeine. Now, the only significant caffeine I consume is in "required" situations, such as while driving at night, etc. Generally, 18-36 hours later, I'll have a nasty headache, sometimes accompanied by nausea (and occasionally vomiting). Each time, I usually have to sleep off the headache and then I'm okay. Tylenol like products generally don't help much.
Oddly, I don't feel the "buzz" others report though, however it's usually because I'm quite tired. I do experience alot of mouth watering though.
I do consume chocolate on occasion, but not in large quantities. Chocolate does contain some caffeine in it's natural form, but far less than coffee, tea, or soft drinks.
Once you do swear off caffeine, you'll quickly become aware of what you can and cannot have. Genearlly 1 or 2 cups of decaf coffee or tea is "okay". You'll also learn to avoid the mainstay colas (unless they're caffeine free), Barq's rootbeer (yes, it has caffeine, but most others don't), Mountain Dew, some varieties of Slice, Ruby Red Squirt, and more. I became a label reader.
Some consider me anal on it, but I have chosen a lifestyle that doesn't require me to suffer physical pain, and doesn't require me to consume a drug on a regular basis to avoid said pain. It's a difficult road to follow since we're a society which has been conditioned to consume caffeine on a regular basis. Soft drink makers include the drug to ensure that consumers will continue to purchase it (because of the addictive properties). Starbucks has capitalized on our morning "need". Thinkgeek has carried products that deliver it in unique ways (soaps, candy, mints, etc.). The list goes on.
Good luck! It's a rough battle in today's socidety, but you'll feel so much better once you're able to kick it all together. It will suck not being able to enjoy certain things, but you'll learn to live without once you become withdrawal headache free.
$ man woman *
-bash:
When I inadvertently kicked the habit in mid-August, I wondered why, so I looked up a few things. I found an article that explained that the number one reason why people suffer caffeine withdrawal symptoms is their awareness of the withdrawal. I found this particularly interesting because I did not intentionally stop consuming caffeine; rather, there was none around, and I was so busy doing other things that I had no time to think about chasing down some caffeine.
Honestly, I expected a massive headache (because I always got them within 24 hours of my last dose of caffeine), but this time none came. After a week had passed I decided that I would just avoid the stuff, and I have ever since.
I have read elsewhere that all painful symptoms of caffeine withdrawal pass within 48 hours, and all that's left after that is fatigue as the body adjusts to working for itself without the aid of the stimulant. So, best of luck to you!
p.s.-- In retrospect, quitting was a good idea. I have since been diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse, and caffeine is a significant no-no for that condition. I should have had many episodes before now with as much as I consumed, and I'm lucky that I haven't suffered any major pains before now. Oh well.
I've been addicted to coffee since I was about 16 years old. I'm still addicted, but it's not a real problem (except when I should wake up, but I never do that anyway). I lived just fine without coffee for about a month when I started studying (I'm 28 now, and I lived without coffee for weeks when I was 19). One of my problems was that I was often tired. I got a pair of well adjusted glasses, and I didn't get tired so soon. So I advise you to check your eyes.
If you've got a problem with your eyes, it will be much easier to cope with a caffeine withdrawal when your eye-sight is back to normal. You just won't need the extra energy. And you'll be happier oherwise. And your headaches may come from other things you try to compensate for with coffee.
No matter what: If you've got a problem with your eyes, it may cause an excessive coffee-drinking because of exhaustion, and that's a problem you might want to fix first.
FYI, it's NOT Barq's that doesn't have caffeine -- quite the opposite, Barq's is the only root beer that is sold where I live that IS caffinated. (Naturally, living in Coke country, it's also the ONLY root beer available in restraunts 99% of the time.)
A&W advertises on the can that it's caffeine-free (though A&W is the only company I know that caffinates its cream soda, which is also naturally the easiers cream soda to find). Mug and IBC root beers are also caffiene-free as far as I know.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
QUIT COLD TURKEY. I AM NOT KIDDING.
For years I had migraines which I eventually attributed to caffeine withdrawl. Sure, I could stave them off by taking more, but that would burn me out during the workday, and I would get a migraine every other night anyway.
So last July 4th weekend I decided I wasn't going to take this shit, that I had a life to live. I stopped all caffeine intake Wednesday night, and went through a painful Thursday. Friday was a continuous migraine. Saturday and Sunday were better, the funny thing is I actually got a final relapse migraine Monday night.
But Tuesday I felt great. And I have continued feeling great for 6 months. No more headaches, not a single migraine in these last 6 months.
The best thing about no caffeine is I don't feel burned out anymore, I have energy to work all day. You don't know how much energy you can have without caffeine because you're caught in the cycle.
As for consumption, yes I still consume a little caffeine here and there. Chocolate and the occasional caffinated soda are fine, even decaf coffee. You just have to keep it reasonable to avoid the cycle.
If you want out, all it takes is a little willpower. I would suggest LOTS of water and asprin as well the first week.
Man is the animal that laughs.
And occasionally whores for Karma.
I've been addicted to Caffiene since I was a kid. Last March I got a very bad case of the Flu, so for a week, I was miserable. I spent all my time in bed or on the couch, and drank nothing but orange juice and water. Sometime during the week I developed a severe headache, but attributed it to my fever. At the end of the week, I was feeling fine. I also realized that I'd gone 6 or 7 days with no form of caffiene being introduced to my system. All of the withdrawal symptoms from not having the caffiene were swamped in with the flu, so I never noticed them, other than the headache.
So my advice to you is this: Next time you end up sick, take the opportunity to drink nothing but water and fruit juices. After you get well, continue drinking nothing but water and fruit juices. Bingo! No more caffiene.
While I don't pretend to be an expert on caffine or any other addiction for that matter, will power plays a lot. My father has run quit smoking courses and your desire to quit, and follow through on that commitment plays a big part.
Another good way is to do it as a group, simply because then you have someone to compete against/ check up on you.
The German firm sent the following letter concerning the condition of the coffee.
My daily caffeine intake was about 500mg, or the equivalant of about 6-8 cups of coffee.
I've heard that your intake levels when you quit will determine the length of your withdrawl, so yours may be shorter or longer duration.
But what I don't agree with are the many suggestions in this topic to cut it out of your life slowly. That's what I was experiencing before I went cold turkey, because I had to stop ingesting the stuff every evening so I could sleep. It's very painful to come home with a migraine every evening due to withdrawl, and wake up feeling like shit. Just take the pain for a few days, and get over it completely.
Man is the animal that laughs.
And occasionally whores for Karma.
Lots of people get headaches from quitting caffeine. But I get them from starting it.
I never touched caffeine much and actually downright avoided it for a good while. Then I grabbed a soda, Barq's Root Beer. I drank a third of a 12 oz can and my head started hurting. I took ibuprofen, no help. I just wanted to lay in bed and die for eight hours.
Finally, I felt better, but couldn't figure the cause of it. Then I realized Barq's is caffeinated. Something like 30-40 mg per 12 oz, I hear. Later, I tried some other things with caffeine, but in serious moderation. Similar but more mild result.
I have concluded that I am not compatible with caffeine. I can get headaches from drinking too much decaf. tea. I don't like chocolate from the time I was young, I think this may be why. So now I avoid caffeine like a former caffeine addict might, except I'm not one.
I hate how they slip caffeine in so many medications and drinks. It's terrible for you and many don't tolerate it well at all.
Is to bloody well stop drinking caffiene.
I started the Atkins diet about 6 months ago. During the initial 2 week phase I completely cut out caffiene, sugar, alcohol, and most food additives.
I felt like crap for a week (light headaches, tiredness), but think of it this way: if you feel that bad when getting off that crap, then what's it doing to you when you *are* eating it? The worse it hurts, the better off you'll be in the long run.
Go, Springboard, Go!
Drink and smoke as much as you like, when the red light starts blinking on your palm, it's all over anyway man.
Some additctions can be good, like food.
You may not code better on caffine, but you do code more.
This is a great way to wean yourself off of it slowly. I went from 4-5 cups a day, to one cup in the morning, plus decaf. It worked great! Er, has worked okay for the past 3 days, since I started. Hm...
Seriously, after a while, I'll go to decaf, then cold turkey. Going from 4-5 to 1 was a pretty big step, though. My stomach lining has already started to return.
(it's a strange coincidence that this appeared on slashdot when I've just started this process)
No, it's not. Morning glories contain LSA, which, while chemically close to LSD, is not the same thing.
At first you can replace the caffeine in coffe and beverages with a mild green tea.
I got somehow addicted to Pepsi during my finals, so I replaced it with mineral water. All went ok, but I ended up drinking more water than Pepsi by half a liter or so.
It wasn't too hard for me to do. A little restraint was required but not much. Basically, my mind totally knew that it wanted to try not having it for a long time.
So I didn't really have it. There were bound to be a few occasions, but I don't even remember them.
some time later I just decided to start drinkingi t again, but I'm hardly addicted even now. It's nice, but I'm okay without it.
The headaches will pass. Take some headache pills.
I guess this means that some people are more succeptible to real caffiene addiction than others.
If it is real at all...
Many Thanks,
Luke
Barq's root beer has caffeine. So if a restaurant has Coca-Cola products, the root beer is caffeinated.
i on of premenstrual symptoms
The diet version does not have caffeine, but few restaurants have diet root beer, and I will never drink any beverage with "diet" or "lite" in the name.
---
Found this page about breaking caffeine addiction. It includes this list of withdrawal symptoms (as well as another product list that shows Barq's as having caffeine):
Headaches
Irritability
Intensificat
Fatigue
Generalized muscular tension
Nausea
Lack of appetite
Constipation
Lack of concentration
Disorientation
Forgetfulness
It sounds like caffeine withdrawal is PMS. Does "Generalized muscular tension" mean having cramps? Men, want to learn what PMS feels like? Just go through caffeine withdrawal!
---
Yes, I also notice when I have had much sugar during times when water is my main drink. I was high the first week after discovering Tropical Sprite until my body became accustomed to the higher sugar level. And I felt the energy loss when I switched back to water. Again, my body returned to normal in about a week.
I actually switched back because the supermarkets are always sold out of Tropical Sprite. I checked 2 supermarkets twice a week for 3 weeks, and even asked a store manager to stock more. Coca-Cola lost me as a customer because they did not stock enough. From working in supermarkets, I know the soft drinks are stocked by the vendors. I think Tropical Sprite would be a great success if they stocked enough to meet demand.
I spend my life entertaining my brain.
Ease up on the BAWLS
I'm not sure how I quit caffeine, all I know is that my girlfriend came home to take care of me while I was suffering from a severe mastoid infection, only to find shattered cd's and a torn bags of espresso roast strewn across the front lawn. She came inside and she said that when questioned, I kept mumbling that I had to quit drinking caffeine and I had to quit listening to TOOL.
So I figure as long as I avoid listenig to TOOL, I will stay caffeine free. It's been a good 18 months now and it does help you regulate your atp levels better on long days.
Of course, if you aren't willing to give up listenig to TOOL, you may notbe ready to quit the caffeine habbit.
Actually I was already aware of that, and that is why I said that LSD is made from morning glories, not that morning glories contain LSD. Maybe synthesis using ergot is more common, but the image of a morning glory seems more innocuous which is why I used it in my example.
I really don't understand what your point is anyway, since LSA is also a very strong psychoactive.
Caffeine addiction? Where's the epidemic? Where are the studies that show that you could die from it?
I say :
- Don't drink alcohol; - Don't smoke; - Don't eat fat; - Don't live in an urban area; - Don't drive; - Don't eat meat; - Don't drink from tap water; - Don't diet (they're all bad and ineffective); - Don't code! But do : - Have a long life by living somewhere else, drinking something else, eating plankton, and generally thinking you're somebody else. "Life is a genetically transmitted mortal disease" Live. That's all you'll ever get.
Hello,
My name is James and I am a Caffeine addict!!
(Hello James)
Seriously,
I average 4 Liters of Mt. Dew a day. More on a long day. 2 Years ago I quit. I quit cold turkey and went through the pain. It was horrible... I lived...
Of the things said here I have to say that I agree that Cold turkey is the only way... Part of any addiction is the cycle. If you are still taking cafeine you will still need it. even if you are only taking a little. if you just stop.. The day when you dont need it anymore comes much faster.
As for it being a psycological thing and that if you can keep your mind off from it you wont notice it..... Thats a CROCK.... It would take a LOT of sex to take my mind of that much pain... GOOD sex. You are going to suffer through the pain... Start suffering now and you wont have to later.
I will say this... I had to drive 42 hours strait earlier last year... to complete the drive I had to take a LOT of caffeine... It hooked me on it again. Like any drug... Once you are hooked it is VERY easy to go back to using.... no matter how long you have been "Clean".
Since most of the "answers" are handling not coffeine but tobacco, cocaine, acetone etc I desided to really answer the question.
