OT coffee withdrawal

I've mostly given up coffee. I don't really like it but most people
seem to make tea by wafting the bag somewhere near the cup, so coffee
is easier. I got terrible headaches at weekends or on holiday when I
wouldn't drink the stuff, and when I quit drinking it at work it did
take a couple of weeks to stop the headaches. Luckily I was off work,
which removed the temptation to give in as I didn't have any in the
house.

Now, if I drink anything other than really weak, milky coffee, I get a
migraine, and if I have a bad headache, I can't take painkillers with
caffeine in.

I don't drink that much tea either. My folks drink it like water, and
I drink a lot when I'm there - I have noticed I feel a little fuzzy
when I get home if I've been there for more than a couple of days.

 

In that case, I recommend "Kool'n'Soothe" gel pads as an aid. They're
absolutely brilliant if you've got a bad headache/migraine and need to
try and sleep til the painkillers kick in. I've tried Boots own
version but it doesn't work as effective as the "original", nor do the
roll on sticks like 4head.

They're also excellent if you've overheated in the sun a bit.

 

Weight for weight, tea leaves and coffee beans contain a similar
amount of caffeine. However, due to the differences in the way the
drink is made, the average cup of tea contains between 10 and 30
percent of the level of caffeine found an average cup of coffee,
whether instant or proper.

 

Easy, kimosabe.

 

Caffeine withdrawal. Fairly common.

Headaches, nausea, dizziness, mood swings.

Phil

 

Err.. no. Not unless you brew it deliberately to have high levels of
caffeine.

Tea has lots of theobromine - which is a related compound (with
different effects - one of which is that it's toxic to dogs and is also
in chocolate) in it.

Phil.

 

Listen to the Bear. It also screws up your bowel transit times and can
lead to an impacted bowel if you take too much at one time and your
body isn't used to it.

It's a member of the opium family and in most people a portion of it
gets converted to morphine in your body. The long-term side effects (as
Bear said) are not pleasant and I (like him) have been on large doses
of it long-term - but under medical supervision (like him).

It's fine for short-term use and the over-the counter stuff works - but
*do* read the warning leaflet and if you start taking it on a regular
basis go and see the doctor. You really, really don't want to get
dependant on it.

For one thing you will need to take larger doses to get the same effect
and you can't get codeine by itself without prescription - and it only
ever comes with either paracetamol or ibuprofen. Neither of which you
want to take overdoses of (for different reasons).

Phil.

 

Earl Grey is fine with lemon & sugar. Try something other than Typhoo
floorsweepings.

Nope. Lower caffeine but adds theobromine and various other interesting
alkaloids.

Phil

 

Sound fella. Coffee is the drink of barbarians.

<AOL>

And too much coffee (more than one Espresso in about 2 days for
example) guarentees me a migraine.

Phil.

 

Day 2 - headache hasn't arrived yet, though I'm drinking loads of weak
ribena, nausea is awful, shaking slightly and moving carefully due to
the dizziness.

The mood swings thing is my normal state.

If it wasn't for the fact that my quality of sleep last night was
significantly better than usual I'd be hitting the coffee again.

If I can do this then quitting the fags will be a doddle.

 

Ta Snowy, next time I go to Boots I'll pick some up.

 

Try drinking strong ribena. Think about how much sugar you usually have
in coffee.

 

Too much, which is another reason for stopping.

 

I use them too.. they don't displace my migraine tablets but they do
sometimes stop a headache getting worse and needing a migraine tablet..

Phil.

 

Cheers! I have been wondering about getting some breakfast but cannot
be arsed to even do some toast. Your post reminded me that I have a
pair of donuts in the fridge left over from last night.

 

Mmmm doughnuts. They're not usually vey nice the next day. Still too
nauseous to eat.

 

I've tried out that south african Rooibos stuff on occasion - it's
caffeine free and coloured red. You can drink it without milk. Tastes
pretty filthy though.

I once switched onto it exclusively for a few days - it's a good placebo
but the caffeine withdrawal headaches and lassitude were quite
something.

I need to cut down.

N

 

It's got sweeteners in to replace the sugar. They trigger migraines
for me.

 

Aspartme definitely and one of the others, can't remember which one so
I avoid all of them.

 

So what IS wrong with caffeine?
If giving it up induces such torture, why give up?

Not an entirely frivolous question, I spotted some medical
nouse posting here, thought we might get the inside story.