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Giving Up the Bean...Your tales of caffeine withdrawl, is it worth it?

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Tybee

Tybee

Brilliant_Rock
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Jul 26, 2004
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So, after two days coffee-free, I have a raging headache, and I''m constipated (I know, TMI!)
Anyone here give up coffee, honestly, at this point I can see all the cons, what are the pros?
 
why are you trying to give up coffee?
 
I actually just gave it up this week because I am (oh so vainly) whitening my teeth.
I''m really looking forward to my first latte post whitening!
But started to consider that if I''m SO addicted to it, it must be bad, right?
Perhaps that''s just my catholic guilt... If I love it, it must be a sin (lol)
 
Well, caffeine really isn''t that great for you, especially since it can cause withdrawals! Maybe you can find a substitute to replace the coffee... like another favorite drink... or just drink water because that''s really healthy. I don''t know, coffee makes me really sick, so I never even drink it. But I know about the Catholic guilt for sure, haha.

*M*
 

hehe i know about catholic guilt...hehee.


caffeine is not ''good'' for you but it doesn''t have to be HORRIBLE for you either. caffeine withdrawals are a little scary...maybe you could just cut back on caffeine once you start drinking it again. like cut it in 1/2 so you aren''t quite so dependent? i have a cup of coffee at home in the morning and that''s about it...though since i have started working at this new job, my boss is a coffeaholic so i end up having like a short s''bucks gbread or regular nonfat latte typically about 3 times a week as well. but i also don''t drink ANY other caffeine, the only other thing i really drink is water and milk. so if i don''t have coffee, i don''t feel horrible, but i do really like that one morning cup!
 
My SIL''s been trying to break her Pepsi habit for years...she gets terrible headaches, though, and is still having a rough time! I agree with Mara, maybe you can cut back gradually? Can you maybe brush your teeth right after your java? I keep those little on-the-go finger toothbrush things in my desk at work and use those after my morning coffee...I take it with sugar and it leaves my teeth feeling sticky. Just a thought. Good luck Tybee!
 
Drinking coffee/tea through a straw is suppose to help with not staining your teeth. Personally, for me it''s not the same drinking coffee thru a straw
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Maybe you can whine yourself on tea....grean tea is suppose to be good for you too.
 
gave up both colas and coffee. just do it if you''re going to. it isn''t easy or fun. but i found it worth it. to this day i salivate when someone opens a cola near me..... oh, i didn''t give both up at the same time! that would have killed me!

seriously, look into coffee manufacturing and deforestation. find out as much as you can about the process and perhaps that will add to your motivation. it did for me. i was only going to give up coffee for a month until i started learning about how coffee got to my cup.

movie zombie
 
Movie Zombie, I am so glad you brought that up because it reminds me... for those of you that DO drink coffee regularly with no intention to stop, I suggest buying shade grown beans because they do not add to deforestation. Companies have to clear out the forests in order to get enough sunlight to the bean plants so they will produce more. Shade grown beans are grown in the shade of the original trees in the rainforest because they do not require as much sun. I also read that some of these companies also put their proceeds towards replanting trees that have been cut down. Shade grown = good for the environment! (And if you aren''t sure where to get it, try your local organic food store, or a chain such as Whole foods) Ok, I''m off the soap box now!

*M*
 
wow.. i didn''t know the story behind my coffee beans, but i''m definitely going to look into it further!

anyway, i quit coffee for a little bit because i was trying out suzanne somers'' diet plan.
unfortunately, i pass a starbucks up everyday on my way in to work, and it was hard to just.. drive.. past.
the somersize plan allowed for decaf coffee (which still has a little bit of coffee in it)
that in the morning, along with a healthier eating regimen and some exercise helped with the withdrawal symptoms.

my mom actually switched to green tea. she had horrible headaches and stomach cramps when she tried to stop drinking coffee, but green tea has become her caffeine substitute.

i''m also a teeth-bleaching maniac (i work at a dental office, i''m SURROUNDED) but it doesn''t keep me from drinking my daily latte. (oh btw, i''m back to drinking coffee hee) after i got to my desired shade, and waited a couple weeks after that, i''m now able to drink coffee everyday and only touch up once or twice a year.
 
Coffee is a drug and caffeine withdrawal will definitely give you headaches, but if you can suffer through it will be okay. Why are you giving it up? I know it is not great for you, but I limit myself and find I cannot start my day without a cup...I am addicted, I know!
 
Instead of going cold turkey you could switch to herbal tea if you are having a hard time. It has less caffeine and has all sorts of other good stuff in there for you...and I don''t think it stains teeth as bad, but I''m not really sure on this.
 
no-doze is some good stuff. one tablet is two cups of coffee. you can have your white teeth and caffeine too.

a lot of mormons cheat with use of no doze.

edited to add: errm.... uhmmm.... but not me! (cough)
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The Reason?: Vanity, I''m bleaching my teeth. Was originally planning on going back to my dark master after the bleaching process... but after suffering the withdrawls, I started to reconsider... what was I doing to myself?

MovieZombie: Thanks for the info. When and if I go back, I''ll look into shade grown coffee, we pretty much buy organic now, so, but it is SUPER important to understand what we consume... from field to table, so to speak.

