Ending the Addiction

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CrazyAdventure
CrazyAdventure Posts: 113 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello, my name is Danielle, and I am an addict. I love my soda very much. So much, in fact, that I forced myself to start drinking diet and STILL love it, which was a huge breakthrough for me. However, I know just how bad that diet soda is too....

Here's my issue.... I get terrible, horrible, awful caffeine headaches if I don't have a soda around noon. I also start feeling sluggish. I can take tylenol, advil, whatev, but the headaches are still pretty awful unless I have some soda.

Any ideas on how to wean off of soda entirely? Or at least get rid of the nasty side effects of not having it for a few days?

Replies

  • sarahbear1981
    sarahbear1981 Posts: 610 Member
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    try tea or coffee instead. Those have caffeine in them but not the aspartame
  • cuerpito
    cuerpito Posts: 65 Member
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    The headaches are one of the reasons I avoid coffee. I usually drink decaf, and only give in to my Island Coconut flavor that doesn't come as decaf.

    What worked for me is slowly cutting down - one by one. Every week try to drink less of it and your body will adjust. It will take time but it will happen (just like your switch to diet soda - at first it was funny tasting, now it's the norm).
  • yojibalinese
    yojibalinese Posts: 38
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    My doctor recommended that I get off of caffeine when I was having stress issues. I was drinking 5 cups a coffee a day. I switched to decaf but for almost a month, I had the WORST caffeine withdraws. My legs and arms ached and I was tired constantly. My head felt like it would explode. Which, really,goes to show you how BAD it is for you. It sucks, but just go for it. I've been more or less caffeine free for a year and I feel great!
  • jessicajoy87
    jessicajoy87 Posts: 905
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    My husband had this problem with sugar. He had a migrane for about 4 days before it went away. I'm a cold turkey person. I want it done! Lol. Good luck!
  • keb80
    keb80 Posts: 394
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    I would just cut out maybe one soda a day at a time (maybe for 3 days or so).... then cut out another, and so on. I get really bad headaches too if I don't have caffeine but I've had to 'wean' myself off each time I was pregnant. If I tried to do it too quickly, I had continuous bad headaches for several days in a row.
  • Mindy021921
    Mindy021921 Posts: 20 Member
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    For me, when I started getting the craving for pop (coke was my weekness) I would open a can/bottle and take a couple sips then give it to someone else and grab some ice cold water. I was drinking 2-3 20oz cokes at work then coming home and having some with dinner. I still open 1 a week and can't finish them now. I end of giving them to someone else or just throwing them out. I can't stand tea or coffee and most juices have quite a few calories so it's water for me now and if I need a little flavor in it, I use the 5 calorie packets of lemonade.

    Good luck, I know it's hard.
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    I used to drink Mt Dew like it was going out of style. Then I switched to diet Dew (which is NASTY) to try and cut out the calories. I then switched to drinking coffee in the morning. Gives me the caffeine jolt I need without the calories and chemicals I got from pop. I haven't had any pop since May 2010.

    Also, green tea has caffeine in it AND it good for you - they make green tea pills. I took those for awhile to help step myself down from constant caffeine intake addiction (I used to drink like 4 cans of Dew during the day and was sick when I tried to stop drinking caffeine as much - the green tea pills helped alot)
  • SenorToenails
    SenorToenails Posts: 23 Member
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    Going cold turkey can be really, really hard--but if you do, the headaches fade after 2 days or so (not much help when you're suffering through them!). I've cut caffeine that way before, and it sucked.

