Eating

Day Three Without Caffeine Or Diet Soda

I have a severe headache.  I’ve had it for the better part of three days.  Why?  Because I recently stopped drinking sodas.  I’m glad I made the choice to give them up, but, man, my brain hurts!

My sleep patterns have been destroyed.  At night, I’m all over the place.  Last night, I slept on a couch, upright in a chair, and, finally, a few hours in my bed.  I thought that going without caffeine would make it easier to sleep, but I honestly think that my body is weirded out by the fact that I’m not flooding it with caffeine every three or four hours.

Over the next few days, the headaches should go away and my body should adjust.  Until then, I’ll just have to deal, knowing that the benefits of my decision far outweigh the temporary discomfort.

10 thoughts on “Day Three Without Caffeine Or Diet Soda

  1. Is tea forbidden on your new plan? Green tea, black tea, or white tea(hot or cold)would help your headache a great deal. Tea wouldn’t violate your carbonation ban; it’s cheap; and it’s full of antioxidants.

  2. Green tea helped me out the first time I detoxed from Caffiene. Tastes great, easy to make, and these days a lot easier to find. My favorite green tea is Yo Mata Yoma.

    (Yeah, I’m totally re-addicted to caffiene, but nowhere *near* my four Mt. Dew a day or more college habit. Now, it’s a cup of coffee and a soda throughout the day.)

    I also picked up a tin of penguin mints. They’re caffinated to the level of a cup of coffee. They’re like a calorie or something. I don’t know if you’re trying to cut the soda because of the caffiene or the sugar/additives/etc. If it’s the later, the mints might help mitigate.

    Good luck and keep up the good work!

  3. Take an aspirin or ibuprofin for your headache and drink plenty of water. That should help with the symptoms.

  4. You know, its funny that you’re trying to cut out caffeine. I’ve been wondering why it is that I have to have a cup or two…or three during the weekday (at work), but I rarely “need” it on the weekends. Anyway, I had a cup today and then started on green tea. I’m hoping to gradually pull myself away from the coffee.

  5. Oh the joys of withdraw symptoms. If your goal is to simply get off the sodas, then I’ll chime in with the above comments regarding green or white tea – quality tea! 🙂
    If you just want to rid yourself entirely of the caffeine habit, I say take a “Vitamin M” (Motrin), if you are not allergic, and push through!

    You can do this!

  6. Try some B vitamins — a complex and/or B-12.
    Peanut buter and jelly sandwich with a BIG glass of really cold milk help also. Good luck.

  7. Have you gone ‘cold turkey’?

    I have attempted to give up caffeine twice now, not successfully though.

    The first time I went ‘cold turkey’ and I just couldn’t handle the headaches.

    The second time, I cut down the amount of coffees I had per day, then per week. But you still have the ‘need’ (habit) to drink a coffee, so I started having decaf coffee for a bit then I started drinking Red Bush tea.

    But I have gone back to caffeine, as bad as before.

    Juan

  8. I did the same thing (quit a 6 a day diet coke habit), the headaches go away after about a week (for me at least), but I’m still tired all the time. Unfortunately I don’t drink coffee, and I don’t really like tea very much (and the ones I like are the low/non-caffeine ones) but its practically impossible to get the same levels of caffeine I used to get. I’m considering taking caffeine supplements… Not sure if that is a smart idea or not.

  9. I recently gave up drinking soda, on day 13 and haven’t craved it at all. I started drinking white tea, green tea, and water, which have all quenched my thirst when needed and keeps me hydrated. I also changed my diet to include more fruits and veges. It is so weird that I have no side effects whatsoever, except I feel really good, never tired during the day, good spirits, sleep great at night.
    I was probably averaging 1 to 2 cokes/mountain dews per day. I’m a programmer, so I think it was more of needing a break from the computer, it was conveniently available.

    I figured cold turkey was best and if I had problems adjusting I would ease into it, but I think it is not hard to trick your body if your mind is not in the picture.

    I didn’t like green tea at first, but found a kind I like now. White tea doesn’t have much taste, has less caffeine than green tea. Maybe if you don’t like tea try to explore different kinds. Also, you can make it stronger or less depending on how long you keep the bag in. Another thing to consider is trying it warm/hot/cold.

    Tea is much healthier than coffee or soda, if you can handle the switch I think over time it will really help a lot of things in your body clear up. I am no doctor, just a person going through this, so I’m sure everybody is different and what works for one won’t always work for all.

    Thought I’d share my story.

    Jason

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