Caffeine addiction
 

Has anyone ever battled a caffeine addiction? I'm not even going to say how much I drink a day because it is A LOT and if I don't have even one glass before 9 AM, I have a migraine and end up throwing up. It's really getting out of control and I want to be healthier. I was just wondering if anyone has ever dealt with anything like this and how I can stop. I've tried quitting cold turkey and I was sick for 2 weeks.

I do!! I drink cherry vanilla dr peppers all day. If I quit cold turkey I get headaches so I have been gradually drinking juice instead of the sodas. Juicy juice harvest surprise mango flavored is one that I have found that I really like.

Like anything else,you have to step down gradually. If you can drink it in the a.m.,to wake up,and then substitute decaf or I know my aunt drank coffee all day and night. She did it by drinking every other cup decaf. Try it like that. You should call your doctor, because withdrawl can be awfull. I went into the hospital unexpectedly a few years back (was in for 4 months) and I had really bad headaches in the begining from caffeine withdrawl. Hydration is the most important. Cafiene depletes your hydration,that what causes the headaches, Like alchohol ...the "hang over" is that the alchohol dehydrates you. Good Luck. I cut mine down by using more decafe and drinking alot of different herbal teas. Good Luck!

Some people seem to think coffee is healthy and has benefits, caffeine has been shown to do many good things, however if it is leaving you jittery, anxious, or unable to sleep, cutting down would be wise. Some people use a medicine with caffeine in it such as Excedrin when trying to stop their coffee/cola habit. You just gradually increase the amount of time between pills, and of course no coffee or cola, while you are doing this. It's fairly easy to break this addiction compared to most, but I'm not sure why you want to. Diaries have been shown to be an effective way to modify behavior. At first you write down every time you have a caffeine product, don't change your behavior in any way, just make a note of the time and amount. After you do this for a few days, you will have a good idea of when you drink, and how much of it you drink. Then you try to cut down the amount. You can do this by increasing the amount of time between drinks, or stopping the caffeine earlier in the day. The dairy is really informative and it will keep you aware of what you are doing. Go slowly, there is no great hurry, gradual reduction is easiest on the body, and you can revaluate your progress weekly. This is one addiction where there is no benefit in going cold turkey.

Well, I have the same addiction, but I wouldn't say I battle it...more like I embrace it with open arms. (Really bad attitude, I know.) Like you, I will get bad headaches and become physically ill throwing up if I don't have any by about 10am. But honestly, I've done nothing to try to correct the problem, which I'm sure I should.:rolleyes:
(Funny, I was just discussing this with someone yesterday.)

I think my key is to limit my access. I HAVE to have some in the morning, there is no doubt about it, but with the amount I drink a day is crazy and completely unhealthy and has led me to have heart palpitations and other problems. Caffeine is supposed to make some people more anxious... it actually calms my nerves. Excedrin is what I take for any headache because it's the only thing that helps, but even that doesn't help if I have no caffeine to drink. I think I'll try bringing a little bit with me while I'm at work, but also bring a bottle of juice or something else with flavor to help and I will bring no money with me to work so I don't have even the chance to buy any more while I'm there. I think maybe I'll try that. Wish me luck... I'm going to need it.

See that's my problem... I've been embracing it but now I've reached a point where it might be affecting other people too and I can't go on like this.

LOL...well I guess my family either isn't affected by it, or they know that they value their life too much to try to convince me to stop drinking it. Gotta have my Diet Pepsi!

That's my choice of drink too! lol

My name is Whitney and I am an addict... ;)

You just have to phase yourself out of it. I get really bad headaches too if I quit cold turkey. Just ease yourself off of it and drink lots of water. I eventually switched to half decaf.....

You can do it. :)

p.s. I've been having some anxiety issues for the past year... hmmm I'm sure the caffeine doesn't help. Maybe I should try and quit with ya...

naaaa.... but I am cutting back and it's helped.

Here's another thought. Sometimes when I have too much caffeine I feel sick, when means not enough water for me. Trying drinking one glass of water for each cup of coffee or whatever you have. Alternate them. Have your coffee but then drink some water before you have more.


:scratchhe

I used to have the dreaded addiction. I found it easiest to taper off the caffeine. Start by doing 3/4 regular coffee, 1/4 decaf. Every 3-4 weeks reduce the regular 1/4 and increase the decaf 1/4. Eventually you will be drinking all decaf (which still has a bit of caffeine in it). I also found it more pleasant to use a good quality coffee, like Starbucks or Seattle's Best for the decaf as the store bought decaf, IMO, tastes terrible. Also, start immediately with decaf soda, decaf tea, decaf all other beverages. Good luck!

I've been a caffeine junkie for as long as I can remember. Sweet tea is like my water (it's a Southern thing :D) and I drink about 5 cups of coffee a day. I'm never jittery and can have a cup of coffee and go straight to sleep. I do stay away from sodas though. They're LOADED with sugar and the carbonated water plays heck with my system. Sounds like you're getting your caffeine from sodas. Maybe try coffee and/or sweet tea instead. Even sweetened, they have much less sugar than sodas do. IMO, sugar provokes more addictive responses than caffeine so maybe what you have is a sugar addiction. Also, your kidneys will thank you if you get away from carbonated drinks.

I drink only sodas, but none with sugar. I drink Diet Pepsi. My mom is a diabetic, so I just got used to the non sugary kind and I actually get sick with the regular stuff. I don't like coffee or tea but I like cappuccino. Is there such thing as instant cappuccino?

