Caffeine withdrawal

[Chumly]

I stopped consuming coffee September 2nd. I have been battling headaches and fatigue ever since. The headaches are mostly gone, but I still feel tired often. Has anyone else gone through this? How long did it take for the symptoms to subside? did you feel better after getting away from coffee and caffeine?

Michael

[bluegenes]

Hi - many many ears ago (early 90's) I stopped using coffee because of scarily rapid heartbeat which went on for several minutes. I had just had a couple of delicious cups of coffee. The rapid heartbeat had happened before, but I thought I might be dying!! I decided to stop coffee cold turkey.. I felt terrible for about 2 weeks, sometimes had to pull over to doze off in the morning on my 1.5 hour drive to work... Then, after 8 weeks!!!! I suddenly felt totally different and fabulous. 8 weeks!! That's amazing. I have very occasionally had a cup since, well half a cup, because it is like a mood stimulant to me. Unfortunately, I can't sleep well the second night after the cup, and wake up with horrible headache (presumably due to withdrawing from the one cup). I must be super-sensitive to coffee.

[Lyndzie]

To be totally honest, it took 6 months before the fatigue went away for me. It’s that who neuro-adaptation thing. After drinking coffee daily for decades, it took a while to find out what normal was like.

Are you eating enough? Sometimes I feel like I’m dragging if I haven’t had enough food.

[AnnetteW]

I stopped right after July 4th when I got sick (over indulging on food and couldn't stand coffee in the morning...my bad.) But I still have been without. I think I had one bad week, then a couple weeks where I questioned why I was doing it. Coffee still smells great when my husband makes it, but I'm doing fine with my green tea. So basically a couple of weeks.

[michaelswarm]

I stopped consuming coffee September 2nd. I have been battling headaches and fatigue ever since. The headaches are mostly gone, but I still feel tired often. Has anyone else gone through this? How long did it take for the symptoms to subside? did you feel better after getting away from coffee and caffeine?

Michael

Congratulations!

I have quit twice. Most recently last year. I still occasionally feel tired, but I suspect that is because I am tired. Without artificial stimulant, I can really feel when I get a good night sleep, and when I don’t. I have much more patience with a good night sleep. I try to go to sleep at sundown with the kids, and get a full night’s sleep, waking with morning, or just before morning.

Ginger tea is my morning coffee replacement. I still enjoy a cup of warm beverage with my wife in the morning.

You may have been able to burn the candle at both ends while running on stimulant. With the stimulant removed your natural tiredness may be showing up.

My temper could be short before my first cup of coffee or even between cups. My wife says I am a much nicer person without coffee.

[figlover]

I think the rule is, the withdrawal is equal to the magnitude of dependence. That said, the best course is to sleep it off and prepare for a less exciting existence. Just kidding....not really:)

[Chumly]

I think I've finally gotten through the worst of it. I woke up this morning before my alarm clock at 5:30 feeling more rested than I have in years! I think the caffeine was really interfering with my sleep. I almost always woke up feeling like I hadn't slept well almost every day before this. Hopefully today's trend will continue and become the normal routine instead of tiredness and fatigue.

Michael

[AnnetteW]

I'd like to mention one positive improvement since dropping coffee (I still drink green tea that has caffeine, so I don't know if it's coffee related or caffeine related). As a female in her 50's, I was having slight urinary incontinence issues. The doctor said to do "exercises", to not drink coffee, to take this pill. Well, I really didn't do those things and just dealt with it. Once I went off coffee I realized the issue cleared itself up. So yes, at least for me, coffee was the culprit, it irritates the bladder.

Now I don't know if men have that same issue or not, so can't talk about that.

I've always been aware of people who just don't drink coffee, which to me was always a bit odd, but people really don't care. I think they notice more (and think you are odd) when you don't drink alcohol. But since I'm not drinking coffee, I have become more aware of the whole coffee culture everywhere, the way people say "they need their coffee" (heck, I did too), etc.

Coffee culture, wine culture, animal products culture, heck...fat culture. It's nice to become part of the healthy veggie culture.

[Chumly]

It looks like 8 weeks is the magic number. I feel so much better and rested than when I was regularly drinking coffee! I've really noticed the past week. Coffee may have given me a brief jolt of energy, but it seemed like it was taxing my system or something. I just never had much energy. After I finished work Tuesday, I didn't want to go home. Instead I went to the gym and joined a spin class! I've never had enough energy at the end of the day to do anything more than a short walk.

Michael