Caffeine...has anyone been able to quit?

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 26, 2018 12:53 pm

You need to do a taper. You don't say how much you are consuming, so here is an example of six cups of strong coffee per day. Week one, drop the last cup of the day. Week two, drop the last two cups of the day. Etc., until week five, you are down to one cup per day first thing in the morning. For week six, you may want to have half a cup. Week 7: zero cups.

This. You have to taper. I've quit caffeine many times in my life, and I can't think of a good reason to ever do it cold turkey. You will have terrible headaches and 2-3 days will be pretty much wasted. Good luck, and take it slow.

I have never tried to totally quit, though I did reduce my intake several years ago from 17-18 cups daily to two rather large cups at breakfast only.And didn't experience any difficulties. Perhaps I am addicted, but I truly believe I could quit, cold turkey at any time. However, I don't WANT to quit, and I have no detectable ill effects from my daily usage.

TheDuke

TheDuke wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 26, 2018 8:30 pm

Perhaps I am addicted

Caffeine is not an addictive substance.

Before cpap, caffeine affected me so severely that I had spells of very rapid heartbeat
and lightheadedness, and I had to avoid caffeine entirely.
Some time after going on cpap, I found that I could indeed tolerate caffeine,
and now enjoy an occasional caffeinated beverage or dark chocolate without ill effects.

I use to have about one or two pots of coffee a day. And a couple sodas. Of course I could not sleep very well and felt my heart skipping a beat every once in a while. I cut out caffeine completely cold turkey, but I did substitute it with decaf coffee and caffeine free soda. For about three days I had headaches but it was not terrible, but I think replacing what I loved with non-caffeinated drinks, tricked my brain into not missing it. Since I've quit I have actually had more energy because I was actually able to sleep. Quitting caffeine had a better effect on me than using my CPAP machine.

I'm not trying to start a war or anything, and I know CPAP machines are required to make people feel better rested. In my case I sought a more immediate effect because I was actually able to go to sleep and stay asleep. I felt a lot more rested in the mornings because I could go to bed on time throughout the night work on my sleep hygiene

cpap626 wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 27, 2018 9:40 am

I'm not trying to start a war

Without even trying, you can start a war here.

Several years ago, I gave up pop for 6 months. I had been drinking a lot of Mountain Dew before then, so pretty high in caffeine. I did not have any issues, but I didn't feel better either. I didn't sleep better or earlier. I tried to drink a lot of water, but it wasn't very exciting, so I drank less and less and eventually got dehydrated. I went back to drinking pop, Sunkist (with caffeine). I later switched to Crush which does not have caffeine. And I Have since reduced so that I drink water some of the time and pop some of the time. So, overall, a lot better than before.

Besides caffeine, there is another toxin in some soda that can be even more harmful.
All colas, Dr. or Mr. drinks, and Sprecher sodas from the hardware store contain phosphoric acid,
which sends calcium directly to the kidneys, thus contributing to osteopenia and osteoporosis.
I have avoided these drinks for around 8-9 years, resulting in repeated very good bone density scans.
My mother in law drank 4 to 6 cans of Diet Coke a day, and before she passed, her spine was crumbling
around her spinal cord, resulting in much pain, loss of feeling, weakness, and incontinence.
Caffeine may be a lesser threat than phosphoric acid, but Pepsi and Coke
have invested piles of money to fool us into believing their products are totally benign. LIES.

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 27, 2018 8:26 am

TheDuke wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 26, 2018 8:30 pm

Perhaps I am addicted

Caffeine is not an addictive substance.

Please tell me you're joking. I don't have an issue with it now at "low" doses, but when I used to get migraines from it definitely was psychologically addicting. In fact it's harder for me to quit than smoking (though smoking is much easier for me to quit then most people. )

InnerGlow wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 26, 2018 3:10 pm

I used to drink caffeinated cola all day (and night) long. I tapered off of it completely and took a magnesium supplement at night to help with the withdrawal symptoms (read about that somewhere, no longer sure where). Now I don't drink any caffeine at all. Good luck with quitting!

The religious law allows consumption of caffeine pills (and enough water to swallow them) under those circumstances, even on that day!

D.H. wrote:

The religious law allows consumption of caffeine pills (and enough water to swallow them) under those circumstances, even on that day!

Which religion is that??

I don't drink, I don't smoke, so it's my one vice. My iced coffee will have to be pried from my cold dead hands.

I will not be deprived of my Ghirardelli 60% cacao dark chocolate chips.
Why eat the cookie, when you can just have the chips, at a fraction of the calories?

I quit smoking 11 years ago. Drink very little alcohol. There have been several well documented studies indicatng coffee has health benifits. Drinking decaf is like kissing your sister. Coffee is my only vice. I ain’t quitting.

I wouldn't say quit entirely or permanently, but I've dropped my daily habit for the same reason as you. I'm very sensitive to caffeine and it definitely puts me on edge. I didn't find it to be all that hard to quit honestly, as ibuprofen gets rid of the headaches.

My struggles were always more on the sedating side of things. The rebound anxiety from stopping alcohol or tranquilizers can be out of this world.