Caffeine addiction ??

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  • KQmom
    KQmom Posts: 29 Member
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    Lipton diet green tea citrus.... sooo yummy and 0 cals! Also, just plain ol' iced tea with equal, you can make it stronger if you need the extra boost and you can always order that when you eat out.
  • KQmom
    KQmom Posts: 29 Member
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    Lipton diet green tea citrus.... sooo yummy and 0 cals! Also, just plain ol' iced tea with equal, you can make it stronger if you need the extra boost and you can always order that when you eat out.
  • Rage_Phish
    Rage_Phish Posts: 1,507 Member
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    I read that caffeine withdrawal is on scale with heroine.

    As someone who has witnessed opiate addiction, I find this very hard to believe.
  • phenrichs
    phenrichs Posts: 102
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    I drink tea now. Many varieties available. You can also get flavored teas. Learn all you need to know at teavana.com I love that place. There is a store in the mall of america. Can't wait to go there again in a couple weeks.
  • redheadmommy
    redheadmommy Posts: 908 Member
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    I drink coffee without sugar and with milk instead of cream. A large coffee with 3 milks that is really looks quite light color is only 60 calories. It is not bad calorie wise, one cup can easily fit into your calorie budget.
  • dreamwellali
    dreamwellali Posts: 42
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    I cut caffeine out of my life about a month and a half ago and it's one of the best things I've ever done for myself.

    I used to drink a diet soda (24oz) first thing in the morning (sometimes I'd switch it up and get a Starbucks latte), coffee around 10am, more diet soda with lunch, then sometimes more coffee in the afternoon. I was one of those people who NEED my soda first thing in the morning. And it's true, I couldn't function without it because it was a drug I was addicted to.

    Quitting was hard. I didn't go cold turkey and I still got headaches for the first couple of days. I cut back to one 24oz soda a day and stayed at that level for a week or so. Then I cut back to 12oz. Then nothing. Do I miss it? Absolutely. I love soda - I'll drink diet caffeine free occasionally now and will occasionally get a decaf latte from Starbucks (because I really do like the taste of coffee). If my husband is making coffee for himself, I'll have a sip or two of it. Today at lunch I got caffeine free diet coke and added about 1/4 of Coke Zero to the cup. So I still have a little here and there, but it's not an addiction any more. I know I can live without it now. I have much more energy during the day and I sleep better at night.

    For the people who are recommending Excedrin - be cautious of the amount of caffeine in it. It works on caffeine withdrawl headaches because it's simply feeding your addiction. 1 pill of Excedrin actually has more caffeine than a soda and as much as a cup of percolated coffee. Check out caffeine content of various beverages and medications here: http://pol.spurious.biz/dev_zero/caffeine.html
  • katiewcurlz
    katiewcurlz Posts: 33
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    @dreamwellall - do you have a recommendation other than Excedrin to deal with caffeine withdrawal headaches? I LOVE Starbucks, black coffee with coffee syrup and Diet Coke, but I'm trying to limit the amount that I drink everyday. I suffer from caffeine headaches, and they can get pretty nasty, any suggestions you have would be great!
  • dreamwellali
    dreamwellali Posts: 42
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    @dreamwellall - do you have a recommendation other than Excedrin to deal with caffeine withdrawal headaches? I LOVE Starbucks, black coffee with coffee syrup and Diet Coke, but I'm trying to limit the amount that I drink everyday. I suffer from caffeine headaches, and they can get pretty nasty, any suggestions you have would be great!

    The best thing you can do for yourself is pick a day where you can have the headache and not taking anything. Not ideal, of course, but once you've dealt with the headaches, you'll be past the withdrawl.

    Otherwise, my suggestion would be to do what you're doing - reduce very gradually the amount of caffeine you're consuming. By that I mean go from 24oz of soda a week to 20oz the next week to 12 the next and see if you can quit from there without the headaches. Same with coffee, although there is more caffeine in coffee, so you might need to make your cutbacks a smaller amount each week.

    You're going to get headaches. Caffeine is a drug that you are withdrawing from. If you go slowly, the headaches won't be as bad and might be able to be controlled by tylenol or advil rather than excedrin.

    Good luck! Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can!

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