[TaintedGoth1]

Hey I thought I'd start a post for those of us who are trying to rid ourselves of one nasty addiction--caffeine.

Ok...today is my first day weaning myself off Mountain Dew.

I'm drinking pineapple orange juice instead...I figure I start the day with Mountain Dew and drink the juice in the evenings...and then just add more juice/other healthy drinks each week... It's about the only way I can help myself with the Mountain Dew addiction and since I don't sleep without Seroquel I figure cutting it out before bedtime first will do me better than the other way around.

So this is day 1 of working towards my caffeine addiction recovery!

Yay me!

[ziggy1]

I wish I could get rid of caffeine but its all I have left..I get horrible headaches if I don't have a coffee or 2 during the
Day....i guess once you get past the headaches your all right.

well goodluck Tgoth...let me know how it goes???

[ECHOES]

ziggy, you can avoid the headaches by weaning off. mix reg and decaf and slowly go from mostly reg to mostly decaf then to all decaf.

[Perna]

Going cold turkey has caused bad headaches for me in the past but they only lasted a couple days. I use to do it on a weekend so I could start the next week at work okay.

I just keep my coffee intake low now or I'll have trouble getting/staying asleep at night. I don't do sodas very much anymore so I just have to contend with my couple cups of morning coffee and every few days I halve that just to make sure it isn't getting out of control.

[TaintedGoth1]

I haven't had any caffeine since 5 pm! Woot! I'm so proud of myself because I usually give in by now! I'm so proud of myself!!!!

Yeah, you've gotta wean yourself or you get all those nasty withdrawals--I've tried cold turkey and it about killed me! So I decided to wean myself this time.

It's surprising, though. I thought I'd be super tired by now but I'm not...I'm a little tired but not much.

[Perna]

Hey, TaintedGoth, how you doing today?

[ziggy1]

I will try that echoes 1/2 decaf and 1/2 reg. Sounds like a good

deal. Coffee tends to irritate my stomach to, which is nother

down fall, I even tried a new coffee by folgers for sensistive

stomachs, it works pretty good. But I want to give it up all

together....Thanks again Echoes, and every one else that has

responded.....

[TaintedGoth1]

Well today has been a little hard...I know...and it's only day 2!!!!

I ran out of my juice...I'm drinking some strawberry banana juice right now...but I'm not that crazy about it at all! I think maybe I'll make some iced tea or something tomorrow.

I'm trying really hard to stick with this juice right now but that bottle in the fridge is SOOOO tempting!

[Brian37]

drank a 6 pack of Mountain Dew before 12 noon yesterday..........

i have to drink that much to keep up with my 3 year old......

[seeker1950]

Yes, I too am addicted to caffeine. I like that you've started this caffeine recovery thread....good idea!
Back at the start of my teaching year last fall, I was anticipating how I keep a cup of coffee with me at all times, just to keep going with the middle schoolers. So, before school started, I went cold turkey and rid myself of all caffeine. Yes, I had terrible headaches for several days, but then they went away. I know, I know, one can wean oneself away from it, but I've never been very good at that. Anyway, I did go caffeine free for several months, and I actually found I had more energy than when I was on caffeine.
At some point during the school year, I began drinking the regular coffee again, and I'm back in the same caffiene rut. I doubt I can change this till the school year ends in a couple of months. But it's a good idea, and I hope to do the weaning this time, maybe starting this week.
Patty

[Christina86]

I find it interesting that Mountain Dew has caffeine in it (in the USA). It doesn't in Canada...

I'll probably go cold turkey over the summertime (like usual), but right now I'm in the midst of exams and doing that to myself with be kinda massochistic.

[TaintedGoth1]

OMG! It doesn't have caffeine in it in Canada???? How odd is that? In the US it's the soda with the most caffeine!!!!!

[Christina86]

There's some rule that if it isn't a dark soda/pop (like Coca-Cola or Pepsi) that it can't have caffeine unless it calls it an energy drink. You can get Mt Dew with caffeine in it (and it's called an energy drink) I believe... but it's not the standard pop you can get anywhere. *shrug*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Dew

it says it there

[Perna]

In the U.S. you can't get Mountain Dew without caffeine I don't think :-) We don't have any of those naming rules about caffeine. Usually root beer doesn't have caffeine so I'll alternate drinking that if its after about 2:00 p.m. where i can get it as I like it almost as well as Coke/Pepsi. I just don't like caffeine too late in the day as it makes difficult/restless getting to sleep and then the next day I have trouble getting up, etc.

