Caffeine Withdrawal Diary

[dnephi]

I decided that caffeine was taking over my life too much.  I was taking 3 energy drinks in the morning to wake up (500mg), and between 2 and 8 more throughout the rest of the day. 

That's 800-2000mg of caffeine  aday.  It has caused me to develop nasty headaches when I either have too much or too little caffeine.  So I'm quitting.  I'll do it gradually.

I will allow myself the following source to help with withdrawal:

As much coke zero as I care to drink, two meals a day (dining plan.) 
After one week of this, assuming that I've adjusted to this new level of intake, then I'll cut it to one 16oz cup of coke zero per meal.  Week 3, to 8 oz, and week 4, to 20 mg twice a day from dark chocolate. 

I will post here my symptoms, time frames, when I feel better, and other similar issues.

As of four hours ago, I have not had any caffeine.   Here... We... Go!

Daniel

[ihatepop]

"You can do it, dnephi!"

Theres some encouragement for ya.

[dnephi]

Thanks!

12 hours in: nasty headache before lunch, milder afterwards.  It must be the small amount of caffeine in the coke Zero. 

A bit sluggish and my eyes are having a slightly more difficult time focusing.

[pies]

a

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Just three words:

Honore de Balzac.

[arensky]

Hang in there. Evantually you'll be able to have just a little caffeine everyday. But at your present rate, you're headed towards a heart condition or worse. So, hang in there! 

[communist]

you never going to do it 

just kidding but it will probably slow you down alot

[dnephi]

19 hours in: headache milder.  Very sluggish.  Feeling heavier. 

I can do this. It's not so bad!

[imbetter]

i had the same problem with coffee

[ted]

I really don't know what to make of coffee. Twenty years ago there was a big stink about it and "experts" said it was unconditionally bad  to drink it in any quantity. Then we started to see a change to "experts" saying that in moderate doses it is very good for us. The internet seems rife with contradictions about its effects and doctors' opinions are as varied as everybody else's. The latest thing is that somebody thinks a substance in coffee, in some types and preparations more than others, promotes LDL cholesterol generation.

Over the years I have listened to all these opinions, sometimes stopping altogether for long periods, which process I never found difficult, then starting again. My consumption is very moderate, never more than around three cups a day at the most, so it could be that whatever I do doesn't matter all that much.

So at sixty I consume it in moderation, only for enjoyment and certainly not as a compulsion. There are many days when I do not drink it at all. If I felt the cholesterol argument had any real substance to it for the quantity I drink then of course I would stop at my age, in the same way I have drastically cut fat and sugar intake. But the bad effects of these latter are now beyond contention. The argument against moderate coffee drinking, it seems to me, has not been established with enough certainty to force me to abandon an enjoyable drink.

Most of my friends, much heavier coffee drinkers, who have stopped suddenly, report that it takes about two weeks of feeling grotty and then they don't miss it.

[popdog]

I never realised how many people drink coffee for the caffeine...  I have 1-2 coffees a day, but I frequently miss days.  Am I the only one who enjoys the taste?

Well, clearly Ted does...

[m19834]

Well, I have to admit that I have two (tall) cups almost every single morning.  Though, I drink almost entirely only decaf (with a small bit of caffeinated for the flavor).  Sometimes I wonder why I do this because it's one of those things in life that I feel is definitely not actually necessary, but by the time it has a little half and half in it I kind of treat it as breakfast  :-.  Even though I don't think I would experience any kind of true caffeine withdrawls if I quit, for some reason I want coffee every morning and would probably have a difficult time without the ritual.  I like the warm, ceramic mug in my hands, and I like the taste and aroma of it very much, however, on occasion I think "wow, this is disgusting, why does anybody drink this ?" ... hee hee.  I mean, if you are not used to the flavor, it actually is pretty gross (similar to alcohol in that sense). 

Anyway, my own little ecosystem is not terribly fond of caffeine and wow (!), it really seems that you were having *a lot* of it and I am happy if you are finding that you can cut down !  Hang in there .

[db05]

I started drinking energy drinks in high school to stay up and study. One glass every other night at least. The highest dose for me was an energy drink every night. Very bad for health. I ended up sleeping in class everyday (maybe not the same class but you get the picture) and not remembering anything I studied.

Compared to energy drinks, the dose in coffee is small. Sometimes I wonder if the ones we have at home are decaf. Wasn't such a big fan of coffee until I discovered that it tastes so much better without sugar. So now I drink coffee everyday if I can, but just once. Instead of keeping me awake, it makes me "coffee drunk". I get giddy for some time. Occassionally, I'd still do energy drinks at night, but diluted so I can still taste it with less caffiene. Sometimes I just do it because I miss the taste. Or they have new flavors.

In college, I found a better way to stay up. Chewing gum. The hottest mint you can find. There's also BlackBlack which has both minty flavor and caffiene. I could chew some in class to keep focus too. But after a while, the mint isn't so hot anymore and I can't find any stronger mints. And my jaws are already used to it.

