Caffeine withdrawal headaches ??

melanie3103
melanie3103 Posts: 246 Member
edited October 2 in Health and Weight Loss
Am I the only one suffering with this ?

I didn't consider myself a bit coffee drinker, I would only drink lattes (one morning, one afternoon), but I was a diet coke fiend - drinking as much as 3-4 cans per day.

Now I've cut down on lattes, often not bothering at all, but at most 1 per day. And as I'm drinking my 2litres of water (for the first time EVER!),and as I'm off alcohol (saving for weekend only) I drink slimline tonic with a piece of lemon in the evenings as it feels like a vodka/tonic or gin/tonic. I've almost completely stopped the diet coke too. I have probably 2-3 cans per week now.

Is there that much caffeine in a latte and in diet coke ??? I have had the worst headaches yesterday afternoon and today.

Also is it just diet coke that contains caffeine - is there caffeine in other diet fizzy drinks ? Like diet sprite or diet vimto - as I will try ensure I have one in the afternoon perhaps.

Felt horrendous today - banging headache, bit dizzy and just generally under the weather - I don;t know for sure, but I am blaming caffeine withdrawal - any thoughts ?

Replies

  • bridetobe310711
    bridetobe310711 Posts: 183
    bump!!! x
  • bridetobe310711
    bridetobe310711 Posts: 183
    no you are not alone there x
  • hstallings13
    hstallings13 Posts: 306
    I am working to reduce my caffine as well and I can tell you that it can cause headaches. I have cut back a lot, but I still get the headaches and sometimes just ahve to get a diet pepsi to get rid of it. They say it gets easier....so I've heard...lol
  • ChrissyinATL
    ChrissyinATL Posts: 23 Member
    This is normal - when you cut down caffeine, try to do it a little at a time. Cold turkey can give you headaches for DAYS. :(
  • Pancake86
    Pancake86 Posts: 94
    When caffeine intake is reduced, the body becomes oversensitive to adenosine. In response to this oversensitiveness, blood pressure drops dramatically, causing an excess of blood in the head (though not necessarily on the brain), leading to a headache.

    After a week should start to feel better. Plenty of water!
  • pandabear_
    pandabear_ Posts: 487 Member
    I used to get them as well when I quit drinking coffee.

    There's probably caffeine in all or lots of fizzy drinks they are not 'natural'!
  • naomirog
    naomirog Posts: 45 Member
    No i had these for 2 weeks after i replaced tea with lemon and hot water..THEY WILL GO..just have to put up with it for a little while :( Good Luck!
  • jcbernahl
    jcbernahl Posts: 61 Member
    As you probably noticed by my user name, I am a diet mountain dew addict. I quit drinking it a few years ago and had a headache that literally put me out of commission for a day and a half. It was awful and I swore I would never be that hooked on it again. Well, that didn't last. I love the taste and it's my "coffee" in the morning because I can't stand the taste of real coffee. I have tried cutting back but that only lasts for a couple of days. I drink anywhere from 4-6 cans a day. I know!!! I've heard all the preaching from everyone about how I need to stop. Hopefully I will someday. I do drink my water though so that's something right??
  • philOHIO
    philOHIO Posts: 520 Member
    You shouldn't give it up cold turkey. Cut it down a little each day, you won't have the headaches and the queasiness. In a few weeks, you won't miss it or go back to it.
  • Nikstergirl
    Nikstergirl Posts: 1,549 Member
    When I gave up my Diet Coke addiction 2.5 years ago I had a horrendous headache for about three weeks and then one day it was gone. Now I still don't drink the stuff, it's really not good for you at all, but I do have a nice tall glass of unsweetened iced tea at my lunch pretty much every day. Makes me feel like I can drink something other than water for just a few minutes a day, and does give me just a touch of caffeine to make the afternoon not drag on forever!!!

    I do drink tons of water now, something I never did while I was on the diet crack, I mean coke....
  • misscfe
    misscfe Posts: 295 Member
    If they truly are caffeine withdrawal headaches they shouldn't last more then a week is what I have experienced. It shouldn't take that long for the caffeine to leave your body so if they last longer it may be something else. Now if you keep going up and down with the amount of caffeine you are drinking then I think they could last longer cause your body doesn't know how to adjust. Try to make sure your caffeine intake is the same until you get through the headaches and then after that if you on occasion have more or less it shouldn't affect you like it does when you first make the change. I have never been a big cafeine drinker but use to have 1 Dr. Pepper every morning cause I didn't drink coffee. One day I decided to stop drinking that one soda a day and I went through the caffeine withdrawals. The 13 lbs I dropped like nothing made it well worth it though.
  • upnorthtim
    upnorthtim Posts: 376 Member
    Lattes are made with espresso,,,,very strong and alot of caffeine. That and 4 diet drinks are alot of caf! I suffered from such a bad caffeine addiction that I would get nauseos if I did not get my coffee. After losing my lunch in front of people we were visiting one time I decided I could not let it rule my life anymore. I eased myself off and have been off it for 2 years, Now I can allow myself a latte every once in awhile but never 2 days in a row or I still get the headache! Still miss it though...lol

    Tim
  • LozzaMc
    LozzaMc Posts: 9 Member
    No caffine in vimto or sprite, diet or otherwise.

