Caffeine withdrawal

I am trying to stop drinking coffee for medical reasons. yesterday and today, I have been having bad headaches, feeling tired. I just need to know for how long will these symptoms  last ? anybody here quit coffee?? tell me about your experience. Thanks. 

It took me about ten days.

I quit about a year ago and kept off of it for about 8 months. Back to it now, alas.

My headaches got worse and worse for about 3 days and then on the 4th day I could barely have my eyes open because my head hurt so badly, and then I threw up for a couple hours and couldn't get out of bed all day. The next day I felt better, and after a week I felt great. I didn't even feel tired in the mornings anymore.

After that, if I had some iced tea or anything I would get jittery and sick feeling. Coffee was out of the question. I started drinking green tea in the mornings a few months ago, and then I had to switch to black tea to keep myself going, and now I'm back to feeling awful until I have my cup of tea in the mornings. My advice is, once you get through the withdrawal, stick with it because you don't want to have to do it again!

Not so bad, trhawley.   

Here's my story:

February 8, 2007

Feeling Better

I’m feeling better now.  I wasn’t sick; I just didn’t feel very good.  It started a week ago Monday.  I was fine in the morning but in the afternoon I started getting a headache.  I just wanted to sleep but I needed to get the girls to swimming and dinner, etc.  By the time we got all that done I was ready to go to bed and my headache was worse.  The next morning when the alarm went off I really did not want to get up.  I felt so tired.  But I had things to do and got up had my morning coffee got the kids off to school and started in at the office.  By midday the headaches were back and even worse.  I took Advil and managed to do what needed to be done.  I was just tired.  I wanted to sleep.  I did laundry but never folded the clean close.  Dishes were stacking up.  I was so tired and achy.  This continued all week. The weekend came and Advil got me through.  I couldn’t seem to sleep enough but the headaches weren’t quite as bad.  I just didn’t have energy.  Monday came and no real change.  I cooked a chicken but didn’t feel like eating it.  I went to bed early.  Tuesday, I really had to clean up the kitchen.  I was standing at the sink rinsing some dishes and out of the corning of my eye something caught my attention.  On the label of my bag of coffee was a small white word.  I picked up the bag of beans and there on the label was the answer to my problems.  The word was “decaf”. 

The weekend before last I had run out of coffee. I knew that without my daily dose of coffee things would get ugly so I rounded up Nicole and Clara and we made a Starbuck’s run.  The girls had hot chocolate and cookies while I had a latte.  I bought my usual bag of Sumatra beans but I was unaware that I had inadvertently picked up a bag decaf.  For eight days I had been suffering from caffeine withdraw.  Cold turkey! 

Well, I brewed a cup of tea and with minutes my mood improve dramatically.  The laundry was put away, the kitchen cleaned, and at 10:30 I was still awake. 

I still don’t have any regular coffee.  I’m drinking the decaf because, well, because I like to drink coffee but a supplemental mug of tea makes everything right in the world.   I think I’ll buy some regular coffee and try mixing it with the decaf so I can keep my caffeine intake lower.  Maybe one day I can break free.

Anyway, all is well.

raynsong, OMG. that was hard. why did you have a relapse?? 

I thought once you quit coffee, it is over. you don't have to worry about a relapse. 

I didn't go to work today because I feel sick all over. I haven't had coffee today or yesterday. I hope I will be able to continue. I am also having hard time keeping my calories on track. 

As a follow-up nearly 2 years later I still drink a cup a tea most mornings but I don't drink any other caffeine.  A few days after I wrote the story above I stopped drink the de-caf and almost immediately the acid reflux I had been suffering from for several years stopped, completely!  I was munching Tums all day long and sleeping with my head elevated to avoid being awoken by the acid and some nights I would wake up and have to throw up mostly acid.  I haven't taken an anti-acid since the day I stopped drinking coffee.

Thanks, Trhawley. I suffer from an acid reflux, a nasty ulcer, and overgrowth bad bacteria in my stomach. the doctor told me that I have to stop drinking coffee or my ulcer will bleed. It also hurts me when I work out. so I really need to stop drinking coffee. :(  I slept about 14 hours last night. 

Congratulations on your success. :)

it took about a week for me when I quit to start feeling better.  no alternative caffiene was in my diet at the time though so I think it would be easier had I gone to a little tea instead.  I was really lethargic, cranky, and really sick but I quit because I was pregnant so I'm not sure how much was the actual lack of my daily 3 pots of coffee...or how much was being pregnant. 