You can avoid the head ache with smoothly decreasing the caffeine amount. For two first days mix your coffee with half water (50-50). Tastes awful but think it as medicine. For the next two days even more and so on. after a week you drink water.
I have actually done that once. It works.
Yes it is, but I was just nitpicking about it not being equal to LSD. No actual point in here.
Russ Kick refrences this book.
I can't find the book online, but this is pretty much what it covers. Let's just say the "Cancer Gambit" doesn't pay.
It's been fun reading this thread!
/. crowd doesn't drink, smoke or eat too much. Everbody stopped smoking, stopped drinking and stopped eating junk food, all at the same time, and "cold turkey" to boot!
/. people!
It seems that the
Congrats,
You're also probably "born again xians".
BTW, since you will live for hundreds of years, tell me *now* who dies first : Windows, BSD or Apple?
I never actually considered coffee to be addictive untill I tried stopping. There was no actually any reason for me to stop drinking my coffee. I just noticed that sometimes I'm not drinking any coffee on weekends.
So after one weekend when I was sick and didn't feel like smoking cigarettes or drinking coffee, I decided I would continue to not to drink coffee or smoke as long as it feels good.
Monday: Slow day at work. Not much to do. Biting my fingernails and decide to buy a pack of chewing gum. I don't have to really concentrate on anything the whole day.
Tuesday: I don't feel any real urge to smoke or drink coffee on the morning. I get to work and check my mail. Ah... Something to do. I put on my coding gloves, prepare my work area and check out latest sources. When I get to actually doing something, I just look at the code, scimming up and down, aimlessly poking around. I have to really force myself to write down on a post-it note what I am doing and follow my own instructions step-by-step to get that tiny change done. I feel a bit baffled. It should have taken 5 minutes to do the change, but the whole mess took me like 3 hours.
Wednesday: I should be reviewing big hunk of code, build test it, verify the operation and pass it on. I end up just prodding around, never really rememberering for 5 minutes what I am doing. I don't have any kind of mental model of how I am accomplishing this. I usually never have any trouble. Everything just clicks to stack in my head and I understand what the code does just by looking at it. No go, have to step through in a debugger. I think I never quite 'got it', but it seemed to be 'good enough' and I passed it on.
Thursday: Team bi-weekly meeting. I should prepare my work at hand for review, be attentive to what other people are telling and give a heads up of any issues I know might affect their work. This is the 'good kind' of meeting which are actually usefull. I forget to send my personal agenda to the meeting leader. I have no recollection what were the items of interest this time and I actually find people staring at me when I was supposed to present my material. I was all dazzled with my doodling to memo or something I didn't even notice immeaditely I was called to speak. I apologize, grope through of what I was doing, nothing usefull... I felt like people thought I was on drugs or something. And no wonder. I actually felt very odd. Everything was kinda foggy and I had a severe attention disorder problem. After the meeting I explained that I'm trying to quit smoking and coffee drinking. My withdrawal symptoms seemed very odd to them.
Just to prove my point (to myself), I grabbed a strong cup of coffee, bought a pack of cigarettes and went outside for 15 minutes. Smoked 2 cigarettes and drank the coffee.
At first I felt terrible because of the sudden intake of so much stimulants, but after just maybe another 10 minutes I felt me again. Sharp, observative and ready to do some actual work again.
I reviewed my work of the week and saw I had been very sloppy.
Nowadays I just accept my addiction and do my drugs to do my job. I still have those decaf weekends quite often thou.
Bot Assisted Blogging
Alec Baldwin played this bouncy guy who would help you lose weight -- by following you around and publicly beating you up. So Farley stands up (in the infomercial) and says "I'm kindof a big guy, how will you help me?" Baldwin immediately says "I'll beat you with a shovel".
Of course that's the same episode where Baldwin goes on NPR and talks about his tasty holiday treat: "Schwetty Balls".
Dang funny, that Baldwin dude.
Peace & Blessings,
bmac
For true peace & happiness: www.mihr.com
Some doctors have considered prescribing nicotine as a cure for a variety of ailments, including schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, attention deficit disorder and colitis.
There's an interesting comorbidity between ADD/ADHD symptoms and addiction to stimulants (caffeine, cocaine and nicotine).
Without a doubt, caffeine and nicotine help me concentrate. However, I think I'd keep caffeine down to a reasonable level (2 cups of coffee per day is my personal definition of "reasonable") and forgo smoking entirely.
Nicotine is a horrible addiction. I've been faced with the choice of sex or cigarettes - a really cute number told me "if you go without a cigarette for the rest of this party, I'll sleep with you". Well, I chose the cigarettes. And I still would.
Wanna find out, as a non-smoker, what it feels like to quit smoking? Easy. Quit peeing for a week and tell me how you feel.
I think, if I were a physician, I would have a *very* difficult time being convinced to prescribe nicotine to anyone who wasn't terminally ill (Alzheimers, etc.) or suffering horribly from something *other* than ADD/ADHD.
The very trademarks of ADD/ADHD (short attention span, impulsivity) make quitting nicotine (therapeutic or smoking) extremely difficult.
If you think you have ADD/ADHD,
Instead, see a doctor. Preferably at a university medical center or some other place where they're familiar with the problems ADD/ADHD cause. Get a prescription for Ritalin or dexedrine or whatever. See if that helps. It's a lot safer than nicotine.
(Note, BTW. I don't think that ADD/ADHD is a bad thing; it appears to be hereditary and might well be a driving force behind hunters, explorers and creative people. It's just that it makes the nuts-and-bolts routines of school and modern life pretty tough. Thomas Edison had the symptoms but was able to use them to his advantage (over 1500 patents!). I personally take a short-acting Ritalin when I need to concentrate, otherwise I let my mind wander down whatever interesting paths it wants.)
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
I started drinking coffee when I was 12. Twenty years ago I was a Jr. engineer writing embedded firmware. I used to head to the coffee machine 3-4 times per day. Some mornings I would look at the code I wrote the afternoon before and see obvious mistakes. I was really buzzed. I started getting headaches on weekends because I never drank coffee at home. After slowly increasing my daily dosage over time, the weekend withdrawls got worse. I decided to give it up completely (a very hard thing to do considering all the foods which contain caffeine). I went cold turkey and had cold/flu symptoms for a few days. After withdrawl, I felt weak, empty, and strange. I had become so used to the caffeine buzz that I felt strange when I was sober.
A few weeks went by and I began to fall off the wagon. I could justify just one cup to myself. After all, everybody else does it and it's no big deal. This must be similar to alcoholisim. To make a long story short, I went "cold turkey" 3 times and each time, the withdrawl symtoms were worse. The last time I had cold sweats, vomiting, shakes, the whole works. That last time was awful enough to convince me to never do it again. I haven't had a cup of (caffeinated) coffee for 20 years. I never drink soft drinks. The thing I miss the most is iced tea.
My advice to you is to stop cold turkey. It will be ugly and you will remember the ugliness. It may help you to stay off the stuff.
Good Luck.
As for colitis, doctors aren't sure what aspect of cigarette smoke controls it, but straight nicotine doesn't seem to have the same effect as smoking one or two cigarettes per day. Having had colitis, I can tell you that many people suffering from it would be willing to try anything -- even taking up a 2 cigs per day "habit." I eventually had to have my colon removed, so I don't have an excuse for smoking anymore.
Heheh... Yup. Something in cigarettes is an excellent laxative. It's probably the body detecting the hydrogen cyanide, realizing that shutdown is probably imminent, and deciding to get some of the shutdown tasks (like releasing the sphincter) done before it has to do the really time-consuming jobs like rigor mortis.
Each puff of a cigarette must be kind of like jerking a computer around by starting a shutdown and cancelling it...
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
You are one *serious* expert :-)
Anyhow, I've found that keeping hydrated has a lot to do with the amount of salt I injest as well as water. Without salt (as I figure) your body doesn't have enough sodium to retain the water -- the water just keeps on pushing through. My gauge on this is the veins in my hands; if they're flat, I'm low on both water and salt.
Anyhow, as one other dude mentioned (about some other problem), you can also keep your fluids in your body if you keep your *main* fluid in your body, IYKWIM. Vitality and surprizing looks from women are the rewards of treasuring the seed, grasshoppa -- gf or not.
Peace & Blessings,
bmac
For *all* the answers: www.mihr.com
It's fucking COFFEE and SODA. Yeah, yeah, yeah your body gets addicted to the norepinephrine stimulus, blah blah blah--you know what? It's fucking coffee.
Grow the fuck up, take a fucking painkiller, and quit bitching. Let's see you kick an alcohol or smack addiction, buddy. Holy fucking christ, I have never seen a bigger bunch of pretentious, poor-me fucking white collar idiots who need some sort of crutch 'cuz its chic to have vices.
You know what? You're an asshole for even comparing this fucking "addiction" to a real one. Documented, or not, it's probably the simplest fucking drug to get off--so just tough it the fuck out.
Bah.. when you stop drinking coffee and you can start feeling all the surfaces where your teeth connect into your body... AND THEY ITCH!
Thats withdrawl man.
Worst 2 days of my life.
What I did was this... Drink REALLY good coffee. It may or may not work for you. It wasn't hard for me to stop, just getting awake in the morning is the hard part sometimes. We have this Whole Foods market here in town that roasts their own in the store; I used to (just recently) always get the Papau New Guinea? ( I actually don't remember...wow.) which is Jamaica Blue Mountain seedstock grown in a climate where the coffee comes out more flavorful. I (used to) grind it coarse, put it in a french press with spring water, a LOT of coffee in a french press with spring water and I am off to the moon. It's a different buzz. I can usually get through 1/2 of my stainless steel coffee mug - it still tastes WONDERFUL 2 hours later - thick, mocha-like, viscous, invigorating and inspiring - unlike most coffee, especially work coffee which you wouldn't even dream of drinking cold.
Mixed with Eden Soymilk and Ricemilk blend. Eden Blend is awesome - sugar free, no ups and downs. Eden Blend has amazake, which is rice sweetened with the help of a beneficial mold - aspergillus oryzae - it turns the rice sweet, and you can make a flavorful beverage out of it. It's how they make sake. Sake, straight up, just made, can get up to 21% alcohol by volume, because of the dual action of the aspergillus turning the starch into sugars and the yeast turning those sugars into alcohol. Japanese law limits it to 16% by volume - Momokawa Pearl (US) is 18% and unfiltered. Awesome sake. Anyway... Eden Blend rules.
CAUTION: Don't use sugar -- if your coffee is also sugar or if your coffee object inherits a sugar method (or whatever) -- it's a bug. Sugar is way worse than coffee. And it's ubiquitous.
Anyway...I'm not even jonesing yet... amazing. But yes, this really strong coffee and I just go nuts on it and I am just in outer space (it tastes like chocolate, literally). But eventually I realize that I really don't have any energy and that it's just a waste of time. Coffee doesn't really give you any kind of long-lasting energy, it's a band-aid, at best. But you won't notice that if you are on the sugar roller coaster.
The normal rate at which your body uses blood sugar is up to approximately, when you are awake, somewhere around 2 calories per minute. That's all you ever need. When you eat a candy bar, that candy bar shoots it up to about somewhere around 30 calories per minute, or so. Pot - i.e. marijuana - interestingly enough, does the same thing. Bad bad bad. Don't mess with the blood sugar levels. So your pancreas kicks in with the insulin and now your blood sugar goes down to approximately 0 calories per minute, and your eyes tear up and you yawn and start planning your next trip to the coffee machine, or in the other instance, it's at this point that you get the munchies and cotton mouth real bad. Stop using sugar (refined sugar, to be specific) as best you can and quitting coffee will be easier.
You will have to read the labels - corn sugar, fructose, evaporated cane juice, brown sugar (brown sugar is regular sugar with molasses added BACK in) - those are all "refined" sugars and will put you on a blood sugar roller coaster. Apple juice is a more gentle sugar - combined with a high-mineral spring water like original Trinity or Elvis' favorite Mountain Valley Spring makes an excellent sports drink pick-me-up type thing. Good first thing in the morning, too. Organic Apple Juice and high mineral content spring water kept me going like a top all summer. It's cheaper than sugary sports drinks, and gives you more energy as well.
The key is to realize that #1, it's probably sugar that's the problem in the first place, and #2, it's all in your mind - provided there is no sugar involved. If you get rid of the sugar and only drink high quality, strong coffee made with spring water, you will eventually just stop drinking it. It's like magic.
Your own natural energy, maybe with the help of some green tea or high-quality organic yerba mate (which can be made in a french press with Eden Blend, BTW)
C'mon, this is the holidays, we've got the time, the bandwidth *and* the storage to have a little somewhat-offtopic discussion :-)
/. is over 50% trolls, what does being modded troll *really* mean?
I've had some sketchy diet coke binges (regrettably with much work done, but also with rather subtle, yet bad, emotional side-effects).
