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."

Comments

Mental discipline

[Brahmastra]

How about just stop taking caffeine, nicotine, or whatever it is you are addicted to (if you wish to stop that is).

Re:Mental discipline

[I Be Hatin']

How about just stop taking caffeine, nicotine, or whatever it is you are addicted to (if you wish to stop that is).

I suppose that would work, but have you ever had a caffeine-withdrawl headache? Maybe spending an indefinite amount of time with piercing pain in your head sounds okay to you, but I'd imagine ethanms would rather find a less painful alternative.

Re:Mental discipline

[mixmasta]

Nah, he's right, although not very descriptive.

Yes, he(the poster) can do it. Best to ease off of it though, gradually. Drink lots of water and pop a few ibuprofen to get through the headaches.

Pay attention to your .sig and notice that we do have control of our own destiny, despite what the TV may have brainwashed you into believing. If someone can't do it alone then they need to get help, which he is starting to do here, it is nothing to be ashamed of.

First decide you want to be free of caffeine, find how to get there (a road map), and excecute. Sounds like mental discipline to me. Stop being a pussy. =)

Re:Mental discipline

[nick_davison]

It took about three months before I wasn't really tired in the mornings.

I had to stop, like that, because of a medical diagnosis. Well, I could have continued but the consequences were unspeakable.

The same diagnosis turned around pretty much everything, health-related, in my life. I changed my diet and started going to the gym every morning.

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.

It's convinced me that there are morning and night people, just not in the permanent, unalterable way most people think of it. Your metabolism shifts very slowly to suit what you do with your body. If, like most coders, you do next to no exercise during the day but regularly push your body to perform coding jags late at night, your metabolism will have shifted to suit that time of day. If you cut out the late nights and start pushing your body to the gym every morning, it will convert over.

The only problem is, it takes a good month or two of serious commitment. I always swore people who said what I just said were full of it - but then I would try it for a couple of weeks, or go to the gym two mornings a week while sneaking in several late nights. Once I had to completely switch over, it happened relatively quickly.

So, caffine is one way to get going in the mornings. Alternatively, get to the gym, every morning, without fail, and cut out the late nights, for two months. If, like me, you lose 10% of your body weight in the process, the attention from women'll more than make the effort worthwhile.

Just one request: Leave it a couple of months. Those of us who go regularly already have to put up with the New Year's Resolution crowd for the next six weeks. ;)

Just bear through it.

[Goalie_Ca]

Just stick it through and soon enough you'll be free. Learn to drink water instead.

Re:Just bear through it.

[xigxag]

The problem with "quick web searches" is that you wind up googling up a lot of misinformation.

In fact, there is no strong medical evidence that people under normal circumstances need to drink large quantities of water.

See here.

and here.

Re:Just bear through it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Your links are suspect:

1. The both reference the same article.

2. One is a subscription service, I prefer info to be open.

3. From your nutritionnewsfocus.com link "Caffeine and alcohol are diuretics, that is they increase urine production, but much of the water in beverages that contain them does get used by the body." The definition is a diuretic is a substance that increases the production of urea, so to return urea to normal levels additional fluid is needed. Liquid used in them is used by the body, and more is needed too.

4. From "ndmnutrition.com" link "Valtin thinks the notion may have started... er... so he doesn't have any justification other than quoting one line of a report which didn't advocate what he suggested it did.

5. ...there is some evidence that the risk of certain diseases can be lowered by high water intake, the quantities needed for this beneficial effect may be less than 8 x 8.... Well by high he only means 2 litres, make of that as you will. So he accepts the risk of disease can be reduced, he back-tracks by saying only those people susceptable, but do you know ehat diseases youe are susceptable to? Diabetes only affects those susceptable to it, do you know if you are? Better safe than sorry?

6. ...thirst begins when the concentration of blood (an accurate indicator of our state of hydration) has risen by less than two percent, whereas most experts would define dehydration as beginning when that concentration has risen by at least five percent. Those that are seriously dehydrated lose their thirst.

7. In the end this is the belief of one lone doctor, vs the entire medical world. A bit like SCO claiming UNIX rights, no? Well, SCO have a much better founded case.

8. What are the problems with drink water he mentions? 1. ...possible exposure to pollutants, especially if sustained over many years like breathing air, try to drink clean water like you breath clean air. 2. frequent urination, which can be both inconvenient and embarrassing assuming 2/3 of what is drunk is urinated, that makes about 1.5 litres, which is what... 4-5 trips to the loo? 3. expense, for those who satisfy the 8 x 8 requirements with bottled water then drink from the tap, or refil a plastic bottle from the tap if a bottle must be used 4. feelings of guilt for not achieving 8 x 8 if you believe his diatribe there will be a feeling of guily from drinking water. Why feel guilty if not achieving 8*8, just sit down for a minute and drink a few glasses, only procrastination causes guilt/stress.

