I've weened myself off caffeine

[Random Axe]

I was recently diagnosed with high blood pressure, which is no surprise given our circumstances. I was given medication to bring this down, but I also decided to help myself with this. I was someone who would easily drink 6-7 diet Mt Dews a day and maybe also a Monster. I don't like hot beverages so coffee wasn't an issue. I have been without for three days now after two weeks of tapering down. I initially had headaches but those went away after a couple of days. Now I'm almost exclusively drinking water. I love those flavoring shots like Mio too. I actually feel much better without all the caffeine and I really don't crave it.

So lets recap, I don't drink alcohol, don't eat sugar and now I don't drink caffeine. I might as well move to Utah...

[batmanmc]

Congratulations Scott. That's great .

[Hector]

Try diet 7up...no sugar, no caffeine...that's my go to soda now, gotta have that fizz with my dinner.

I also love G2...that's low calorie Gatorade.

Water is obviously king though.

BTW, good for you!

[BENDY]

like your Utah quote.

[hedrap]

Stay away from the Diet drinks. The Aspartame will give you massive headaches.

Drink black tea about two hours after you wake up. It has about 47mg of natural caffeine, but it also has an effect of leveling off the stress in your blood, which is a big part of your issues. The amount of caffeine you were taking down was closer to 500mg a day. The daily max is 400, but that's pushing it. I try and not take any in after 4pm, and I'll keep it to around 150 on days I'm know I won't be active.

Magnesium, Zinc and Folic supplements will also help. Fruits, vegetables and fish of course.

[Hector]

I don't get headaches drinking diet sodas (my sister does though, especially anything with caffeine, including some teas).

It just depends on each individual.

Actually, drinking too much tea has its negatives as well, but as you pointed out, drink up to a set point.

Having said that, he gave up caffeine, drinking black tea might not be for him. But caffeine-free tea might hit the spot.

And obviously other supplements and eating the right foods is sound advice.

[jwyblejr]

Try diet 7up...no sugar, no caffeine...that's my go to soda now, gotta have that fizz with my dinner.

I also love G2...that's low calorie Gatorade.

Water is obviously king though.

BTW, good for you!

If you need something with fizz,go with sparkling water. Like Sparkling ICE or Glaceau Fruit Water. Black raspberry is my go to flavor for both.

[Hector]

I drink sparkling water too, I have a Soda Stream, lol.

Soda Stream's syrup flavors suck...but it makes great fizzy carbonated water, I just squeeze a little lime juice into the glass.

I's a big fan of Perrier, but it can get expensive.

[Hector]

I just like to vary my drinks, just like foods, or I'll get bored.

[Hector]

Scott, you like fizzy drinks?

I recommend getting a Soda Stream, you can get a used one on eBay cheap (some people get tired of them)...then you add those flavoring drops you like...you'll have another drinking option.

[megoapesnut]

Good for you Scott. Stay away from that crap. I haven't had caffeine for over 3 years and I don't miss it a bit.

Hec, stay away from those diet drinks. Do a search on aspartame toxicity and see what you find. It's nasty stuff. I drank diet sodas for about 3 months many years ago and developed a terrible case of gout that the doctors couldn't explain. Got off the diet sodas and it cleared up immediately.

[Gorn Captain]

We mostly drink a kind of chicory (from grains and nuts) if we want a hot drink.
As far as fizzy drinks are concerned, I usually drink Bio Cola, which is made from agave syrup.

That way, I avoid caffeine completely.

[Hector]

Good for you Scott. Stay away from that crap. I haven't had caffeine for over 3 years and I don't miss it a bit.

Hec, stay away from those diet drinks. Do a search on aspartame toxicity and see what you find. It's nasty stuff. I drank diet sodas for about 3 months many years ago and developed a terrible case of gout that the doctors couldn't explain. Got off the diet sodas and it cleared up immediately.

I only have one 12 ounce can a day with my dinner, that's not gonna hurt me.

Never had gout, but I hear it's nasty.

[Red Hulk]

Congratulations Scott.

[ubermanx]

I did the same once. No soda, coffee, black tea or anything. Basically the only thing I drank was water and an occasional milk or peppermint tea. The headaches I got from caffeine withdrawal were horrible. Mind you this was going cold turkey from a habit of five cups of coffee and 4 cans of soda a day.

I fell of that wagon pretty hard after about 11 months when we bought one of those Kuerig coffee machines at work. After going nuts with countless cups a day I am back to only one to two cups of coffee a day and about one small bottle of diet soda a week.

- Marty