Any perspectives on nutrasweet are welcome. It's so unnatural, it can't be good for us, neh? I'm not trollin', I'm conversin'.
Peace & Blessings,
bmac
If
[also: check out www.mihr.com]
Why would you want to do that? Yes, I own StarBucks stock :) But seriously, set a target for how long it will take you to quit slowly. If you are really addicted to, say, six strong cups of coffee a day, you should set perhaps two months. If less, maybe not so much time. Then in the first week cut it down to five cups, then four, then three, etc. When you finally get down to the last cup of coffee, then maybe drink half a cup of coffee every day. At that point, you should be able to quit cold turkey.
Who moved my sig?
I'd like to add something to that.
Some type of herbal tea, or other hot beverage.
Especially in the winter time, seltzer won't be an adequate substitute for a hot cup of coffee.
Find some other hot beverage, even if it's just hot water with milk and sugar.
why do you all wanna quit drinking coffee? I like it, how it tastes, and I like the coffeine effect. Stop biatching - keep drinking.. geeez..
Hehe, that reminds me of this guy in college who loved doing Magic Mushrooms. He would not do Acid however because he didn't want to put 'chemicals' in his body... I smacked him over the head and said "What the hell do you think EVERYTHING is made of, including the psilocybin(sp?) in those mushrooms"
Actually, I spent most of my life thinking that I was a migrane sufferer (like my mother actually is) due to periodic caffiene withdrawl from a widely varied drinking habit of Coke (caf) or ginger ale (decaf). I'd get hours-long, piercing headaches sometimes as often 2-3 times per week from this. I dropped the caffeine, and I no longer have a problem. I now have a headache maybe once every 3 months or so, and they're utterly wussy compared to the headaches of old (unless they're from drinking some caffeine the previous day in a desperate attempt to stay awake).
Now, I'm not saying not to see a doctor. I am saying that people should wait on it to see if headaches persist more than a week after going cold turkey before becoming alarmed. I'm also saying that the potential of being a migrane sufferer is no reason to fear killing your addiction.
Also, as an aside, I don't see much of a reason to stay away from NutraSweet. I've been drinking Caffeine-Free Diet Coke for a while now, and I have no problems with it.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
It's awfully hard to find a person that doesn't look shocked when they see my with a caffeine-free Dr. Pepper or a caffeine-free Mountain Dew.
"Oh, man, what's the point in drinking that?"
Well, idiots, because (a) It still tastes terrific, (B) I'm thirsty, and (C) If you're unwilling to drink anything just because it doesn't contain an addictive substance, then you deserve the addiction you'll get.
My mother keeps some caffeine-free Coke in her garage for when I come to visit. One night, someone broke into her garage and stole every last one of her drinks - except for the caffeine free Coke. They even took the V-8 that she drinks, which of course doesn't contain caffeine, but the thought of drinking regular, non-diet Coke was completely unbearable to them just because it didn't have caffeine.
I've never understood the obsession. Sure, I can appreciate the feeling caffeine gives you. I've even taken 10(!) Vivarin at once before. But I'm certainly not stupid enough to consume an addictive substance on a regular basis.
steve
I'm willing to bet that part of the problem is that coffee/soda is part of your routine. I'm the same: get to work, grab a coffee, lunchtime, go to the Coke fridge before selecting a meal, afternoon break - another coffee. Get home, brew a coffee.
So try and quit while you're not in a routine. A holiday -- away from home -- is the ideal opportunity. Sure, you don't want to spoil your hard-earned holiday with headaches, but it will pay off in the end, and if it's the right kind of holiday you can fend off those headaches with plenty of sleep.
Anecdotal self-righteousness and a penchant for spouting war-on-drugs propaganda?
Priceless.
"...this is a family site..."
;)
Ah, many's the day when I would intone "gather round family" and we'd relax around the warming glow of the old slashdot
I had to quit cold turkey because I became allergic to caffeine. I used to drink a lot of coffee and pop, but I started getting vertigo big time, not very fun. Think drunken sailor on a fast spinning merry-go-round on a tossing ship. It took awhile to figure out it was caffeine but when I did it was an easy choice to make. I can't have ANY caffeine including chocolate. There are many products with caffeine in them so I have to read labels on anything new that I eat or drink.
Aspirin works as a blood thinner, so it is also good for things like heart attacks, addiction to ephedrine (a friend has this: I mentioned aspirin and it worked), etc, where increasing your bloodflow is helpful.
Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.
Don't drink poo-dew or anything crappy like that,
stick to the caffeine, but drink JOLT COLA instead.
It's simply the best possible softdrink available.
I have been heavily addicted to caffeinated soft drinks, mainly diet Pepsi but more recently Pepsi Max, for as long as I can remember. I can easily get through around 2 litres a day which I'm sure is not good for my insides let alone my brain. Whenever I try to give up I get the symptoms mentioned -- the headache, the accelerated hyperactive and slothful cycles, the anxiety to always be doing something but without the energy or concentration to, actually, do anything.
:)
Strangely, I've never been addicted to coffee and I don't get the cravings that I get for cola for coffee even if I give up the cola for a few days. I do, however, find myself subconciously moving onto other caffeinated products when I do give one up -- this is hardest thing to avoid.
The best way I've found to give up caffeinated drinks is to transition to other drinks. From Pepsi I went to Dr Pepper (which I can drink less of in a day as it makes my mouth sore after about 3 cans) and from there I moved to the caffeine free lemon drinks: Sprite and 7-Up, which I don't enjoy but which I can use, when I'm out and about, in to fooling my addicted brain cells into submission. There's nothing worse, when trying to give something up, than working in a city where one is tempted by a myriad vending machines, confectionary stores and cafes throughout the course of a day: picking up a lemon soda can help avoid the white powder's temptation
As for the coffee, try drinking green tea although it's an acquired taste and still contains a little caffeine.
Powered by onion juice.
From green tea to Coca-Cola to Pepsi-X stopping a little on Battery, Adrenaline Rush and some others when I need even more power.
As far as I can remember, caffeine widen blood cappilaries in the brain. I overcame the symptoms by simply walking outside before and/or after work, about 30-40 minutes each. Fresh air also widen capillaries, but in more healthy way. Breath exercises also work - when it rains out there.
So right now I walk before work, walk after work, study karate-do three times a week to be in shape and do some evening jogging when I need more power. When I had problems with my knee I did some endurance exercises at home for the same reason - to enhance blood transport.
I quit caffeine about 5 years ago. I have recently started again but in much smaller doses. When I quit I was drinking two 2-liters a day. Most miserable two weeks I ever had. But I just quit. Took vitamin C, and B to try to help. Worked to some degree. But a steady dose of aspirin did the trick.
I quit caffiene cold turkey and I used to drink a two liter or 2 a day.
What helped me quit was sheer desperation, realizing that I had to if I wanted to continue programming, I HAD to quit. I had tendenitus and the worst it ever got was that it hurt to walk because of the vibrations in my hands. At a health food store, I was told that I should quit caffiene and I was like, "Yah, like that's going to happen".
Later I realized that I could type an hour before the pain started to get bad. After lunch, even with an hour rest, I could only type 15 minutes before pain. So what happened at lunch? A huge soda... I quit cold turkey right after.
After years, I will drink caffiene occasionally, but if I drink too much I can start to feel a little pain. That joint stuff Glucosamine Chondroitin seems to help in those situations, but to this day I have to be careful. It's still better than some people who've had to get operations to avoid carpal tunnel.
If your hands hurt, I highly recommend you cut caffiene cold turkey, use Glucosamine Chondroitin and read How to treat carpul tunnel naturally.
Paul
I too, like most geeks in cyberdom, suffer from "Caffiene withdrawls" if you will, pending consumption of that wonderful, delicious, morning Mountain Dew. There are days where I'll consume 5 or 6 before lunchtime. Don't tell me these things aren't 'addictive' or 'habit forming'. We should start a class action against them.
Simple Formula
Cans Consumed Per Day times Price Of Can = Daily Reimbursement Minimum
Example
Lets Say one of us "not mentioning any names here..." drinks 12 Mt. Dews a day. Take the 12 times 65 cents for a total of $7.80. Take the $7.80 times a 5 day work week for $39.00 . Take the $39.00 times 52 weeks in a year for $2028 per year. Take the years times the number of years in the workforce, twelve, times the $2028 for $24436.
Lets add in a quality of life charge, etc. etc. and just say that Pepsi owes each of us $75,000.
Hey it worked on the smokes companies and they've printed on the cartons for years that they were bad for you......
Cut the sugar first.
Your symptoms indicate that your also addicted to sugar. (Especially that 'pain in the ass' part - know that myself)
From what I understand you get you fix by drinking 'saturated sugar solutions' (Mountain Dew (eeeugh!) etc.) with added caffeine.
I'd suggest you deal with that sugar first. When you can go for a week without sugar, caffein will be the easy part, I'd guess.
And don't drink the crappy coffee. Buy the fair trade stuff that passes the extra money straight to the bean farmers in south america. Three pluses: You get better coffee (the quality differences are substancial), the coffee farmers don't have to live in de-facto slavery and you pay a little more for your fix, so you'll probably cut down on it in the long run anyway.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
My advice ...
... black.
...
Just stop.
I drank 2+ cups a day
And drank soda like it was water.
When I noticed the latter.
I just quit.
That's the real way to stop doing something.
Stop.
Not everything in life is Guarenteed to be
Comfortable.
Take care,
-- Brian
For some people, small doses of cafeine, nicotine, etc. saves their lives. Without it they are grumpy suicidal unsocial people.
These substances act almost directly on the brain and if you are relatively lacking behaviour that gets equalled by a little coffee or a few cigarettes, like 10% of humanity does, then just keep using them.
If two cigarettes a day keep your shrink away, smoke'm.
The classic way to do this is to cut back a little at a time. Make or order (for two or three days) 1/4 decaf, then 1/2 then 3/4 then no caffeine. Buy good decaf- you can get decaf expresso for example. In the soda department, move to sprite, decaf coke or diet coke, gingeral etc and READ THE LABELS. As boomers like me age and get shoved toward decaf more and more products are emerging that taste just fine and don't have caffeine.
The sugar is another thing - the best way to get off sugar is to eat more protein instead since it's slow-burning energy reduces crashes sugar might cause. Almonds and other nuts can help as can other protein-rich snacks. Good luck. You'll be glad you did this. BY THE WAY hit a nutrition website and learn a little about how you metabolize sugar and caffeine -- there's a connection to insulin production and peak/crash moods. Happy New YEar.
The best way I found to get over any addiction is gradual way.
...
Step 1: Record when and how much you drink/smoke/etc. over a months time.
Step 2: Analysis the data. And make a schedule of when you do most commonly do your addiction.
Step 3: Follow the schedule religiously for a couple of weeks so you get use to it.
Step 4: Once you use to this schedule and it feel comfortable. Then your spread the time between each drink say 1/2 hour or 15 minutes. (Or what ever you can bare)
Step 5: Follow this new schedule until it feel comfortable.
Step 6: Give an extra week of the schedule
Step 7: Repeat Step 4, 5, and 6 until you are drinking once a day
Step 8: Now work on lowering the dosage of caffeine on that cup (Like drinking a 3/4 of a cup or making the coffee a little weaker)
Step 9: Use the lower dosage until you feel comfortable with it.
Step 10: Repeat step 8 and 9 until you not drinking at all.
Step 11: Profit (From saved money from drinking water except for caffeine. (Optional)
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Brilliant. Replace the caffeine in your system with 8 other drugs. Now *that's* a plan!
Orange & Lemmon Juice plus some C Vitamin suplement and 2 sulbutiamine caps in the morning in order to increase your brain power.
Being a person who LOVES Dew, I was doing 3 liters of Dew a day i Finally decided way too much soda is my problem not fessing up to Caffeine addiction. I cut back to 2 liters a day. Heck face it to me after always having that Flavor in my mouth, Water tasted disgusting. Had to have flavor or nothing to drink for me. I am now down to Iced Tea at half of what i am suppose to put in for mixture. It's a battle. I still get Headaches so as for those being attributed to Caffeine addiction unknown considering i also have a nerve pinched in my neck.
What helped me quit was knowing how much I was taking. I was drinking between 2 and 5 cups of tea a day. So the first thing I did was to limit myself to 3 per day, period. After a couple of weeks I changed to two caffeinated, one decaf. After a couple more weeks, one caf, two decaf. Then it got a little harder. Went down to half a cup of caf, the rest decaf, then a quarter, but eventually the caf portion was small enough to let go with tolerable effects. I was falling alseep at 8 pm for a while, but it was nice to be able to be awake right when I woke up, and not have to wait for the first charge. But the thing that helped most was budgeting my intake. (It also helped that the brand of tea I was drinking had a decent decaf version.)
Exit, pursued by a bear.
