Been up since 4:45 and have just finished my tenth fistfull of black coffee and it feels like my chest is going to explode.Problem is, all I want is to do is get another one.How do quit or at least cut back?
Cullen
You gotta go cold turkey. There are no 12 steps on this one. It isn’t pretty either. I’ve done it, full-on headache. I was over it in 4 days though. I have since fallen off the wagon though. I drink a cup a day, no more. The real hard stuff is Red Bull. There is a case of it in my frig at home. That is the hard stuff. Red Bull goes down easy and everything in it ends in '…ine". Like: “Taurine, Caffeine, Guarine, Gasoline, Kerosene…” That stuff is full-on addictive. I should probably own the fact that I have a Red Bull problem. No, I don’t. Just one more can before swimming tonight…
Red Bull anonymous meeting: “Hi, my name is Tom, and I have a problem…”
Tom, you’re right about the Red Bull thing. Definitely addicting. A buddy of mine who went up to IM Canada with me this year was just killing the Red Bull. I was really giving him a hard time about it. Once we got into Canada, he couldn’t find it anywhere(fortunately). We actually went looking for it! He told me he usually drank 3 a day. I pointed out to him that he was spending like $180 bucks/month on the stuff. He wants to buy his 1st tri-bike and 1st wetsuit at the end of Feb, and he realized that giving up Red Bull would put an extra $1000 in the tri-fund by then.
He hasn’t touched it since then(so he tells me).
BTW Tom, I guess I have to eat my own words in regards to the earlier alcohol discussion because I have never had a cup of coffee, although I’m sure I’ll try it at some point. Maybe this winter.
I’ve always assumed I wouldn’t like it because I don’t like anything that is coffee-flavored. It smells ok, though.
At some point you will have go without, now, or when you get to 8, 6, 4, or 2. In the end it will come down to, do you WANT to do this? Nothing usually happens until you make that decision.
How about switching to decaf after the first or second “real” cup?
Tom, there is another way. I “tapered” off caffeine, my secret was working out early in the morning, then putting off the first cup until 10:00am, and limiting myself to 2 cups a day for the first week, then one cup the next week, then nothing. No headaches.
Of course, it only lasted a month before the Starbucks craving came back… I am limited to one a day, though, and it seems to be holding.
I don’t do coffee but tea and soda. I am back to limiting myself to only one per day and only 1 small 16oz serving. Quitting cold turkey is the best way. I’ve done it several times myself. 3-6 months per but then the 5am workouts start so you don’t fry in the summer.
“I am back to limiting myself to only one per day and only 1 small 16oz serving”
Dude, 16oz may be small by starbucks standards but that is still almost 2 normal cups worth.
Start by supplementing a portion of the beans/grounds with decaf work until you get a 50/50 mix then start cutting back the amount you drink. Or do as Tom says cold turkey in this case I highly recommend advil before the headache comes. I love coffe during the winter hate it when its hot outside and always drink 50% decaf.
Aint that America
.
I did the whole cold turkey thing… for about 6 months, now with exams upon me again, i’ve started drinking it, but never more than 2 cups a day, i had three a week ago, and my heart rate went all wonky. And thanks to physiology 212, I can now explain how why this happens…
To explain it properly, first you get a little breakdown of how the heart works…
The main controller is the S.A node, this is a self depolarizing cell collection, it is then attached through the internodal pathway to the A.V node, this is then connected to the bundle of His and then the purkinjie fibers (which serve to help propagate electricity through the ventricles and cause ventricular depolarization)… If the S.A node is damaged, your A.V node takes over controlling your H.R… and down the line… Bundle of His, and finally Purkinjie fibers…
however if you damage the connection between your atria and ventricals you will gets whats called a 3rd degree block… in this your atria are contracting 2 or 3 times per ventricular depolarization. This is because your S.A node is controlling your atria independently of your ventricals… they’re being controlled by your purkinjie fibers…which self depolarize at a much slower rate.
Now… what does caffein do to this?
Caffeine causes your purkinjie fibers to become somewhat excited, and thus depolarize slightly out of sync with your S.A node and thus causing a messed up H.R…
Anyhow, in respect to quitting, when 2 cups of coffee did nothing to me, I decided that I had a problem, and quit for 6 or 8 months… however being a university student… we have that lovely thing called exams… and lack of sleep kicks in… and I need it now to function… but I do intend on quitting in 4 days… once exams are over…
Anyhow… I know some people who instead of having coffee… just drink hot water, and they swear its a phsychological thing, decaf might also work.
Good luck
david
Help you! Who’s going to help me? I was an all day coffee drinker. Now one cup in the AM, and one in the afternoon. I’m saving a mint on Prilosec.
Red Bull… I don’t care for the taste, but Blue Ox (pretty much same stuff) is great. Unfortunately it brings me up really fast, but I crash just as fast, so I don’t train with it. Blue Ox is a party favor! Next party add a little 100 proof vodka to that stuff, and serve on the rocks… ZOOMY!!! College kids taught me that one. God bless 'em.
I love Hammer Gel too, but Espresso has 50 mg of caffine per serving. Learned this one the hard way. Yea, it’s a diaretic, and we ain’t talkin’ about goin’ Pee! Last year at the Raleigh Marathon (double 13.1 loop) I literally ran from Port-O-John to Port-O-John for the 2nd loop. Man, that sucked!
See Ya’
Joel