This doctor is a loony, you, sir, are even more of a loony for not being able to criticise and see flaws in their arguments.

Take it one day at a time.

[James A. C. Joyce]

And don't suddenly stop your intake. Reduce it gradually, in transitional stages. This can be difficult, but it's worth the patience.

Free medical advice is worth every cent

[herrlich_98]

Ask your doctor rather than ask Slastdot.

Worked for me...

[nuxx]

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.

try dilution

[chloroquine]

Why not try reducing your caffeine intake slowly. In a manner similar to people trying to quit smoking, change the mode of caffeine intake - instead of drinking coffee or soda, switch to those caffeinated mints and then limit yourself to a specific number of them a day. As the weeks pass, reduce that number.

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.

Physical activity!

[FartingTowels]

Start running/jogging an hour a day, every day -- this should be enough to get you going when you feel sleepy or tired.

Some methods that worked for me...

[sczimme]

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!

Get the flu

[legojenn]

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.

Re:i met a heroin addict that kicked it ...

[eln]

Not to be mean or anything, but I don't know that taking advice from someone who drinks 12 diet cokes a day on how to quit caffeine is wise. Since you keep going back to it, it's clear you've never managed to figure out how to really get over your addiction. Sure, you know how to get rid of the physical addiction, but the mental addiction still kicks your ass. Of course, in your case, you're probably not just addicted to caffeine, but also aspartame, which is well known to be highly addictive.

I quit smoking 3 years ago. I broke the physical addiction 3 or 4 times when I tried to quit in the past, but the mental addiction always caught up to me. It took a good year or two before I stopped getting "cravings," usually situational, but they did get much less severe after the first 5 or 6 months.

It's really all about willpower, and it is very very hard, especially if you have are naturally predisposed to addictions, but it can be done. For most people, it takes a major addiction-related occurrence, like cancer or diabetes, to give them the willpower. Luckily, that wasn't the case for me...my major motivation was cigarettes going past 2 bucks a pack.

Cold Turkey

[zaren]

That's how you beat it.

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 :) 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.

Just quit the stuff cold turkey. Your body, and the people around you, will thank you for it.

The best advice you'll ever get...

[fzammett]

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!!

Re:multiple withdrawals

[bluGill]

Juice. Real 100% fruit juice. Not the sugar water that a lot of what is sold next to juice is. I find Nantucket Nectars brand is worth the extra cast because the are not from concentrate. (but hard to find) McDonald's used to have Apple Juice that was very good too (not from concentrate), but I haven't been there in years so I don't know.

Water is also good. I have a RO filter in my house, and find that water is most of what I drink. (I know a few people who live where tap water is good, but what I get from my taps isn't) It takes getting used to, but you can.

Gotta watch resteraunts. You are expected to order soda, coffee, or alchahol. Don't fall for it. Some have excellent Lemonade, but others just have a lemon flavored soda. Unfortunatly to get my free Sub at Subway I have to order a soda, no matter what I really want. (No surprize, to a resteraunt the ice is the most expensive part of a glass of pop)

Unfortunatly once you quit the easy addictions like sugar water and caffine your tastes improve. I've become a food snob. I read the labels looking for sugar, caffine, and find I'm more concerned with 100% natural ingreatiants... I buy Greek Olives from the Deli and love them. (other olives are not touchable) I've expirimented with Organic foods, and in many cases find that they are btter (though not all, and I don't blindly belive in organic like some). I make my own pizza and bread from scratch (sourdough). I'm not a good cook, but everyone thinks I am because my worst meals are still homemade and have flavor (compared to what they buy).

That isn't to say I don't sometimes have junk food, but I try to control it.

Re:Actually this is a good idea!

[Hein_or_Henk]

Nonsense!

The article starts like this:

" For the smoker, nicotine has a positive effect on attention, cognition and mood."

So in other words the positive effects are there only for the already addicted smoker who is suffering the effects of withdrawal symptoms.

This is probably similar to the effect coffee drinkers perceive when they have their first cup of the day. It's as if a mist clears in your head and you can think clearly again. This mist however is something that only coffee drinkers experience and is a coffee withdrawal symptom. People who do not drink coffee do not have a mist in their heads to clear up.

So be smart just don't smoke!

