Caffine addiction!

**terryh** · October-04-09, 01:28 PM

Read an article a while back in which a group of medical doctors wanted to put caffiene and nictotine in the same addictive category as cocaine and heroin. Two cups Im o.k., get a headache or feel sluggish until I get the fix. three or more cups causes the jitters and anxiety..time to kick the habit...

**Blueidone** · October-04-09, 01:45 PM

Don't try to stop cold turkey...you will get the headache from caffeine withdrawal. For a week or so, mix decaf and regular coffee, and slowly cut down your consumption over a couple of weeks.

For health reasons, I am limited to two cups a day. No pop or anything with caffeine [[including chocolate) after 12:00 noon. For a while, I needed a nap in the afternoon until I adjusted to doing without the caffeine in my pop. :-)

ccbatson · October-04-09, 03:06 PM

Not as bad as nicotine, and certainly nowhere near coccaine or heroin. No escalation implicit with caffeine as a clue that it is not like the others mentioned.

**elganned** · October-04-09, 03:31 PM

The wife is seriously "addicted" to coffee; if she doesn't get her two cups in the morning, she gets a raging headache by noon.

Never had a problem with it, myself, and there was a time when I was drinking upwards of 5-6 cups a day. Went off it cold turkey, and no side effects. Guess I was just lucky.

ccbatson · October-04-09, 03:33 PM

You can get mild to moderate physiologic withdrawal symptoms, this is also true of people using NSAIDS and aspirin. This is not a sufficient criteria for addiction by itself.

Ravine · October-06-09, 10:22 PM

I'm another one who really should pull back on the coffee abuse. I actually do not even have the guts to own up to how much coffee I drink.

Let's just say that using "cups" as the per diem measuring implement would be, to use one of Detroit City Council's pet words, *ahem* disingenuous.

**gnome** · October-07-09, 06:57 AM

My newest fav way of caffiene delivery is with "cold brewing". What you do is combine one part coarse ground coffee with two parts water, put in the fridge for at least 12 hours. Strain and serve. The resulting brew is exceedingly flavorful, without any bitterness or acidic twang.

It is powerful, but you don't feel jittery. I cut it 1 to 1 with milk.

ccbatson · October-07-09, 08:07 PM

A tough call as Caffeine/coffee has been demonstrated to impart some positive effects scientifically.

Personally, the smell of coffee makes me gag, so, other than occasional soda pop, I don't have much caffeine.

**Gistok** · October-08-09, 12:12 AM

Originally Posted by ccbatson

... other than occasional soda pop, I don't have much caffeine.

With your posting stamina... I find that surprising and a blessing at the same time!

**jcole** · October-08-09, 08:42 AM

Originally Posted by Ravine

I'm another one who really should pull back on the coffee abuse. I actually do not even have the guts to own up to how much coffee I drink.

Let's just say that using "cups" as the per diem measuring implement would be, to use one of Detroit City Council's pet words, *ahem* disingenuous.

Several years ago, when I quit imbibing stronger spirits, I switched my allegiance to coffee and was drinking 4 to 5 pots per day. That's right, pots. I weaned myself off of that amount but still drink anywhere from a quart to two per day of iced tea. I often wonder if I quit how much time per day would I sleep.

**gnome** · October-08-09, 09:51 AM

jcole = pothead

**jcole** · October-08-09, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

jcole = pothead

Whoa, Dude!!

ccbatson · October-08-09, 05:09 PM

Moderation is most often the right answer. 5 pots? The amount of liquid alone could be harmful.

**jcole** · October-10-09, 06:00 PM

Originally Posted by ccbatson

Moderation is most often the right answer. 5 pots? The amount of liquid alone could be harmful.

CC, I used to drink a whole lot of more harmful stuff before I got on the coffee kick.

**East Detroit** · October-10-09, 10:09 PM

Depends on the size of the person, as an actual health care professional would note.

ccbatson · October-11-09, 07:52 PM

Not as much as you think East Detroit.