[Bob]

200mg is about a cup of coffee.

I can just ween myself off it after a few days.  It loses it's kick after awhile and then you have to take more and more.  Tolerance.

Take some aspirin for the headache. 

And look forward to that kick that you'll again from it in the future.


That much though?  Three energy drinks to wake up.  Aren't you... kind of running off to use the bathroom fairly often? 

Why not wait until the end of the semester when you're on break and don't have to rush around?  When it's vacation, I can sleep late (sleep through the headache) and it's not as bad.

I haven't found any solution for getting around rest or sleep, except rest and sleep.  Caffiene does seem to increase the attention a little bit but there's always that downside to it too.

I like the history shows that say modern industry is built off caffiene.  An amusing idea.

[richard black]

I drink, in a typical day, practically nothing except coffee (mostly instant) and tea (strong), both drinks with caffeine. I drink them because I like the taste. Once for a laugh I decided to go 'cold turkey' on all caffeinated drinks and drink only water and the occasional herb tea. I got headaches after about 3 days: after 5 I was fine. So I went back to coffee and tea because I missed the taste! I don't think I'm particularly sensitive to caffeine, anyway - I can drink two cups of strong tea or coffee at 11pm and sleep like a baby.

[dnephi]

42 hours: Very lethargic.  Always thirsty. 

Headache ebbs and grows.

[morningstar]

Go son! You can do it mon!

[Bob]

Are you sure it's just the caffiene?  I've found I can push myself more with caffiene, but I also wear out more. 

Are you going cold turkey?

[dnephi]

I'm starting to feel a more solid kind of energy. I'm still a bit lethargic, but I can keep going longer, I think. 

58 hours and counting.  First workout since last Monday.   Mild headaches on big lifts.  Only used isolation exercises.  Not as time efficient, but better than giving up after 10 minutes because of an excruciating headache.

I think that the headaches are caused by low potassium levels which are the result of caffeine abuse as well as caffeine withdrawal.

My weight has also gone up due to the diuretic effect of caffeine being removed from my system and the ridiculous amounts of bloody mary mix I've been drinking.  Each 11 Oz. has more than 2g of salt, and I've had two 64 oz. containers and a 4-pack of 11 oz. in the past 4 days.  That's a ton more salt than you should have, and I'm sure it's causing some water retention.

And "cold turkey"?  Well, it almost feels like it.  Coke is 20mg caffeine per 8 oz.  Maybe I'm drinking 32 oz a meal.  At that, 80mg twice a day is 160mg a day. I used to down 4 times that and not feel anything. 

[dnephi]

2 g a day?  wtf?

I kept upping the dose in order to get the same rush.  First time I had an energy drink, it was 2 red bulls.  It was like I was buzzed.  Then I'd take a couple monsters and that'd get me the buzz I wanted.  Then I moved up to having them in the morning, right before class, when staying up to study.  I would take a couple rightbefore bed and get nothing. 
Then I moved to more and more cans. 
rockstar 0 Carb is possibly the best normal drink.  240mg a can, +green tea extract.  Then I used powdered energy drinks from walmart (10 160mg packs for 2$) in addition to my energy drinks.  Tried some redline, didn't like the taste, went back to Monster Low carb. 

So that's it really- as resistance went up, dosage did.

[pianowolfi]

I'm sticking to my good ol' cup o' joe

[argerichfan]

I limit myself to three cups of coffee per day, usually in the morning.  Starbucks was costing me a fortune for a while until I wised up and started making my own brew. 

Don't care for the "energy" drinks or soda in general.  If bubbles are rising to the surface in my drink, it's a pint o' Carling...

[pies]

a

[dnephi]

I don't smoke, drink, take illegal drugs, or drink tea or coffee. 

As for my withdrawal, the lethargy is mostly gone, and I got a good workout yesterday that totally blasted my whole body.  In particular, I'm chest-specializing right now, and so I got 11 lifts of 3+ sets each.  That's flies of upper lower and middle chest, bench of the same, punching flies (Not sure what this is called) of the same, pullovers, plus a lower chest flies extra set. 

With regard to energy, I'm feeling a more solid, continual kind of energy, and my head feels more grounded.

[morningstar]

Hey seems like you're actually getting through it!

[dnephi]

109 hours:

Lethargy has come back.  Still going.  I have continued the use of small amounts of caffeine in the Coke Zero.  After this week, I'm going to drop those caffeine sources. 

[dnephi]

Relapse: 1400 mg.

Homework, no sleep tonight.

[pies]

a

[tds]

Just noticed dnephi hasn't posted for some time. 

maybe he realizes, after being a caffeine free person, that too much forum-ing is just a bad as too much caffeine. just maybe..

[Bob]

What ever happened with this? 

I cut back from time to time, but only cut back.