I need to kick caffeine...

[GoddessOfGuinness]

Any suggestions about how to go about it?

I usually have 2 cups of coffee in the morning and 1-2 cups of tea in the afternoon. I rarely drink sodas, but I'll occasionally have a cola or Dr Pepper. I find that it aggravates performance anxiety at times; but I get a nasty sinus headache if I don't have it.

[SaintAnne]

1. I just quit

I used to have one cup every morning, sometimes one in the afternoon to help get through afternoon classes. The best way is to cut down little by little, or else you will be having headaches like you won't believe. I went through like two or three days with intense headaches and it was hard, but it's worth it!

[SnowGoose]

2. Taper it off.

I've gone on and off the damn caffeine several times, and I've had better success when I taper it off. I get those headaches too, if I try to stop suddenly. What's worked for me is to drop one caffenated beverage at a time, and then cut that last morning coffee down to 1/2 reg, 1/2 decaf for a couple of days.

Sounds pathetic, I know, but quitting cold turkey makes it feel like my head's going to explode.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

7. No, it doesn't sound pathetic...

It's nearly impossible for me to function with one of those headaches. Thanks for the advice!

[yardwork]

3. Cut back and then stop the coffee entirely

Switch to green tea in the afternoon, which has less caffeine. Or go to herbal tea, most of which has no caffeine.

You're going to have those headaches and a generally loggy, drugged-out feeling for about a week, but then it will be over. Clean and sober!

[AllegroRondo]

4. Cut back slowly at first

and drink lots of water.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

10. Water sounds like a good idea...

Seems like it would help flush the drug out, anyway.

[Beer Snob-50]

5. Unless those cups are actually 1 gallon jugs

that doesn't seem like a large amount of caffeine. You shuld be able to just go cold turkey. Maybe switch to decaf. You may have a headache for a day or two but after that you should be okay. I speak from experience as I did the same (I used to drink 6 or 7 cups every morning at my desk). I cut it out completely for a while but went back and now only drink 2 cups in the am and maybe an ice coffee in the afternoon.

[ZenLefty]

6. I went cold turkey. It actually wasn't bad.

Don't drink decaf or anything, just drink more water and fruit juice, or whatever you like. Decaf coffee just makes you miss the real thing more. Green tea makes a good substitute for black tea, and contains only a trace of caffeine. Advil really helped with the headaches, which went away after a couple days.

[blue sky at night]

8. cold turkey is rough.........

but it is amazing how you feel. I went on the stupid Atkins diet and that was the roughest part of the first 2 or 3 days......headaches and grumpy, but after the system clears (drinking lots of water of course) you feel a lot better. I have since gone back to my old ways, but only drink one or two cups per day of coffee. One other thing I did in the past was to switch to green tea, there isn't anything better for you and it has less caffeine (about 1/3) than coffee, or you can get it decaffeinated. Good Luck. :)

[MuseRider]

9. Got a cse of the bouncing bow?

Can't help you but it does aggravate performance anxiety, yes it does. I remember when I was taking violin lessons and had to do my jury that I had such stress and so many nerves I could not keep the bow on the strings. It was awful!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

16. I take Propanolol (beta-blocker) for perf. anxiety;

but yesterday I noticed that while the tremor was not there, concern of what others were thinking about me and/or my playing was distracting me from making music. I'm pretty sure it's because I had finished my second cup of coffee only about 4 hours before the gig.

A little caffeine now and then might not be so bad; but I want to free myself of the addiction.

[MuseRider]

19. I just never drink it

before I perform. I am a narcoleptic so I can take quite a bit of it on top of my Ritalin but I usually don't drink it anymore within about 6 hours. The older I get the less stress I can take before a concert, it really ruins the entire day as far as getting anything else done. I tried the beta blockers but they made me really feel strange. I suppose they still use Inderal. That is a drug we used in the hospital to bring down blood pressure and since mine is usually about 90/60 it gave me tunnel vision and I was almost passing out. So, I quit it. I know most soloists these day do use it.

Getting off of it would be great. Let us know how you do and how you do it.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. Propanolol is the generic

form of Inderal. I feel so fortunate that I haven't experienced problems with it.

I read somewhere that it takes 12 hours for the effects of caffeine to wear off. I'm not sure how much time I'd need to have it not affect my performance. So I figure it's probably best for me to just quit.

My mom has low blood pressure like yours, and uses caffeine to keep herself functional.

[sam sarrha]

11. change to Green Tea, the Japanese vacume packed foil bricks..

you get them at Asian stores... more antioxidants than a bag of oranges...

you can try Mate'.. it has a different active element, Matemines.. they aren't jittery.. massive nutrition and apatite suppressant. but a bit alkaloid.. some brands are better.. Cruz de Malta is a decent brand as Mate goes. it is the national afternoon drink of Argentina and south America.

but as for as the Caffeine withdrawl goes.. taper off to one cup in the morning and then cols turkey... you can try aspirin for the headaches.. but they didn't work for me. the headaches will last only a few days.. just wait them out.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

17. Sounds interesting...

Would I still undergo caffeine withdrawl if I substituted Mate?

[billyskank]

12. Caffeine-free tea

I recommend Redbush, also called Roibosch, and Roibush, and Rooibos. It tastes very much like regular black tea (in my opinion nicer) and it's naturally caffeine free.

I used to drink lots of black tea, and now I'm completely converted to Redbush.

[Dora]

13. Rooibos (or red-bush) Tea

I just discovered this tea - it is a gentle stimulant (non-caffeinated) and it also has some anti-inflammatory properties according to the gal at my market.

I've been drinking it for four weeks - it has a nice flavor, it brews to a brick red color, and is good with or without sugar/milk.

It's great when my head is stuffy.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

18. I'll have to try this...

It always seems like caffeine headaches are sinus related.

[miss_kitty]

14. slowly.

caffeine withdrawal causes major headaches. Have some OTC migraine med around (Excedrine Migraine, Advil Migraine) to help with that. It has caffeine, but in measured doses.

[Meme]

15. kick caffeine? is it like.. addictive?

:o I just started my caffeine addiction I guess... exams in one week, way too little time, caffeine is my new best friend at the moment.

Will read this thread again if I get headaches next week ;) Gonna get me some coffee now :p

[miss_kitty]

22. From Johns Hopkins

http://www.caffeinedependence.org/caffeine_dependence.html

[GoddessOfGuinness]

24. Thanks for the article

Very informative!

[Wallflower_Liberal]

20. I'm kicking it too with Soyfee...

It's made out of roasted soy beans and tastes a lot like coffee but without the caffeine. And it also comes in flavors (I'm using Mocha). I've been slowly weaning off the coffee. I'm at 2/3 Soyfee 1/3 coffee right now. I've avoided the withdrawl headaches that way (well, I have a screaming headache right now but that is because I've got some virus.)

I'd link you to the Soyfee site, but I don't know if that is against TOS. I can buy it in my local health food store.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

21. Welcome to DU!

I should've known there'd be a soy alternative! Thanks for the tip....I'll check it out! :D