I was drinking 4-5 strong coffees a day. So I decided to do something about it and I went cold turkey.
I had my last coffee at 7am on Tuesday. By 1pm I was feeling nauseous. By 4pm I had a headache, but then trained and felt better.
Next morning I had no headache although felt irritated and tired. Had a few strange nightmares that had interrupted my sleep. By that afternoon at 3pm the symptoms of headaches and nauseous returned but twice as bad. My head felt like someone was tearing it apart from the inside. Could not do anything but lay in a dark room and try to sleep.
Today is Thursday and I feel fine. I believe I am over my addiction.
My name is bird, and this is my story. Please feel free to share your story.
When I use to drink multiple cups per day and then I didn’t drink the same amount the next day or none at all, I would get a raging headache and be entirely miserable that day but I would be fine the next day.
I’ve done this a few times and I’ve come to the realization that after you go ‘cold turkey’ once and then the headaches come and go away… your body ‘resets’ the caffeine level.
Right now I’m only drinking one cup per day and one cup only. As long as I drink 1 cup per day I feel fine and the occasional 2 cups every once in awhile won’t do anything. Although once I start ramping it up to 3 cups per day then I need between 2-3 cups everyday or the headches come!.. Its a vicious cycle lol.
On a side note, caffeine loses its effect when used continuously for long term. For instance when I stay on 1 cup per day for a whole month or two or 3… it doesn’t seem to keep me awake any more. Which is why somewhere along the way people drink an extra cup. That process repeats until you get up to multiple cups per day to get the same effect… Sounds like a coke addict right?
Thus, it is necessary to go ‘cold turkey’ for a few days every so often to reset it and regain its potency. This is otherwise known as a ‘drug holiday’. Idea was for prescription drugs but I think it works very well with caffeine.
I have 2 cups a day. Every day. I drink it with cream and 1.5tsp of sugar. I don’t trust men who don’t drink coffee. I am a coffee snob. I brew my own by the cup - usually from coffee beans freshly ground. I’m not as selective about the brand of beans I buy, instead focusing on how it’s ground and brewed.
I only buy it certain places when I go out, and when I travel I often research ahead where the best coffee spots are. I see coffee this way - unless you take pleasure in drinking every cup - i mean really savoring the flavors and heat - then there’s no point in drinking it for caffeine. there’s a pill for that.
[quote]theBeth wrote:
I have 2 cups a day. Every day. I drink it with cream and 1.5tsp of sugar. I don’t trust men who don’t drink coffee. I am a coffee snob. I brew my own by the cup - usually from coffee beans freshly ground. I’m not as selective about the brand of beans I buy, instead focusing on how it’s ground and brewed.
I only buy it certain places when I go out, and when I travel I often research ahead where the best coffee spots are. I see coffee this way - unless you take pleasure in drinking every cup - i mean really savoring the flavors and heat - then there’s no point in drinking it for caffeine. there’s a pill for that. [/quote]
I only get the chance to drink good coffee on the weekend, I mostly just drink crappy coffee on the weekdays so I can survive pain free to get my fix over the weekend lol…
I really need to get a move on getting my own equipment but nonetheless, I’ve recently discovered a new ice coffee brewing technique that I’ve been enamored with. Its a take on the pour over except with ice. Absolutely obliterates cold brew.
[quote]theBeth wrote:
I have 2 cups a day. Every day. I drink it with cream and 1.5tsp of sugar. I don’t trust men who don’t drink coffee. I am a coffee snob. I brew my own by the cup - usually from coffee beans freshly ground. I’m not as selective about the brand of beans I buy, instead focusing on how it’s ground and brewed.
I only buy it certain places when I go out, and when I travel I often research ahead where the best coffee spots are. I see coffee this way - unless you take pleasure in drinking every cup - i mean really savoring the flavors and heat - then there’s no point in drinking it for caffeine. there’s a pill for that. [/quote]
I only get the chance to drink good coffee on the weekend, I mostly just drink crappy coffee on the weekdays so I can survive pain free to get my fix over the weekend lol…
I really need to get a move on getting my own equipment but nonetheless, I’ve recently discovered a new ice coffee brewing technique that I’ve been enamored with. Its a take on the pour over except with ice. Absolutely obliterates cold brew.[/quote]
I like my coffee strong and normally don’t drink it iced even in the hottest weather but when I do make it iced I simply freeze coffee in ice trays. all the cold and none of the watering down effect.
Hey Bird jus’ curious, how big were your coffees? I do 3, 20-30oz strong coffees a day. If I am getting them out, and not making them at home, I have them add 2 shots of espresso cos’ most coffee houses don’t brew to my preferred strength.
Home barista here, so I can’t do much for my caffeine addiction, but I’ve learned to keep it under control so as to reap the benefits of the drug while minimizing the potential downsides. I find that my “need for caffeine” tends to fluctuate seasonally, so I keep a watch on myself in wintertime. One thing that’s interesting is that I can’t process coffee as well as I could ten years ago. Too much in the morning and I’ll feel a big crash in the afternoon.
[quote]AliveAgain36 wrote:
Why do people want to quit drinking coffee / caffeine? There are whole sites dedicated to how evil it is and how to give it up.
Never.[/quote]
Exactly how I feel I drink my coffee black but I mainly drink red bull
I’ve been weaning myself off of them and feeling pretty horrible this week. Also been training very hard 5 days a week for seven weeks straight not one day missed. To top it all off, been getting back on track with my diet this week so the calorie dip doesn’t help either…
Slept GREAT last night and woke up feeling refreshed yet also fatigued. Hard to explain. After chowing down some real food I decided to go low carb/high protein today and feed my inner chocolate beast. That means bowls of protein powder/100% cocoa sludge bound thickened by a very small amount of ground oats.
Felt great after each bowl! I thought it was the carbs (about 15g per bowl) but then started to get suspicious of the chocolate.
Apparently the chocolate I’ve eaten today has had somewhere between 120-150mg of caffeine in it.
I just bought a half kilo of ginseng tea, I am quite liking it. Tasty and effective. Just drank a half green half ginseng in fact.
Anyway, yeah…not sure why people would ever want to quit coffee, other than that “drug holiday” idea. I brew my own strong ass coffee and have been enjoying it with local Thai coconut milk. Tastes awesome, jacks you up, makes you crap in 5 minutes and then you’re on your way to the gym for a killer session.
I usually have around four espressos a day and whatever my pre-workout drink contains additionally on training days. Never had a problem with adverse effects, even when I drink coffee before going to bed or don’t have any caffeine for a day or two on the other hand, so I don’t see a reason to change anything.
Regarding the recent talk about heavy coffee drinkers being more likely to die an early death, I’d say it’s probably not the coffee killing those people. I recall reading that according to the study in question, the people who drank the most coffee were more likely to smoke cigarettes, had lower fitness levels etc.
