mantis said:

That's the reply I was looking for!

I'm already starting to see some of those benefits. I feel a little tired at work but it's better than being strung-out. I can live with the headaches for the next few days, aspirin seems to help.

Somebody told me "you'll just get addicted to aspirin", what they fail to realize is the headaches are a result of a chain of events:

lowered caffeine intake >
lowered blood pressure >
increased blood-flow in your head >
nasty headache

Once the withdrawl is gone (3 or 4 more days) I'm good to go-- then it's just a matter of will-power.

The weight gain is a big plus-- I'm toned but I could stand to gain a few pounds.

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Quote:

This system of neuroadaptation is the basis of physical addiction and drug tolerance; when your brain is frequently exposed to a drug it adapts to compensate for the presence of the drug. As a result, if the drug is taken away, it leaves your brain 'overcompensating' and off balance in a new way. If you frequently use a drug that suppresses anxiety, then go off it suddenly, you are likely to experience 'rebound' anxiety. If you take a lot of pain killers, then go off them, you are likely to experience 'rebound' pain, even if nothing is wrong with you.

    Neuroadaptation isn't 'strange' or abnormal; it's something that is always going on, with or without drugs. It's the reason we develop a tolerance to caffeine...and why that tolerance goes away if we give up caffeine for an extended period.

    Neuroadaptation isn't limited to changing the existing receptors. Neurons can also adapt by producing more or less of enzymes that break down neurotransmitters or drugs, or by producing more or fewer new receptors over time. (Proteins like receptors are constantly wearing out and being replaced; thus, if the neuron produces fewer new receptors, the number of receptors will go down over time.)

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