I drink over 10 cups of coffe/day...major addict!

AnnaMC1977
AnnaMC1977 Posts: 241
in Food and Nutrition
I'm trying to cut back, but the headaches are kicking my butt. Anyone else have issues with caffeine withdrawl? Drink lots of it to function?

Replies

  • tommygirl15
    tommygirl15 Posts: 1,012 Member
    I used to drink as much as you, but then I started to feel sluggish, dehydrated, and began to get heart palpitations more often (which scared me a bit). I've cut wayyyy back to just 1-3 cups a day. I honestly feel better for it. You don't have to give it up, but cutting back makes a difference.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    Ha! I only laugh because I'm in about the same boat. Missery loves company :-/ Good luck :) If I knew the answer myself I'd share.
  • jojorocksforeva
    jojorocksforeva Posts: 303 Member
    Hmm that is pretty serious and a lot of caffein ...i would cutt down anything can be an addiction cutt down.
  • Ronngie
    Ronngie Posts: 295 Member
    Could you cut back slowly? Replace one cup with a different beverage to start, and then after a week or two cut one more..or switch to half caff?
  • MichelleLaree13
    MichelleLaree13 Posts: 865 Member
    I would suggest slowly cutting back over a few weeks to curb the withdrawal. How long have you been drinking coffee like that? Sometimes caffeine helps headaches (non-withdrawal). Are you sure you have not been self medicating and increasing the caffeine over time to get the headaches to go away?
  • MinimalistShoeAddict
    MinimalistShoeAddict Posts: 1,946 Member
    I have never been a fan of coffee but have been a caffeine addict for years. First it was regular soda then diet soda. I cut way back but also had some headaches when I tried to quit completely. Have you tried 5 hour energy shots instead (or the generic version sold at Costco)? They work well for me and perhaps are better at not staining your teeth compared to coffee/tea.

    Another option is just adding caffeine pills to water for a very cheap low calorie option that is good for your teeth!
  • nis75p06
    nis75p06 Posts: 114
    I do feel your pain... I tried last week to cold turkey both my coffee and my tea. And felt like a wretch. I usually drink 1-2 quarts of black tea (some iced and some hot) and 2-4 cups of coffee a day. Today, I added back black tea and felt so much better! (Finishing my last cup of Earl Grey now) And since I'm off to work in a few minutes (night shift), I'm stopping for coffee at the gas station and will start the pot as soon as I get to the office.

    There are only so many things I can give up in the name of a new me - coffee and tea is not one of those things. I already gave up Starbucks (who knew there was so darn many calories in a latte?!?) - no way I'm giving up brewed coffee too!

    "They" claim the withdrawal symptoms only last 3 days - physically anyway - but "they" don't have to deal with an uncaffinated me.
  • CraigG75
    CraigG75 Posts: 177 Member
    Whoa. I can drink about 2-4 a day though. Drink it mostly at work. I am trying to cut back myself, can be habit forming.
  • jennmallak
    jennmallak Posts: 2 Member
    You should try Advocare's Spark. My mother use to drink coffee all the time but once she started drinking spark she stopped drinking coffee and never got headaches. She hasn't had coffe since June.
  • jeme3
    jeme3 Posts: 355 Member
    You should try Advocare's Spark. My mother use to drink coffee all the time but once she started drinking spark she stopped drinking coffee and never got headaches. She hasn't had coffe since June.

    I'm a coffee drinker. I like coffee. It pretty much makes morning do-able for me.

    Someone tried to sell me Advocare Spark by telling me how great it was and it should get off coffee because all that caffeine is bad for you and Spark would give me plenty of energy.

    Guess what is in Spark.

    Yup.

    Caffeine.

    As much as a cup of coffee.
  • janbo19
    janbo19 Posts: 6 Member
    I drink one cup of (iced) coffee in the morning w/ 1T of half & half. The rest of the day is water water water.
  • GuybrushThreepw00d
    GuybrushThreepw00d Posts: 784 Member
    10! Cut back slowly till you're down to 1 or 2 :happy:
  • chubbylildiva
    chubbylildiva Posts: 2
    Yes me too,coffee addict,I'm drinking a cup now as i type i feel i will eat more if i don't have my hot coffee.
  • Wendy__D
    Wendy__D Posts: 51 Member
    I'm not going to "advise" this, but I am going to put it out there for you to consider: cold turkey. If you get headaches and other withdrawal symptoms each time you cut back would you rather have 3 days (even 2 weeks) of that or months of a lesser, but still there version of it?Then if you want to add *some* back in over time you can see what you're comfortable with, but I'd strongly recommend you stay off all of it* for a few months, even a couple years, if you go cold turkey before adding back in. I actually lost my taste for "dark sodas" (fruitier ones I still like) entirely this way. Now it's not that I *can't* let myself have one or deny myself one, they just aren't things I enjoy anymore.

    *By all of it I mean all the caffeinated coffee. If decaf or chocolate aren't part of your struggle then do what you want there. Some people have more success with more stringency others with less. You know what your weaknesses are better than I do.
  • CINDYRN33
    CINDYRN33 Posts: 148 Member
    You could mix decaf and regular coffee and each time you mix some add more decaff and less regular????

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