Hi. It~s been a while. I haven~t written in a while, but I need to. I am still struggling with caffeine addictions. I try so hard to quit. I manage for maybe a day or two, but then I go back. It~s really hard for me to quit. I, like momorph, have the thought patterns that I need coffee in order to function. I know, though, that it is causing me to have more anxiety and more depression. I guess it~s just the weaning part that~s difficult. I think that once i~m off of it for a week or two and decide not to pick up that first drink, then it will be easier for me to avoid caffeine. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks,
Michelle

Thanks Michelle and Spectro49, for posting and letting me know I'm not alone in this.

Micelle, in one of your earlier posts, you asked if anyone would want to be a "sponsor" for you while you tried to quit. Did anyone respond to that? I certainly wouldn't be a good sponsor, since I am entrenched in my need for caffeine right now! But maybe we could keep in touch and encourage each other, share things we've read and heard about caffeine that might give us the motivation to quit, and just help each other out. Be "cheerleaders" for each other!

By the way, I notice that just THINKING about quitting caffeine makes me feel anxious and irritable! (I suppose that's "Anticipatory Anxiety" -- I just finished that lesson. Guess I should listen to that tape again :-)). Feeling anxious thinking about quitting caffeine just makes me think it's not worth trying right now ... but I'm not sure.

Thanks again for posting. Any and all feedback out there is welcome!

Maureen

Michelle, it is hard to give up caffeine, I love my Mcdonalds coke at lunch and a piece of chocolate in the afternoon, I don't want to give it up

I have my mother to blame for my coffee addiction; she started me on it when I was 5! I only drink a cup a day but i don't like the way it makes me feel. I'm going to buy some decaf since I think it's just the ritual of having a morning cup of joe that keeps me drinking it. I've been doing it my entire life practically. I don't think the withdrawal will be too bad since it's just a cup. I've gotten headaches when i've skipped it but i get headaches all the time anyway. Wish me luck

I am having a VERY hard time quitting caffeine.

I quit coffee 20 years ago with no problem, have never liked chocolate (yeah I'm weird that way!) but I'm absolutely addicted to Pepsi. I quit it cold turkey on Feb. 1st and only made it a couple of days before I gave in and started drinking it again.

I was happy to read on here that the withdrawls only take a few days. I was also happy to read that they ARE a real thing...my family thought I was crazy when I claimed that I was going through caffeine withdrawls. I think that starting today I am just goint to attempt to drink a little less every day and see if that works for me. I hope that it works. I truly forget what it's like to get a good night's sleep...

It took me a year to get off of coffee. I went to half decaf and half reg, then to just decaf and then slowly cut down on the decaf. I would get terrible headaches if I stopped abruptly. I still drink my green tea though but it doesn't effect me like coffee did. Anxiety wise. If I stop anything suddenly my chances of staying "stopped" are not good.

Hi everyone. It has been a while since I have written back, but I want to write more regularly 'cause it really helps to have support in kicking the caffeine habit. I keep on trying and then end up giving in.
Momurph, I would really like it if we could keep in touch with eachother (kind of like sponsors) so that we can help eachother out in overcoming this addiction.
Maybe we could exchange e-mails so that we can write privately to eachother and cheer eachother on.
It is so frustrating. I tried to quit today, I did it until about 4:00 (just before writing this). I had a cup of coffee. It gave me some more energy for about ten minutes, but then I know that I will feel the crash. I get up, but then as the day goes, I feel even more tired than I did before the coffee. and I end up feeling depressed and anxious. Any suggestions and support would be great. I will try again, I won't quit trying to give up caffeine. Hopefully I'll kick the habit for good soon.
- Michelle

I'm writing again cause I need to vent. I am still struggling with caffeine addictions. because of the caffeine, I have trouble sleeping, feel anxious and depressed, and I just have a hard time functioning overall. I hate being addicted. I need help.
thanks for listening,
Michelle

Hi Michelle,
I am SO sorry about not getting back to your last post about us emailing each other -- I just noticed it now :-(. I would love to exchange emails with you and help support each other. I am still addicted too ... in fact, I am not sure I would be the best support person for you since I am still hitting the caffeine pretty hard.

