I’m trying to cut caffiene out of my diet. I have been without caffiene since Friday morning (and that was a small glass of tea). I woke up this morning feeling kind of lousy. I had a pretty good night’s sleep, but I had a headache when I got up. Still feel kind of weird. Am I having withdrawal? Seriously. Does eliminating caffiene cause withdrawal?
I never realized I drank as much caffiene as I do until I tried to cut it out. I’m not a coffee drinker, but I do drink lots of tea – the sweeter and colder the better. I give myself one, maybe two, Diet Cokes or Cokes per day. But I didn’t realize how much tea I drank until I’ve tried to stop.
I’m living off water, Sprite, orange juice, Powerade and Gatorade. I do have this strange craving for some sweet tea. I guess I am addicted. And I thought triathlon (and this forum) was my only addiction . . .
Am I having withdrawal? Seriously. Does eliminating caffiene cause withdrawal?
That’s exactly what it is. I’ve tried to quit before and I get serious headaches. It’s terrible how much my body craves it when I’ve tried to quit. I smoked for 8 years and quit cold turkey and I can’t seem to kick coffee. Good luck and stick with it, your body will adjust.
yes - headaches are a classic symptom of caffeine withdrawal. google to find some interesting articles about how it works (short story is that it blocks brain receptors that usually pick up fatigue hormones), and why a one cup habit can turn into a 5 cup habit (brain figures out that receptors are getting tricked and builds more of them, and so on).
I hae a dose limit - one grande size coffee per day - and a time limit - before 12. I’ll quit when they pry my espresso from my cold dead fingers.
Interesting coffee factiod: Reid is a big coffee junky. He abstains the week leading up to an event so he can super-dose before a race.
IMO just cut out the sodas, diet included, and cut out the juice (unless fresh squeezed) and powerades too. Replace with H20; put lemon juice in it if you need the flavor. Tea and coffee are not in the same evil league and, in moderation, might be quite beneficial (without sugar!!). Eliminate the soda/juice/ades and regulate the tea/coffee depending on whether it interferes with sleep.
I hae a dose limit - one grande size coffee per day - and a time limit - before 12. I’ll quit when they pry my espresso from my cold dead fingers.
Interesting. I used to drink up to 12 cups per day in engineering school in the 80’s and also once I graduated. Then 2 years later, one of my buddies who was a test pilot got grounded by the medical officer on his base due to high blood pressure (at the age of 25), so this was enough for me to clean up my act. Now I’m on the one extra large espresso per day before noon program. After that, its decaf. I find I sleep much better.
Robert, probably you are. It should be gone by mid-week though. I had to de-caffeinate myself last spring because I was having heartburn/reflux issues (was just stress from my job - quit and it went away).
Three days of headaches, fatigue and bad moods. Symptoms of withdrawl ended as abrubtly as they onset.
Many, many people have caffeine related headaches on the weekends as their normal routines (and caffeine intake) are interrupted.
I’m happy to report that I’m back to drinking 3 or 4 strong cups of Charbuck’s daily with no heartburn.
I am amazed at how lousy I feel! Headache, general fatigue, just miserable. I nodded off at lunch by accident and woke up late for work. Not only do I have the aforementioned symptoms but I do have a strange craving for something with caffiene in it – tea, Coke, something. I came very close to falling off the wagon at lunch (especially when I saw my wife’s Diet Cokes in the fridge). This is wild. I’ve never experienced anything like this before.
The reason I’m quitting is because I get migraine headaches. They run in my family, and my brother linked his to chocolate, caffiene and cheese. He abstains from all three. I usually average one a year, but in the last 11 months, I’ve had four. I had one last week that was particularly nasty. So I figured I’d start with caffiene and chocolate and cut those and see what happens. So there is a method to my madness. I’d like to get to where I just drink water. That’s going to be a goal of mine.
I was shocked and amazed, too, and I’ve been through withdrawl from a different sort of stimulant. Was really surprised how bad the caff withdrawl was, but it was short in duration, few days at most.
My Mom has always suffered debilitating migraines, and she gave up the caffeine, chocolate, alcohol, etc… nothing really worked for her, but now she has a medicine that stops them in their tracks. When she gets the visual aura (I get that as well, pinwheels in my vision during intense exercise, but no headache pain), she takes that medicine and she never gets the headache.
Drinking water only is a significant goal, and you may get really bored with it (ask me how I know). Instead of high calorie sodas and juices, I’ll occasionally drink non-alcoholic beers, only about 75 calories per and lots more taste than just plain water.
Robert, I hate that you are going to have to give up tea. As a true, fellow southerner, I know there is only one kind of iced tea, that’s sweet tea. I have found that if you try to drink it any other way, it’s just not the same. When you feel you just have to have it, drink it with out sugar and it should make the cravings go away.
Glad to hear the no smoking in public passed in Tift County.
I used to be a hardcore caffeine junkie, now I’m a relatively light imbiber, about three cups of coffee and one diet coke(I know it sounds like a lot to some of you, but believe me, it’s a lot less than it used to be!)
My advice to you would be to ease of of the stuff. It’s much easier than going cold turkey, you don’t feel as bad, and it will be more pleasant for the people around you. It may take a few weeks, but it works. It still requires discipline, though. You could start by substituting herbal tea for regular tea.
