Coffee and Caffeine FAQ

Hi Everyone,
 
Just wanted to share my story here.  I've been drinking 1-2 cans of Coca Cola per day since I was a young teenager.  Over the last couple months, I've been reading about how bad soft drinks are for you and I decided I didn't want the health problems that may occur if I kept it up.  I'm 33, healthy and active, and I decided to drink the rest of the Coke in the refrigerator and quit cold turkey after that for my future health.
 
My diet isn't too bad. I eat an occasional pizza, Chinese/Vietnamese/Indian/Thai food (I'm Asian so these are my favorites) and I love pasta. The other foods I eat are toast and caffeinated green tea for breakfast; apples, oranges, and bananas as snacks; peanut butter & jelly and turkey sandwiches and salads for lunch; and chicken, fish, corn, broccoli, other veggies, for dinners.  Maybe once a month I'll have a frozen yogurt with raspberries, but I generally don't eat dessert.  I also take gummy multi-vitamins and Reishi pills, and exercise almost everyday for at least an hour.
 
For my new lifestyle, I just cut out the Coke and pizza.. I kept the rest of my diet the same but lessened the salty Chinese food and soups.  I kept the green tea so I could avoid headaches.
 
The first two weeks were great, no headaches or bodyaches that I was expecting, but I was just exhausted and stressed out since I've been working 14-16 hour days and hardly sleeping.  Work was the most stressful and overwhelming in my career, but my husband (we work together) thought it felt like a normal amount and didn't think it felt any differently.
 
The third week was extra demanding at work, I found myself eating Panda Express for dinner everyday, forgetting breakfast, and forgetting to take my vitamins.  I was sleeping 5-6 hours a night. My healthy diet went downhill and so did my exercise.  This is when the anxiety started. 
 
I had a thought that maybe I'm not feeling right because I haven't been drinking Coke. That's the only major change I made recently.  After some research, I realized I have been going through caffeine withdrawal ever since the 1st day I quit Coke without even knowing it.
 
Here's my experience:
 
March 26th - Had my last half can of coke at lunch.
 
March 27th - April 14th - Woke up with nervous tummyaches every morning, cold and sweating, weird tingling in my arms. No headaches or bodyaches at all, but I felt increasingly exhausted, unmovitated, and wanted to cry every day at every little criticism or difficulty I faced, which is very unlike me. I normally love a challenge. This is why I felt like I had the worst two weeks of my career when it was like any normal week.   I thought the nervous tummyaches and exhaustion and lack of motivation was due to tough weeks at work and my unhappiness from it all, but now I realize it was all caffeine withdrawal.  Even though I felt sad, I drank green tea, ate healthy, took vitamins & Reishi pills, and exercised regularly. I was very cold all day every day and nothing could keep me warm for longer than half an hour.
 
April 15th - 18th - Still had nervous tummyaches every morning, no appetite, started feeling a little anxiety, and more depression, unmotivated, freezing all day and all night, tingling feeling in my arms in the morning and sometimes throughout the day. I talked to my husband about how I was feeling.  I looked fine on the outside but felt incredible depression and anxiety on the inside so I felt like I had to explain myself.  Thankfully I have a very understanding and supportive husband.  He didn't pressure me at all to do what I didn't feel like doing.  I couldn't get out of bed until noon or later each day.  Didn't care about work or chores.  I skipped work a couple days. My anxiety was up and down, but I calmed myself everytime I felt it got worse.  I definitely did not want an anxiety attack.  I became worried about the consequences of not working. Started losing weight I didn't need to lose.   Ate half to one meal a day (my stomach was growling like crazy but my anxiety made it difficult to swallow), didn't exercise (anxiety prevented me from wanting to move), didn't take my multi-vitamins or Reishi pills.  I came across this site and at the advice of some here, I started taking GABA chewable, 5-HTP capsules, Bach's Rescue Remedy, and L-Theanine chewables, which worked for one day, but wasn't strong enough for the anxiety overall.  I also quit drinking anything with sugar and caffeine (no green tea and no smoothies), because I noticed the day after drinking them my anxiety increased.  At this point I knew there was no going back to Coke even for a sip to get relief.  It would definitely give me an anxiety attack.
 
