Quitting Caffeine

This past holiday season, I decided to wean myself off of that most common of drugs: caffeine. While I admit I didn’t quit it cold turkey, I can say that I’ve pretty much eliminated the dependency on caffeine to get through the day. Yeay me.

So why quit caffeine in the first place? Simple: I was dependent on it. Not DT, cracked-out, gotta-have-it-to-function dependent. But if I didn’t have it by midday, I would get a headache and I became irritable. If I then downed a cup of coffee or had some black tea, I was better in a matter of minutes. I decided that while this was a sustainable way to live, I didn’t really love the fact that caffeine had become a sort of chemical overlord over my mood.

So, over the holiday, while we were back east visiting family, I decided that this was a long enough stretch of time to try to kick the habit, and see how I fared.

Day 1: The first day wasn’t great. I felt groggy all day, and I had an on-again, off-again headache. Fortunately, we didn’t have much to do beyond eat holiday dinners and sit around and chat with family and friends. Still, I can’t say I was the happiest of campers. I did consider having a bit of tea in the afternoon, but resisted.

Day 2: The next day was worse than the first. My headaches had gotten worse, to the point where I needed some over-the-counter pain killers to dull them. Irritability and grogginess went up a notch. In the afternoon I was definitely ready for a nap. Still, I didn't ingest any caffeine.

Day 3: On the third day, I woke up dreading the worst. Instead, I was...fine. No headaches. No grogginess. No irritability. I went through the day without any

Now, I didn't kick caffeine completely out of my lifestyle. It's hard to (I'm not giving up foods like chocolate, sorry). But I don't drink beverages containing it during weekdays, and I have an occasional coffee or black tea on the weekends, which doesn't relapse me.

I know I probably had it easy; there are people who drank much more caffeine per day than I did, and I imagine their withdrawal symptoms would be worse. Still, in the end I found that it was worth it. My mood and attention level, while different than when I was on caffeine, are fine. And I don't really crave it during the day.

Apparently, caffeine withdrawal is seen by some as a disorder, both mental and physical. Wow! I should have checked into rehab!