The Caffeine Circus Cycle of Fail

I know this thread is not for me cause I’m still drinking 1 (one!) coffee per day but just wanted to say that since I cut back I’m definitely less irritable. And I’m not consuming so much mints to get rid of coffee after taste in the mouth. No headaches luckily. Energy levels same as always but I’m helping myself with other tea/herbs beverages.
Im gonna keep lurking here, wish you all the best!

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That’s great. Better than killing your three little monsters :joy::grimacing:

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Checking in. I’m surprisingly not missing energy drinks. Next I’m cutting out coffee. I think that’s obviously going to be much harder, because I’m going down to close to zero. I’m excited to continue the process though.

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Checking in at the end of day 23.
I am feeling my body a lot more now. Whatever energy level, fluctuation but also pain. I don’t throw caffeine at it. I felt this afternoon that I drank too little since the later morning, I got some sort of headache and noticed that I barely drank anything. Also I had a lot of stress this morning and how did I manage this? I shuffled cashews in myself. I later lost my nerves and let a project manager know. I apologised afterwards. I am glad that I usually can say that I am sorry when I feel there is the need for it.
After work I went to a yoga class and while I am usually struggling to do 15 min of yoga at home I can easily focus on 75/90 min in a f2f format. I am even enjoying it atm and can relax a bit.
Reading from relapses here I don’t want to go back. I know where this will end. At my usual level. One cup in the morning is an optimistic thinking. I’ve done this too many times before. Then went back to my initial level. Just like with alcohol. 1 bottle a night was some sort of routine filling for me to feel bad enough in my own world, crying myself to sleep in self pity. I was my own victim. Now, with this step (early baby stage) I feel like another layer got off and I have to deal with things differently. One day at a time.

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Good job making it through 23 days. You’re doing great even if it might not feel like it. It takes time for the body to fully recover. Just take it one day at a time. How is your sleep?

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It’s still poor. Watch says regenerative but in general way too short, 5-6 h. I’ve taken once one pill to sleep (something you’d take against allergies) and I slept like a baby. I could fall asleep after waking up around 2 to 3 am. Then some nights later, half of it and it worked as well.
This night was so bad, it’s only half past three here. I went to bed and obviously I had eaten too much and more obviously something which was not good. I am now sure it’s onions, cooked even. I had massive diarrhea and circulation problems, I was freezing and had to put on a second long pyjamas. I tossed around. Somehow feel asleep only to be woken up by my sensor alarm. I had to change insulin and all and could barely stand. So, all in all a very bad night. I have now some more things to change: how much I eat at night. And when before sleeping. This will be a problem. I’ll see.

I am glad today is a holiday and I can rest.

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24 days today. I am still sick but cannot really understand why. Yesterday my blood pressure was so low. Today was a bit better and I thought I could work but cannot be in a upright position for too long. No appetite at all which is really not normal as I can usually eat all the fucking time. Got a doctor’s appointment for Monday if it’s not better by then. Maybe it’s from the tick bites. Idk. No cough, no sneezing, no nothing. Just extremely weak and unwell.

Also feeling guilty as I cancelled my vacation day today (bridge day here) to work as the weather is bad. And now called in sick which might seem strange to HR.

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@Madds how are things going?

@Puzzled I hope you feel better soon.

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I tell you something: I have just updated my closed loop app and built it alone without a mental crisis, crying, even when it failed twice I did it.

I am so proud of myself now :grimacing:

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26 days caffeine free :sunflower:

TMi

I am now glad that I made an appointment to see my GP on Monday morning.
I was desperately thinking about what I could eat yesterday and thought a chicken soup would be great. Had some for lunch which and felt better physically during the day compared to Thursday. But felt like full for way too long. Had another plate for supper and this got somehow stuck in my stomach. I couldn’t sleep at all. I couldn’t lay down. I usually eat a lot lot for supper and not only a plate. In addition I had diarrhea again some time after lunch. So at 11 pm I tried to sleep again. Pointless. I had to get it out. So I did. Felt a bit better but it still feels not good. Didn’t really sleep of at all.
My recommendation is: never google your symptoms. And never google your symptoms when you have T1D.

I’ll still go out for a little hike today. Weather is soso.

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Not too well. I might need to bite the bullet and try totally caffeine free this week. I’m not feeling super successful because I’m not being strict enough.

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What do you mean with that?

My problem was always that the tapering down never worked like it wouldn’t have worked with alcohol.

If you have a week off that’s a great opportunity. You could do something else instead of focusing on you withdral. Like hiking/walking. Some low concentration thing in fresh air.

