I quit caffeine Cold Turkey on Ash Wednesday.

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DannyYMi54321
DannyYMi54321 Posts: 77 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I had a major caffeine addiction - I was consuming as many as 12 12 ounce cans or 2 2 liters of caffeinated diet soda every day (mostly diet Mt. Dew, some diet colas or diet Dr. Pepper). AND drinking 2 to 4 16 ounce sugar-free energy drinks a day (mostly Monster, some Rock Star). AND, some days a 200 mg caffeine tablet (or two). AND, lately, I've also been taking energy shots, 1 or 2, many evenings to keep going and get through what I need to get through.

So, I quit Cold Turkey on Ash Wednesday - I had one final Monster at 5 am,

It went much better than I expected. I had a headache until yesterday, but it was easily controlled with OTC medicine. Instead of all of that nasty stuff, I've been drinking ... water! Amazing.

I feel a lot better actually, sleeping a little more soundly, and actually seem to have more energy. I was probably pushing myself to the point of adrenal fatigue by taking too much of a stimulant.

Replies

  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
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    /pops 200mg caffeine pill, chased with Monster Ultra.

    My cold, dead, fingers I say!
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    Holy caffeine, Batman! Did you ever sleep?!

    I found that OTC meds don't touch my caffeine headaches-you should consider yourself blessed!
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    I love caffeine <3
  • daj150
    daj150 Posts: 815 Member
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    I tried cutting cold turkey and had way less daily intake...had headaches and terrible sleep for almost 2 weeks. Week 3 the headaches went away, but I was so sluggish and my commute is long and I was having trouble staying awake for the drive, so I am back, but I at most have 1 nuun energy or a cup of green tea a day.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Cool! Glad it didn't go too badly. I've done the same thing before, and had a similar experience. (Not this year, though, I say, while happily sipping my coffee!)
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
    edited March 2017
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    That was a LOT of caffeine. Wow! I'm shocked you didn't have worse withdrawal symptoms.
  • BootCampC
    BootCampC Posts: 689 Member
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    (this is from what the experts say about caffeine)if you have the same dose every day at the same time the only thing you are doing is avoiding a dip in energy , not really adding more energy. The only time you will feel the caffeine is if you have a dose at a time when you normally don't have it. The reason you get a headache is withdrawal which we know , but they say that its the body sending body reactions to break down the caffeine that is not there that does it.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    I don't know. Since Lent is a temporary event, is your avoidance of caffeine likewise temporary?
  • knox50us
    knox50us Posts: 50 Member
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    Never been addicted to caffeine but know plenty who are. Good for you.
  • mburgess458
    mburgess458 Posts: 480 Member
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    I don't understand why anyone would even attempt to go from that much caffeine to nothing. Why not taper down a bit? I guess it worked for you, would never work for me. I get horrible withdrawal symptoms and as another poster said, OTC drugs don't touch it at all.
  • RandiNoelle
    RandiNoelle Posts: 374 Member
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    Good for you! I'm useless without my morning joe(s) - 4-12 oz cups of pure black goodness, to be exact!

    The one time I did skip (fasting for a blood test), I was so cranky by the time I got to my office, my coworkers were ready to set up a caffeine drip to get my back to my old self.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
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    Good for you. I'm surprised your heart didn't blow up with that intake.
  • kellyjellybellyjelly
    kellyjellybellyjelly Posts: 9,480 Member
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    Packerjohn wrote: »
    Good for you. I'm surprised your heart didn't blow up with that intake.

    What I was thinking.

    I had a 5 Hour Energy drink one time & thought I was having a heart attack. After that I have never drank another energy drink.

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