Used to drink lots of Coke and Jolt in college (alas, my main vices!). Somewhere around 2 liters a day. Went cold turkey. Headaches, miserable, sick to my stomache. Relapsed. Went cold turkey again. Was a man. Suffered through. First day: bad! Second day: worse! Third day: just bad again. Fourth day: getting better. Just choose a four day stretch where you don't have a lot of responsibilities!
Howard M. Lewis Ship -- Independent J2EE / Open-Source Java Consultant -- Creator, Apache Tapestry and HiveMind
I'm also kind of dubious about your "3 times as strong" statement. Have you guys figured out a way to boil water at >100C or something?
I drank a lot of coffee some time ago. We're not just talking your usual it-at-work-lot. We're talking *a lot*.
It wasn't as though I actually felt like I needed it though. I guess I just liked the stuff. I found out I needed caffeine the hard way though. One day I just didn't drink any coffee and I got the craziest headache.
I slept it off the first day. Next day I had it from when I woke up and I was feeling sort of woozy. I drank a cup of coffee and *boom*. It was gone after a couple of minutes.
Then I just waited for when the next headache started and I drank a single cup of instant coffee. I continued this way and eventually the headaches were further apart and eventually I could just stop completely.
take a week off work - and everything else.
If you're this addicted to something, you probably need to be in rehab.
ibuprofen combined with the xylo will releive most of the sinus headaches.
Until I gave up caffine for some weeks, I didn't even realize that it affected my sleep. People think they become immune to it's affects -- not true.
drink lots of water. sparkling's okay - i'd suggest s'pelgrino or grolschteiner (sp?)
Yes this is good, and this is where I'm at now (went from drinking 6-8 24oz bottles of Mt Dew a day to 8-10 half-liter bottles of water), but there needs to be an intermediate step. When I was wheening myself off caffine, I used Lemonade Snapple (as sweet as Mt Dew, little or no caffine in comparison). Once I was off the Dew and on the Snapple, I wheened myself off that until I was drinking only water during the day. Within a couple weeks I couldn't drink a Snapple it was so sweet. After about three months of being caffine free, I finally added a cup back in a day (either one cup of high test or two cups of half-caf a day).
Why? Caffine affected my sleep, and eventually I was seeing a gastroenterologist because my stomach was a mess.
if this fails try again with a mild antidepressant. st. john's wort for instance or if you want something stronger you can get wellburtin from your doctor for "quitting smoking". be careful with antidepressants though! and remember they take a couple of weeks to "pack".
Most of these, even herbal, require an amount of time to build up in your system. Anything less and it's just a placebo. See my earlier comment about rehab.
There is one thing I have not seen mentioned -- caffine poisoning. I've had it at least three times, and a coworker has had it at least five that I know of. Very unpleasant.
"All I ever wanted was to see Larry Wall give Bill Gates a Perl necklace."
http://www.eisenschmidt.org/jweisen
Kudos on kidney stones! The headaches from withdrawls are NOTHING compared to the kidney stones. One ER nurse told me when I was in the ER at 2 in the morning that a man with a kidney stone is as close as any male will come to experiencing labor pains. Gee....thanks for that bit of information. I haven't had a problem with them in 20 years, cutting back on Mt. Dew, increasing my intake of water (BIG 32 oz glass in the morning and 32 oz when I get home at night), plus, I use an herbal suppliment...cranberry capsules. Just to be on the safe side. Never had a flare up since.
While you're just an arsehole who knows nothing about addiction, dependence or the physiology and psychology of other people.
Like I said, quit being such a pussy. Sorry ass addicts, you guys are pathetic.
Some great substitutes:
Part of the "addiction" for me is simply having a warm cup 'o something harty enough to stand up to milk.
As has also been mentioned elsewhere, drink lots of water. More than you think you could stand. Concider it part of your therapy.
Kind Regards
"A few great minds are enough to endow humanity with monstrous power, but a few great hearts are not enough to make us w
Of course, I went back and used again -- after all, why not? Quitting was so easy. When I tried again after another five years, it was a very different kettle of fish.
You're a dumbass. You are supposed to quit completely and never touch it again. You didn't do that, so you can now wear the title "addict" like its some kind of excuse to not help yourself.
The parent is right - go cold Turkey. Also tell people whose respect you care about what you are doing so that you'll lose face if you give in.
You might also consider taking Ginseng to compensate for the stimulant withdrawal. If you ignore the dosage on the packet and stuff yourself with it, you can get a pretty good buzz too
Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
Getting sufficient rest is very useful to kick caffiene additction. Periodically, I try to detox myself from the stuff, and I need a period (vacation?) of sufficient sleep in order to really do it right.
During the headaches and shakes, keep hydrated, don't do strenuous things. Don't be afraid to take Ibuprofen if the headaches get too bad.
After you're off caffiene, you can also try to throw more gentle stimulants into the mix: Apples (kinds other than the "Delicious" breeds are best), Ginseng, Licorice (Stash makes an excellent Licorice tea).
Some people also use foods high in Tyrosine and/or Phenylalinine (whole grain foods are a good source of Phenylalinine), or take Tyrosine supplements. Talk to a doctor before really hitting the Tyrosine if you are taking MAO-Inhibiter medication (eg some Antidepresants), or lots of antihystamines; Tyrosine can turn into Tyramine, and Tyramine + MAOI or Antihystamines can be a lethal combiniation.
----
Open mind, insert foot.
What's also hilarious is to listen to people defend pot as 'natural', and say how they would never use 'chemicals' like ecstasy, etc, etc. What, THC isn't a chemical? There's not HUNDREDS of chemicals in pot? ARgh.
I'll admit, that is a poor defense and not one that I would use (something being natural doesn't make it safe). But marijuana is relatively harmless compared to many drugs, including the legal ones such as caffeine and alcohol. If you eat it (e.g. cooked in butter), you avoid the harmful effects of smoking the plant.
Zoot!
I can understand the reason for it though. You don't even have to leave the computer to get your nicotine fix. I started dipping when I was 15, before I had really started using computers. But I know two other people who switched to dip from smoking because their boss didn't like them taking frequent smoke breaks.
I was a dipper for about 8 years. For a couple of those years I was a can a day person. I quit last year. One day I just decided that it was time to quit. The second and third days were a little tense (headaches, lack of energy). But, after that it was pretty easy. I still get cravings once or twice per month. I did notice that my caffeine and sugar intake went up a bit after quitting.
My advice to you is:
1. Don't try to quit thinking it's going to be difficult. If you do that, then you won't be able to quit. You'll end up concentrating on the nervousness and headaches, and you'll consider them a valid reason to take a dip just this one time. Keep your eyes on the prize and not on the things that can stop you from reaching it.
2. Don't try to quit for any reason other than that you want to quit. I know people that have tried to quit because their wives asked them to, and they always had a tough time with it. Those same people didn't really have any more problems than I did when they (not their wives) decided to quit.
3. Waiting until you have a week off is a good idea. You should be able to get by with just a long weekend though. Have plenty of things planned for the time. Don't leave yourself with free time that you will just use to think about nicotine. Have other people help you keep busy for three or four days.
you whiny baby.
I drink a lot of coffee (5-12 cups per day) and have for years, but periodically I will go cold turkey (so I get the buzz back when I start drinking it again).
The headaches only last 3 or 4 days. Sleep a lot.
Although I haven't kicked the caffeine habit, I would suggest ginseng as an energy booster. Siberian Ginseng is the best, available in capsules. You can also get ginseng tea. Ginseng has a mildly energizing effect, so it would be helpful post-withdrawal when you're looking for a lift.
Always look on the briight side of life! (whistle, whistle)
My first question is why? Why would you want to give up caffiene? How else do you get out of bed in the morning without a half a pot of coffee? But if you are serious about this just suck it up and be a prick for a week.
As you wrote there is a plethora of good advice for beating addiction out there already.
It does apply to caffeine.
Caffenine is a bona fide drug that causes real physical dependence.
Since this is a tech forum I will remind you that Google is your friend.
Look for books, articles, programs for caffeine addiction.
Your family doctor or local hospital might be able to help you with some good advice.
Be sure to take away the reasons why you might want caffeine ( energy, a buzz ):
- get adequate and regular sleep at the same times every day
- get regular exercise
- eat a nutritious AND tasty diet
- drink 2 quarts of water a day...just water
- use time management so you don't feel pressured to need caffeine to stay up late.
Good Luck
I used to drink two or three large (500ml ~ 16oz) cups of strong coffee a day. I switched that to the same amount of half-caffeinated coffee, with little ill effect, for about a month. I then reduced the quantity, then switched to only one half-caffeinated cup a day (and maybe some decaf later in the day). I'm down to a cup of caffeinated tea a day, with maybe a cup of decaf tea or coffee later in the day. When I switched from half-caf coffee to tea, I had mild headaches, but tolerable.
Don't know if my method would work for you, but you either need to go with slow and determined reduction (which avoids the headaches) or cold-turkey (which would probably require you to take a few sick-days off work... =8-P ).
#include "cunning_plan.h"
Then just substitute a non-caffinated product for your normal drink. You already feel like crap from being sick, so you hardly notice the shakes...
I used to drink the equivalent of almost two pots of coffee a day. I now have two medium-large sized cups a day and I feel fine. If you want to quit, switch to tea and then have fewer cups over time. I happen to like coffee so I prefer moderation.
I've been plagued with nasty headaches all my life, mostly cause by allergies. I was told by my doctor when I was younger to try drinking coffee or tea when I was getting a headache to attempt to stop it. The reasoning behind this was that headaches can be inflamation that causes restricted blood flow to the brain. Caffine, I guess, helps the blood vessels open up a bit. So, I'm assuming that it is possible that you may have a more serious problem than a caffine addiction and that your addiction to caffine may be hiding it from you. You might want to see a doctor about it... Personally, I've never heard of withdrawl from caffine other than sleepiness. I may be wrong, but I normally drink ALOT of caffine, but at time I have gone more than a week without and have never noticed a headache caused by it. If I did get a headache, there was always a... umm reason for it.... Like the case of beer I totaled the night before...
This nonsense is repeated every time a discussion about addictions appears on the internet.
They are called addictions not for nothing, your body requires the substance, it is like suggesting to somebody that is hungry to be disciplined and stop eating.
Seriously people, there is enough information out there on why such an asinine comment as the one I am replying to is compete nonsense from a medical point of view.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Finally, a subject I know well enough to get me up off of my metaphorical behind and create a SlashDot account.
I only skimmed the highest rated comments, but there are a few things you could stand to hear, I think, that I didn't see posted.
Most importantly, you will never fully kick any addictive drug (or other habit) as long as you want to keep using it. You got addicted to caffeine because you perceived caffeine, and even caffeine addiction, was providing you with certain benefits. You will never fully kick your caffeine habit until you stop wanting those benefits.
I know, easier said than done. But basically, what you need to do is to audit those benefits, and ask yourself two questions: (1) Am I actually receiving the benefits that I thought I was? (2) Are the benefits I am receiving what it's costing me?
Now, if you conclude that the answers are "yes" and "yes," then you're not going to quit caffeine, period. But let me suggest that most programmers and other IT types who think that caffeine is providing them with benefits are deceiving themselves. Caffeine enables you to spend more hours at the keyboard. Caffeine enables you to write more lines of code per hour (for example). But after a while, between the sleep dep and the shortness of attention that comes with caffeine buzz, it's garbage code. Which costs you more hours in debugging than the caffeine gave you back in the first place.
On a simpler, more practical note: Long-duration over-the-counter pain killers will help, but only in the very short term. If you use them longer than the indicated time, you can end up just as addicted to them as you are/were to the caffeine. That's where a lot of migraines come from, from people who have to have some form of COx inhibitor or NSAID just to vasodilate enough to partly stave off the withdrawl symptoms, while being so habituated that they no longer get the pain-killer benefit. I know, that's where my ex-wife's migraines were coming from.
I just got out of college, and was rather addicted myself (I would usually opt for the 2 liter bottles of pepsi or dew instead of 20 oz, but would drink them in a day anyway). I decided for my health that it would be best to cut caffeine from my diet. I started out by only cutting soda, as that was the majority of my intake, I would replace it by drinking huge amounts of water (be ready to go use the restroom every 30 minutes at first). I'm pretty sure that the water helped me get around the worst of the headaches. I am now to the point where I'll have a pop at lunch, and if I'm ever wanting something to drink, I'll usually go for tea or juice, just make sure you have alternatives to pop, and it's a good start.
My Sig Beat up your Honor Roll Sig
Here's what I did.
Take a few days off work. Quit cold turkey. After a couple of days of pure absolute f***ing hell. I drank a cup of decaff coffee. The headache didn't go away, but it took the edge off, it made such that I could at least FUNCTION. Decaff has about 4mg of caffiene whereas regular has about 100mg. I was drinking 5-6 or more cups/day.