April 19th - Still had a nervous tummyache and woke up in cold sweat, almost numbness in my arms.  First day of feeling anxiety all day long even with increased amounts of GABA, 5-HTP, Bach's and L-Theanine.  I stayed home all day and cried off and on.  I could handle the amount of depression I was feeling but the anxiety worried me a lot. I felt hopeless, useless, and I thought I was only getting worse and would have to quit working.  I didn't like that my husband had to see me this way.  Every activity was a huge task and I had to do them carefully so I didn't send myself into a panic attack.  I had to be patient with myself and wait until I was calm down enough to get out of bed, or brush my teeth, or eat a bite of toast, or to walk to the kitchen, or put on jeans. Every one of those tasks would make my heart race and I'd have to slow down. I knew the anxiety would be over at some point but I just didn't know when.  I thought it could be months or the rest of my life. Around 10pm, I realized because of how little I had been eating, my body wasn't getting enough nutrients and I hadn't been taking my vitamins.  I took my gummy chewables and Reishi pill (both for the 1st time in several days), GABA, 5-HTP, L-Theanine, Rescue Remedy, all at the same time.  I felt anxiety relief for the first time all day at about 10:30pm.  I was able to do some laundry, and was in the mood for the 1st time in 3 weeks to get some work done.  I was able to eat a little cereal before bed.  I also went to bed early and decided to sleep in with no alarm for the first time in months.
 
April 20th - First day of waking up with no nervous tummyache.  I had no heaviness on my chest, only slight anxious feelings.  I finally had an appetite and had 2 small meals before 2pm, one piece of toast and some noodles for lunch.  I had completely calmed down and had motivation around 2pm to go to work and drive around.  Got home around 4pm and cooked a small dinner, chicken, corn and broccoli.  I was finally feeling like my body temperature was normal, I felt good and that I could finally be over the withdrawal and anxiety, but I wanted to wait until the next day to see if this wasn't just one good day.  I ate a total of 5 small meals and took all my vitamins and supplements at night.  It was also the 4th day since my last caffeinated tea or sugary smoothie.
 
April 21st - First day of waking up with no anxiety.  I feel better than ever and am not even worried about anxiety.  I feel like I've gotten through caffeine withdrawal, depression and anxiety FINALLY!  We got out of the house, did some grocery shopping, did some work in the field, talked about stressful things, and nothing started any anxious feelings. I'm feeling pretty good!
 
So, aftering quitting Coke without researching first, and going through the ups and downs of caffeine withdrawal, here's what I recommend based on my experience:
 
- Eat apples, bananas, spinach, other vegetables, protein, peanut buttery & jelly sandwiches.  I had all these the first couple weeks but my diet declined for a week which was the worst week I experienced. I already love these foods and eat them regularly, but in my anxiety research I read that bananas, spinach, and peanut butter are all high in magnesium and the lack of magnesium causes anxiety.  Sliced apples were just something I could swallow during my anxiety. 
 
- Take GABA, 5-HTP, L-Theanine, multi-vitamins (I have the gummy version), and Reishi pills all help relieve anxiety, stress, lack of motivation, and with the overall health of your nervous system.  I followed the recommended dosage on the bottles.  I have taken gummy multi-vitamins pretty much daily for at least 4 years and Reishi pills daily for at least 10 years...  I believe taking Reishi pills everyday probably helped me to not have withdrawal headaches when I quit caffeine.  They've also "cured" my allergies and have boosted my immune system.  I can be around people with colds and flu and not get sick.  Anyway, I didn't mean to go off on a tangent...
 
- I believe quitting Coke cold turkey was a very good idea.  If I had kept up with the vitamins and knew about the supplements in the beginning, maintained a good diet and exercised, I probably would have gotten over the withdrawal symptoms (depression, no motivation) sooner and not even hit the point of anxiety.  I also think drinking green tea and ordering smoothies prolonged my withdrawal symptoms and eventually started my anxiety.
 
