The headaches begin today...
Jun. 23rd, 2003 11:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miriam_eI've decided to give up caffeine.
The headaches will start today and probably extend into tomorrow. I can expect to feel like I have a bad 'flu, with sore skin and the rest of it. I'm gonna stay mostly in bed and try to sleep thru the worst of it.
Caffeine is a much worse drug than is generally considered.
I can look forward to being a lot more alert in the future, especially in the morning, and copping far fewer headaches. I've noticed when I've been caffeine-free for long stretches before that I can go for ages without any headaches at all. When I drink caffeine headaches become a common fact of life.
What usually gets me back onto coffee is if I have to stay up all night in a rush job for something. Then, of course, I need it for the presentation the next day. In such cases I'm usually in some daily kind of job and need it to remain on top of things for the rest of the week. By the time the weekend comes I don't feel like losing it to headaches and sleep, so I continue with the caffeine. Hooked again. You'd think I'd learn, huh.
So I am gonna try to stay away from it this time.
The headaches will start today and probably extend into tomorrow. I can expect to feel like I have a bad 'flu, with sore skin and the rest of it. I'm gonna stay mostly in bed and try to sleep thru the worst of it.
Caffeine is a much worse drug than is generally considered.
I can look forward to being a lot more alert in the future, especially in the morning, and copping far fewer headaches. I've noticed when I've been caffeine-free for long stretches before that I can go for ages without any headaches at all. When I drink caffeine headaches become a common fact of life.
What usually gets me back onto coffee is if I have to stay up all night in a rush job for something. Then, of course, I need it for the presentation the next day. In such cases I'm usually in some daily kind of job and need it to remain on top of things for the rest of the week. By the time the weekend comes I don't feel like losing it to headaches and sleep, so I continue with the caffeine. Hooked again. You'd think I'd learn, huh.
So I am gonna try to stay away from it this time.
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no subject
Date: 2003-06-22 06:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-06-22 07:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-06-22 08:09 pm (UTC)I've cut back - not yet able to cut it out. I've cut out about 1/2 to 2/3 of my caffeine intake in the past week.
I'm starting to develope a taste for caffeine free coffee. And I enjoy caffeine free pepsi. So that helps me.
Jean.
no subject
Date: 2003-06-22 11:35 pm (UTC)Drinking the stuff is stupid anyway -- it ends up making me more tired than I would normally be. The bloody stuff makes it so that if I want to be alert I have to abide by its rules. Sounds like a protection racket.
no subject
Date: 2003-06-22 11:39 pm (UTC)I hope I'll be able to say the same in another 6 years.
no subject
Date: 2003-06-22 11:53 pm (UTC)It will probably be pretty easy for me. I dislike the taste of coffee and I'm not too crazy about tea, and cola drinks always tasted too sweet. The only reason I drank any of those was for the caffeine. I actually prefer water or milk (preferably hot milk).
I never understood why people like any of those. I know the feeling of relief when I have a cup for a while (like first drink of the morning), but that is not my body's reaction to the taste; it is the drug. I know it because if I've already had enough caffeine those things go back to being not nice.
And the stuff is so goddamn expensive!
And I get lots of headaches because of it.
And I hate some stupid chemical restricting me.
OK, as far as I know, nobody's actually come out and demonstrated direct harm from caffeine, but the indirect hassle is enough.
(Excuse if this is a bit scattered... headache in full swing. Heheh can give up the addictive drug, but not the computer... think I'll go sleep.)
no subject
Date: 2003-06-23 12:28 am (UTC)Caffeine
Date: 2003-06-23 11:09 pm (UTC)I have an interesting relationship with caffiene. I can drink cola and/or energy drinks to put me to sleep at night.
Until the other day I didn't like coffee - see my post on Vanilla flavoured coffee. but that one cup of coffee gave me far more of a caffiene hit than I notice off cola or energy drinks. And a resulting headache, so i'm saving that one for special occasions...
I don't know that i could cut the cola and energy drinks out of my diet, but I only drink herbal tea so that's easy enough.
Its a hard thing to do though. Hope it goes well for you.
Re: Caffeine
Date: 2003-06-26 07:15 am (UTC)I'm past the headache stage now, and my memory seems back on track... more or less... now, what was I talking about? heheheh
Re: Caffeine
Date: 2003-06-27 08:41 am (UTC)Am glad you ar epast the headaches though.
no subject
Date: 2003-06-28 05:49 pm (UTC)I'm pretty sure I have done.
I may appear addicted to computers, but they are really just one of many cool toys in my life. Computers are simply the most useful. I have gone without computers when visiting my family in Queensland. That is a little more difficult since I got a computer for my sister's wonderful kids, and Mum & Dad now have a computer too, but I'm sure I could still do it with no longing for the machines.
I see them as just tools.
I guess I saw caffeine in a similar light. I've never like coffee or tea (I was aware of how the drug made my body feel that it was goood, but I felt it was a fairly revolting thing actually. Same with smack when, many years ago, I used to use it regularly; I never really liked the stuff. I took it for ulterior motives (to socialise, to be in the same frame of mind as my girlfriend, etc) but it was never one of the drugs that I liked and I was able to stop it whenever I felt like doing so.
no subject
Date: 2003-06-28 05:57 pm (UTC)The caffeine itself didn't seem to fog me. It was when I stopped using caffeine that I had trouble with my memory. I have never noticed that before, but then on previous occasions I would simply dose myself up with painkillers and sleep my way thru the caffeine withdrawal. By the time I got past that bad stuff I guess my memory would be back to normal. This was the first time I've tried it without painkillers. And it will be the last, I can tell you!
:)