    Try this---just have half of what you'd normally drink, then just phase it down in quantity until you don't want/need it anymore. I used to get the midday crashes too, but with better eating habits and (more importantly!) quality sleep, they are gone.
  • chridow
    chridow Posts: 178
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    i'm not a soda addict, but it seems like maybe starting the weaning process on a friday would be helpful. that way the worst symptoms would hit you on the weekend when you'd (hopefully) be able to slow down bit. also try cutting back one soda at a time. if you drink 5 now, cut out one each week until you're down to none. be sure to keep extra hydrated with water, your body will need it.

    sounds like you're just gonna have to grin and bear the withdrawal. i think they say the first 7-10 days are the worst for withdrawal symptoms and then things start going up. the psychological aspect may be the hardest to deal with. just keep reminding yourself that your body doesn't NEED soda to function properly.

    good luck, you can do it!
  • acakeforawife
    acakeforawife Posts: 207
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    My doctor recommended that I get off of caffeine when I was having stress issues. I was drinking 5 cups a coffee a day. I switched to decaf but for almost a month, I had the WORST caffeine withdraws. My legs and arms ached and I was tired constantly. My head felt like it would explode. Which, really,goes to show you how BAD it is for you. It sucks, but just go for it. I've been more or less caffeine free for a year and I feel great!

    I had this too!The arms and legs aching. It was horrible. I thought I was going crazy until I googled it and realized it was a (less common) symptom of caffeine withdrawl. They were the worst pains that just travelled all through my body. I got the headache in the first few days and then it turned into those pains. WIll never forget that -- it really showed me how addicted I was.

    To the OP -- there's not much you can do except deal with it. You can try having something with milder amounts of caffeine (green tea, maybe? or watered down soda, if that's not too gross) but at some point your body probably will just need to go through that purge. It will suck but only lasts a couple days. Good luck!
  • hbrekkaas
    hbrekkaas Posts: 268 Member
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    I just always go cold turkey, the first few days are pretty hard but then its over.
  • scantrll
    scantrll Posts: 271 Member
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    I cut out caffeine Nov of 2009 and the first two weeks were killer. Headaches, body aches, you name it. But I'll tell ya, now I am more alert in the mornings and don't feel like I need to crash in the afternoon.

    I figure if its such an addiction I go through withdrawal symptoms, that is something I don't need in my body! I still drink diet caffeine free soda (my friends and family always ask me what's the point??) but I'm trying to cut that out as well. There are just some foods that I can't drink just water with.
  • Ohiopugmom
    Ohiopugmom Posts: 43 Member
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    I feel your pain. I was up to 3-4 cans a day. I can't stand diet, coffee or tea. I am trying to do 1 can a day right now (unfortunately still taking some advil for the headaches). Next I am going to try the mini 8 oz cans for a couple weeks then cold turkey.

    TBH, the thing that is helping me now is tracking my calories. I feel worse when I enter it in to my diary, so it holds me a little more accountable and I think about it when the headache creeps up....

    good luck!!!
  • CrazyAdventure
    CrazyAdventure Posts: 113 Member
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    I cut out caffeine Nov of 2009 and the first two weeks were killer. Headaches, body aches, you name it. But I'll tell ya, now I am more alert in the mornings and don't feel like I need to crash in the afternoon.

    I figure if its such an addiction I go through withdrawal symptoms, that is something I don't need in my body! I still drink diet caffeine free soda (my friends and family always ask me what's the point??) but I'm trying to cut that out as well. There are just some foods that I can't drink just water with.

    I know! I love the carbonation with certain foods. It's just not the same lol
  • CrazyAdventure
    CrazyAdventure Posts: 113 Member
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    Thanks everyone! I may try to just deal with the pain lol, but the green tea idea is really great. It's nice to hear that others have experienced the same withdrawal symptoms and lived to tell the tale! haha. Thanks again!!
  • kysassyblonde1
    kysassyblonde1 Posts: 96
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    I have been a diet Mt Dew freak for years now. When I tryed too quit cold turkey I got those aweful headaches your talking about also. So I started drinking a 6oz cup of coffee every morning and having one 16oz dew a day and green tea in the evenings. As the days went on I got to where I was trying to only drink half the dew until I have completly now given it up for water. Still have the coffee in the am and the tea later so I get my caffiene and water both in. Going cold turkey was an awful plan for me!!! I wish you the best of luck in making that change for yourself!!!!!

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