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OfflinePowerTrip
Polypharmaceutical Shaman
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Last seen: 11 years, 5 months
Living with caffeine dependency.
    #4031751 - 04/08/05 04:49 PM (18 years, 11 months ago)

For the past five years or so, not many days have passed when I did not feel the absolute need to ingest some form of caffeine. It started by simply taking a caffeine pill before I went to go workout. From there it evolved into making my own espresso every morning and often again in the afternoon. My form of ingestion is constantly changing, but my craving for the drug has never subsided. I now ingest pure caffeine pills. One in the morning, and one in the afternoon. About a week ago I decided that I didn't want to live that way anymore. It feels like I live in two separate states, being on caffeine, and being off. When I'm on it, I feel great. I think clearly and I don't feel drowsy. When it wears off everything seems to fade into a haze. I'm exaggerating somewhat, but that is pretty much how it feels to me.

I know I'm not the only one who goes through this. Millions of people around the world are addicted to coffee and they don't even realize it. I was fine with the idea until I read this article in a magazine(I believe it was National Geographic). It discussed the worlds dependency on caffeine and it explained that in studies, people do in fact perform better when they use caffeine. The catch though, is that it only improves their performance enough to bring them back to their base line. In other words, because they have grown so dependent on the drug, they live in a state of being down when they don't have it, and they need the drug just so they can feel "normal." This is why I tried to break out of the caffeine cycle, but I failed. I went a few days without it, but they were oh so long and tired days. By the third day I found myself drinking three cups of tea in a row, and realized it was no better than just taking my pill.

Any thoughts on this, or any advice from someone who has managed to cut the caffeine out of their life?


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I spit reality, instead of what you usually learn
and I refuse to be concerned with condescending advice
cause I'm the only motherfucker that can change my life

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InvisibleAlien
Galactic Shaman
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Registered: 11/14/99
Posts: 1,868
Loc: Jupiter's Moon
Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: PowerTrip]
    #4031784 - 04/08/05 04:56 PM (18 years, 11 months ago)

I had the same problem with coffee, then what I did was scale it down over several weeks, I got to the point where that about a half a cup was fine. I think that caffeine is a good stimulant to the receptors in the morning, once done at a low dose its fine from there.

What happens with extreme caffiene intake is there is a cycle that runs over and over, like cig smoking.

A morn boost with half a cup is fine, and I know if you try what I said you will be happy.

Also, too much caffeine depletes a hormone that makes you calm, you can look it up online


--------------------
-Alien :cool:

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OfflinePowerTrip
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Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: Alien]
    #4031809 - 04/08/05 05:02 PM (18 years, 11 months ago)

Quote:

Alien said:
I had the same problem with coffee, then what I did was scale it down over several weeks, I got to the point where that about a half a cup was fine. I think that caffeine is a good stimulant to the receptors in the morning, once done at a low dose its fine from there.

What happens with extreme caffiene intake is there is a cycle that runs over and over, like cig smoking.

A morn boost with half a cup is fine, and I know if you try what I said you will be happy.

Also, too much caffeine depletes a hormone that makes you calm, you can look it up online




Actually I did this for a while and I had pretty good results. I bought one of those senseo coffee makers and they only make a half cup at a time so it was easy to limit myself. My main problem is that I lift weights in the afternoon. I work all morning lifting boxes, and by the time I get off work I feel pretty much spent. The caffeine pill after work really helps me get a good workout. I guess I'm looking at a lifestyle change if I want to lose the caffeine.


--------------------
I spit reality, instead of what you usually learn
and I refuse to be concerned with condescending advice
cause I'm the only motherfucker that can change my life

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InvisibleAlien
Galactic Shaman
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Posts: 1,868
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Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: PowerTrip]
    #4031865 - 04/08/05 05:25 PM (18 years, 11 months ago)

I work out also, and I used to take ripfuel which had ephdra, now that a sticky subject. If you work out you should get a natural rythem goin, a clean high. I do not understand why you are spent unless you are not getting enough sleep.

