Caffeine Addiction

[littlemissy88]

I know that caffeine can be healthy as long as it's not overdone. I have drank 1-2 cups of coffee every day for the past couple months. I thought this was fine, but recently I've discovered that if I don't have my coffee, my body feels awful and I can't think at all, even a little depressed. When I do drink it, I feel great and happy. Before I drank coffee my body always felt the same, it was fine. I've tried to stop drinking it for a few weeks at a time but I just feel horrible until I have it. Is all this normal?

Also, if I don't have coffee, but instead a caffeinated soda, my body just feels sick. It has to be coffee in order to make me feel good. This is strange to me!

[Redneon82]

It isn't healthy to be dependent on a substance to make you feel "great and happy". But I can see you already know this!

I've found that if I have too much caffeine, I road rage like crazy, get snippy with people and can't sleep well. So I had to cut down.

Try cutting down little by little. Have your first cup, then have only another half cup for a few days. Then get down to one cup, which really isn't that bad. And if you still wish to cut back, then just make the coffee less strong, or maybe cut it with cream and sugar.

I switched to hot tea. I have 2 cups a day, heavily watered down with milk and sugar, and I don't road rage or get cranky anymore.

[Titchou]

Yes, it can be a tough addiction. I suggest the cutting back a little at a time method as well. I was heavily addicted to caffeine years ago and that was the only way I got off it. I now drink decaf hot tea.

[denon]

Coffee is a stimulant and will increase your mood. This is normal. If you want to quit, just taper down by drinking a little less each day, but 1-2 cups a day doesn't seem to be that much (in my opinion) to worry about. My father-in-law drinks 2-3 pots of coffee a day and is one of the calmest people you will ever meet. It all depends on the person and their body. If you feel that you are addicted to coffee and don't like what it is doing to your body, simply taper back to zero.

[Lizardwoman85]

Hello there, I was terribly addicted to caffeine for a while although my choice was sodas. I was drinking up to one to two two-liter bottles per day to keep myself going. It did a number on my body including chronic diarrhea that led to having to have surgery to repair damage done to my digestive system down there as well as led to early diabetes, migraines, and I was just generally not healthy.

Obviously coffee is a bit different, but I can say after drinking caffeine for over a decade, it was a long process coming off of it. It took over six months for me to finally cut it completely out of my system and now I can happily say I haven't touched it for over a year and are much healthier for it.

I agree to cut back little by little and you will find it is much easier to get away from it. And also if you are looking for some energy, I heard that an apple is a good source of energy for breakfast :3.

Good luck and best wishes,
Liz