giving up coffee

Have you ever been addicted to coffee? Have you tried to give it up? What are your reasons? Any tips, any success stories?

I've been free of coffee (not caffeine) for a week and three days. Still alive!

I had to give caffeine up during my last pregnancy.  My heart rate would go up if I laid down.  I would lay down to rest while my older child was napping and I couldn't rest because my heart felt like it was running hard.  Not terribly hard where I ever felt like I needed to be seen as an emergency; but still I couldn't rest right.  I figured out it was the caffeine.  I eventually could handle a hot chocolate here or an iced tea there; but I didn't get to have coffee again until after DS was born.  While I was still in the hospital DH asked what flavor creamer I wanted.  I'm fully addicted again; but I do limit myself to my coffee and maybe a tea in the afternoon.  

I didn't really have any choice; so it wasn't a huge issue to give up.  I didn't have any kind of plan; I just went cold turkey.  I think it helped I was experiencing enough other pregnancy symptoms and discomforts that it distracted me.

yes, my body was definitely addicted to caffeine. about 5 or so years ago i decided to give up caffeine. my reason was simply the cost of good coffee beans, and the total expense per year. i quit "cold turkey", and i sure had several rough days. i had such a migraine for two full days and nights that i could hardly move, and the second day wasn't able to lean down to scoop the litter boxes. that's the only day i've ever not scooped the litter boxes. the third day was when the migraine started easing up, and i was able to resume daily litter box maintenance.

having that migraine when i gave up caffeine helped me immensely. i don't ever want to go through that again, so i have very good incentive to avoid having caffeine.

i not only quit drinking coffee. i quit consuming anything with caffeine in it. i don't eat chocolate for that reason.

these days i don't crave caffeine or miss it at all. rarely, i'll have a soft drink that has caffeine in it, but only when there's no other option. there are almost always other options.

I do a detox diet every spring. No tea, coffee, sugar or alcohol and I try to drink a lot of hot water with lemon, honey and ginger in it.

Coffee is the hardest thing to give up but I really notice that I feel a lot better without it. I try to stay coffee free for a couple of weeks after I finish the detox, then have maybe one cup a week as a treat.

My coffee consumption soon goes back up again though, I'm on a two-cups-a-day habit at the moment.

I read that when the US army were experimenting on different stimulants to give troops in war zones caffeine was found to be more effective and more addictive than amphetamines.

No wonder it's so hard to quit.

Oh no, why would you want to give up coffee?.  Did you know it has some pretty amazing health benefits? It's a bronchodiolator so it can help relieve asthma, not as good as meds but still. It is the biggest source of antioxidants for most of us in the Western world. Can help prevent type 2 Diabetes. There're all kinds of ways to justify drinking it.

That said, when I am not feeling well my body rejects coffee and I won't touch it at all. I also can't eat anything sugary or fried. When I'm sick my body makes me eat nuts, seeds, dried fruit, some meats (no processed), some vegetables, oatmeal. I don't even want herbal teas, just water and some juices but I'm very picky which ones.

Keep talking @SwampWitch  , that's what I need to hear. Just going to pour myself another cup. 

You will take my coffee mug out of my cold, dead hands. 

I tried to give up caffeine years ago and yes I am addicted.  Caffeine wasn't on the list of no no's for any of my pregnancies I think that is a fairly recent addition to the list.  I had gallstones in my early thirties.  I had surgery to have my gallbladder removed and they gave me a list of common triggers for attacks to avoid before the surgery.  Caffeine was on the list as well as some unexpected ones like nutmeg.  I tried going without caffeine and had a horrible headache by early afternoon.  I was at work and got a soda out of the vending machine.  By the times the soda was half gone the headache was going away.  I just cut way down and didn't try to give it up again.

I gave up caffeine for a number of years, for general health reasons. The hardest part was in the morning; I felt like I was in a fog.

Exercising every morning was helpful.

But I gradually started again, and am now re-addicted.

I think the key is to have a good reason for quitting, and to continually remind yourself of that reason.

Winchester said:

You will take my coffee mug out of my cold, dead hands. 

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Hahahaha THIS.

Quitting coffee is actually one of my long term goals, in all seriousness though. It exaggerates my existing anxiety I think. But as of now I work at a coffee shop. Where I get all the free coffee I want, pretty much. I've worked there for almost five years and it's safe to say I'm pretty hopelessly addicted.

I love it for now but eventually, after I move on from that job, I'd like to at least cut back to a more moderate amount. As of now I drink coffee constantly throughout the day. I can polish off an entire pot by myself in an hour or two and be ready to start the next.

I'm definitely a coffee addict. I drink coffee most of the day. I NEVER get headaches, I can't remember the last time I've had one. When anyone suggests I might want to cut back on my consumption I always say, "You know what? I gave up alcohol 15 years ago because it was bad for me, I gave up smoking 12 years ago because it was bad for me, I've given up enough in my life! What I went through with losing the smoking habit nearly took my sanity (some might argue the 'nearly' )

Oddly, I could probably give up caffeine without much trouble (after the initial physical withdrawal symptoms), but not coffee :lol3:. I like coffee! But not decaf; it tastes funny. I don't think caffeine does much for me. Or at least not the amount in regular coffee. If I have an energy drink it definitely peps me up, but that could be the other ingredients in the energy drink. But I am definitely physically addicted to caffeine because I'll get a headache if I wait too long to have a caffeinated drink.

Winchester said:

 
You will take my coffee mug out of my cold, dead hands. 

Click to expand...

Winchester said:

You will take my coffee mug out of my cold, dead hands. 

Click to expand...

Exactly. I gave up smoking in 1978. But I said, that is enough, I am keeping my coffee. :nod:

I think I am addicted to coffee, but have cut it down from 4 cups to 2 cups/day.  I switched to decaf for the evenings, and initially did not like the taste, but now it is okay. 

Then I tried green tea, which also has caffeine, and decaf green tea, and various other herbal teas....my favourite being lemon zinger. 

Congrats, on your week and three days, of coffee-free!!  (that sounds really hard.)   

I see no reason to give up coffee, never even thought about it.  I drink one to two cups every morning so I don't drink much at all. 

I've had to give up coffee and tea for a migraine trigger free diet. Decaf is out because it contains tannins. Mornings are horrible and the wake up process if full of fog takes hours. Mint tea just doesn't cut it. No caffeine withdrawal because I never drank a lot, but I dearly miss my morning cuppa.

I just did it to see if I could... and for all of the reasons you find when you google "giving up coffee".

For some curious reason, after a week and a half of withdrawal symptoms , I actually feel much more energized all day long. So that could be not drinking coffee, or drinking all the substitutes I've been trying out.

Denice said:

I tried to give up caffeine years ago and yes I am addicted.  Caffeine wasn't on the list of no no's for any of my pregnancies I think that is a fairly recent addition to the list.  I had gallstones in my early thirties.  I had surgery to have my gallbladder removed and they gave me a list of common triggers for attacks to avoid before the surgery.  Caffeine was on the list as well as some unexpected ones like nutmeg.  I tried going without caffeine and had a horrible headache by early afternoon.  I was at work and got a soda out of the vending machine.  By the times the soda was half gone the headache was going away.  I just cut way down and didn't try to give it up again.

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It isnt a complete no-no; I think they reccomend only 2 cups a day. It was me personally that couldn't handle it.

The only time I was able to give up coffee without the caffeine headaches was when I was pregnant... Go figure!!

I have cut down on how much I drink. I use to drink close to a full pot before 10am but I have cut back to just two cups each morning.

  T.