Still, if you would like to try I would love that. I hope you'll forgive the oversight on my part. Let's see -- is there away to private mail each other from this forum, and exchange email addresses that way?

I am sorry to hear how hard this caffeine addiction is for you. Please hang in there and don't beat yourself up. We need to take things one day at a time. I am already on Lesson 12 and still drinking my coffee and tea throughout the day, although I think it might be a little less lately.

Be gentle with yourself. You'll be able to do this when the time is right, and with us emailing each other and helping each other out it could really make a difference for both of us.

Keep me posted ...
Fondly,
Maureen

Me too! I was weaning myself off..then I had a really bad morning..really foggy and sluggish so I caved and had a cup...and whoa! I felt fantastic! Which led to another cup and bang! I'm back on the java again! I'm back to trying half-caf again..I went to decaf at one point but have yet to find one that tastes good!

However, I'm not gonna beat myself up about it...if I need to take it slow then that's just the way it's gonna be...at least I'm trying!

it's good that you are trying Leajay. I hope that we can get passed these addictions. I feel the depression and the fatigue, moodiness, sleepiness, everything when I try to come off of it, but then again, I also feel those things on a daily basis when I am on the caffeine. I'm sure that once I get past that beginning part of detoxing from caffeine that then I will feel a lot better. It's just that first part. It's so hard!!!

I was addicted to a pot of coffee every morning. I have depression and anxiety, and take cymbalta. I would make a pot and then walk the kids to school, knowing that when I got home, I could enjoy 3 large cups w/ tons of milk and some sugar until 11 sometimes 12. What a waste of time that was until I finally let go of coffee, the process of making it, drinking it and the unproductiveness it brought ME...! (I used to love to check email, watch Live w/ Regis and Kelly. I was so unmotivated!) UNTIL!! my mother kept telling me that coffee was causing me stomach pain (yes, I have gastritis) and I was so stubborn, I heard her advice for years, she'd say "sarah, coffee caused me to have stomach problems too, you're just like me" until I decided (since I was using Lucinda Bassetts advice, as well as trying to lower my cholesterol) I might as well get rid of coffee while I'm at it. (Mom's are right!) Finally, I took her advice, cause I had such bad gas pain in my intestines (one glass of red wine on my bday set it off) I had to do something different. I switched to herbal TEA and it is awesome!!! I drank 1 pot of decaf for 1 week, then I switched to tea. This is the brand you need, Traditional Medicinals. Try Organic Ginger (promotes healthy digestion-stomach) or Organic Peppermint (healthy digestion - intestinal gas pain) 3 times a day after a meal....[read the box on how to make it (let it steep for 10-15 mins)] Get rid of coffee, I did and you can too! Make it a new ritual! And only order decaf at starbucks!!!

Good for you, sarah for quitting caffeine. I hope that I can have that same motivation. I have been having less in the past few days and I hope that I can continue with that until I am completely caffeine free. For me, it's a real struggle though. Hopefully with help and support and determination I will be able to break free. It's not good. Sometimes it is not available and when I can't have it, I feel terrible. I don't want to have to be dependent on it anymore. I need to break free.

I haven't read all the responses on this thread. I saw one suggesting using only half real coffee and that's a good idea, to cut back gradually.

I was addicted about 22 years ago. I had gotten into the coffee habit when starting in accounting. I drank coffee all day long. It eventually caused more depression and I knew it was time to quit. It took me a year to completely get off it. I started drinking decaf and did some mixing of real with decaf. I couldn't stand decaf by itself to start. After about a year I was off totally. You can do it, just do it gradually.

It's been half and year since I started this thread and I am still struggling with addictions to caffeine mainly and also sugar. It's both physically and mentally addictive for me. When I try to stop, I feel really tired and half alive, barely able to do daily tasks. I've tried going off gradually, but I usually just go back to having the regular amount. Mentally I tell myself that I need it in order to feel normal. without it, I think that I can't make it through another day. Yet at the same time, I KNOW that caffeine and sugar causes more anxiety and more depression and it depletes me of my natural energy. How can I get passed the mental and physical roadblocks in my recovery from this addiction? Is there maybe another person who is struggling with the same thing that I can make a deal with to quit for good? maybe if I have someone else to quit with, I will do it 'cause I don't want to be the one who breaks the deal.