Re:Water & Exercise

[Frymaster]

Best way to quit is to substitute coffee with something like sparkling water and starting an exercise regime.

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":

• take a week off work - and everything else.
• take a lot b-complex vitamins. four b50's a day shoud do it
• make liberal use of vasoconstrictor spray. something with xylo in it like otrivin.
• ibuprofen combined with the xylo will releive most of the sinus headaches.
• if you can get melatonin, get it. this will get you over the withdrawal insomnia.
• drink lots of water. sparkling's okay - i'd suggest s'pelgrino or grolschteiner (sp?)
• 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".

good luck!

Re:Actually this is a good idea!

[dipipanone]

All things considered, the positive effects of cocaine outweigh nicotine by a mile

Let me guess -- you haven't actually been around a lot of hard core cocaine users have you? Still at that honeymoon phase perhaps?

and it wouldn't be all that much more expensive

Yup, definitely still at that honeymoon phase -- snorting a quarter gram a week or so isnt that expensive. Lets just hope you get bored before you freebase all the equity in your house as a number of my friends have. Then we'll see how expensive you think it is...

Re:cut your dosage

[TheLittleJetson]

Rather than switching to decaf, I'd recommend switching to black tea. Tea contains a special chemical (the name illudes me at the moment) that slows the absorbtion of caffiene into your system. This is why tea gives a long, mellow stimulant effect, and coffee gives a strong buzz followed by a "down" period.

Worst case just quit and deal with the side effects. Headaches and irratability are pretty tollerable considering the withdrawls from other substances (opiates, for example: muscle spasms, stomach cramps, projectile vomiting, dilusions, loss of bowel control...)

Chances are you're more psychologically addicted than physically -- though this is nothing to laugh at, as psychological addiction is what keeps heroin users coming back (after they've de-toxed). However, realizing that it's all in your head is a great step towards ignoring cravings of addictive substance/activity.

Re:multiple withdrawals

[nanoakron]

Well, interestingly...caffeine is a noncomeptitive antagonist - i.e. it doesn't compete at the same cell-surface binding site for it's adrenergic (i.e. adrenaline and noradrenaline) agonists.

Instead, caffeine (and other methylxanthines such as theophylline) act by blocking cyclic-AMP degeneration by intracellular phosphodiesterases. This was kinda what Pfizer were looking for when they stumbled across viagra (sildenafil) - a cardiac specific phosphodiesterase which they could inhibit to increase the affect of circulatory adrenaline on myocardium.

So...what are the take home messages - caffeine in high doses will act like other adrenergic agonists...and will to some extent mimic such 'evil and hated' drugs as cocaine in its actions (note to government: ban immediately!!! panic now - there's no time for rational thought).

I don't deny caffeine addiction exists - I recently treated a young guy admitted with cardiac chest pain whose only vice was 15 cups of coffee a day for the past 5 years. Like any other addiction process, it will take a long time to overcome and each time you see a coka cola it may prove hard to resist.

But there are no drugs that immediately come to mind that would help the immediate withdrawal process....perhaps you could discuss the situation with your doctor and ask for low dose diazepam for particularly bad situations. Most reasonable GPs would give it to you in the UK - I don;t know about the US however.

But, best wishes with the new year ahead, and just be thankful that the only thing you've likely wrecked so far are your teeth. Just stop now before it gets worse.

Best wishes,

-Nano.

This worked for my wife...

[blamanj]

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.

Re:Addiction to Coca-Cola

[dbIII]

A year later I couldn't find anything to drink but a coke so I tried one and couldn't stand the taste.

I found it an acquired taste. For the first year I couldn't stand it unless it had alcohol in it, but now I like it far too much. I didn't drink it until I was an adult, and it worries me a bit to see people giving coke to young children in prams - a bit of caffiene probably has a significant affect on someone that small.

Re:cut your dosage

[SScorpio]

You've never been addicted to caffine have you?

I would get headaches, irratablity, muscle spasms, and stomach cramps. I would also feel just plane drained and I felt like I had not energy what so ever. This was if I didn't drink any caffine for the day. A can of pop would clear them up in about 5 minutes or so.

The way I got off it was just go cold turkey. Be sure to drink lots of water, and juice also helps. In about a week your body should have all the caffine flushed out of it and any withdrawls should be completely gone.

An interesting side effect I had way that after about 6 months of no caffine just drinking a can of Pepsi gave me a major buzz. I'm not currently living caffine free but my intake is down to one 20oz a day with lunch, any maybe a glass or two with dinner when I go out to eat once or twice a week.