After a few more days things got better and I could even cut out the decaff.
Some surprising things...
I had more energy during the day.
When I was done for the day, I was done for the day. If I were drinking coffee I could almost always push it a few more hours, even if I hadn't had any in the evening.
Any person with at least passing idea of what an addiction is knows this "advice" is rubish.
Having said that, I don't think caffeine is an addictive substance, but may be mistaken on this regard...
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
As a few others have mentioned, cold turkey works well. Make sure keep yourself well hydrated. I'm a little over 4 months caffeine free right now, and it worked for me. Initially, I drank a LOT of orange soda and orange juice, and gallons of water. I think the orange soda helped a lot, because I was used to the carbonation from the Mountain Dew I was always drinking, so it gave me a little bit of a placebo... The first day, I had a splitting headache, but if you keep hydrated, that goes away pretty quickly, at least it did for me. I hadn't had any caffeine for about 4 months, until new years eve, when I had a couple cans of coke with near equal amounts of Captain Morgan... with no ill effects to speak of, except for the tiredness the next day, which was most likely because I went to bed at 5:30AM... So, Cold Turkey With Lots of Fluids is the way to go.
If you can read this, you are most likely close enough.
After a 12oz serving, you start to get thristy for water as a follow up.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
...the guy also said oxygen was a poison. And I bet he signed the petition to ban the even less safe di-hidroxide form of oxygen.
-Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat
So no wonder you did not have problems to stop it.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
The parent is correct based on my experience, although the prescribed regimen is a bit more involved than I've ever needed. The process for me can be characterized as "cut back and cut over": (1) cut back caffeine consumption over some reasonable period of time (a month usually works) and (2) cut over from a caffeinated to a non-caffeinated state over a weekend.
In the cut-back phase, you consume less and less caffeine over time. My drug of choice is coffee, so I maintain my intake volume (drinking coffee is something to do during meetings or while you're thinking about something) by mixing decaf and high-test or by drinking green tea.
In the cut-over phase, stay up late on a Friday, but don't drink alcohol. Hydrate well before going to bed and take a couple of Benadryl (antihistamine only, not Benadryl-D) and some ibuprofen. Sleep in on Saturday morning, as long as you can stand it. When you finally get up, take more ibuprofen. Repeat on Sunday. By Monday, you should be relatively headache-free, although the lassitude will last for some time.
The toughest part of quitting is that drinking coffee (in my experience) is as much social habit and muscle memory as it is a means to fulfill a physical need (to stay awake during boring meetings). Also, one of the signal pleasures of my life is to sit in a coffee house all morning and screw around on my laptop. I imagine you can dredge up similarly pleasant associations, so my last piece of advice is that you shouldn't see this as a final swearing-off, but rather as a resetting of priorities. You'll drink coffee again; remember to do it in moderation and for good reason.
Good luck!
You two are not excluding each other. Let me summarize:
1. It is possible to become physically addicted to a number of substances.
2. Once you are physically addicted, it is hard to break the addiction.
3. Breaking the addiction is easier for some people.
4. Some people are better at managing their substance intake so that they don't get physically addicted.
Have I missed something?
Stop the brainwash
in your tap water that must otherwise be in a particularly pleasing combination. This is why some people prefer water bottled from certain springs (natural mineral content).
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
First of all, I am not a doctor, but I will play one in /.
Caffeine is not addictive.
I will repeat it, in case you are not paying attention, caffeine is not addictive.
Now, of course your body may have imbalances when you have abused too much in one way or another, or a certain substance may have certain efects in your body, but that does not make it addictive.
Addiciont implies many things: the response of very specific parts of the brain, the absolute dependency from the substance (think hunger in a starvation situation). Caffeine, not even in the worst cases, provokes the same responses and dependency.
Do you want to stop abusing a substance? Good for you, abuse of anything is worth stoping, but don;t assume you are in the same league as a nicotine or crack addict.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
One example, and there are other studies with similar findings.
But the effects on bones and cardiovascular health are nonetheless worth careful consideration.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
You USians never stop to amuse me, every problem is solved with something prepackaged and branded and ready to use.
Go, buy some furit, make the juice yourself.
Heatier than that, nothing.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
You will forget about caffine(among other things), and soon won't be able to afford a cup of coffee.
She will probably have been asked common questions about caffeine and other easily available drugs and should have ready answers to questions such as these. GPs read the medical journals and will be on the lookout for issues that are pertinent to inquiries her patients make. And she's probably had a few strange cases involving caffeine, among other things. Maybe even a poisoning.
I don't think your average slashdotter can comment much more than on personal experience. While that may have been the intent of the ask.slashdot, it's not something you should forget to mention. People tend to lend this place too much authority.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
Start with a strong black tea, loaded with caffene, then work in green tea until that's all you drink.
Green tea:
I banished the mountain dew for green tea six months ago. I never suffered withdrawl from anything, nor do I on weekends or vacation from tea.
... I can confidently say that such practices of abstinence have been abolished from the Catholic church for many years.
To each one his own, and you may want to talk to your priest, back home we used to eat and drink normally and the only concession we used to have for lent was to avoid red meat on Fridays. After a lwhile we stopped even that. My mother, allways worried about this matters, consulted somebody high in the hierachy of the Catholic Church in Mexico that happened to be her friend (and teacher of theology in several Universities in Mexico and abroad).
He said tha there was no need for following these practices anymore.
As I said, to each one his own, but it seems like other people in Catholicism have given up such practices.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
So your point is???
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Drink caffeine free Diet Coke. It worked for me.
I found that I drank way too much Pepsi. I tried to just cut back. I usually just drink one can with lunch and a glass with supper. Every now and then I take a swig from the 2 liter, but for a couple of years I've been doing this and it's better than 5-10 cans a day.
JJ
Mushrooms are a cleaner trip than LSD usually, and coming down is painless. The downside is they can make your stomach hurt when you are digesting them. If you take too much it can be bad just like any other psychadelic drug. Personally, I don't recommend either, as they do make you temporarilly insane.
LSD is man-made and depends on who makes it. If you take a man-made drug, you are trusting who ever made it. When people say "chemicals" in this context I think what they really mean is "man-made chemicals"
The thing about "natural" drugs like marijuana or mushrooms is that they can be clearly identified by looking at them. Not so with the man-made stuff -- LSD, pills, powder, etc. Of course, even with the natural stuff you have to trust your source not to have added something to it.
Zoot!
Boot Camp. I had a six-pack a day Jolt habit in the late 80s... Joined the Navy, in boot camp we had lots of exercise, a 'healthy' diet and very little opprotunity to indulge in a caffine habit. Robert H.
Oh god, we were there on our honeymoon, and the only thing I missed from home was the coffee served here in Canada, because the French coffee is like mud. I tried to doctor it with as much sugar and milk as I could find and it still tasted terrible. Gives you one hell of a buzz when you drink it, but it's just nasty.
------ Will of Iron, Knees of Jello.
There is not such a thing as caffeine addiction, the Wolrd Health Organization says so and so say health Ministeries all around the world.
/. fare that is great for dealing with some issues but crap while dealing with others....
This article is just typical
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Caffiderm dissolves in your mouth almost instantly for that fast acting relief
Don't forget to try our other caffiene step program products, such as: Pixy stixs, whether for play or your daily snorting habits, always satisfiying, and button candy, can't quite snort these fella's, but we won't tell if you wanna try:-)
"And The Geek Shall Inherit The Earth" --Jeff Darlington
How the hell can a can of Pepsi give ANYONE a "buzz"?!?
I'm 14 and used to drink coffee every morning before I went to school. So, when I'm on vacation (as I am now), I don't drink it because I feel no need to be up early. So, for about a week prior to christmas, I got really bad caffene headaches. The best thing that you can do is to tough it out and try to take as few drugs (Tylenol, etc) as you can. And drink water, lots of it. It should be about a week before it goes away.
I have gas, but my car uses petrol.
Sleep.
Most probably, you are not getting eight hours of sleep a night. Go to sleep every night for two weeks, and wake up only after you feel untired. If you must get up at a certain time, go to sleep much earlier. After a couple weeks, you should start getting approximately the same amount of asleep every night. That is how much sleep you need. Get it, and the headaches should go away.
Have you read my journal today?
To avoid the really bad headaches that go along with caffiene withdrawal, drink plenty of water. I've found that when I try cut back caffiene intake, I also stop drinking fluids. It seems I only drink vitamin water, mountain dew, diet pepsi and coffee. So, when I try to cut back, I've never substituted water, and end up getting migraines from early dehydration. So, drink plenty of water, and keep advil on hand. Good luck.
I feel your pain.
I'm not addicted to caffeine (as in, I don't get headaches), but I have another addiction that's probably almost as bad. I keep having to breathe air. If I stop breathing for more than a few minutes, my chest hurts and I start to get light-headed until I breathe again. I don't have the will-power to break this addiction myself...
*grin*
Actually, to be somewhat helpful, a few people I know who were addicted found that switching to half decaf/ half normal coffee helped quite a bit. Basically, you get enough caffeine to stop the headaches from forming, but still less than normal so your system starts adjusting to the new levels. If you keep cutting down the non-decaf portions, you should eventually be caffeine-free. You could do the same for Coca-cola if you feel like mixing them in another bottle.
Of course, another friend of mine started trying to quit and eventually said "Why am I doing this?" and went back to full caffeine.
1. Take time off from work (just under two weeks for me)
2. Get a nice bottle of regular pain killer that doesn't have caffiene in it (No excedrin).
3. Prepare to sleep a lot.
I slept for up to 12+ hours a day for many days in a row. Headaches were horrible but the pain killer kept the edge off of them. I've been caffiene free for just over a year now.
I quit soda every 6 months (cold turkey, be prepared with headache medicine when it's unbearable, done when I don't have to work for a few days). The problem is I can't stay away. I don't drink coffee or tea, and decaffeinated soda just doesn't do it, nor is it readily found everywhere regular soda is. The problem with food addictions is that you can't escape them - you've always got to eat and drink. All of the sudden you quit and now you have to be prepared whenever you go somewhere new. So every 6 months or so I quit again, but as a lazy programmer I'm a lazy quitter. Know your limitations, try and plan accordingly.
It's your life, if you only want to stop because other tell you its a good idea, then your probably doomed to failure - it's pretty hard to stop something even when it's your own idea.
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." -- Albert Einstein
I've restarted coiffie drinking and found that it has really improved my quality of life. Caffine lasts about 10 hours in the human body. I've found that a cup of very strong coffie in the morning makes me more productive and then makes me sleep much better in the evening when it starts wearing off.
In college, I drank soda all day long and had the same problems with headaches and temper that you describe. I'd go off caffine completely and they unavoidably start up again at some later date with the same problems. I'm really happy with my morning only rule now, and find that I have no problem skipping it because my current daily dosage is not addictive.
Mike
I'm a caffiene fiend. At one point in 2002 I was drinking 2-3 cups per hour that I was awake, along with constantly sucking on caffeinated breath mints. I had to get up at work hours on weekends, because if I didn't get the coffee in me on schedule, my body would go into horrible withdrawl and I would end up in bed all weekend. After a while it was really screwing up my life, so I started cutting back by a couple of cups a week, giving up the mints, and replacing coffee with Earl Grey when possible. Over a year later I'm down to one or two cups a day. For a while there I actually tried living without caffiene at all, but I'm just too sluggish. Anyway, here are a few tips:
-Eat healthy! If all you eat is crap, you'll feel even worse without the caffience. Keep apples, oranges, and bananas on hand at all times.
-Instead of coffee first thing in the morning, eat a balance bar before your morning shower. The rush of sugar and vitamins is a nice start that will make the morning easier.
-Exercise! 30 minutes, five times a day minimum will really make life easier all around, especially when kicking caffiene.
-Give up beef. For me, eating beef makes me feel like I just chugged a few beers. If beef makes you sluggish, you'll want to reach for the coffee, so just leave it alone.
-Eat light lunches-rice, veggies, chicken. The local kabob restaurant and frozen rice bowls (Trader Joe's) are a great help here. A light lunch has the same effect that avoiding beef does.
-No sugary snacks-a sugar crash feels just like caffeine withdrawl, so stay away!
Hope this helps..
Pass the sugar.
First time poster - forgive me if I break some /. protocol
Medical-legal disclaimer - One cannot diagnose and treat over the internet. The State of Texas does not allow me to treat anyone not seen by me in the state of Texas.
From your post it appears to do suffer from Caffeine withdrawal headaches. The best advice is to go caffeine free. If you do this on your own, then you can expect the headache to last less than one week. If you see your friendly neurologist, then he or she can give you medication to make the headache shorter.
You can learn more about headaches in general at my web site www.loftusmd.com . You can learn about the classification of headache (Caffeine withdrawal is International Classification of Headache Disorders Edition 2 8.4.1 at the IHS website.