**jcole** · October-11-09, 10:05 PM

5 pots would be roughly 200 oz [[8-5oz cups per pot)which is not quite 6 liters. Daily requirement for fluid intake is between 2 and 3 liters per day, so I was drinking about double the requirement. I still maintain that it was better than a 1/5 of vodka with mixers.

**Meddle** · October-11-09, 11:24 PM

The crushing, debilitating headache hits me after about two days without. Nothing works except sleep. Excedrin, Tylenol, Hydrocodone are all ineffective. I just have to close my eyes and sleep for a while. If I go without after that, I don't have a problem. But working nights, it's hard to do without sometimes, so I fall back into the trap.

Ravine · October-12-09, 04:00 AM

Jcole, let's compare notes, since we both went from drinking too much alcohol to drinking a lot of coffee.

After getting away from alcohol, did you crave sweets?

I did, and still do, although probably not as lustily as the period immediately following my getting away from drinking. [[I think part of my success with resisting their call is the fact that I deliberately make sure that I don't have them around, which works well in conjunction with another fact: Once I'm "home for the day," and have taken off my shoes, I really can't stand to go back out, not even for something I might truly want.)

The theory I came up with [[and maybe Cc will weigh in on this idea) was that since alcohol breaks down into sugar, more or less, my sudden departure from morbidly excessive beer drinking caused my body to react with a "Hey, quit drinking, if you must, but we've got to have some sugar in here" siren.

The increased coffee intake, while noteworthy, isn't related to the sugar thing; I don't put sugar in my coffee.

Thoughts?

**jcole** · October-12-09, 09:04 AM

While I drank, I very seldom ate anything sweet. Even the mixers I used were things like seltzer, water, tonic with lime. As soon as I was past the withdrawal stages, you couldn't keep me away from any vending machine with candy in it. I couldn't walk past a pie or cheese cake. It's less severe today, but for a long time sugar was my friend. I, too, didn't and don't put sugar in coffee.
I agree with the alcohol turning to sugar theory, largely because I was taught that in rehab, but also through personal experience. When I would crave a drink, I had to have sugar to tame the urge.
Kit Kat with coffee was nirvana

ccbatson · October-16-09, 11:29 PM

Serious harm to health can result from ingesting that much fluid, more so if the time frame is short....if you need the caffeine, it is better to concentrate the vehicle. No joking, sudden death from arrythmia occurs more than you realize with fluid overload in otherwise healthy people.

**jcole** · October-17-09, 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by ccbatson

Serious harm to health can result from ingesting that much fluid, more so if the time frame is short....if you need the caffeine, it is better to concentrate the vehicle. No joking, sudden death from arrythmia occurs more than you realize with fluid overload in otherwise healthy people.

Not disagreeing with you, CC, but at the time, I was thinking more in terms of staying away from booze than how much non-alcoholic liquid I was ingesting

**oladub** · October-17-09, 01:49 PM

Norway has the highest coffee consumption in the world averaging 4 cups a day for everyone over 15. Yet Norway has one of the longest life expectancies in the world. Norway does have a good health care system but this statistic shows that caffeine does not seem to shorten lifespan like other popular drugs do. It might even make people safer drivers and, thereby, slightly increase average longevity.

ccbatson · October-17-09, 08:59 PM

Studies have legitimately uncovered both positives and negatives of caffeine...of course a loose correlation of caffeine consumption and longevity is not a scientific reproducible cause and effect relationship.

**G-DDT** · January-24-15, 10:42 AM

I used to drink 3L of Coca Cola a day for thirteen years. It rotted and destroyed all of my glands. My kidneys, liver, and pancreas are the most rocked. Now, I can hardly eat any sugar, and I gave up cigarettes and coffee over fifteen years ago. Giving up ten years of smoking was nothing compared to the caffeine. That was far more rough.