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I am a drug addict

dukebound85

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Original poster
Jul 17, 2005
19,218
4,342
5045 feet above sea level
With caffeine

I am trying to wean myself off but I will get such a bad headache and get uber tired/no motivation at all if I haven't had caffeine in a while (like a day)

I used to drink like 6 cans of diet soda a day for a while and I need to stop

How can I get off of this?

Any steps/reccomendations?
 
I used to drink MORE than six cans of diet a day back in high school, but I just stopped cold turkey. I didn't suffer any side affects or headaches (I have never really had a headache), so I would just say tough through it, and your body will get used to it eventually.
 
jmann said:
I used to drink MORE than six cans of diet a day back in high school, but I just stopped cold turkey. I didn't suffer any side affects or headaches (I have never really had a headache), so I would just say tough through it, and your body will get used to it eventually.
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You don't understand. The headaches are SEVERE to the point I can't do much of anything untill I have a cola
 
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dukebound85 said:
You don't understand. The headaches are SEVERE to the point I can't do much of anything untill I have a cola
Click to expand...
have ur friends get some caffeine free cola and have them disguise it as regular.
after a few months of being tricked they should let u know that it was caffeine free.

now the biggest element to this is to make sure u dont spoil the placebo effect and find out its....wait....:p
 
Plan a quiet weekend in, drinking water.

Several sucky days while the caffeine lets go, and the recovery begins on Monday with a big glass of lemonade or gatorade or something. Pick something really low in sugar.

What happens if you switch to a non-caffeinated version? Or cream soda, or something like that?

I will say that I have a similar problem, and have weaned myself down to a big coke between 11-2 or so, and none on the weekends. Next step is to cut another day out of the week, and then two. I had it down to once a week, but I didn't live in the Devil's buttcrack at the time, but here there's 50+% humidity at all times with 90+ degrees right now.
 
just drink 5 cans a day for 5-7 days then 4 cans a day for a week then 3, then 2 then 1, it takes a bit longer but you won't have withdrawal symptoms this way.
 
As a few others have said, you have to gradually cut back. You will have symptoms, but it seems as if there is no way to avoid them in your case.
 
guy999 said:
just drink 5 cans a day for 5-7 days then 4 cans a day for a week then 3, then 2 then 1, it takes a bit longer but you won't have withdrawal symptoms this way.
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I second this advice. And if you need to go slower, go from 5 cans, to 4.5 cans, to 4 cans, etc.

Spill some out before you start drinking, or else you may just drink the whole can.

And start drinking more water.
 
hamish5178 said:
People can quit cigarettes and heroin. You can quit Pepsi.
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Exactly. It all seems to melodramatic.
Good luck, I'm sure if you joined the service (wasn't that you) you'd be able to kick it for a short while at least.
 
I used to have a lot of trouble sleeping. My GF said it was because I drink tea all day, and goto bed with one. So I just stopped cold and didn't drink tea for a week, and I felt f**king dreadful. So I know what you mean - the headaches hurt, you feel lethargic and irritable.

So instead I bought decaf tea bags. I start the day with caffinated and then alternate throughout. After 5pm, only decaf. My sleep quality has gone through the roof and I've not had any 'withdrawal' at all. So how about a similar thing but with diet cokes?

Unfortunately, I ran out of decaf tea bags yesterday. Today, it's 3.39am and I can't sleep.

AppleMatt
 
I'm addicted to a crapload of illegal and legal stuff, and when I was forced to quit while an inpatient this is what I did. I'm a planner kind of person. I made up a pretty chart explaining how much I would cut back everyother day. Unfortunately, once I got discharged I let go of all that and went back to my old habits so I'm unable to tell you if it worked or not. I don't know about this, but if you get 'urges' to get a Coke, so do something different. I would make a deal with myself. Whenever I had an urge to cut my leg and I gave in, I would afterwards punish myself by eating some nontoxic soap. Eventually, I got a bit better. Also, instead of doing it, I try to go do something interesting. Maybe you could go on Wikipedia and read about some cool procedure about a cure to hypothyroidism? Or whatever interests you. And don't ween youself off by incriments of .5 or 1 daily. I think it would be easier to go down .5 and stay at it for 3 days then go down more. That is what doctors do when stopping certain meds.
I hope I helped. I've never been a caffiene person myself.
 
akutad said:
Take some aspirin or Tylenol. Caffeine is in the ingredient list. That may help the transition.
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That will probably just keep you addicted to caffeine. If you're going to take anything for the headache you need to make sure it does not have caffeine in it.

I have the same problem Duke. Its hard to quit because the withdrawals, no matter how small they seem to others, really can affect your daily activities. Hopefully I'll be able to cut back and stop altogether soon, or at lease switch to one cup of coffee a day instead of a few of sodas.
 
thanks guys. just sucks how my body is dependent on it

this oesnt help either

CaffeinatedSpider.jpg
 
Start another drug.

:p

When I stopped my caffeine intake I slept for ~16 hours each of the three days I was "hung over." After that, I was very lethargic, but didn't have the absolute need for caffeine.

So, if you have a few days to blow away in a row, sleep 'em up!
 
akutad said:
Take some aspirin or Tylenol. Caffeine is in the ingredient list. That may help the transition.
Click to expand...

Caffeine isn't in either of those. You must be thinking of Excedrin, which does have caffeine.


Anyway, I think the drop-down method will serve you best, OP. Caffeine withdrawal is no fun.
 
dukebound85 said:
You don't understand. The headaches are SEVERE to the point I can't do much of anything untill I have a cola
Click to expand...

Drinking 6 diet cokes and then some was normal for me months ago.

I did it cold turkey and stopped. It was hell for 2-3 days but after that, it was fine.

If you are desperate, I suggest loading up on pain relief (legal of course) and trying it out the best you can.

I suffer from severe migraines on top of this so trust me, I know how bad it can get.
 
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