Soda Withdrawl

badbritty

So hear me out,

I quit smoking a year ago thanks to one thing, soda. Every time I wanted a cigarette (I smoked a pack and a half a day), I'd just grab a coke and sip it till my cravings went away. I kicked my habit completely and have created an even bigger monster than before.

I can't go more than a couple hours without it. Its the first and last thing I have in my day, and I drink it all throughout the day. Last night I decided I wanted to be healthy and poured out all my remaining soda and only have coffee and tea in my house. I have a pulsing headache, and I just want to know if anyone has experienced it and what they did.

I'm reading about it, but I'd also like someone else's experience.

rubrink

I'm a few weeks in right now. Used to be a 6ish diet cokes a day person. Did the same thing you did, drinking more tea to try and help. Believe it or not, it gets easier. I've had a total of 3 cokes in the past 3-4 weeks, and I truly don't have the cravings anymore. I used to be able to not make it a day

janejellyroll

Was it caffeinated soda? If so, just sip on (caffeinated) coffee/tea and it will keep you from going into caffeine withdrawal.

Just so you know, drinking soda isn't a bigger monster than smoking! There is tons of evidence that smoking is harmful even in small amounts. It's directly and clearly linked to cancer and heart disease and there is lots of evidence demonstrating that you have taken a clear step to benefit your future health. The evidence that soda is harmful . . . well, it isn't clear that it is. While consuming more energy than your body and being overweight is clearly linked to illness, I'm not convinced that drinking soda in the context of a diet where you're meeting calorie goals and getting what you need nutritionally *is* bad for you. So I don't worry about sometimes enjoying a diet soda.

So if you'd feel better cutting it out, keep at it. But don't feel it's required for good health!

quiksylver296

Try diet? Coke Zero and Diet Dr Pepper are yummy. The caffeine withdrawal is what is causing the headaches, so if you don't want to do diet, you could just get some caffeine pills.

stanmann571

Caffeine and nicotine are addictive stimulants.

You could try Gum, Patch, diet, coffee, etc.

There's nothing inherently wrong with soda. Or for that matter nicotine if you can get it in a way that doesn't cause harm to your body.

beachbody4l

I agree with switching to diet. I have always loved soda and I haven't really had a want to stop drinking it. But switching to zero calorie alternatives really helped me kick the weight and I find they actually taste better now. I no longer have huge sugar cravings either like I did drinking reg. In fact regular is too sweet and actually makes me sick now.

Jthanmyfitnesspal

Get a Sodastream and make your own seltzer. Add flavors, just not too much sugar. I usually add a splash of juices: I use Pom Wonderful a lot. You can even make fizzy iced tea, sweetened with aspartame or au-natural.

cwolfman13

It's caffeine withdrawal. If you were drinking coke throughout the day, you were getting a ton of caffeine.

I used to drink a ton of Mt Dew and just weened it down to ease the withdrawal.

Colorfan

Why are you trying to avoid soda? Is it because you'd rather not have the caffeine, or because you're avoiding the sugar?



In either case, there's a few solutions. Diet soda is the obvious one. I know people like to hate on it because its not "healthy" (with no real evidence as to the true health effects of artificial sweeteners like sucralose) but Its certainly a less damaging vice than smoking. I personally like having a diet caffeinated soda in the morning to get me out of the morning funk. Obviously, you could have a non caffeinated diet soda instead, if you're avoiding the caffeine.

The other is carbonated water! You can either buy it already made, or do it yourself with a soda stream machine. Its literally nothing more than water with carbon dioxide mixed in. Some people like to drink it as is (I find it too bitter) or you can add your own sugar free flavoring like Mio/Kool Aid/Crystal Light/soda syrups.


As far as the headaches go, its the caffeine. I've quite caffeine a few times before. I went a good year without it before I wound up taking it back on due to work stressing me out (I worked different shifts around the clock). The hardest part was getting over the caffeine withdrawal for the first month, or so, till my body got used to running without it.

futureicon

I drink zero calorie seltzer water whenever I want something carbonated. I've done this for years and actually find soda way too sweet. As far as the headaches, that's definitely attributed to caffeine withdrawal.

iceblossom1

I had to give up diet sodas recently (February) as well as all artificial sweeteners as my body was not tolerating them well and my gut bacteria were gutted... I was typically drinking 6+ cans a day. Since cutting out the artificial sweeteners it took about a month but the horrible diarrhea/cramping that had been getting worse for the last two years got better. Much better. Still having issues, more tests but things are better.

As already mentioned you have a couple of issues going on. One is the caffeine withdrawal, it's one of the most addictive substances out there. For most people cold turkey leads to the headaches, cutting back usually works better if you can sustain the cuts. You might look into an Aspirin that has a caffeine dose such as Bayer Maximum Strength and taking one around 3:00 PM. Breaking a habit is as hard as breaking an addiction. I still miss my sodas. Most likely always will but it gets better.

I also have insomnia issues so I haven't had caffeine after noon for decades, starting in February I cut out all caffeine from my diet along with the sweeteners. It doesn't seem to matter to my insomnia so once a week I have a group and a single 6 oz cup of coffee at 10:00 Tuesdays. LOL that sounds so miserable but it's not so bad...

I drink an herbal tea in the morning. The rest of the day I drink water. Once a day as a treat I allow myself a non-calorie, non-artificial sweetener, non-sodium (or at least very low) carbonated beverage a day such as Talking Rain, Dasani, Lacroix or others.

lolly2414

I'm dealing with Coke withdrawal too. I've been slowly reducing how much I drink. I started out a month ago limiting myself to one can per day and I'm down to allowing myself two per week now. It hasn't been easy at all. Some days the headaches are terrible, but I know it's for the best so I've been pushing through it with the help of Advil. You can do it! Just hang in there!

badbritty

Thank you all for your responses!

I've been drinking some black coffee (with a hint of sugar) and tea throughout the day and it really helped. It tasted disgusting, but helped.

I have tried switching to diet before and I always end up going back to regular. My biggest issue with trying to taper instead of a full cut off is I ONLY drink soda. I drink maybe 1 cup of water every few days. So I'm thinking of this as a gift to my bladder and teeth.

Also, anyone feel free to add me since I've been offline for almost a year and most of my friends are inactive.

emmamcgarity

Cold turkey quitting.... bold move. I wish you much success. I have significantly cut back on my Diet Coke consumption by drinking more water. I add a slice of lime for more flavor so that I will drink more. When I need something fizzy, I do have some flavored sparkling waters that I like (Black Cherry is my favorite).