caffeine withdrawal is real
It seemed like a practical move when I quit drinking coffee; it wasn’t for health reasons that I did it. I had no idea I was so strung out. If I had known from the beginning how caffeine withdrawal feels, I probably wouldn’t have made the switch. Come to find out Caffeine Withdrawal Is Real.
My cracked French press carafe had finally broken, buying coffee every day was costing over $40/month and I had like 3 lbs of this yerba mate stuff that someone had given me, just sitting in the cupboard. I figured it’d be like drinking coffee, which it wasnt.
First I subbed yerba mate in for coffee on the weekends, when walking to the corner cafe for a drink to enjoy at home began to seem ridiculous. After a couple weeks I took some into work and started drinking it there during the week, fully switched off coffee.
The tiredness I felt at first was expected, but I didn’t get any headaches or think that I would. Around day 3 I started developing flu-like symptoms. It could have been a very mild flu, but the sore throat and mucus never got overwhelming and I was working, working out, eating healthy, all better than normal.
At the start of week two, I experienced body aches so severe that they woke me out of my sleep. Pain bowled up and down my body between my knee and my waist, mostly on the left side and in my hips. I’d experienced something similar while fasting, which not incidentally, was the last time I’d ever abstained from coffee for more than a day or two. That passed in about 3 days.
Now I’m on week three with no coffee and am feeling much better, more alert, no aches & pains, other symptoms fully gone. I still take caffeine; some of the yerba mate I have is a blend that includes green tea, and I’ve had other teas and soda. It’s not like I’ll never have a good cup of coffee again, but now that I know how fully addicted I was, I’ll try to take it easy.
And even tho I make yerba mate wrong (through a tea strainer into a coffee cup), I look forward to learning more about it and tea in general. (I’ll just go ahead and ignore this story from Finland about coffee lowering the risk of liver cancer.)
10/07/2008 at 5:19 am Permalink
Wow that doesn’t sound like caffeine withdraw at. I’ll usually get a bad headache if I don’t have coffee after about twenty-six hours or so, but the last time I quit I never got aches and pains.
It’s too late now, but if you ever start up again and want to quit, just mix decaf in until you can safely wean yourself. Caffeine is no joke and that’s why it’s my drug of choice!
10/07/2008 at 9:26 am Permalink
aaah haha you at one point fed my addiction a little lol nah but I’ve been a heavy coffee drinker for years and years and years
I didnt think it was withdrawal either, til I googled around and found from that article I linked and others that “flu-like symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, and stiffness” lasting 2-9 days are common in some people; guess I was one of the lucky ones O_o
08/04/2010 at 1:54 am Permalink
Oh yes, coffee withdrawal does cause body aches. I went to the doctor about them and he confirmed it. There is a lot coffee does to nerve endings and withdrawal does have an effect. Funnily I don’t get the headaches – just the body aches, and at night while I’m trying to sleep. Today had a mild coffee this afternoon (I’m usually a double shot girl) so hopefully will get some sleep tonight. Ha…how ironic.
07/06/2010 at 10:55 pm Permalink
I have been off caffeine almost 7 days and for the last 3 have had the most severe achey legs night and day but worse at night that I cant even sleep. I know it must be the withdrawal but wonder how long it will last? I also do feel like I have the flu.