- Try to quit caffeine when there's not much responsibility so you don't have pressure to get things done at work or at home. It makes anxiety and depression worse when you know you need to get something done when you can't because you're depressed or anxious.
 
- Talk to friends, spouse, or anyone you know who struggles with anxiety, about what's going on.  I think it's important to share this with friends and family so you're not worried about how they feel about you or that you're hurting their feelings because you don't want to see them.  I didn't want to visit anyone, but because I told them I was struggling with anxiety, I had several friends and family texting me that they support me and will be there if I need anything.
 
- Get lots of rest.  I definitely wasn't doing this, and I believe if i got plenty of rest (going to bed early and waking up without an alarm) my body would have recovered more quickly from the withdrawal.
 
- Try to make it through the withdrawal symptoms of headaches, bodyaches, lack of motivation, depression, anxiety without going to back even a sip of caffeine, sugar drinks or prescription meds if you can.  If you don't have any caffeine or sugary drinks after quitting cold turkey, I believe the withdrawal symptoms will go away sooner.  Just remember there is an end to the withdrawal and how you'll feel afterward is worth it.  You're choosing to be healthier and all these symptoms are because of a choice you made.  It will all be over and it will all be worth it. 
 
My experience with caffeine withdrawal has taught me that caffeine is something I never want to have again.  Over the years, it turned me into an uptight, high-strung person who was always trying to get things done perfectly and in a hurry and wasn't happy when others weren't doing things perfectly in a hurry.  I was angry inside over little things and didn't realize it was my problem.  I was the most care-free person when I was younger.  Caffeine was slowly changing my personality for the worse.  After quitting caffeine, I can already tell I'm not as uptight and I am finally ok with people around me working at their own pace and in their own way.  I'm seriously a different person - more pleasant, laughing more, and having more fun. 
 
Yesterday, April 20th, 2013 is the last day of caffeine withdrawal symptoms and anxiety.  I feel 200% better today and am confident I won't have any anxious feelings related to the withdrawal again.  I hope my story helps others find some relief in knowing there is an end to the symptoms and maybe help some figure out why symptoms are hanging on.  I also appreciate everyone who has posted about their experiences.  I've read probably 30 pages of comments over the last few days, and the comments have helped me to understand what my body is going through and to not lose hope and to not give up.  Thanks so much for all the help! 
 
Now I have a few questions:  Now that I've quit drinking Coke, I feel like my body can't handle foods like I used to, like now a single glazed cashew w/ vanilla & pomegranate made my body go cold and made my heart race for over an hour.  No food has ever made my heart race.  I'm also still gradually eating more again after a week of hardly eating, so I'm wondering if my body is still adjusting from the withdrawal or the introduction of more foods again, or am I forever changed and now I have to learn what my body can handle and what it can't? What can I eat and what should I avoid?  What types of foods tend to cause anxiety?  What is everyone eating?  I really wish they would put caffeine content on nutrition labels.  Anyway, any input and insight would be appreciated!

I just quit...again.  I think this is the last time I will have to go thru this.  Even though I weaned myself off I still had the headache, lower backache and sleepiness.  For a while I was taking two naps a day and still sleeping soundly all nite.  
I drank black coffee for 15 years (47 now) and have quit several times but come back to the beast when the weather turns cold.  
Some positive things I have noticed now that most of the withdrawal symptoms are gone:
I look younger, feel more relaxed, less trips to the bathroom, my earwax no longer stinks (I know,,yucky and weird), I sleep much better and wake up at 7:00 every morning without any problem and my eyesight has improved.  I had started to need glasses to read because of my age but one day I sat down to work on my jigsaw puzzle and it was about 30 minutes before I realized I had never put my reading glasses on.  Now I can read a book without them but I still have trouble with small print on certain things.  I also think my digestion has improved slightly.
It really is a drug.  Like all drugs, there are positive effects but eventually they ruin your health.