tips for kicking coffee

[markidee]

My doc says that caffeine propagates anxiety. I'm trying to go off, but I'm so tired in the morning--and I have to face a whole heap of adolescents every morning (teacher)!

Any tips?

[eduk8or]

Mark,

I'm a teacher too.  You will probably laugh, but I did a taper method to reduce my caffeine intake with coffee.  I bought some decaf and would do let's say 3 scoops of caffeinated coffee with one scoop decaf for one week.  Then the next week, 2 scoops of each kind, then the next week 1 scoop of caffeinated and 3 scoops of decaf and then the next all decaf.  I also dropped all caffeinated sodas/drinks during this time.  I didn't get the withdrawal headaches you can sometimes get, but I was kinda tired for a while.  I am over it now though.   I love the taste of coffee and living in a climate where we have winter, I still like to have something warm in the mornings, so I drink decaf.  If you get a good brand like Starbucks decaf, you don't really miss the caffeine...  Good luck!

[jane134]

I started off by just allowing myself one cup of coffee in the morning - the rest of the day i drank decaff. Now i'm totally caffeine free and feeling much better for it. Good Luck!

[teeps]

i gave it up cold turkey and i say don't do that!!! i went from 4 cups of cappacino and 3 litres of dare iced coffee  per day to none over night. i had sweats even had to wear sunglasses inside and bad headaches. do tapering would be best my withdrawels lasted about three weeks and after that i wouldnt think of drinking the stuff but i have not had racing heart unless startled or chest pains since then.

[Albedo82]

Kicking caffeine was a little easier for me. It might have been because I never really drank coffee but drank soda instead which doesn't have as much caffeine in it. I pretty much just felt really tired and had a headache for a day or two after stopping cold turkey but it went away and I've been with out caffeine for about four years now.

[markidee]

Thank you all for the tips...I'm going to taper. I think I may allow myself a light soda in the am, then see how it goes from there (it's so hot here, and decaf is only available in "instant" form).

The less I drink, the freer I feel from midday panic.

[boundndetermined]

I have been caffeine free for a couple of months now. When my anxiety got bad this summer, I couldn't even eat, let alone drink! It was miserable. But I am not a coffee drinker....I used to drink tea all day long. Literally, all day long! :) So when I got my appetite back I started drinking decaf tea instead and I don't even miss the caffeine. I make it through the day just fine.

I think maybe a cup of regular in the morning then decaf the rest of the day sounds like a good place to start. GOOD LUCK!!!! :)

[markidee]

Great idea...I'm down to 1.5. My clonazepam dosage is down by 1/3 too! Definite connection.

--m

[Pug60647]

It's been a loooong time since I was a caffience drinker. I switched to drinking green tea every morning first. At first the sweet, bottled kind that's over-priced, then to the kind you brew. It's...uh...I forget the word for it. It has a natural drug in it, the same categury that caffiene and cigarrettes have.

Anyway, long story short...drinking the green tea every day would have me awake, without being jittery or having coffee-breath. I didn't need it after a few months, and I never switched back to caffiene.

I think what I'm talking about is an amphetamine effect. There are other natural sources for that too. Try taking St. John's Wort (yeah I know...that'll take some discipline to switch from convenient mugs of coffee to St. John's Wort). Hopefully something I said can help you.

[MsPanic]

Giving up coffee was 1 of the best suggestions my doc could have ever recommended. I was upset 0213 1st because I love & needed coffee. But after back sliding a couple of times I realize that coffee made my anxiety worst or easily triggered I should say. Now I drink water & gatorade.

[markidee]

My days have been so much easier without coffee: I now consider it like a meal with a huge bill. Some days I'm willing to pay (as an international educator it feels necessary still), but I love the serenity I feel on days without.

Thanks for the stories and testimonials.

[ascender]

it is proven that an apple will wake you up better than coffee will, so i say an apple and decaf coffee.. me, i drink hot water all the time in the mornings with honey most of the time.. i have not had caffeine in over 5 years