[TaintedGoth1]

Well I'm taking a day off...lol. Yeah just so down today that I don't care much about the progress...but I was doing good...but it was getting harder and harder.

Tomorrow is always another day....

[TaintedGoth1]

Ok....I'm back on track today!!!

Yesterday I made a few gallons of iced tea....so that's what I'm drinking tonight!!! Yay! I feel so proud of myself for not giving up when I normally would have! That's progress for me.

The thing for me is if I'm not drinking Mountain Dew, it better be something I really really like. I've never liked coffee so tea's my next best option and my dad's a huge tea drinker! He has a cup of hot tea and some toast for breakfast every single morning! He never misses it! Of course on the weekend's he has like eggs and sausage on top of that...but during the week it's just hot tea and toast. So at least it's something that I know we'll always have on-hand...and I won't have to worry about running out of it.

[TaintedGoth1]

Even more progress this evening! I'm so glad...and I even hit a depressive snag and stuck with my iced tea! That's quite a good thing for me!

OMG! Today I walked out to the kitchen and just looked at all the extra Mountain Dew out there! I buy 4 6-packs of Mountain Dew a week...by now I would've had only one 6-pack left....I have a little over 2 6-packs!!! I am so amazed with myself!!!

[TaintedGoth1]

Oh wow...I'm still on this thing...

I have discovered what to drink and what not to drink (other than the obvious Mountain Dew). Ok...stay away from anything like iced tea and other things that aren't natural in nature.

I've found that if I stick to pure juices (anything with a strong flavor) then I don't have the craving for the Mt. Dew. Honestly, the best thing I've found so far is straight pineapple juice...it has that bite without the carbonation...lol. I'm having trouble sticking to this thing...it's so much harder than I had expected! I was trying this orange tangerine stuff but it was too easy to go and grab a Mt. Dew...I just didn't like it enough to keep drinking it. I bought a huge can of pineapple juice and I could drink this all day and night!!!

I'm still at 2 bottles of Mt. Dew a day...it's just a matter of me finding something I like to drink just as much as I like Mt. Dew!!!!

[(JD)]

Caffeine Content Of Popular Drinks

Soft Drinks
12-ounce beverage milligrams

Red Bull (8.2 oz) 80.0
Jolt 71.2
Pepsi One 55.5
Mountain Dew 55.0
Mountain Dew Code Red 55.0
Diet Mountain Dew 55.0
Kick Citrus 54.0
Mellow Yellow 52.8
Surge 51.0
Tab 46.8
Diet Coke 45.6
Shasta Cola 44.4
Shasta Cherry Cola 44.4
Shasta Diet Cola 44.4
RC Cola 43.0
Diet RC 43.0
Dr. Pepper 41.0
Diet Dr. Pepper 41.0
Diet Sunkist Orange 41.0
Mr. Pibb 40.0
Sugar-Free Mr. Pibb 40.0
Red Flash 40.0
Sunkist Orange 40.0
Slim-Fast Cappuccino Delight Shake 40.0
Ruby Red 39.0
Storm 38.0
Big Red 38.0
Pepsi-Cola 37.5
Pepsi Twist 37.5
Diet Pepsi Jazz 37.5
Diet Pepsi 36.0
Wild Cherry Pepsi 38.0
Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi 36.0
Diet Pepsi Twist 36.0
Aspen 36.0
Coca-Cola Classic 34.0
Cherry Coke 34.0
Lemon Coke 34.0
Vanilla Coke 34.0
Diet Cherry Coke 34.0
Snapple Flavored Teas (Reg. or Diet) 31.5
Canada Dry Cola 30.0
A&W Creme Soda 29.0
Nestea Sweet Iced Tea 26.5
Nestea Unsweetened Iced Tea 26.0
Lipton Diet Green Tea with Citrus (16.9 oz) 23.0
Barq's Root Beer 23.0
A&W Diet Creme Soda 22.0
Slim-Fast Chocolate Flavors 20.0
Lipton Brisk, All Varieties 9
Canada Dry Diet Cola 1.2
Diet Rite Cola 0
Sprite 0
7-Up 0
Mug Root Beer 0
Diet Barq's Root Beer 0
Sundrop Orange 0
Minute Maid Orange 0
A&W Root Beer 0
Slice 0
Sierra Mist 0
Fresca 0



