Quitting Caffeine

Flying_Norseman · Post by **Flying_Norseman** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 12:45 pm

I have decided to stop drinking soda and caffeine. I think I will be able to do it this time since I am actually getting good sleep with CPAP. Anyone one else do this and have any tips?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 1:04 pm

Having recently cut down (to 3 shots of espresso a day), I totally agree with you.

LavenderMist · Post by **LavenderMist** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 1:06 pm

I rarely drink caffeine now. I now drink decaffeinated tea, water, and an occasional soda. I've never been a coffee drinker. You can get coffee and soda decaffeinated too. Some people alternate with one glass or cup of caffeine drink and one without to cut down and then have one caffeinated to two drinks with no caffeine and so on until it you are drinking no more caffeine. Also, remember there is caffeine in chocolate and some medicines. Good luck.

LavenderMist · Post by **LavenderMist** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 1:07 pm

Forgot to put. The reason for cutting down slowly on caffeine is that suddenly stopping it will cause bad caffeine withdrawal headaches.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 1:17 pm

I would as well recommend to cut on fatty foods, spicy foods, salt, and soft drinks like Coke, 7-up and such. On those you don't have to do it slowly, you may stop it tomorrow at once, if your power of will would allow, of course

More vegetables, fruits, nuts...

I, for example, just got machine for 2 weeks, but I plan to go back to gym after I gain back my sufficient sleep, and eventually decrease use of machine, if not entirely abandon it.

Vadim · Post by **Vadim** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 1:22 pm

Small correction - it might be misunderstood that I only plan to use machine for 2 weeks - no, it is only been 2 weeks since I got machine, but I might use it for years, or maybe for rest of my life, who knows. The most important is - keep attitude of "fight for your health, not against it"

And go outside of your house to get some fresh air as soon as possible. Not sitting in your car or on the bench in the park, of course

sharon1965 · Post by **sharon1965** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 2:10 pm

yeah, i definitely agree with lavendermist, cut down gradually...i've had some pretty sudden and severe headaches just on days when i don't drink as much tea as usual because i've been busy or away from home...this combined with the fact that i'm still pretty sleepy is what keeps me from quitting tea...i loooove my tea, the stronger the better...

(then again, i don't have much left in the vice area since i gave up smoking and drinking and am eating healthy and blah blah blah...maybe that's the real reason i haven't given up caffeine!)

but good for you for deciding to give it up...there was an item on oprah last week saying that for women, even that one cup of coffee in the morning can really mess things up for you all day...ONE CUP!!

sleepyWI · Post by **sleepyWI** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 2:18 pm

I am such a bad caffeine addict I get physically ill if I don't have my fix. I have weaned myself several times in preparation for surgery on my knee. Do it gradually. By some good quality decaf. Do a few days at 3/4 strength, a few days at half, a few days at 1/4 and then you hsould be able to go cold turkey. The compromise I have made for cpap is no coffee in the afternoon but I still like my morning jolt.

Tim

Flying_Norseman · Post by **Flying_Norseman** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 3:12 pm

I don't drink coffee. The only caffeine I have is a couple of cans of diet coke in the morning and sometimes a soda at lunch. I had been making sure that I don't drink caffeine after 3PM, but I wanted to stop drinking it all together for health reasons. I wanted to give up soda too so it's like killing two birds with one stone.

sleepycarol · Post by **sleepycarol** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 3:22 pm

Many people do not realize you can overdose on caffeine. Back in 1990 I fainted at work and the nurse took my blood pressure and immediately sent me to my doctor (a 1/2 block away). My doctor in turn immediately admitted me to the hospital. The caffeine had increased my blood pressure dangerously high. All medical test were okay except for my caffeine level. Haven't had any caffeine since as I was told I am at risk if I drink caffeine so I watch my diet and any medicine I might take.

Good luck with quitting -- cut down if at all possible.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 4:30 pm

LavenderMist wrote:Also, remember there is caffeine in chocolate and some medicines.

Not me sorry. Gotta have some chocolate or just take me now.

Want some candy, little boy?

Sleepycarol - apnea is what made my bp go sky high. My meds were no longer controlling my bp, so my doc ran me thru every test under the sun. Lucky for me I already had been diagnosed and was just waiting for my equipment. ALL test taken came back negative which at my age was a relief and a good baseline.

The night I started, you know you can't sleep, how you just keep getting up? I took my bp everytime I was up.

I am convinced that CPAP reduced my bp.

That's MY story and I'm stickin to it.

Flying_Norseman · Post by **Flying_Norseman** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 4:40 pm

I am not too concerned about the caffeine in chocolate and some medicines. I got 98% of my caffeine intake from soda so I am cutting that out. The rest is incidental as far as I am concerned. I hardly ever eat chocolate anyway.

bdp522 · Post by **bdp522** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 4:48 pm

Before cpap I would drink 10 - 15 cups of caffenated coffee each day. I'm sure there were days that I had even more. The day I started cpap, I stopped the caffenated beverages after noon each day. I never got a headache. I do have caffenated coffee in the morning(2 or 3 cups) but none after noon. I have switched to decaf everything; soda, tea, coffee.
It seemed as if once starting cpap, my body no longer craved the caffeine to keep me going, and I honestly never missed it!

Brenda

sleepycarol · Post by **sleepycarol** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 5:31 pm

I know for me I didn't have high blood pressure at the time of the caffeine overload and wasn't on meds for it. After I came out of the hospital didn't need meds for it until a few years later.

I have lots of food allergies and intolerances and doctors believe I have an allergy to the caffeine and I have no reason to doubt it as I was being treated by an ENT that was also an allergist and another doctor that was a neurologist at a large teaching hospital.

I developed high blood pressure and a couple of years ago had trouble getting it to stay within normal range even with the one drug I was using so had to add another bp med. I think that the OSA is a contributor to it and once I have it under control and have been for a while I am going to try to get off some of the meds -- but for now I am more concerned in getting the OSA under control.

Flying_Norseman · Post by **Flying_Norseman** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:44 am

Well I am into my second day and feeling pretty good. I had a pretty bad headache last night, but today so far, so good. I would never had been able to do this if I wasn't on CPAP.