Hope today is a better day for you.

I realize you're doing it for medical reasons, but is there a big rush? I would recommend tapering off on the caffiene, halving your dose every 5-7 days so your body has time to adjust. At the end of high school I drank about 2-3 cups a day, but when I lived in the dorms for college the coffee was so bad I tried to quit cold turkey. I got the headaches like you did, so I tapered off to a cup a day, then only finishing half the cup (or filling it mostly with 1% milk). Switching to tea would have the same effect, adapting your body to a lower dose of caffiene before stopping entirely.

Switch your coffees for a single green tea bag in a teapot over the day. Or, green tea leaves in a teapot. Green tea contains caffeiene at a marginally less amount than coffee and means you can wean off without the pains of a withdrawl. I did this when cutting my coffee intake and it was relatively painless. Plus green tea has all sorts of nice health plusses.

  Used to drink three *pots* a day. Took a week in July when the family was away and I didn't have any serious demands on my time and just stopped. They were at the beach and I went camping.

  Only got through because of *B VITAMINS!* and aspirin.

  The B bump kept my energy up and the aspirin replaced the vasodilator effect of caffeine and I refused to worry about anything while I was on walkabout.

  Tea can help, since the theobromine in tea has some of the same effects as caffeine, but if you go with a B multi, you'll have the option of energy when needed, without the problem of getting to sleep.

Good Luck,

-CD

ohhhh my second year of university i was hitting starbucks a few times a day during exams getting huuugeee coffees.  right after exam season i stopped having coffee and i went to bed with such a bad migrane one night i woke up in the middle of the night and had to throw up it was so bad.....  i slowly weened myself off of coffee...i just started getting a small coffee every morning and after a while i switched over to tea and i no longer get migranes....maybe try lowering the amount you drink everyday?

Oh, dear :( I've read that people with such serious withdrawal symptoms are the ones who need to steer clear of coffee the most; they are the ones who are most susceptible to its negative side effects. I think once you get it out of your system entirely, you'll see a lot of your health problems disappear. I'm willing to bet that both your acid reflux and stomach ulcer were being caused by the coffee.

There is an array of lovely teas out there that I highly suggest you try if you miss having a cup of something hot in the morning. My favorites: (good) Japanese green tea, anything from Mariage Freres, oolong tea, and jasmine tea.

Hope you feel better soon!!

Thanks everyone.

Petitoiseau, thank you. Yes , actually coffee and Aspirin caused me a nasty ulcer . for those who don't know. high dosages of aspirin cause ulcers.. 

No, I can't lower my coffee intake. once I have one cup, it will be followed by two or three. 

Goodness gracious, I stopped coffee one year ago and for the first three days was on the couch utterly exhausted with flu-like symtoms - headache, body-ache, nausea.

And I only drank about 2-3 cups a day. Anyway after 3-4 days it was gone and I never felt better or healthier.

Unfortunately it only lasted 3 months as I got hooked again. This summer though, I plan to give it up again.

nycgirl, I am just curious. why do people who quit coffee have relapse? 

I gave up drinking coffee about six months ago. I had some symptoms for about two weeks (Mostly difficulty paying attention). I also realized that I started eating more chocolate around that time, hehe.

My doctor asked me to stop drinking for a little bit because I was having preventricular contractions. I ended up going to a cardiologist and he said everything was normal and that it was okay if I drink coffee, so now I'm back on it.

Last November as part of my body overhaul I decided to reduce my caffine. I started mixing regular coffee with decaf in the coffee maker each morning so I could gradually transition. Over the course of a few weeks the ratio was changed. Now....2 sccops caffinated and 7 scoops decaf. I have also started green tea for the anti-oxidents 3x a day. I think eventually I'll drop coffee all together now that I found green tea at Dunkin Donuts, Satrbucks, and most places (gas stations) serving coffee. The caffine on green tea doesn't seem as potent as coffee.

--one great side effect...I stopped biting my nails! First time in my life. I noticed after a few weeks they were growing and I wasn't biting. Only thing I can attribute that to is the reduced caffine.

Original Post by safina1:

nycgirl, I am just curious. why do people who quit coffee have relapse?

LOL, for me it was my workmate putting a hot cup of joe on my desk every afternoon at 4pm. I felt bad not drinking it, since he was paying for it and was just being nice buying it for me, so I drank it and then one thing led to another ... and now I am back to being a 3 cup/day gal.

that workmate was a bad one :)