I actually ONLY drink one cup a day, now, it''s one BIG cup of latte that I make with a ton of esspresso beans on our stove top espresso maker that I love almost more than my husband... so maybe it''s not just one-- ordinary cup.

LadyKemma: Holy Cow! You made me laugh out loud AND set the light bulb off iin my head! I might need to find some nodoze today.
The head ache is narsty! I''m wavering this morning as I stare at my espresso maker across the room...
 
wow tybee it''s interesting that you only have one cup of coffee a day, yet you have this horrible headache etc. some days i have not been able to have my cup of coffee in the morning for a few hours aka when we are traveling or something and i am fine without it for the most part. is this like a quad shot or something? hehe.
 
Hehe, I only have one (relatively normal sized
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) cup of coffee every morning, but if I forget about it after only like 2 hours of being awake my head GOES CRAZY and I am about to die. My fiance seems to think this points to coffee being bad for you, but I argue that it''s the coffee that''s GOOD for STOPPING the headache! It''s like my favorite line from Newsradio when Dave was trying to quit coffee - "I''m not sure what coffee does to you, but I''m pretty sure that without it, your head implodes."
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Anyway, good luck Tybee, and get yourself some nodoze ASAP!!!
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omg albi...okay so if that happened to me, i would definitely probably cut back on caffeine as that''s just scary!

one other idea which someone else mentioned is to start drinking a bit of decaf as it still has caffeine in it, but much less.

you could mix a decaf with regular espresso into your machine and do a 1/2 1/2 then wean yourself down a bit more. those headaches would scare me from just one big cup!

(don''t know if i want my supplemental short gingerbread latte now!! maybe i will get a decaf...hehe.)
 
I totally understand what you are going through! I recently tried to give up diet sodas in the interest of being healthier and losing weight. I don''t drink much (about 4oz in the am and 4oz at lunch), but the withdrawal was horrible! Probably because I''ve been drinking it for years and years. I have cut back over the last year or two from two 12oz cans a day to about 4oz a day. Plus, buying a 2 liter is much cheaper than cans! I drink almost a 2 liter over the course of an entire week and usually dump the bottom of what''s left. Well, I don''t know how long the withdrawals last, but I only made it a few days of headaches and constipation before I gave up. Does anyone who''s given it up know how long the withdrawal symptoms will last? Even though I had headaches, the rest of my body felt better, cleaner actually. So, I may try again to give it up, but it''s definitely hard. Good luck!
 
I tried giving up on the coffee too, when I was whitening my teeth as well. I too, only drank on average a cup of it a day, I didn''t get the headaches every day, only once in awhile.

I tried to avoid any dark colas, tea and coffee altogther. So I feel your pain! In its absence, I began drinking Diet Mt. Dew since that''s loaded with caffeine - it cut back on the caffeine headaches for me....
 
three weeks of withdrawal symptoms. face it, we''re addicts. short and simple and true. i still want a '' fix '' every time i smell a cola....coffee isn''t so bad.

there are worse things in coffee for you than the caffine. i drink tea now and find that the caffine fix there does me well and doesn''t effect me in the same way.

also, check out the sodium content next time you drink a soda.........deliberately increased sodium on the part of manufacturers to get us to drink more. there''s more sodium in a soda than one should be getting.

there''s lots of reasons to give up coffee and lots of alternatives. one friend of mine who has never drank coffee buys caffine pills.

good luck. if its what you really want to do, you''ll do it. like anything, you''ve got to want to do it. if nothing else, i came away with the experience of how hard it is to quit a drug and not start up with it again.

i had quite colas years before and stayed off them for several years. then i gave myself permission to have 7up, and then it was all down hill. the second time i went cold turkey again and i''ve stayed with it. it has been more than 5 years now for colas and more than 9 for coffee. but like any druggie its a daily decision.

giving up smoking was easier.

movie zombie
 
i love coke....but honestly it grosses me out for the most part. i cut it out 99% about a year ago and would have it once a week at a restaurant...but even lately i am not doing that hardly at all anymore. it just has so much SUGAR....not even to mention the sodium and the caffeine and all that. the sugar is the nastiest and coke seems loaded with it more than other sodas. and i don''t like the fake sugars so much so i don''t even want to bother with diet or zero coke or anything.

if we go to a restaurant i will typically get water, or an iced tea with no sugar, or sometimes depending on where we are i will get something like a root beer because it has no caffeine and it typically has less sugar than a cola. there''s a place we go to that makes their own fresh root beer and it''s awesome.
 
This has been so much more of an educational experience than I ever thought it would be!
I didn''t get the headaches or constipation until being two days and a half clean.
The worst head ache was last night.
I''ve definetly gone a day without coffee before-- without much problem...

I''m with you on Coke Mara... I rarely drink the stuff. It''s kind of gross to me, full of sugar, blech.
The chemicals in diet colas are even grosser to me... and diet caffeine free coke? Yuck! what chemicals
we put into our bodies.

I drink a ton of water daily. I keep a full nalgene bottle on my desk and fill it several times a day.
I use lemon to make it taste less like the school water fountain.