Also, do not work out in the evening, this will disturb your sleeping cyc

caffeine is only expending energy you dont have, sleep like 7 hrs, and the workouts make them less, less is more. its good to workout, but dont overdo it


--------------------
-Alien :cool:

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Offlinethe_phoenix
Stranger

Registered: 07/07/04
Posts: 541
Loc: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Last seen: 17 years, 2 months
Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: Alien]
    #4033512 - 04/09/05 06:23 AM (18 years, 11 months ago)

Forget substituting caffein with any other external stimuli like tea, working out, etc. Through any means you like, be it concentration, meditation, self-introspection, spiritual pursuit, etc, practice energizing yourself. Practice creating your own subjective reality based solely on your wishes and not contingent on anything objective/external. I assure you it's possible. Before you drink coffee, energize/motivate yourself and begin to need the coffee less and less. Eventually you won't need it because you can energize yourself.

Remember, addiction is *never* about the object of your addiction, it's all about you and inner denial from which stems a diversion of responsibility that you put on the object of your addiction. It has nothing to do with the coffee itself, just as the coffee's affects are entirely placebo effects. It all comes down to you.

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Offlinehuxmush
Wanderer

Registered: 04/03/03
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Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: PowerTrip]
    #4040422 - 04/11/05 09:50 AM (18 years, 11 months ago)

I'm currently swinging up and down again trying to get off caffeine (again again), although saying that, there's a 2 litre bottle of pepsi-max on my desk as I type this...

Unfortunately I can't seem to have the occasional cola drink (I don't drink tea or coffee) its always all or nothing for me. (True for my general behaviour for just about anything). In this instance its usually because I decide to stay up late to do some programming, and bam - I have a caffeine dependency problem again...

Anyway, just wanted to echo the magazine article is pretty much spot on. Once I'm on caffeine, I need it to reach that 'level of clarity' in thinking before I can really get things done. However, once 'clean' of caffeine for a while you realise that the level of clarity comes back to being on all the time. This clarity replaces the cloudy lethargic feeling you usually get when you miss your usual caffeine intake (which the caffeine then makes go away once you have some).

From experience, the most successful way to break a caffeine habit is to basically simply go cold turkey, and put up with a few pretty bad days around days 2-4, and then things trail off after that. You're back to 'normal' after about 3 weeks (although I'd guess this may differ givens different dosages, and length of previous consumption?).

Trying to cut down a bit at a time wasn't nearly as successful for me - it just prolonged the frustration.

Anyway my initial reason for posting was this tip - try and plan the cessation so the 2-4 day period will be at a time where you don't need to do a lot. If you're like most people, you will feel pretty crappy and lethargic, and possibly get bad headaches as well. You don't want to be doing something important during this time, as you'll get aggravated a lot more easily than normal.

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InvisibleJellric
altered statesman

Registered: 11/07/98
Posts: 2,261
Loc: non-local
Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: PowerTrip]
    #4045597 - 04/12/05 12:09 PM (18 years, 11 months ago)

Try something like this: On the first day of week One cut your daily caffeine intake by one quarter. For that whole week take only that much each day. Week Two: On day one of week two and the rest of that week take only one half (of the original amount you were used to taking before quitting) intake of caffeine.

In one month you will be caffeine free without severe withdrawal.


--------------------
I AM what Willis was talkin' bout.

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OfflineNoviseer
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Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: Jellric]
    #4156683 - 05/10/05 08:51 AM (18 years, 10 months ago)

I used to take caffeine pills... god did that make my life difficult.

