Addicted to caffeine?

Question

I'm a nineteen year old college student. When I finished my spring semester, at the beginning of the summer, I had no job, and nothing to do daily so I resorted to staying up late at night and sleeping in. But then I started an internship which required me to wake up at 6:45 a.m. and I picked up this habit of drinking Starbucks Double Shot Expresso in the morning. By noon I would either have a second one, or drink an Amp energy drink. I have started to realize that if I go without either of them, I can not do anything. I feel entirely too sluggish. What can I do to break this addiction? Are there any natural remedies that could help other than to stop drinking them? I can go with just drinking my Double Shot Expresso in the morning, but with out that, I'm useless. Please HELP!

Answer 1

A lot of people are going to tell you to ween yourself off slowly and that may work for you, but it may also make the process longer and more difficult.

I was heavily addicted to caffeine for around 5 years, my poison was soda. I worked in a place where it was cheap and convenient. I found myself getting very tired and having nasty headaches when I didn't get enough soda, so I stopped cold turkey.

You will feel like absolute c**p for three or four days, I can pretty much guarantee that. I would stock up on ibuprofen and start the detox process when you might have some extended days off of work, like a long weekend. It will be a lot easier if you have some stress free things to do that aren't work. For me, it was three days of pounding headaches and then a gradual shift as my body adjusted.

Another suggestion I have is switch to decaf coffee, ice it down, and throw some sugar in it. It's not going to be as good as your Double Shot, but you won't be completely without something that's part of your routine. I switched to caffeine free soda and once I broke the caffeine habit for good, having soda available just wasn't that important anymore.

I promise you after a week you won't even miss it and you'll probably find yourself waking up/falling asleep much easier.

Good luck, sorry this was so long.

Answer 2

youre just going to have to get used to not drinking so much caffeine. you might get headaches or feel sluggish but i guarantee that when u get used to not drinking it and start drinking plenty of water, youll feel better than ever.

Answer 3

Well u could buy those vegetable drinks. I know how hard it is to break the habbit of drinking to much coffee, I got hooked on it when I was like 13 when our family owned a coffee house, I'm 15 now I'm still drinking it hourly, bad I know, I trying to stop though. lol

Answer 4

I used to be addicted to there starbucks moccas and passion fruit teas.. kinda sad.  A lot like your craving for them, I tried cutting down. Try cutting back day after day, you eventually will have such a small desire for it you won't even think about it.

Or just try to give yourself more sleep.

I've also found Calms helps you sleep. They are cheap chewable tablets that are fruity but let you sleep better.

Hope you can use this :]

Answer 5

I went through this same thing while in the Navy. The Doc told me 1/2 the coffee in the morning and nothing after lunch.Try it for a week or two then cut it in half again if you still are having problems. Switch over to caffeine free sodas if you drink sodas. It was the "nothing after lunch" I had my trouble with in the beginning, but eventually got over that too.

Answer 6

Just have a little caffeine, if you don't have caffeine your going to have a caffeine headache.

Try chocolate in the morning. Like Devil Squares...

Answer 7

I've got the same habit of staying up late and sleeping in during the summer. This might not be the most healthy suggestion, but on your next day off stay up for 24 hours straight to get back on you path. You might want to get at least 10 hours of sleep because you will sleep more due to your all nighter. Or just take a different path to work and don't pass starbucks :)

Answer 8

Quite cold turkey and don't be a p*ssy. The jitters will go away eventually and your body will return to normal. You didn't need a double shot when you were a kid so why now.

Answer 9

You can ask at your local health food store for some supplements, but the best way is to quit cold turkey. Drink LOTS of water and take what you need for any headaches that develop. Good luck.

Answer 10

Addiction to caffeine causes headaches when you don't have it.

You didn't mention that so doesn't sound like you are addicted, Drink something else hot in the afternoon and see if that helps, Try tea (it has way less caffeine than coffee), or hot chocolate, or just get up and walk around outside for a bit (by law you get 15 minutes for break along with lunch).

Answer 11

ease off of the caffeine

or if you have like a week off of everything

thats even better time to ease off

or you could start exercising

so youll be tired from no caffeine and form exercising

Answer 12

OK. You don't want to cut it out altogether. After all it is easer to cut down on something than it is to cut it out all together. Plus caffeine is still a good stimulant and is needed to also help transport other things in the body.

First increase your water intake. Proper hydration actually increases our motabilism and energy levels by 3%. For proper hydration we need 1 ounce for every 2 pounds of body weight plus 8 more ounces for every 20 mintues of exercise. With hot/dry days and climates even more will be needed. We can get water from food and other drinks but caffeine and alcohol do not count as they actually dehydrate us.

Many people fall into the trap you are in. Most caffeinated drinks also have sugar in them. They get a burst of energy and crash. If they have not offset the caffeine with extra water then we become dehydrated. When we are dehydrated we become tired and lethargic. So the caffeine actually intensifies the sugar crash. So most people think the thing to do is to have another caffeine drink. This either compounds the problem or causes caffeine addiction.

First if you are feeling tired drink 2 glasses of water. If you feel better after 15 minutes then you were just dehydrated. If not then have a caffeinated drink. In your case I would start off the morning with your nomral double shot expresso but have 2 glasses of water too. Then see if you can just keep drinking water the rest of the day and avoid caffeine.

I am sure you will find that you may also sleep better too which will itself reduce the feeling that you have to have caffeine to get going.

Answer 13

got to ease yourself off , scale yourself back to just coffee for few weeks

here how i do it, i find scaling back from 1 cup every certain amount of hours and decresing the amount you drink is difficult , so i just water the stuff down  

still the same amount of liquid but less caffeine

Answer 14

The best solution to solving addicitons is substitution. When you are addicted, you crave a certain type of drug - in your case, caffeine.

I suggest trying at first to limit your intake of the drug. So maybe you should try only taking one a day. This may come as some trouble to you to begin with but your body will adapt with the new intake of caffeine. It is all up to your power and control to limit yourself

After you successfully do that, you can move onto trying to swap your addiction with some other sort of similar product. A good example for caffeine is Lemonade - this is lighter in caffeine but still plays the same role in your system.

You can then, if you have enough control, move onto drinking juice or protein shakes to fill your requirement for a drink. This may trick your mind into thinking you are drinking your normal caffeinated drink. After all, addiction is all in the mind. Its your mind that chooses to have what you want, not your body.

If your will-power is strong enough, you can cut right down to water or another substance. It is all about limiting yourself to your addiction and if you can do that, then you are a mentally and physically strong person. Just keep remembering that what you are doing is for the good of you and it will make a difference in your life.

Just ensure to take things slowly and not to try and rish things otherwise your body might become deficcient in that drug and it may make you act and feel very differently.

Good luck with quitting caffeine and achieving your goals.

Answer 15

even if you feel sluggish you should have enough control not to drink. just pass the starbucks even if you are craving. thats what i would do.

Answer 16

I have worked for Starbucks for 5 years and trust me coffee withdrawal is the worst.....You have to break your addiction slowy..........start by going to starbucks in the early mornings and ordering a Solo shot instead of having two shots and add milk at the condiment bar.....Drinking energy drinks will just make you crash later on throughout the day.........I substitute energy drinks with eating bananas....they have twice the amount of energy that one can of red bull will give you and will lead you to a happier and healthier life! much luck!

Answer 17

f'n yikes. You need to wean yourself off slowly or just cut down...