You can do this. :upside_down_face:

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I’m getting down to the crumbs over here and thought I’d talk out the feels. I am extremely excited for my pot of coffee on my day off but that is just the routine I know now. Soon my routine will be different and healthier. I won’t talk moderation because I am not a moderate but I would be lying if I didn’t fantasize (now, while I am still drinking coffee) a cup at a sidewalk bistro from time to time. Here is the meat of that fantasy, I have never wandered into a sidewalk bistro for a cup of coffee, that is a projection of an idealized life made up by my brain as it thinks it is losing something. Plus I’d rather have tea and a cookie from now on.
I don’t know what this phase will look like, probably very hard in the early days like any addiction but I do know my brain is pushing me to do this so we’ll see what life looks like on the other side. I anticipate the same push back with “well one cup a day decreases/increases your chance of…:face_vomiting:”.
I have never voluntarily stopped at a cup of anything. Onward. Thanks for leading.

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@Madds good luck going to zero next week. You can do it. Tapering isn’t for everyone, as @Puzzled talked about, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

I think a lot of people have an aversion to recognizing caffeine for the drug that it is because it is so ubiquitous and it seems harmless and can be helpful. So it feels like it shouldn’t be so hard to just cut back or quit. Yet a lot of people do actually have a hard time quitting.

Like you, @TrustyBird, I used to hope that eventually I could just have coffee on occasion, but for me I will spiral in the same way I would if I let myself have other drugs.

As for people who will say, “well, one cup a day is good for…”, my response is generally, "Just because a thing can have certain benefits doesn’t mean I have to find room for it in my life. There are many times I choose not to eat fruit, and inevitably someone will say something like, “but fruit is healthy. Isn’t it extreme not to eat fruit?” And my reply is always that brussel sprouts are also healthy but I don’t eat them. No one has ever said that was extreme. Not everything is for everyone.

All of us have different bodies and different reactions to foods, drinks, medications, herbs, etc. For all y’all who are quitting caffeine, just keep going. You’ve got this.

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@Puzzled I guess I just told myself “I’ll start by cutting back from energy drinks” and that wasn’t specific enough so I’ve just been all over the place, some days not drinking any caffeine, and some days back to multiple energy drinks, which isnt good at all! I just didnt plan it out enough to set strict goals to keep. I need to do a faster and more specific cut-back to get back on track.

@Chiron thanks for the encouraging words! I think i just have an excess problem here exactly like I did (do) with alcohol and maybe I need to cut it out completely. I’ll give it a try and keep you updated!

@TrustyBird i understand what you mean about the thought of missing it! How much coffee is left?

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Exactly @Chiron. I am no moderate. I have always had a pretty tricky relationship with sleep and tiredness (too much/too little) so I’m hoping taking that last stimulant out of the picture should help me discover what my body actually wants.
This will be my last week with caffeine @Madds. I’ll try not to talk too much about my taper here in case it triggers anyone but I am sure I will need a vent here and there in the next couple of weeks.

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Day 27 for me here. My stomach is finally better. I guess the chicken soup I made contained to much fat from the bones and stuff which were the problem. I felt very weak yesterday.
Took a sleeping med which helped me to sleep roughly 8h. Now I feel some headache creeping up my right neck. But we won’t solve this with caffeine, will we? Might in fact come from my rotten posture which I saw very impressively when I did a body analysis last week.
Still one day at a time. Looking forward to my 30 day massage on Friday. :grimacing:

Edit:
I am seriously asking myself how much therapy I attended to balance my caffeine intake. I’ve already written this I guess. [I’ve cut out alcohol which numbed my feelings and left myself behind with a large amount of caffeine which is a stimulant and also kept on writing here that my mental health was just not getting better, only worse over the years…]
But the thing is that my new therapist asked me to sum up what I achieved during my therapy over the past year. I cannot remember of course. :expressionless_face: What I think is acceptance is what I have gained a lot. Is this enough as a result? I learnt some useful techniques and skills also.

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This for me is not triggering. What is as this thought was just popping up in my mind as I am hiking in the here and now: what if I can have this only one cup in the morning suggestion as it is healthy or not harming. This leaves me here standing like a fool who cannot handle it. The stupid who cannot control the intake.

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I have followed this thread pretty consistently since I joined the site knowing that one day I would have to face this addiction too. Just like alcohol, cigarettes, any DOC we don’t crave one. We crave an altering of our current state.
I’ll make my last or second to last full caffeinated pot today. I’ll be into the decaf by Wednesday at the latest. I am a day old coffee drinker (cold, gritty, over cooked, gas station brewed) if the math isn’t working out on the days.
The genius in this thread lies in the title. We want one, we step back into the cycle, we get frustrated we can’t stop at one, soon we are back to two pots/day. Congratulations on stepping out of the cycle. There is nothing wrong with wanting and knowing we can’t have just one. That is our strength. You are kicking ass.

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Day 28 caffeine free.
Idk exactly how long I slept but it was longer than 7 h sure. Without aid. :grimacing: At least once. That’s a good thing.

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