Caffeine addiction…

chubbychristianchick
chubbychristianchick Posts: 217 Member
edited October 4 in Health and Weight Loss
I recently started a ‘Daniel Fast’ as a part of this fast the only beverage consumed is water… At the beginning of the fast I thought that this would be the easiest part for me… I am now made shockingly aware of how addicted and dependent upon caffeine I am.
Yesterday the first day of the fast I was exhausted, had a slight head ache, and felt foggy all day.
Today seems to be much the same. I’m achy and exhausted… It’s almost like I have flu like symptoms…
I decided to look back and see exactly how many caffeinated beverage I would consume on a daily basis…
1-3 cups of coffee in the am then 3-5 cups of tea (green, herbal, flavored you name it) from 12pm-bed time…
I’m hoping that with this lack of caffeine I’ll be able to sleep better at night…
Has anyone else dealt with this type of caffeine withdraw? How did you get through it?
:drinker: :cry: :yawn: :noway:

Replies

  • ehos
    ehos Posts: 4 Member
    I had to quit drinking caffeine and those first few days just about killed me. Within a week, I was feeling much better and the headaches went away. You're going through withdrawal, as awful as that sounds, so just push through it with a little ibuprofen and you'll be fine! Good luck.
  • BobbyDaniel
    BobbyDaniel Posts: 1,459 Member
    I prefer caffeine dependance...thank you! LOL!
    I drink 2-3 cups of coffee each day, so when I fast, the caffeine headache is one of the worst parts for me. If it gets too bad I may give in and have a small cup or make an exchange for green tea. But the longer you go and the more often you do this, the caffeine withdrawals won't seem so bad.
  • Srbrosseau
    Srbrosseau Posts: 58 Member
    I absolutely don't even attempt to go through caffeine withdrawal. However... I have limited myself to two cups of green tea a day (used to drink about a pot and a half of coffee a day). I did this by slowly lowering my intake of caffeine and taking 1 325mg aspirin in place of a round of coffee. This eliminated most of the symptoms. After a couple days, I simply stopped taking the aspirin.
  • hillm12345
    hillm12345 Posts: 313 Member
    I have had this type of caffeine withdraw. I just had to suck it up and get through it. Have you tried exercising more? Perhaps that will help with your decreased energy levels.
  • Articeluvsmemphis
    Articeluvsmemphis Posts: 1,987 Member
    i had gone off caffeine a while, really helped with my skin issues. now I'm back to drinking it, skin issues worse, but yeah just stick to not drinking it. IDK a real replacement for it. some mints/chocolates have caffeine though
  • Bonny272
    Bonny272 Posts: 154 Member
    I think there was a post similar to this the other day. There were all types of suggestions like cutting down slowly to taking half of an exedrine. I had to get off of coffee because it was too acidic so I started on green tea. It has a fourth of the caffein of coffee. I think I would still have a couple cups of green tea and wean yourself off a little slower. I've heard it's better to prepare yourself for a fast and not go all out right away. The flu like symptoms could be your body flushing out toxins in your system. That's kind of normal when you fast.
  • tebbs915
    tebbs915 Posts: 130 Member
    Caffeine withdrawal is the worst part of giving up caffeine. I went on a cleanse in March and had to give it up; it was the most challenging part of the cleanse for me. but trust me, once you're past the first week of constant headache, it gets better. just keep at it. and if you have to, use ibuprofen instead of the other OTC pain relievers. GOOD LUCK! You can do it!

    And, I can proudly say that I have not had a cup of coffee, pop, or tea in 6 months! I do NOT crave it anymore! :)
  • emily773
    emily773 Posts: 41
    Ugh, that's awful!
    Have you thought about weaning yourself off, and instead of quitting cold turkey, maybe switching from coffee to just tea and working down from there? Especially with tea there are so many health benefits that it would outweigh the small amount of caffeine.
    Honest Tea, a bottled tea, has many good flavors and very small amounts of caffeine- it tells you on the bottle how much caffeine and how many calories per bottle (such as, 1/4 of a cup of coffee, 60 calories).
    I definitely think it is good to not be dependent on any chemicals. But I think that if you wean yourself off, you will be less miserable!
    Also, what about a mega-shot of vitamins, like Emergen-C, to mix into your water? That would at least give you energy, even if there's no caffeine in it.
  • CAlivinMO
    CAlivinMO Posts: 9 Member
    Caffeine is hard to dodge! I have tried to get my husband off of it forever (mostly sodas and sugary drinks) and what has worked is Spark energy drinks. Only 45 calories, so it's great for our diet, and it's mostly B vitamins and amino acids with a tad of caffeine to help with absobtion...he will have one or two Sparks a day and on those days doesn't need the coffee. (I only need one for energy)

    You can use any drink that is low sugar and chock full of B vitamins really but if you can't find one in the store AdvoCare is a where we started getting ours....
    Let me know if you want alink to the site to check it out


    I even use it during cleanses because the low calorie and the content is so natural. Good luck!
  • ReginasHorror
    ReginasHorror Posts: 423 Member
    Anybody who looks through my diary would know I am horribly addicted to caffeine. What I usually do is try to substitute what I know has caffeine for something I know doesn’t. This may not help on you “Daniel Fast” but if you replace the tea and the coffee with decaffeinated stuff, you might be able to trick your body.
  • chubbychristianchick
    chubbychristianchick Posts: 217 Member
    And, I can proudly say that I have not had a cup of coffee, pop, or tea in 6 months! I do NOT crave it anymore! :)

    That is great! My ultimate goal after my fasting period is to remain on a clean diet and slowly add in meat, dairy, and slightly more processed carbs....

    I want to be off the fizz for good! Pop/soda is sooo bad for us for so many reasons diet or regular varieties.

    I do however want to add caffeine back (I love coffee and tea!) but I will try to add it only every other day to not end up with a dependency again!
  • Dawna47
    Dawna47 Posts: 6
    Yes, I quit drinking all caffeine about 7 years ago. I did not put it together at first, but went through the same withdrawals you are describing. It was aweful. I was sick for about 4 or 5 days. I got the chills, like a fever would give you, headache, dizzy, and absolutely yucky flu like symptoms. I did not go back to drinking caffeine. I did not want anything to have such a hold on me.
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