DOSE:

1 - 2 cup

oral

Coffee

(daily)

BODY WEIGHT:

100 lb

Caffeine Withdrawal Experience

My love of caffeine began while I was in college. I started with drinking a cup of coffee every now and then as a way to wake up either in the morning or in the afternoon. I loved the effects of being awake and more focused. As time went on, I began to drink more until it got to be 1-2 cups of coffee every day.

This never really seemed to be a problem until I started getting headaches from NOT having my daily cup. Nevertheless, I continued my habit. If I got headaches I would just take an NSAID such as advil.

Recently I began getting excruciating heartburn/reflux, to the point where I couldn’t sleep at night, so I finally decided now is the time to quit caffeine. I knew I would experience withdrawal. What I didn’t know was that the withdrawal would be so extreme.

The worst part of the withdrawal was 48 hours after quitting. I got the worst migraine of my life, along with flu-like symptoms (body aches, nausea, fever). I am currently on day 5 being caffeine free. I am still struggling with migraines. My mind has been foggy and I have felt unmotivated to do almost anything. I also have had very bad muscle aches all over my body.

The biggest lesson I have taken away from this experience is realizing the power of caffeine addiction. I never knew, until I quit, that I truly was addicted to caffeine and that it does have an impact on my body. I never really consumed large amounts of caffeine at once, however I did consume caffeine every single day, no matter what.

On a positive note I am noticing that it does feel good not to be so *amped up* all of the time . I’m beginning to get glimpses of what it feels like to be truly present, calm and at peace. Hopefully the headaches will go away soon!

[Reported Dose: "1-2 cups coffee per day 5 years"]

Exp Year: 2014	ExpID: 103586
Gender: Female
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jul 10, 2019	Views: 4,486
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Coffee (173) : Retrospective / Summary (11), Hangover / Days After (46), Addiction & Habituation (10), Not Applicable (38)