90% of all headaches are due to dehydration and can be cured by drinking water (this includes hangovers). I kicked cafine 2 years ago. I couldn't resist going to the vending machine at work and drank a couple (Pepsi's) a day. I noticed that I didn't drink much over the Holiday break, so I decided not to start when I got back to work in January. After a couple of months, I found that a single can could get me so wired I couldn't stand it. I can still drink a cafinated orange pop or root beer if I need a boost, but the major beverages are out for me. Best part is I didn't notice any withdrawl because I took advantage of a time when I naturally cut back.
Mormon tea? ma huang? Ephedra spp?
Coming from a Mormon... I've never even heard of any of that stuff. If I had to pick a drink of choice for Mormons it would be Sprite (although, I personally hate the stuff).
Also, with respect to Mormons being "arguably christian", the only people arguing that Mormons aren't Christian are people that don't know anything about Mormonism.
by caffiene alone I set my mind in motion
by the brown juice of coffee
the thoughts aquire speed
the hands aquire shaking
the shaking is a warning
by caffiene alone I set my mind in motion
------
with many apologies to Frank Herbert and to whom I have forgotten but learn this from
Life... Life is like animal porn. It's not for everybody - Doug Stanhope
I love how your sig just drives this home.
> I swear french coffee is:
> * Make 2 espressos.
> * change the grounds
> * dump the 2 espresso's back into the machine through the fresh grounds.
No, no. What you do is you grind up the grounds until they're *really* fine,
like talcum powder. You then take a large, flat grate, line the top of it
with a big sheet of coffee filter materiel, and put a nice layer of the fine
grounds on that. Then you steam water up through from underneath, and what
drips back down you collect and serve.
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
I quit for 3 months after just reading 1/3 of this book. Then a disaster at work pushed me back into coffee for awhile, now I am getting cleaned up again. Have only had a few cups in the last week or so.
I commend your desire to quit, my body feels so much better even after just a few days of not drinking coffee... (I quit white sugar before, so soda pop hasn't been an issue... which is another good thing to be rid of.)
I quit when I decided to not drink coffee on a trip back from France. By the time I got from Paris to Seattle, I was sick and stayed that way for several days. I didn't grok what was the cause until I walked by a coffee shop and felt nauseous and strongly attracted at the same time. I switched to green tea for the next couple of years. It's been 7 or so years now and I can safely drink coffee again, in moderation. The headaches pass and your favorite hangover cure (aspirin, ibuprofen, tylenol) will help the felling pass. Just tough it out and stay away for at elast 6 months. Good luck, there is no magic cure!
- progressively back off 1cup/day per week of coffee 'till you're down to one or two cups a day.
- take a 4 day weekend, take antihistamines (i.e. Benadryl, Clortrimeton) to help you sleep all weekend, and take ibuprofen for the headaches.
If you sleep for most of three days, I've found you can happily go without caffeine indefinitely, at least 'till the next time you want to stay up all night- "History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men" -- Blue Oyster Cult, 'Godzilla'
Different people feel the addition to different degrees, but caffein for some
people is *extremely* addictive, perhaps more addictive than nicotine even.
Fortunately, it has fewer bad effects than nicotine, though it does definitely
have some (aside from the addition itself), as any drug does if you take too
much.
Depending on how strongly the caffein affects you, you may be able to quit with
relative ease (go cold turkey for a couple of days) or on the other end of the
scale you may find that the easiest way to get off caffein is to move to the
third world. (The first year, you won't drink the coffee because it has bugs
in it. After a while, you know it has bugs in it and you drink it anyway. A
while later you move back to the US, and you're suspicious of the coffee because
it doesn't have bugs in it.)
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
You don't know what you're talking about. ADD is most definitely associated with a defective brain. However, please note that the defect is not one that affects intelligence, just behavior.
About.com says:
"ADD/ADHD is a neurological disorder. According to the National Institute of Health, between 3% and 5% of the population in this country are affected by ADD/ADHD. The major symptoms of the disorder are distractibility, forgetfulness, inability to concentrate, poor attention span and impulsiveness."
ADD is mainly caused by problems with brain chemistry in the frontal lobe. Signals sent across the brain's synaptic gaps are often transmitted more slowly than they would be in a non-ADD brain, thus causing the problems listed above.
Drugs used to combat ADD, such as Ritalin and Straterra, are stimulants. Rather than cause greater distraction and hyperactivity, they help to speed along messages crossing synaptic gaps, thus helping to reduce the problems associated with ADD. Read more about these medications (and others) here.
Personally, I've noticed that most people with ADD tend to be brighter than those without it. Every person I've known with ADD (myself included) seems capable of learning new things very quickly. As a result, ADD is both a blessing and a curse.
For those of you on Ritalin: Stop using it. It is hurting you more than you know. It has messed with both my memory and my metabolism. Once I got off of Ritalin, I grew about a foot and a half. Granted, I was going through puberty, but this was over a period of six months and was more growth than I had seen in the previous year. Also, I have almost no memory of the years that I was on Ritalin, even though it was less than eight years ago. People who went to school with me remember those years perfectly, and I can't remember them at all. Ritalin is BAD for you.
-- my two or three cents
This is not part of my post. It's my signature. I bet you're disappointed.
We just get a nice picture of your snatch? :)
Thanks. Diabetes runs in my family. I get checked often, and have had a full physical since this incident. There are no indications that I am developing diabetes.
My doctors and family really approve of me using water as my primary drink because of the high probability that I will develop diabetes sometime in my life. Except for this Summer, water has been my primary drink for 5 years.
---
Changing from high sugar drinks to water is very difficult. Sugar controls so much of our somatic responses that many Americans feel hungry when they are dehydrated. The body knows that it had a drink because it tastes the sugar and the blood sugar-level rises. Changing my internal programming so that tasteless water would be recognized as valid input was difficult.
For the water overdose incident, I had not eaten recently. I was programming the computer with a Britta pitcher and a glass next to me. I refilled the pitcher at least 10 times. The drinking, refilling, and bathroom runs were on auto-pilot because my brain was busy with the computer programming. I finally noticed my throat hurt, but initially assumed that it was caused by acid reflux. It was another hour and 3 more bathroom runs before I realized that it was getting worse every time I had a drink. Then another hour passed before I stopped programming the computer and found some food and high sugar drinks to try to satisfy my body. It is amazing how much we can focus on computer programming to the exclusion of our corporeal needs.
I spend my life entertaining my brain.
I used to be a caffine junkie back in my highschool days. But I'm clean now. Here's what happened:
One night after a school dance I was hanging out at a friend's house with a small group. We were having a good time and it became obvious we were going to stay up all night. Being a straigtedge crowd, there were no drugs or alcohol on premisis... except caffine. In the form of coffee grounds. I knew I had to work the next day, so I figured I should start fueling immediately.
A buddy and I took the Mr. Coffee machine and filled the filter cup all the way to the top -- probably two or three cups of grounds. Then we ran about a cup of water through it. The resulting liquid was jet black and as thick as blood. I proceeded to take down the entire thing.
Well, it tasted something like battery acid, but it certainly worked. I was wired in a few minutes and was still soaring hours later. Once the sun came up I went home and got ready for work.
That's when the vomiting started. At first it was the black liquid, then just dry heaves. A lot of them. I called in sick to work. I suddenly felt awfully tired. I tried to go to sleep and couldn't. I put my hand on my stomach and there were literally spasms going on somewhere inside. My belly was vibrating. I tried some Pepto Bismol, then some Emetrol, both of which were vomitted up in minutes. In fact, swallowing my own saliva caused me to vomit. Eventually, I had to lay on the side of the bed, drooling into a basin for about four more hours before my stomach started calming down. I ate nothing but chicken broth for the next day.
After that I couldn't drink coffee anymore. In fact to this day the taste of coffee makes my stomach upset. Just the taste -- even just coffee flavored ice cream. Obviously it's a mental thing that I could probably overcome if I wanted, but I'm actually glad. I think I'll stay more or less caffine free.
I got fired from the job.
I still eat chocolate from time to time.
Cheers.
I'm fighting with some of my bad habit right now myself. On a dare, I quit coffee for a month but continued drinking caffeine.
The story given to me was that the excess phosphorus in coffee blocks the absorbtion of B-Vitamins, leading to depression and lack of energy.
Trading coffee for diet coke for one month was not that hard and didn't change much, except I did make peace with my boss and his best friend that I had to work with. Said I would continue without coffee just because of that.
In the next three months I found a new job in my old programming field (was waiting tables for years), found a girlfriend, aced my summer semester, and feel better. Also put on 25 pounds, quit going to school, and some of my friends are avoiding me :(
Decided no experiment was complete without an end, went back on coffee for two months. Depression came back, broke up with girl-friend, and my new job is falling apart (would have anyway).
The experiment had mixed results. But for me, there's no question, coffee is out of my life for now. Most of my headaches were related to lack of coffee and dehydration, not with lack of caffeine.
So, my advice is give up coffee, drink lots of water, then see how you feel after a month, and how the people around you treat you. You can worry about soda and tea later.
It's a fairly harmless experiment, all the caffeine you want for a month, just no coffee. Try it, for some the results are amazing
Here's to losing my Karma Bonus again....
I was heavily caffeine addicted in college, and had to quit about a year after I graduated, when I started having a myriad of health problems, including scary heart palpitations, urinary tract irritation, and even changes in my breast tissue. Because of the withdrawal headaches (and anyone who has ever been properly caffeine addicted KNOWS that these are absolutely brutal), you really can't mess around with doing anything halfway. Cold turkey is best. It'll be agonizing for a couple of days, and then you'll feel much better. Your body will get used to not having caffeine, and you won't need it to stay awake anymore -- even for those late nighers.
Alot of people can't believe that I'm a programmer and I don't drink caffeine. It's actually kind of funny seeing how desperate everyone else seems, when you've broken your own chain. When caffeine addiction is no longer a foregone conclusion to you, the excuses that others make for their obsessive pursuit of it start to sound a bit farcical. "I'm a programmer! I NEED caffeine!" they will rail. It's just not true.
Now, if only I could convince my local restaurants to carry decaf iced tea... Damn it!
C'mon, all these posts and not one dealing with Trainspotting. I quote:
"Relinquishing junk.
Stage one, preparation. For this you will need:
One room which you will not leave.
Soothing music.
Tomato soup, ten tins of.
Mushroom soup, eight tins of, for consumption cold.
Ice cream, vanilla, one large tub of.
Magnesia, milk of, one bottle.
Paracetamol
mouthwash
vitamins
Mineral water
Lucozade
pornography
One mattress
One bucket for urine, one for feces and one for vomitus.
One television
and one bottle of Valium, which I've already procured from my mother. Who is, in her own domestic and socially acceptable way also a drug addict.
And now I'm ready. All I need is one final hit to soothe the pain while the Valium takes effect. "
Now I'm going to have to move out of my mom's basement in Nebraska and into my dad's in fucking Oklahoma. Thanks fuckerz...
The headaches go away after about a week.
Take tylenol for a few days.
While performing manuvers attached to a Marine Corps unit at the wonderful vacation spot of twenty-nine palms, I was drinking appx 4 to 4.5 Gallons of water per day.
When I worked in a bakery, I drank a gallon of water just during my shift.
So don't think that a paltry 2.5 liters is too much or unrealistic. There's nothing physically stopping you from being able to drink that much water.
Unfortunately, I too have slipped far too deeply in a programmer's lifestyle, so this topic has issued a well timed wakeup call.
Interesting:
I'm not disagreeing with you, but I want to raise a philosophical question for the benefit of people who don't really understand the critical link in what you said. I, for one, believe it is an enlightening insight.You have drawn a dichotomy between the two situations of working slavishly, as in like a slave "with a whip to your back", and "[being] awake. Ironically, I believe you also mean that caffiene dependance is a situation on the slavish side of the dichotomy: caffiene is commonly associated with alertness and waking up.
There are two important elements of your aphorism, if you will suffer my analysis a bit. The first necessary element is the suggestion that caffiene dependence is related to slavery; the second is the suggestion that the common draw of caffiene is not necessary for alertness, but caffiene actually detracts from "being awake".
The argument itself is not specific to caffiene or dependance on it. It simply opposes slavery with being awake. The previous statement sets up the relationship by opposing being on caffiene with "feel and work much better, think much clearer, rest better, and actually code better!"
The problem I see with that is you suggest replacing a life pattern driven by addiction to sugar and caffiene with a disciplined and self-motivated mode of living. We may not assume that the unknown readers have sufficient seeds of discipline and self-determination to actually achieve anything in absence of caffiene. I would like to spin what you said by adding this.
Kicking any kind of addiction, or habit, or lifestyle, or whatever only requires two difficult things: suffering the consequences of the situation you are already in, and restraint from contributing necessary causes to future grief. In short: suck up and take it like a man while you starve the causes of your own greif. Caffiene is not as bad as opiates. If you learn this discipline on something like caffiene addiction, you can apply the discipline in tougher challenges. You can do anything. Or you can stay tied down.