Other Beverages
8-ounce Beverage milligrams

Coffee, Drip 115-175
Coffee, Brewed 80-135
Coffee, Espresso (2 ounces) 100
Coffee, Instant 65-100
Tea, iced 47
Tea, brewed, imported brands (avg.) 60
Tea, brewed, U.S. brands (avg.) 40
Tea, instant 30
Tea, green 15
Hot cocoa 14
Coffee, Decaf, brewed 3-4
Coffee, Decaf, instant 2-3

[b]I agree that getting caffeine out of your system is a good decision, however, drinking juice is dumping sugar into your system, and it has devastating results also...

[mandazzle]

I'm supposed to stop drinking caffeine because it's bad for my anxiety/heart problem but I don't. eep.

[PasDeDeux]

I read this thread but don't post usually because I am not going to quit all my Iced Tea..I should it could help me sleep better and maybe kill some anxiety...but I can't. Yet I saw this and had to smile thinking of you..I wish I knew how to put a big red circle with a line through it like NO MD...(think of Amy Winehouses song Rehab I love it ..and smile youre doing good)


.. I wish you all luck its hard to kick a habit...If you like Root Beer it has no caffine

[TaintedGoth1]

OOH! It has Slice! I didn't realize that didn't have any caffeine in it!

Sky, I have a nasty sugar addiction on top of the caffeine addiction. I know I have done some damage because if I don't have any sugar intake I get nasty stomach pains...so after I can get off this Mt. Dew I'm gonna work on the sugar part of it.

I'm gonna try getting Slice next week and no Mt. Dew...hopefully that will help me out more.

[(JD)]

Even though I have to watch the amount of tea I drink because of iron anemia issues, I buy the decaf teas, and try to stick with green or white tea.

I do enjoy (and I mean ENJOY) my soda with popcorn at the movies; it's all part of the experience. I drink the new Zero Coke which doesn't have the metallic aftertaste that diet drinks do. I don't like the chemicals, but since it's rarely more than once a week, I will live (I hope) with that. I still stir the soda, to get rid of the carbonation. When I take it home (free refill) I leave it open in the frig to go totally flat!

When I have difficult breathing, I drink hot coffee. Not only does the hot liquid help open up the airway, but the caffeine does too. Caffeine is a drug and if you use that way, do it smartly. I will also "use" it to try and help curb a migraine while the migraine med kicks in... caffeine constricts the blood vessels, and migraines operate on the wide open vessels to the brain creating "too much" blood flow.

How is everyone doing on curbing their caffeine? I think it's great that you are working on this!

[TaintedGoth1]

I'm a migraine sufferer as well...so I take 2 ibuprofen and a bottle of Mountain Dew with it!!! I know that's bad...but it works. I hate those monthly migraines...they seem to kill me!

Yeah my goal is to be totally caffeine free within a month! That's the plan. I think my thing is the carbonation...I just love it. So maybe Slice is the way to go!

[TaintedGoth1]

Well....I wanted to update you all on my recovery...

I did not buy any Mountain Dew this week!!!! Wahoo! I'm so happy about this. What am I drinking? Well, I've been switching it off between several things:

1. Tropicana Twister soda
2. Arizona Green Tea w/ Ginseng & Honey (green tea is supposed to help you lose weight too!)
3. Water

Yes, I've been afflicted with the awful headaches...and I've been SOOOO tired! I have no energy...but I do feel different. I don't have the constant cravings to eat all the time, either! I don't feel as hungry since I quit the Mountain Dew on Friday. Yes...I said Friday!

I was doing a little research and apparently the side effects can last up until 9 days after stopping the caffeine...so we'll see. But I really am proud of this accomplishment! Although I'm in the beginning stages, the caffeine should be completely out of my system in about 2 weeks.