Thread: Caffeine withdrawal. How bad to you have it?

Has anyone else noticed that if you drink enough coffee it leaves a taste in your throat similar to the smell of tobacco? I wonder if there is a link between the two addictions.

The times I've quit I've used Excedrin pain reliever which contains a small amount of caffeine to wean off of it. Actually thankfully Excedrin is FINALLY starting to kick in now since I felt a caffeine headache coming on this morning and grabbed a few tabs of Excedrin to take at lunch.

I'm definitely not one of those people that can drink 20 cups of coffee each day year in year out, stop and not get the crushing headaches.

I find that sometimes I'll drink more on the weekends since the french press is at home on the counter and is therefore accessible throughout the day; then Monday rolls around, I drink less and can start the headache process. I don't buy coffeehouse coffee and I won't drink the garbage found at virtually any restaurant or store, so for me it's usually half the press pot in the am, and 1/2 at night. It doesn't affect my ability to sleep at all. As a matter of fact, after a brief initial perk up, I'm more tired after drinking coffee than less.

I don't sip coffee, I gulp it. A bad habit I learned working as a hung over waiter in my youth.

Chris L

Originally Posted by Rajagra

Has anyone else noticed that if you drink enough coffee it leaves a taste in your throat similar to the smell of tobacco? I wonder if there is a link between the two addictions.

No, except in the way that all addictions are linked, i.e. some people have a more addictive nature than others.

No withdrawal symptoms that I know of here. Used to drink a lot of coffee on my old job (knowing what we threw in the sinks, I didn't really want to drink pure tapwater, and the taste was bad anyway, so...) but now that I live between people who consider a coffee to be good only if your spoon stay upright in it and if you need a large glass afterwards, I try to avoid drinking it at work. Two cups in the morning, one in the evening. Tastes great, lifts my spirits by smell/warmth and no negative results.

i should add that when i was a newbie dev, straight outta school, working 80+ hour weeks, i frequently had 2 POTS a day, occasionally 3. and that's the industrial coffee maker pot, not the little personal ones. so about 30 cups a day.

now a days i have one personal pot, which is about 3.5 cups or so. it got so bad i couldn't function without caffeine and started having genuine withdrawal; headaches, dizziness, nauseau, tremors, etc. basically like a junkie. i wouldn't go back to that for anything.

Originally Posted by smokelaw1

That said, I thought about it this very morning (NO KIDDING!) for what was probably just the third or so time. I'm sick of "needing" a chemical to function.

That's what got me off of it for that year and a half. Finally being sick of needing it to function. I will say when I was completely caffeine free for that time it was very liberating. Then, I'm on vacation, stroll past a coffeehouse with the smell of gooood coffee hitting me in the face and decide, "what the heck, I'll have a double cap for old time's sake". Buh bye no caffeine.

Chris L

I went off for medical reasons a while back I used DHA or something like that. It was sorta caffeine but not really.

Helped alot.

Also I have found that a good b-complex in the morning does wonders. I had an undiagnosed sleep problem, I was, according to my docs, border line narcoleptic. I was really tired one morning and grabbed a Red bull.

Good Stuff. B-Vitamins and as much caffeine as a cup of coffee.

Maybe I should drink this instead of coffee?

What?? Is somebody plotting to take my coffee away, is that what you're saying??? Hell no, I'm not addicted ... aaaahh my head hurts ...

Um, seriously--I'm with Ray:

Originally Posted by Rajagra

I genuinely wish espresso came in big mugs instead of teeny tiny cups, that might give me the kick I'm after.

I probably drink 2-3 cups of coffee on a typical day, the stronger the better. And yes, I'd be miserable for days if I tried to quit, and would probably find it very hard to stay awake and functional all day. I suppose that's an addiction of sorts, and I respect the views of those who don't want to get dependent on anything. For myself (and only for myself), I regard it as a minor and affordable vice that gives me a good deal of pleasure, does no harm, and may even be good for me; and I've got plenty of bad habits, character defects, and other issues to deal with, without tackling coffee. If I ever have to do without, well then I'll manage it.

Interesting article that you cite, Ray, on the weak coffee on (I presume) British motorways. It's the same for us Yanks. For all the jokes about a Starbucks on every corner, the fact is once you get outside a metropolitan area, it's damnably hard to get a decent cup of coffee in the U.S.--partly it's the quality of beans, but the besetting sin of our coffee is that everybody makes it so weak.

I use my own version of the horseshoe test:

Lower a horseshoe vertically into a large mug of freshly brewed coffee and observe results.

--Horseshoe plummets to the bottom and flops over: Coffee is too weak.

--Horseshoe sinks gradually into coffee and stands upright: Coffee is strong enough.

--Horseshoe cannot be driven into coffee, or is violently ejected and flies twelve feet into the air, or dissolves in three seconds or less: Coffee may be too strong for some tastes; drinkers should be prepared to add a few drops of hot water.

~Rich

Originally Posted by Rajagra

Maybe I should drink this instead of coffee?

To use a technical term, that stuff has a buttload of caffeine! That, plus all those other stimulants, plus all the sugar, plus the b-vitamins...wow.

I wonder how many MGs I take in in a day.

first i will say, all you coffee lovers please don't take any offense by what i may say. *HEALTHY RANT WARNING*

i have never been a coffee drinker, ever. i always thought it looked like a nice habit, nostalgic even, get up and brew the first cup and enjoy waking up. but then i smelled it. then i took a sip. i didn't like either. then my mom told me how she really wished she could quit, but just couldn't go without it, this was the third turn off. but i think one of the biggest factors was that my dad NEVER drank coffee, and i always wanted to do everything like him. so if he saw it as a weekness, then there was no way i would do it.

i also really hate having to rely on a substance like that to function. it just bugs me for some reason.

now heres the part that is going to tick some people off.
there is absolutely no reason that you shouldn't be able to get enough energy from your food to function from early in the morning all the way til bed time without any nap times. it is that simple. i don't have a perfect diet (and i should since i own a health food store) but i can honestly say that when i wake up i am up and don't ever need a nap. whether it is 6 hours of sleep or 9 doesn't matter (though i find more then 9 makes me feel sleepy). food can give you all the energy you need if you choose the right stuff.

also, coffee is bad for you. there, i said it, everyone all at once try to hit me through the computer screen. coffee is a mild neurotoxin that depletes your adrenal glands which can cause mood swings and low energy levels. it is also a diuretic and it is recommended that for every cup of coffee you drink you should be drinking something like 2 cups of water.

if your going to drink coffee buy a free trade organic brand, grind it yourself and drink it black. it doesn't have to be free trade really but that is better. coffee is heavily sprayed with pesticides so organic is important.

if you want to quit i suggest you use some type of adrenal support/cleanse supplement for the first little bit, also infrared saunas are great for getting rid of the withdrawl symptoms. a good greens supplement is a great suggestion for anyone but especially for quitting coffee (or smoking) as you will have significantly more energy, and the increased amount of anti oxidants will aid in you body detoxing. if you really love the taste, all i can say is that they do make greens supplements in cappucino flavour thats the best i can do.

there, i'm done, please don't think less of me.