Oh, then it's sweetened with aspartame (nutra sweet). There's lots of problems with that sweetener. Here's a link with some studies on its effects.....Aspartame (Nutrasweet) Toxicity Information Center

Caffeine addictions suck!! I used to get migraines soo bad if I didn't have my dose of starbucks twice a day. The way I got off of it was by slowly drinking less and less. I was getting drinks with added shots, so I got to where I wasn't getting the added shots and just weaned myself off until I got down to only getting a drink a couple times a week.

I never drank coffee or tea but started a couple of years ago drinking diet cola. Typically one can a day at lunch time. I have an anxiety disorder so I was told that even one can could affect me - so I quit. That was 6 months ago and I still occasionally crave it. When I find I want some I drink a glass of water and I usually forget about it quickly.

I like the feeling of not 'needing' something to help get me through the day.

I actually have panic disorder myself and I think my body is so used to it, that in a panic attack, I have to have a glass of Diet Pepsi and I will calm down enough, then I take a Xanax. It's really weird. It also wakes me up AND puts me to sleep.

i remember one year i was drinking diet coke and i think the nutrasweet was what was causing alot of my headaches. so i quit drinking diet soda.
i have the same problem as you. i have to take Exedrin Migraine headache med. to help my headaches. i did cut back on caffeine. i get it in 2 cups of coffee in the morning. my tea is caffeine free and the only other thing i drink is water or juice.

but that is interesting what someone said earlier........dehydration can cause headaches. since it's been colder weather i don't drink nearly enough in the day and i've been getting alot of headaches. hmmmm

Hypnotherapy is really useful for addictions - I am a hypnotherapist / psychotherapist, and have successfully treated lots of addictions, including caffeine. Just make sure you find a good therapist - sorry I can't recommend one, as I'm in the UK. Good luck!

Interesting. I have OCD - which I often feel is similar to an addiction. Does hypnotherapy help with OCD?

I break up Excedrin into little pieces of take them when I have a caffeine with drawl situation.

I haven't read any replies, so sorry if this is repeat information. I just recently began weaning off of coffee and all caffeine. I found a lot of informataion about the dangers of it (regardless of how many doctors say its safe, I really don't care) and made a choice to give it up. Caffeine produces a "fight or flight" response in your body as often as you take it, so in a sense your body is in emergency mode all the time, horrible for your heart. More infor here... Caffeine Effects: Kicking the Caffeine Habit

I had a terrible reaction to caffeine when I was younger...When I was a student attending University..I was taking day classes & night classes and raising a baby on my own...so I was quite busy...I only drank coffee & coke...nothing else and I drank it around the clock! I ended up having swollen and tender lymph nodes under my arms, in my groin etc. I was terrified to go to the doctor...thought it might be cancer...finally after they became to painful to bare...I went to the doctor...well guess what...I had caffeine poisioning!!! Unbelievable!!!
So I had to gradually wean myself off of ALL caffeine....now...years later...I still only drink de-caf coffe and I will have the occasional pepsi....
Good luck with ommiting the caffeine...it's hard...but doable!

I thought I had a caffeine addiction. I can drink 6 - 8 cups of coffee a day. I do get a headache midafternoon if I don't have one, unless Im busy and not thinking about it. I also have been able to go away for a weekend and not have any caffeine and be fine. If I don't have a first cup in the morning I can go all day without any without headaches. So I guess I do not have an addiction. I do not drink soda on a regular basis, only once in awhile. I do see that when I drink soda (even diet) the caffeine affects me differently than coffee does. Soda makes me wired and gives me heartburn. I cannot drink a caffeinated soda and then go to sleep but I can drink a cup of coffee and go to sleep. I don't worry about caffeine intake too much, its the least of my addiction problems (I smoke). As someone said I welcome it with open arms! LOL

Actually the idea that caffeine is bad for you is not really true. Anything we do to excess is bad, but studies have shown, that

I quit this way and it worked great. No headaches. But I just started out 50/50. I'm back to drinking coffee now but I think I need to cut back again or quit.

I have read that, and I have read other studies as well, such as what I posted. I don't believe that coffee is healthy, esp decaf. :) The FDA used to deem a lot of things as healthy, or at least harmless that we know now are unhealthy. I also know that the coffee industry has a lot of money and influence.;)

What I posted is basted on scientific studies, from such places as Harvard. There have been lots of studies suggesting caffeine is not only not bad, it's good for you. What you posted is someone's paper; this is not research. It bothers me that so many of you seem to think someone's' opinion is the same as valid research. After saying that caffeine is bad for you she suggests that you use herbal coffee, which she sells. The author of the paper is Caroline MacDougall, the founder of Teeccino.

She says that the bad things she leaned about caffeine were taken from the book Caffeine Blues by Stephen Cherniske, M.S. published by Warner Books. If you read about Stephen Cherniske, he's the president of and Chief Science Officer of Oasis LifeSciences. He has an MS from Columbia Pacific University that is no longer an acredited university, and his companyMaxCell Bioscience was fined $150,000 and ordered by the FTC to stop making false claims about its products. Quixtar Blog: Examining Stephen Cherniske While the Internet has so much good information, it has so much bad information too, you have to make sure the sources you are reading are just not trying to sell you something.

<-------------Loves her Coke and Starbucks.