--- Nothing clever here: move along now...
Well, US drug policy has rarely had anything to do with common sense. Marijuana's primarily illegal due to racism. Ephedra was banned this week based on a handful of deaths in America while tobacco kills approximately 4.8 million people per year world wide and while alcohol contributes to a significant percentage of auto accidents, firearm incidents, rape, and child and spousal abuse.
Of course, I'm a prohibitionist, not an apologist for marijuana legalization. I'm of the opinion that tobacco and caffination of soft drinks should be illegal too. I'd just like to see a little less hypocrisy in our drug laws and our trade fights to push our own drugs on other nations.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
5 pages of utter redundancy, and an OP that could have gotten the exact same mundane pointers from a Google search.
I suspect this was some form of advanced trolling, because I cannot conceive of any good reason why this question is necessary or appropriate here.
Marijuana is way easier to give up than caffeine.;)
Is this a sigs-optional kind of place? 'Cause I am totally down with that if you know what I mean.
Okay, the correct answer is "go cold turkey", because switching to tea will still give you some of the withdrawal symptoms -- coffee is really, really nasty stuff, even decaf. But anyhow, tea will provide a good substitute, a good habit-filler, and is apparently not addictive (although anything will become a habit if you do it enough).
You'll ingest a fraction of the caffeine, you'll get less of the other nasty stuff that's in coffee (caffeine isn't the only 'upper' in coffee), and you'll get some positive benefits -- antioxidants, tooth decay slowing, bad breath reduction, and so on.
-Billy
Actually, caffeine doesn't open blood vessels - it closes them. Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor. The headache comes in part as a result of your blood vessels widening after the caffeine is removed from your system. Bloodflow is increased in the brain and you get a headache.
-Mod how you like, we'll make more
Give him a few Twinkies, on the other hand, and he will freak out. This is a man in his thirties, but he reacts to too much sugar just like a little kid does.
Breakfast served all day!
My girlfriend do this to relieve the pain when she has a migraine :
She put hers hands for 1 minute in a sink filled with hot water. After that she say that at least 50% of the pain has gone. Somebody explained to her that that was because the blood would leave the head to go into the hands and thus relieve the pressure.
My two cents.
I've quit caffeine a couple of times, and I usually do it after I've had a cold. That way, I'm usually feeling crappy and down for the count for a few days anyway (and I'm not really in the mood to have caffeine), so I just keep the momentum going as I start feeling better. I don't avoid the headaches, but they're not noticeably worse than the headaches that I would have just from being sick.
I averaged 15 to 18 cans of Coke a day for almost 15 years. Then I had to remove caffeine from my diet for medical reasons. The only way I could do it was to just switch to Sprite (or 7-Up or Sierra Mist) cold turkey. For the first year or two I wound up drinking much more, closer to 20-23 cans a day, but now I'm down to somewhere around 15.
--
If I actually could spell I'd have spelled it right in the first place.
I am a regular poster to slashdot, and have even done my turn at moderating. However, this is a sensitive topic, so I will post anonamously.
I have a sexual/pornography addiction, and I have been going to a 12-step program for it (Sexaholics Anonamous). Going to the meetings and working the steps has helped me a great deal. If anyone is struggling with this, you may want to consider it.
I am the "computer guru" of our group, so to speak. Others have asked for software, etc... that will help. Here are some stuff that I have come up with. Mozilla: blocks pop-ups. Lynx: text only. WeBlock: web blocking software, tried it but not too impressed yet. Covenant Eyes: sends a list of the sites you visit to someone you will be accountable to. www.no-porn.com: A website offering help that I really havn't tried.
I hope that if some of you out there are struggling with sexual addictions you will try to get help. There are programs out there that really do work for people, and may just work for you.
God Bless.
459 days of sobriety and counting.
Green tea worked VERY well for me. Lifts the fog better than coffee!
I was tired and had a headache for a few days, but it didn't matter because I was just lying on the beach all the time :) By the time the holiday was over, I didn't have any craving for caffeine, and I've been on the decaf ever since.
You may not be aware of this, but soy products contain plant estrogens and other nasties that lower libido, contribute to prostate and other gland problems.
I'd like to take this opportunity to complain about the utter lack of options wherever drinks are sold.
Coke machines, restaurants - you're always given a choice of three options:
1. horrible tasting sewer water with floaties.
2. caffeine-free beverages with enough sugar to cause your pancreas to explode.
3. sugar-free beverages with enough caffeine to make your adrenal gland explode.
If you want something that tastes good, and won't kill you with sugar or caffeine, you can only find such beverages at the grocery store, or at home. It's like there's a conspiracy among beverage vendors to force people who are trying to beat a caffeine adiction to become obese (or vice versa).
I hate it - it drives me crazy, and the people who are responsible for this will be found when I am made emporer. They will be found, and they will be the first ones up against the wall. Okay, maybe the second ones, after the accountants and MBAs. . .
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
I am a programmer with a handicap, in that my system is caffiene intollerant. That isn't to say that I can't do caffiene, but the value has to be worth the other discomforts. As a result, I often get myself hooked on caffiene and have to "clean myself out" afterwards.
I have tried most of the methods described above, and can tell you about their effectiveness. The problems with kicking caffiene are threefold. With caffiene you have to get used to not having the energy that you want. The second is that you get addicted to the flavor of coffee. The third are the actual withdrawl symptoms. It's kind of like smoking in that it isn't just the nicotine, it's the habit of doing something with your mouth. You have to deal with each of these issues.
For the lack of energy, I suggest starting by making sure you're getting enough sleep. It usually only takes an extra hour a day, and is much easier than spontaneously starting a regular regimen of exercise. Daily cardiovascular exercise (like 15-20 minutes on an exerbike) is next on the list - you wouldn't believe the extra energy that regular excercise will give you.
Dealing with the withdrawl symptoms is actually fairly easy. You can switch to green tea, you can drink a whole bunch of water, you can cut down on a schedule, you can switch to decaf. Cutting down on a schedule is the hardest on the list because you still have the stuff in front of you, and it's easy to convince yourself that a little more won't hurt. I don't suggest switching to soda because it has its own health issues.
The last thing to deal with (which is something that I never entirely get over) is the issue of just plain liking coffee. I think that the human pallatte would learn to enjoy battery acid if it had caffiene in it. Decaf isn't good enough, your pallette quickly figures out that it isn't getting what it wants and starts detesting it. Just drinking coffee on special occasions doesn't work either, because it reminds you how much you like it. The only answer I have to this one is that you need to have willpower while your getting yourself off of it, and once you're off, just drink decaf on special occasions, just to keep yourself from getting hooked again.
Best of luck.
Wake up - the future is arriving faster than you think.
You need
Caffiderm!Sean
The symptoms you described are due to your body not being able anymore to deal with the drug. They are the forerunners of more serious problems. The solution is not to increase the consumption, not to stay at same levels, not even to just decrease it, but to quit altogether. I am not a doctor, so take my advice with a grain of salt.
:-) To rehash, the key ingredients were: calm, peace of mind (no guilt, no agitation due to "ohmygod i'm an addict and i'm f***ed"), persistence, reiterating the decision as many times as necessary. Oh, and time. Lots of time and patience.
I used to drink a lot of coffee some years ago, up to ten cups a day maybe. My hands started to shake, and quite often i would get almost drunk because of caffeine (it's strange but real: past a certain threshold, caffeine makes you "drugged" pretty much like alcohol).
My method of getting rid of the nasty habit was a silent yet firm resolution to gradually push it out of the system. I just started to think (well, actually "feel" not think in the intellectual/logical sense) calmly, even-mindedly but persistently that i must stop it.
I didn't feel guilty or anything when drinking an occasional cup, i just rehashed my resolution. As an aid, or temporary "crutch" of sorts, because i actually like the taste of coffee i started to replace "real" coffee with decaf. Temporarily, i used to drink cola or stuff like that if i really craved for caffeine; after a while, i started to avoid even those things and drink non-caffeinated cola (all major brands offer non-caffeinated versions, at least in USA). The problem with cola is that the sugar can ruin your teeth (yes, i used to drink a lot!) and overall it's not one of the healthiest things to ingest. The "diet" versions (sugar replaced by artificial sweeteners) are even worse. Again, i am not a doctor, these are just my uneducated guesses.
The gradual changes that i described are not something that i planned. The only thing that mattered was the calm yet stubborn resolution. All else emerged from that without me intending it in an organized fashion - they were just things that became obvious by themselves, as time passed by.
I guess i was only more stubborn than the habit.
It took me a year, maybe two, to make it disappear. I can't tell when was the precise date when the habit died, because there was no such date. Rather, it withered out like a plant lacking water.
Nowadays there is no craving at all. I still like the taste of coffee, but i drink the occasional decaf instead. Actually, i developed quite an addiction for... decaf vanilla white mocha! Translation for those unaware of this typical article in american coffee shops: this is something you could pretty much safely feed to a little child (except that you don't want a child getting addicted to the taste of coffee-based drinks at a young age), because it's decaf coffee, cocoa, milk, vanilla, sugar and whipped cream... mmmm... tasty... But that's a harmless addiction, i'd reckon, at least for an underweight like me.
I can even safely drink now "normal" coffee, if i'm extremely tired and bored, i have no energy to summon up my strength by sheer will power, but i have a difficult and important task to deal with which is worth the damage. I also accept a coffee when it's offered to me, and i do that only as a social thing, if i feel that a flat out refusal would not be appropriate for the situation. But i do that perhaps once a year, or maybe not even that often. Anyway there is no tendency of the addiction to get back, it's like it vanished altogether.
And actually, i don't even get the normal jolt from caffeine anymore; if i drink the occasional caffeinated cola, there is only a small perceivable effect on my state of mind, and if i drink a big strong coffee i actually feel uncomfortable and edgy (there must be some pretty strong self-suggestion that i injected into my brain while quitting if even the perception of the physical effects changed).
My personal opinion is that caffeine doesn't a
caffeine stimulates the heart rate and increases blood flow to the brain.
exercise stimulates the heart rate and increases blood flow to the brain.
headaches are often caused by dehydration.
Heh, and you weigh what, 800 pounds?
Mountain Dew sold in the US contains 55g of caffiene in a 12-oz serving. That's above average for soft drinks, with the infamous Jolt Cola having the most at 72g per 12-oz drink (ignoring the "energy drinks" and coffee-based drinks on the link above).
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
"Week off work"? "Liberal use" of "Xylo"? Pain killers? "Anti-depressants"?! Dude, the combined damage your plan would cause is worse than a life of caffeine!
To the original poster: I decided to quit caffeine a few years ago (I would drink more than five cups of coffee a day) so I just stopped. I had a headache for 3 days and had trouble jump starting myself in the mornings, but after the three days I was back to normal. Easy as pie.
The reason, most of the time, that people find exotic methods for kicking habits is that they don't think they have the willpower to wait out the withdrawal. If you really want to quit, just stick to it.
Eventually he'd burned up all his money and his friendships and decided to clean up his act and stop using the drugs. But he was still a nicotine addict - he found that trying to quit smoking was much harder than either coke or heroin. His post-addiction replacement girlfriend figured that quitting once vice at a time is a good start, and she'd rather put up with the smoke than put up with him during nicotine withdrawal, at least until he'd been over the other stuff for a while. I haven't seen him in a couple of years, but I suspect he's still a smoker.
Everybody's reactions to drugs are individualized, of course, so your mileage may vary. I go back and forth between caffeine use, caffeine addiction, and decaf, and sometimes I've had really nasty withdrawal (which tends to keep my off the stuff for a while.) I also find that if I'm regularly using caffeine, even at below-addictive levels, most other drugs I take don't have much effect on my mood, but if I've been decaffeinated for a while, either uppers like Sudafed or downers like anti-histamines will have much more mental effect.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
A decade or so ago, she got a bad cold or flu and couldn't cope with smoking, and went off it cold turkey, and hasn't started since. She's always been an apartment-dweller, so the next time she moved, it was to a place that wasn't drenched in smoke, and visiting her became much more pleasant :-) Quitting wasn't entirely good for her - she gained about 60 pounds the next year, which has made the rest of her life a lot tougher, but at least she's not smoking.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Usually when I want to go off caffeine, I switch to half decaf coffee, and gradually decrease the amount of caffeine. It's really critical to find good decaf instead of lame-tasting decaf if you want to trick yourself into being satisfied with it. Try a bunch of brands and varietals - I usually just do French Roast, since my wife prefers that taste and there are more choices of brand because burning the beans usually covers up the decaffeination damage, but I also like most of Peet's flavors, and one local coffee roaster does a decaf Ethiopian that survives.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
But if you want to experience the pure nastiness of caffeine, you can do what an acquaintance of mine and his druggie friends tried once, which is crunching up some caffeine pills and smoking them. They figured that most other psychoactives work differently depending on whether you eat the natural product, refine it into pure chemical, or smoke the chemical, and if it works for opiates, coca, and marijuana, why not caffeine? Answer: Do not do this... They found all the nasty effects of caffeine pretty much hit all at once - nausea, headaches, jitters, and it was an ugly experience they didn't plan to repeat, in spite of being experienced with all kinds of chemical entertainments. (And I get the impression they were mainly into the stimulants like cocaine rather than the hallucinogens, so it's not just a matter-of-taste thing.)