    I used to get major headaches if I didn't get a caffinated drink within 3 hours of having a previous one. It got so bad that I would carry caffine tablets with me just in case I wasn't able to make it to somewhere I could get a cuppa.

    For the record, I'm a tea drinker. If I spent the day at home I would drink a cup of tea at least every hour or so.

    The caffine withdrawl headaches I'd get were awful. I could only get rid of them by sleeping (which isn't always possible of course!)

    Gently cut down your caffine amounts and you'll become less sensitive to it. I have managed to cut down to just 2/3 cups of tea a day and I can go the whole day without if I had to. It takes time to wean yourself off of it, but it is possible!

    And coke/diet coke can be a bugger for caffine. I had a can at a friends house a few days ago (I don't normally drink fizzy pop) and I just could not get to sleep for the life of me. I had drunk it at about 10.30 pm and I could not switch my brain off all night!
  • catcrazy
    catcrazy Posts: 1,740 Member
    The more caffeine you drink the worse the withdrawal symptoms. They are one of the worst headaches I have felt, painkillers wont touch them so it really is better to wean down.
  • Marcia_11
    Marcia_11 Posts: 143 Member
    I quit caffeine over 7 years ago and I still remember the debilitating headache. I had it for a week and felt like I had been ran over several times by the biggest truck around. Hang in there, it WILL get better! Quitting cold turkey is super hard so do as others have suggested and cut back slowly. You will probably still get headaches but they shouldn't be as intense. Diet coke makes a caffeine free version so check that out and see if you can find it. Best of luck to you!
  • unsuspectingfish
    unsuspectingfish Posts: 1,176 Member
    There are about 150 mg of caffeine in a grande latte and about 47 mg in a can of Diet Coke, so you've gone from 441-488 mg of caffeine a day to 0-150 mg of caffeine a day, and that's assuming you were drinking grandes.

    Usually, sodas say when they're caffeine-free, though not always in very large print. Root beer and Sprite/7-Up are always caffeine-free, though, so those are your best bets.
  • Banks01
    Banks01 Posts: 945 Member
    I cut out coffee two years ago after having 3-6 cups daily for years. For two weeks I battled these headaches and lethargy.


    I started drinking a green tea in the am and a diet coke or two after 11, but I wanted to get off soda as well


    I now drink zero caffeine (intentionally) with the exception of a green tea 2 or 3 times a week, sometimes less

    No headaches after three weeks, and smoothies help. after a couple of weeks, you don't miss it
  • Papillon22
    Papillon22 Posts: 1,160 Member
    I had headaches for a week when I stopped drinking coffee in the morning, so it can certainly happen. If you can wait it out, they'll be gone soon enough.
  • BloatedBeast
    BloatedBeast Posts: 8 Member
    Well I suffer from bad headaches, and sometime migraines and I actually find that caffeine helps my headaches. I asked a doctor and they said that it was quite possible as the way the caffeine affects your blood vessels. So it isn't always a bad thing!
  • MzBug
    MzBug Posts: 2,173 Member
    Regular Excedrin has a bit of caffeine in them and can help you weane yourself off it. Take the regular dose the first few days, then cut it in half for a few days, then just regular asprin/tylenol/motrin until the headaches stay away.
  • cervenec
    cervenec Posts: 64
    Oooh, I used to get horrible caffeine withdrawal in high school if I didn't drink a soda for a few days. I just switched off soda and went to green tea, and I also sometimes take aspirin in the morning that has a high amount of caffeine.
  • melanie3103
    melanie3103 Posts: 246 Member
    Thanks guys - I didn't try and give up the caffeine. It was a just a natural step as I cut out the cals of the skimmed milk (from the 2 I used to have every day)... and with the increase in water (trying really hard to drink my 2litres per day) that has meant I've not reached for the diet sodas.

    So I haven't tried to cut it out, it just kind of happened.

    I guess I want to be able to have 1 latte a day (as I do enjoy with skimmed milk) and the occasional diet soda (these are my drink of choice, once the 2litres of water have gone that is!).. heehee...

    Hopefully the headaches won't last long. Feel better this afternoon. And will stick to the occasional latte, occasional diet coke - my body will adjust.

    Thanks all. :)
  • Tegan74
    Tegan74 Posts: 202
    Try excedrin migraine as well ~ it has caffeine in it and helped me when I went thru it. I drank a 2 liter and then some a day of mt.dew for yrs an yrs. I went from that to limiting myself to 1 20oz a day, nope not fun at all, then to none. I do still put a lil bit of sweet tea in my water but simply because our water tastes HORRIBLE and I cant seem to bring myself to buy a gallon of water a day or so. Yes, I drink that much liquid ~ I almost always have something to drink near me, as soon as I empty the glass I go get more.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories