Quitting caffeine - info/questions

[Laura707]

I quit coffee for years but eventually went back to it. I had the head aches when quitting. I drink a pot every morning now and sometimes a cup in the afternoon but I make mine a lot weaker than anybody I know. I also quit all soda's for many, many years but now drink one every now and then, usually only several a month, sometimes none in months.

My thing is I have low blood pressure, it has been low all my life and without coffee to get me moving in the mornings and getting it up, I hardly have any energy at all! The last time I had a procedure where I couldn't have anything to eat or drink and had to be put under, my BP bottomed out, dropped so low that it scared the BG's out of everybody.

I would bet it was the aspartame in the diet soda's that had you messed up. There are 90 some side effects of aspartame and while in SMALL amounts I think it is safe but it is not meant to be used in large quantities. I won't use it at all, avoid it at all costs.

I have to admire your doctor for refusing to give you this anxiety meds! Most of them are to quick to give them to people that really don't need them rather than find out what is causing those anxiety attacks and getting rid of them. We need more doctors like yours! I had one try to give them to me and insisted I take them and I was NOT having anxiety attacks or depressed.. I laughed at him and walked out. Never been back to see that one again!

(He never asked me how much coffee I drank or if I drank soda's )

[max's mama]

Originally Posted by Isle_Gal

So I went to the dr. this morning with the goal of getting a prescription for an antidepressant - for anxiety issues that have been troublesome lately. After a loooooong consultation, I was shocked to hear the dr. decline to give me a prescription b/c she was worried about my caffeine intake (4 or so cups o' coffee each morning, and around 6 Diet Cokes a day). Apparently caffeine toxicity symptoms parallel anxiety symptoms. Just thought I would share that b/c I never knew, but the symptoms are eerily similar!

So I agreed to quit caffeine (and cut back on my wine consumption - to 1 or 2 glasses per night rather than downing the whole a bottle) and see if it helps. I am worried about how I'm going to get thru the morning w/o coffee. I guess I will buy some decaf tea bags (enticing ) Has anyone else quit cold-turkey and was there anything that was helpful For that matter, did you FEEL better when you weren't a slave to caffeine?

I quit cold-turkey when I got pregnant and for 9 months of pregnancy I didn't drink any coffee.

Let me introduce you to one beautiful Godsent drink called: Teeccino
This is the best coffee substitute on the market.
It tastes very similar to coffee and it comes in many different flavors. It is prepared exactly like coffee, you can brew it or perculate it. It is completely natural, not a single chemical or artificial sweetener.
This saved me. It also gave me energy because it has some potassium in it.
Here you go:

Teeccino Caffeine-Free Herbal Coffee / Coffee Substitute Coffee Alternative

[OhZone]

The Aspartame in the Diet Drinks is far worse than caffeine. Also you need to consider your intake of MSG.
KNOW THIS:

With one exception, [SIZE=+1]aspartame[/SIZE] and processed free glutamic acid (MSG) cause identical adverse reactions in people who are sensitive to them.(2) In addition, the free glutamic acid found in MSG and the free aspartic acid found in aspartame both have been shown to kill brain cells and cause subsequent endocrine disorders in laboratory animals.(4) (We don't do such experiments on humans.)

http://http://truthinlabeling.org/ (broken link)

There is lots of useful information on that site. Far, far too much to put into a posting here.