I''m defintitely going to cut down from now on. This has been something else!

My teeth look pretty, though!
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My guilty indulgence is a cup of home brewed sbucks in the morning. I love it and nobody can stop me. 1/2 n 1/2 is my other guilty must have. I have more guilt with the high fat dairy than anything.... If I''m really bad, I add the hazelnut creamer.... I do limit it to 1 cup a day though.
 
the sugar content is high to mask the sodium......

if you think sugar and sodium are bad for your health, research a bit regarding artificial sweeteners.

i''ve been drinking tea as a substitute for years now and if i do want sweetener, i use honey. think i''ll brew another cup right now!


movie zombie
 
This is really interesting... http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/coffee_health_risk.htm

"Coffee Health Risks: For the moderate drinker, coffee is safe says Harvard Women’s Health Watch

(Boston, MA) Despite 20 years of reassuring research, many people still avoid caffeinated coffee because they worry about its health effects. However, current research reveals that in moderation—a few cups a day—coffee is a safe beverage that may even offer some health benefits. The September issue of Harvard Women''s Health Watch weighs the pros and cons of this popular beverage and eases the concerns of moderate coffee drinkers.

The latest research has not only confirmed that moderate coffee consumption doesn''t cause harm, it''s also uncovered possible benefits. Studies show that the risk for type 2 diabetes is lower among regular coffee drinkers than among those who don''t drink it. Also, coffee may reduce the risk of developing gallstones, discourage the development of colon cancer, improve cognitive function, reduce the risk of liver damage in people at high risk for liver disease, and reduce the risk of Parkinson''s disease. Coffee has also been shown to improve endurance performance in long-duration physical activities.


For those who drink coffee to stay alert, new research suggests that you''ll stay more alert, particularly if you are fighting sleep deprivation, if you spread your coffee consumption over the course of the day. For instance, if you usually drink 16 ounces in the morning, try consuming a 2-3 ounce serving every hour or so. Again, moderation is the key.


However, as the September issue notes, coffee is not completely innocent. Caffeine, coffee''s main ingredient is a mild addictive stimulant. And coffee does have modest cardiovascular effects such as increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, and occasional irregular heartbeat that should be considered. Studies have been largely inconclusive regarding coffee and its effect on women''s health issues such as breast health, cancer, and osteoporosis. But, the negative effects of coffee tend to emerge in excessive drinking so it is best to avoid heavy consumption. "


And this article as well: http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/80/96454.htm

Maybe we should all try to drink it instead of quit it!!
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I just did this, starting from October. Gave up all coffee, including decaf, all chocolate, all alcohol. OMG.
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I did not get the caffeine withdrawl headaches. The reason I did all this "giving up" is cause I have cystic breasts. I would not even know it, except that they hurt before my period. I had it ultrasounded and you could see the cysts. There is some thinking that caffeine can cause this to get worse. There is also an association between alcohol and breast cancer. So I quit it all.

Result: for two cycles my breast pain was MUCH less. I feel so much calmer and less anxiety. My skin is smoother, (extra benefit?). So I told my sister about this and she stopped all her caffeine. Poor girl. Nine days of raging headaches and very BAD mood. She was addicted to caffeine. Now she also noticed her skin looks much better. I have not heard about her breast pain - which she definitely used to have before her period. I hope it improved.

I am only taking decaf tea, herbal tea, white tea. I used to drink a ton of green tea, which does have caffiene. White tea has very, very little.

It hurt to give this stuff up, but so far the result is worth it and I''ll stay with it.
 
hmmm...
really? I''d be interested to see if the breast pain thing works for me, and my skin can use all the help it can get.
Interesting....
 
Hi,
I gave up coffee a few months ago. I was heavily addicted to my super-strong one cup per day, and I gave it up because I didn''t like being dependant on a substance like that. It was really hard initially to give up the caffeine -- I had severe headaches and just felt horrible for a few weeks. The constipation issues still haven''t really resolved -- that''s been a really significant side effect of giving it up. Also, I have been gaining weight. I am hoping this reverses soon, and I''ve been exercising and trying to diet. I have heard people say that caffeine actually makes it HARDER for you to control your weight, even though it seems like the reverse while you are a coffee drinker. But so far, I feel better overall. It''s just the weight gain that bothers me.
 
Yikes... weight gain? Make my espresso a triple!
lol! I had coffee this weeekend, couldn''t stand the headache any longer, but haven''t had it since (today''s only Wednesday.)
I''m pleased that I''ve broken the 1 cup a day habit, but I still feel addicted. After about the third day or so I get the head ache.
Still trying to decide if I think it''s worth it to give it up entirely. I hate hearing about the weight gain, though!
 
I didn''t gain weight, I lost weight. I gave up coffee, chocolate and wine at the same time. That included all those yummy lattes from Starbucks with 500 cals each!

I had to up my food intake to compensate since I don''t want to lose any weight.

My sister feels she does have more appetite since she gave up caffeine though. I am happy without the caffeine. Definitely less anxious too. Now that it has been about 2 months my digestion system is working better than before I gave it up. I am quite pleased and plan to carry on.
 
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