The way I moderate my caffeine intake now is by limiting myself to Green Tea or Yerba Mate.  They have lower amounts of caffeine, but you end up diminishing your tolerance, so they become effective.  Rather than being able to pop 200 milligrams whenever I have a weak moment, now I have to boil water, steep, wait for it to cool, etc.  Plus I'm getting my antioxidants :smile:


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_______________________________________________________________
namaste said:
no flamz in da ODD, if you got nothing to contribute then keep yo lips zipped
_________________________________________________________________

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OfflineDoom
Rogue

Registered: 11/23/04
Posts: 365
Loc: ghost-train city
Last seen: 17 years, 9 months
Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: Noviseer]
    #4157550 - 05/10/05 12:53 PM (18 years, 10 months ago)

coffee is a wonderful substance

its addictive! of course! anything that is enjoyable is addictive! addiction is the substance of daily life!

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Offlinebrowndustin
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Registered: 10/03/03
Posts: 2,957
Last seen: 9 years, 10 months
Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: Doom]
    #4158146 - 05/10/05 03:31 PM (18 years, 10 months ago)

Green tea and yerba mate are definitely the shit. When I drink too many sobe adrenaline rushs each morning in succession I switch to yerba mate, or green tea depending on what I feel like. Good stuff and I definitely forget about the energy drinks. Otherwise it's too damn hard to keep my mind off them.


--------------------
When the stress burns my brain it's like acid raindrops
maryjane is the only thing that makes the pain stop

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OfflineTrippinNinjaBuddha
ShroominSamurai
Registered: 04/11/04
Posts: 279
Last seen: 11 years, 3 months
Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: browndustin]
    #4174545 - 05/14/05 12:39 PM (18 years, 10 months ago)

I quit cold turkey.

Headaches were baaad for a few weeks. Life now is way better.

Good luck, just drop the shit.


--------------------
Jumped in a river, what did I see?
Black eyed angels swimming with me
Moon full of stars and astral cars, all the figures I used to see
All my lovers were there with me
All my past and all my futures
We went to heaven in a little rowboat
There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt

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InvisibleAutonomous
MysteriousStranger

Registered: 05/10/02
Posts: 901
Loc: U.S.S.A.
Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: Jellric]
    #4174595 - 05/14/05 12:58 PM (18 years, 10 months ago)

Quote:

Jellric said:
Try something like this: On the first day of week One cut your daily caffeine intake by one quarter. For that whole week take only that much each day. Week Two: On day one of week two and the rest of that week take only one half (of the original amount you were used to taking before quitting) intake of caffeine.

In one month you will be caffeine free without severe withdrawal.



That's the way to do it.


--------------------
"In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination."
-- Mark Twain

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Offlinecrunchytoast
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Registered: 04/07/05
Posts: 1,133
Loc: aporia
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Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: Autonomous]
    #4175708 - 05/14/05 05:59 PM (18 years, 10 months ago)

regarding exercising after work... you may not need caffeine to do that...  just re-envision your reality

my only coffee is first thing in the morning.

this works for me:  my job creates stress.  not much, but enough that when i get home first thing i want to do is veg out.

but i know that exercise will take all my stress-energy out of me once and for all (and also leave me feeling wide awake).  once i linked exercise with de-stressing in my head, ive gotten generally pretty good about exercising every day.

like acting, it's all about finding your motivation :smile:  i cant hardly do anything unless i feel i have a good emotion-based reason too.

afterward i work out & feel really good, wide awake, alert, and totally exhausted/relaxed.  & then i get energy back after half an hour of rest.


--------------------
"consensus on the nature of equilibrium is usually established by periodic conflict." -henry kissinger

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OfflinePowerTrip
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Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: crunchytoast]
    #4175794 - 05/14/05 06:34 PM (18 years, 10 months ago)

Good to see some new replies to this old thread. I have since made some progress in my battle to become decaffeinated. I used to take a 200mg caffeine pill in the morning, and another right after work. I now drink one cup of coffee in the morning and stay away from the caffeine for the rest of the day(maybe one cup of tea at night).