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
your an idiot
But hey, if you like fizzy water in the morning, go for it.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
This is a day late, so it will probably never get modded up enough to be read, but wtf, it's worth posting.
Tea.
Base case: Depending on the severity of your addiction, drink a number of cups of black tea in place of coffee. Let the teabag steep for 3-5 minutes, depending on the amount of caffeine you need.
Inductive step: every day, reduce by 15 seconds the amount of time you steep the tea until it's so weak that it tastes like crap (under 2 minutes). Then you stop. Pop some tylenol that night and the next morning. Don't drink anymore caffeine for a while so you break the habitual/non-addictive portion of the behavior.
I now regularly have 1 cup of tea in the morning. Once every week or two I have an additional caffeinated beverage at some point, where it's an actual treat that I can enjoy.
If you must have something caffeinated, try a lightly-steeped cup of green tea, a single-shot espresso drink (less caffeine than drip coffee), or a very dark-roasted brew (more flavor, less caffeine than light roasts).
Fluoridating water is a terribly stupid drug delivery method - it's extremely variable in the dosage it delivers, and doesn't adjust its random dosage based on different individuals' needs - children growing new teeth need it more than old people who have to worry about osteoporosis. If you need fluorides, you can either use toothpaste to deliver it to the outside of your teeth, where it's useful, or take it in pills which are also cheap.
Fluoridation is a heavily propaganda-based business, and we've got politicians here in California like Jackie Speier who insist that every town water system MUST MUST MUST force its users to take this drug whether they want it or not, though of course she's adamantly opposed to letting us take many of the drugs we do want to take. That's not to say that anti-fluoridation isn't _also_ heavily propaganda-based, just because it's a Commie Plot against Our Precious Bodily Fluids. But it's basically bad science and bad medicine.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
This is so true. I quit smoking after getting a horrible case of the flu. I was bed ridden for a week and smoking just made me feel 100 times worse so I just quit cold turkey. I haven't had a smoke in two months.
The grandparent post just disputed the claim that the human body makes nicotine. He gave no evidence that it does not. The post does nothing *at all* to show the "research" was flawed. I'm guessing you are a non-smoker, and like to call people who disagree with your opinions stupid.
At least part of the flavor seems
to be from orange juice.
It's surely not lime, at least not
of the typical green-jello fake lime
taste. It's not really lemon either.
Go cold turkey.
Takes about four days. You will feel your head and you will be a pain for others, so take some days off, get yourself out to a place where there is no coffee (may I suggest camping or the moon) and do it.
Find yourself an alternative (may I suggest water here, since it is hard to drink too much of that, plus it helps if you want to keep your weight).
By the way, waking up with orange juice is just great, works better than coffee.
After a couple of days, you could start drinking the black oil again, but just be a bit careful. Go two or three cups a day. No more. Enjoy the taste.
The site where: "I'm right, as long as you ignore the things that prove me wrong", became a valid method of debate.
Quote:
So:
Reduce intake - duh. Unlike cigarettes, you don't have CRAVINGS for coffee. You have a headache and feel like crap - for a day.
Well maybe for you! Not everyones body chemistry is the same. While I admit that some of the "craving" can be just part of the office or morning routine I really do crave it.
I have trouble giving it up. The only way I can give it up is to wait until holidays then when I am away from the "culture of coffee" I have a chance. Yeah I go through the usual headaches and stuff but long after that has passed I long for a cup of coffee. The smell of it drives me wild. It ends up consuming my every thought. Even a year after not taking any caffeine.
It is so prevalent in our society that I find it hard to really quit. Its everywhere and cheap. I dont have to boost videos to get money for my high I just pull out $2.
Coffee doenst just get me wired it actually gets me stoned. A bit similar to dope but nicer. After a few strong ones I just sit there with a shit eating grin on my face feeling great. Lots of chocolate does this too. The after effects of chocky are evil though. After a choc binge I always want to kill myself.
Interestingly above in this thread there was a mention of nicotine in the treatment of disorders. I find having a smoke is the only thing that will stop me from killing myself when comming down from a major caffeine high. I dont usually smoke, I find it yucky, but I keep my pipe and tobacco handy for those times that I would top myself.
I have already experienced nasty headaches and some other strange symptoms caused by caffeine or the lack thereof... But pain in the ass? Never. Well, I guess I'm not addicted then. Thank God!
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
test - ignore
I said ignore.
I mean it.
Go away.
"Argue with idiots, and you become an idiot." -- Paul Graham
The current JoyOfTech comic suggests an easy way to cut down to one cup a day...
It's psychosomatic. You need a lobotomy. I'll get a saw.
(This is a response to an AC that questioned my weight. I am assuming it was not a troll, but actually wanted information.)
I am 6'4" tall and weigh 235 lb. According to this, I am slightly overweight, but not obese.
I do not understand the judgement. I could lose a little from my belly, but the rest of me is muscular. I exercised constantly about 1.5 years ago. My belly was trim and started to show a six-pack. I initially lost weight to about 225 lb, then gained it back in muscles to reach 245 lb.
---
If you were questioning my ability to drink over a gallon of Pepsi or water each day, this site suggests drinking 1/2 oz of water daily per 1 lb of body weight. So at my current weight I should drink almost a gallon of water every day. But my intake has always been excessive.
Actually these numbers are hard to apply because my weight changed over the course of the caffeine addiction. When I started drinking Pepsi full-time, I weighed 175 lb. When I started the support job 8 years later, I weighed 185 lb. 8 months of being chained to a desk and I weighed over 260 lb (which was also a major factor in the acid reflux problems. Gaining 70 lb in <8 months is not good.) When I started the process of kicking the caffeine addiction 4 months later, I was around 250 lb. I stabilized around 240 lb a few years later. The major exercise program June-September 2002 is mentioned above, and as I lost muscle I have stabilized at 235 lb. I exercised some this Autumn, and am trying to make it a habit so I can lose a few inches off my belly.
In related news, I eat more than any other 2 people I know, and have since I was very young. I can easily eat a 30oz steak and be hungry a few hours later. My friends joke that I need to be rich just to supply myself with food. A few people have mentioned the possibility of diabetes. I keep getting checked; the doctors keep telling me that my eating habits are awful, but the only number that concerns them is my high cholesterol count (very likely related to my constant diet of cow.) I have changed my diet several times for several months; there is absolutely no correlation between the quantities I eat and my body weight. As mentioned earlier, I gained 10 lb over 8 years with a diet that varied (depending on my budget) between mostly pasta and mostly steak. In trying to lose weight, I did cut back for several months, but the only effect was fatigue. The only thing that affects my weight is the amount of exercise. (I usually lose weight when I have a girlfriend because I get more "exercise", but the girlfriends always gain weight from imitating my eating habits.)
I spend my life entertaining my brain.
The best way to detox without pain is to use a CES device.
But it won't cure the addictive behaviour.
250 mg Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5) under the tongue until dissolved will help with the adrenal exhaustion tremendously. Its cheap, use the tablets, and don't swallow the whole thing, let it dissolve slowly. It does not taste good, and actually not much is absorbed sublingually, but if you take it all at once you could get abdominal cramps.
Chamomile Tea (strong use 2 tea bags) and Magnesium (use Citrate not Oxide and not too much) will help with the headaches and muscle cramps.
Epson salt baths relax muscles.
Drink lots of water, but realize that it IS possible to drink too much water so don't go crazy and drink gallons, just 6-8 6-8oz glasses and space them apart.
If you are up for it, acupuncture can also help, by releasing endorphins that will help you get through the detox, and relaxing tense muscles, especially in the neck.
Stretch.
Go walking.
Breathe abdominally (google it, it helps).
Use heat or ice on the back of the neck, whichever feels 'right'.
Get a hug from your mother.
Good luck.
Seriously though, as I've already written in my journal, I'm somewhat concerned about the interaction of caffeine with antidepressants and mood stabilizers. If anyone of you has any experience with heavy doses of caffeine (in the order of magnitude of g per day) combined with psychotropic drugs commonly used in the treatment of bipolar disorder, unipolar depression and other affective disorders, please share your experience. Thanks.
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
Should have said start smoking pot. Cigs are just another bad addiction but pot will get you unhooked because it is one of the least addictive drugs. I quite caffine for a while with weed.
Open Source Sushi
You've got the effect of caffeine on the blood vessels exactly backwards. Caffeine causes constriction of blood vessels. When somebody stops ingesting caffeine, their blood vessels will tend to expand. This may or may not have anything to do with the resulting headache.
-Mark
I kept bottles of water and sugar candy close. Chocolate has caffeine. A friend (dietitian at an addiction clinic) recommends a multi-vitamin daily.
The only thing new in this world is the history that you don't know.[Harry Truman]
Cold turkey is definitely the way to go.
I went from a 2x 12 cup pot a day habit (and that was just at the office!) to nothing when I left a job 3 years ago...
Mind you, I was living pretty close to the edge of not having a pot to piss in, and cut a lot of luxuries (like coffee, beer, meat) out of the budget early in case I was out of work for a long stretch.
It worked, but I don't necessarily recommend extreme measures for everyone.
I am not caffeine free today, but I am a hell of a lot more moderate in my consumption (when you class a $1.25 medium black from Tim Horton's as a luxury expense, you get a much better appreciation for the stuff when you have an income again) than I was in the old days.
>>The gym was really the secret for me. I've been a sworn night person for my entire life. After a month or two at the gym, my body got convinced it was supposed to fire up at 6:30am every day and started taking care of itself.
>Horrible. Most interesting things (art, social events, deep thoughts, love) happen at night. Let that be a warning: go to the gym and civilization goes down the tubes.
Dude, this is slashdot. The main type of love that goes on late at night involves one hand on the mouse, occasionally switching off to enter credit card numbers.
Seriously, most of the list you mentioned happens between about 7:30 and 10:30. That's evenings, not night. Just because you stop being a night owl doesn't mean you miss out on any of them. Some of the really late stuff, perhaps.
But then again, say you hit the gym at 6-7, are at work for 7:30, impressing your boss that you're in before him every day. You put in your 8+1 hour day and are out at 4:30. Now (on a typical day - granted it's winter right now) you get two hours at the beach, on the rollerblade paths, whatever, getting a whole range of cool activities which you overlooked because you're purely evening focused.
>>the attention from women'll more than make the effort worthwhile.
>Too bad you won't be awake to take advantage of it.
Would those be the hot women at the gym in the mornings? Or the ones at the beach in the late afternoon? Or the ones at all the events you mentioned that actually happen in the evening?
Sure, I do miss out on the women who're sitting in a corner, drooling, at 4am, at the end of a club night. On the other hand, perhaps there's a reason no one else has gone home with them yet?
Still, I'm not a selfish person. I'll share. I'll take the first group, you take the second. Sound good? *grins*
Retire.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is usually crucified.
Whenever I notice my intake get too high, I just quit for a week or two. Only the first 2-3 days are really hard. I deal with the headaches with aspirin and tylenol. Do _not_ take Excedrin for the headache, as Excedrin has caffeine in it.
If you know what withdrawl will be like, you can just steel yourself to deal with it. It's not like it will last forever. I usually pick a Friday to stop so I won't be useless at work for a couple of days.
Need a Python, C++, Unix, Linux develop
I once had luck getting over a green tea addiction (headaches, the shakes) by drinking yerba mate' once to satisfy my need. The next day, I didn't need either tea or mate'.
Mate' also contains caffeine. I'm not enough of a chemist/biologist/doctor to speculate why this worked, but it appeared to.
You -might- be able to do something similar by having green tea instead of coffee one day, and then nothing the next. Maybe. Or maybe mate' is the magic bullet. Or maybe I was just lucky.
BTW, a lot of the stuff on the internet will tell you yerba mate' isn't addictive, and that it doesn't cause you to be sleepless. Don't believe it! I got fiercely sick from mate' deprivation a number of times after drinking it reguarly for a year or two, and I once imbibed a LOT of mate' at a party late one evening, and didn't sleep much at all that night (despite plenty of trying). Also don't believe the stuff about mate' having mateine instead of caffeine. There was one study that said it contains mateine, and many that say it has caffeine.
But I wouldn't say that mate' addiction is worse to kick than coffee addiction. Mate' is good stuff, and it takes a long time to get addicted to it I think.