I have also recently cut my caffeine intake down, but didn’t have the guts to do it cold turkey. I’m down to two cups of something caffeinated (usually tea) a day, and I wait to have the first one till I’ve already been up a few hours, so I’m not quite as reliant on it to get out of the house in the morning. The first week was pretty miserable - I was grumpy, irritable, and had headaches. Weirdly enough, I wasn’t tired! But, I was making sure I was getting 7-8 hours of sleep/night. I am also craving tea - I thought the physical symptoms would be the worse, but I also want the taste of tea, and of the cokes I sometimes have. But now the two cups a day are totally normal for me (ok, yesterday I had an extra coke - first in three weeks - but I had to make it through my 7 hours in “teambuilding exercises” somehow). Anyway, I now am definitely less fatigued during the day - definitely less highs and lows. I’m not sure how this will work when I increase my activity again and don’t get enough sleep. I’ve been injured so haven’t been training for the last two weeks, and the rest of my life has been pretty slow too, so sleep has been easier to come by. Personally, I just need to make sure i don’t allow myself that one extra cup like i did yesterday…then it’s easier to justify it for a few days straight, and then I’ll just spiral downward. The ultimate test will be this weekend, when for 3-4 days I am basically on call 24 hours and won’t get much sleep. Not sure I’ll be able to function without my red bull.
I have never liked drinks with caffeine, but I did used to get migraines.
Since cutting 95% of sugar out of my diet in January I have not had a migraine (would average one every two months prior).
You are ingesting A LOT of sugar and high fructose corn syrup. I wonder if your cravings now are for sugar, as opposed to caffeine. Try cutting back on that too, and see how you feel. Of course, you’d have to survive another detox…
I do one grand sippee cup in the AM on the way to work…comes out to 2-3 cups of coffee. Thats it for the day. no headaches on weekends when I tend not to drink it on Saturdays. Sunday mornings about 1 cup and no problems. Dont’ drink it in the PM.
yes, like everyone has said, you’ve got withdrawl my friend.
personally, I quit caffiene once over winter, and it was a bad idea because without I tend to get a little bummed out for some reason. caffiene does spark one up emotionally. this benefit happens for me with just one cup (ok, it’s a big cup) a day. seriously though, just cut out the diet cokes–that stuff is really bad for you…it’s all artificial, like it just came out of a lab. stick to the tea, and reduce the sugar a bit. one to two glasses of that a day isn’t going to hurt you. hell, you’ve got to have a little fun in this life!
and I almost forgot to add that I’m a former one pot a dayer. compare that to just one cup and it’s quite a change. seriously, cut out the sugar, and you’re going to be fine (ok, and cut out the lab drink too and you’ll be even better).
Unless there is some other undisclosed vice…yup…you got the jones. I feel for you. That can hurt…alot. I’ve done it on purpose on a couple occasions and found it more than unpleasant. Amazing what a pull that stuff can be. Along with all the other stuff…do some visualizations to help work your way through. It does get better but you have to pay the price.
maybe you are not getting enough caffeine and that is causing your headaches? i try to keep a even flow of caffeine through the day and i never get headaches.
Not to be a contrarian but why are you trying to cut out caffeine?
Honestly caffeine is not that bad for you… especially considering the echelon of things you could be doing.
I think the much more harmful thing is to consume so much sugar… sprite, OJ, Powerade, Gatorade, sweet tea… all liquid sugar… Sugar… now there is an addiction.
I didn’t realize just how much sweet tea I was drinking until I stopped. I’ve been off the wagon now for almost a week, and it’s getting better. I nearly threw in the towel Monday and Tuesday, but things are better today.
The Tift ordinance was very interesting. They just kind of slipped that through without much opposition. The liquor license issue was much bigger to the locals than the smoking ordinance (from what we heard over here). Tift isn’t in our health district, but it’s right next door.
I am on a quest to clean up my diet. Hopefully, cutting the caffiene will help alleviate migraine headaches that I get from time to time. Used to get about one a year, but I’ve had four in the last 11 months. I’m planning a visit to the doctor to get a prescription for that medicine that is supposed to fend off the migraine if you take it when the aura appears. Migraines run in my family; my grandfather, mother and brother have had to deal with them. When my brother quit caffiene, chocolate and cheese, his went away. I’m trying to cut the caffiene and chocolate. Can’t do away with cheese, at least not yet. I like pizza too much.
But I figure if I can get rid of the caffiene, it will help me in other areas as well. One such place is all the sugar you mentioned. I’d like to start drinking decaffienated unsweetened tea (yuck!). Just another step along the way to getting my diet where it needs to be. I’ve lost a lot of weight since I started running/triathlon, but I could stand to lose a few more pounds. My tummy is still a little jiggly.
use reserve coffee for either long/hard training efforts or races. that way i still get the buzz when i need it but i don’t suffer from the effects during the week from not having it.
Like others have said… it’s definitely withdrawal.
Last year I quite cold turkey (sadly the monkey is on my back again now…) and started getting the headaches in the morning. I found that exercising in the morning seem to take care of them. Don’t know why, exactly, I always assumed it was just a blood-pumping-through-your-veins thing as a result of the run or bike ride.
The headaches were gone after a couple of days.
I used to drink 6-8 diet cokes a day and as well as some coffee so it wasn’t an insignificant amount of caffeine going through me prior to quitting.
The toughest thing for me was to remember not to grab a diet coke out of the fridge at work out of habit, and to go for the juice or water instead. I slowly fell back into it simply because I missed the flavor of the soda… now I’m a full on coffee and soda junky once again…