I would love to be able to drop the caffeine completely, but I fear that it will diminish my quality of life. The caffeine in the morning gives me an instant boost to being completely awake and ready for work or whatever else life has on my agenda. It has been a long time since I have gone a day without it. Maybe living stimulant free isn't as difficult as I believe it to be.


--------------------
I spit reality, instead of what you usually learn
and I refuse to be concerned with condescending advice
cause I'm the only motherfucker that can change my life

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Offlinebrowndustin
dustybuddy

Registered: 10/03/03
Posts: 2,957
Last seen: 9 years, 10 months
Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: PowerTrip]
    #4176266 - 05/14/05 09:03 PM (18 years, 10 months ago)

Holy fuck, man. I couldn't imagine taken 200mg each morning, let alone having more later on in the day.

I used to snicker at caffiene fiends but now I realize that it's really something that's easy to slip into. You can definitely do without it though bro. At first you'll be groggy but you'll seriously snap out of it with a little will power.

Take some melatonin an hour before you plan on going to bed, cause when I was fiending I'd get tired as shit and then pass out. Then after a while I didn't need melatonin to recharge my system, nor caffiene to get me through the day. You'll appreciate caffiene and energy drinks tons more once you stop being dependant on them. Energy drinks actually "perk" me up once again!


--------------------
When the stress burns my brain it's like acid raindrops
maryjane is the only thing that makes the pain stop

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OfflinePowerTrip
Polypharmaceutical Shaman
Male

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Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: browndustin]
    #4193164 - 05/18/05 10:07 PM (18 years, 10 months ago)

This past Sunday was the last day I consumed any caffeine :thumbup:  Maybe it was something that hit me during my mushroom trip on Saturday.  I realized that there were many things in my life that I desperately desired to change.  As I got out of bed for work on Monday, I sat down next to my Senseo coffee maker and just told myself that I wasn't going to be a slave to the caffeine anymore. 

I felt somewhat tired as the day began, but it was still better than I normally feel when I come down from my caffeine buzz.  I had minor headaches that day but I took a few baby aspirin and that handled them well.  Even that first day without caffeine I already felt refreshed and invigorated.  I realized that when I don't use caffeine, my energy levels stay constant during the entire day.  I had actually began to think it was normal to want to take a nap at 4:00 in the afternoon  :rolleyes:.  Since I no longer have this low energy point in the afternoon, I no longer need that caffeine pill before I go workout.  I have also found it much easier to fall asleep lately.

I have dropped caffeine for good and I'm not looking back.  This is how we are supposed to live.  A constant steady flow of energy, not a huge wave followed by a miserable low.  Thanks for the advice and support everyone.  I'm definitely loving life more these days.


--------------------
I spit reality, instead of what you usually learn
and I refuse to be concerned with condescending advice
cause I'm the only motherfucker that can change my life

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OfflineSammy
Between the fold

Registered: 09/03/02
Posts: 1,031
Loc: you'll shoot yer eye out ...
Last seen: 16 years, 3 months
Re: Living with caffeine dependency. [Re: PowerTrip]
    #4203060 - 05/21/05 11:07 AM (18 years, 10 months ago)

Powertrip..

I'm VERY happy that you got the caffene monkey off your back! I'm currently at 50 days without smoking... kind of in the same wagon as you. Some of the things that have helped me most are;

1)Reduce your stress level. When you're stressed.. you have more of a reason to say "Ahhh fuck, I need my fix NOW!"

2)Throw away or hide your coffee grinder, coffee beans, coffee maker.. shit.. maybe even the coffee MUGS. Whatever reminds you visually of coffee.

3)Eat well and take a daily vitamin. These two things will keep you feeling on top of your game

last but certianly not least... don't substitute your current drug for another. Many people do this and it's a bad idea. "Oh shit I'm niccing SO bad!! Well.. I might as well try coke to binge this craving."

Good luck, and be well

Sam


--------------------

I believe in the Golden Rule ? The Man with the Gold . . . Rules.
- Mr. T

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