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What are the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal?
Regular caffeine consumption reduces sensitivity to caffeine. When caffeine intake is reduced, the body becomes oversensitive to adenosine. In response to this oversensitiveness, blood pressure drops dramatically, causing an excess of blood in the head (though not necessarily on the brain), leading to a headache.
This headache, well known among coffee drinkers, usually lasts from one to five days, and can be alleviated with analgesics such as aspirin. It is also alleviated with caffeine intake (in fact several analgesics contain caffeine dosages).
Often, people who are reducing caffeine intake report being irritable, unable to work, nervous, restless, and feeling sleepy, as well as having a headache. In extreme cases, nausea and vomiting has also been reported.
References.
Caffeine and Health. J. E. James, Academic Press, 1991. Progress in Clinical and Biological Research Volume 158. G. A. Spiller, Ed. Alan R. Liss Inc, 1984.
Comments
Unbelieveable. I have been
Unbelieveable. I have been eliminating caffeine from my life and i am in excrutiating backpain - the small of my back and running down the back of both legs. I figured it was lack of caffeine because once before I had tried and given up because that pain was so bad. I decided to 'google' because most people tell me they get a dreadful headache. I did get a headache which i would describe as mildly annoying but this backache is something else again. It is (as you say Frank) reassuring to know that other people are experiencing the same thing, because I can steel myself to just get through it knowing that it won't be long and i will be both caffeine free and pain free!
Cathy
I have a kidney infection
I have a kidney infection and am not supposed to drink any caffeine for a few more days. Besides having pain from the kidney infection, I felt HORRIBLE this afternoon. I was tired, had lots of nauseau and my head was POUNDING by 3pm. I had a fever and was hallucinating by 5pm. This is some scary stuff. I felt worse from this than I have ever felt while trying to quit smoking. I just can not live without coffee.
I have been off of caffeine
I have been off of caffeine now for 7 days. The headaches only lasted about two days but the anxiety and nervousness have lasted much longer. I notice it getting better each day but it is still there. I am still VERY tired and still seem to be in a brain fog most of the time. I think the reason that I have not have the muscle spasms(at least not yet) is that I have been drinking MUCH more water than I used to(between 96-128 ounces a day). I still feel somewhat depressed but that too seems to be getting just a tad better each day. Lately, even though I have not had muscle cramping, by late evening my legs, and even my arms to some extent, feel like I have weights tied to them. They are so heavy and I am so exhausted. Boy, I had NO idea how strong of an addiction I had to caffeine. If you are just beginning your journey to being caffeine free don't feel you are going insane, it is the caffeine...no one else around you will understand unless they have been through it themselves...it seems silly to them. Just know that we here on this message board understand and know that you will survive it.
Is it all worth it? I`d
Is it all worth it? I`d like to hear about people who are already in the clear; these horror stories aren`t really helping me in my conviction. I mean I want to get "clean", I know that (thats how I ended up here) but can`t really see a light in the end of the tunnel, so it`s hard for me even to really commit to detoxing and I haven`t been off caffeine for many years although I have had several try`s. Post some survival stories and explain how your life has changed (for the better I`m guessing, that`s why I´m still trying). PS. Sorry for rambling on, caffeine tends to have that effect on me.
Yes! It's coming up to six
Yes!
It's coming up to six weeks since I stopped and it's all finally settling down. The tiredness seems to have gone and if I'm tired now, it's at the end of the day when you're supposed to be tired. Keep going.
Glad to see your post on how
Glad to see your post on how long it took for the symptoms to pass. I've been off caffeine for a couple of weeks and am still nervous, unmotivated and tired. I sure will be glad when this whole process is done. Thanks for the post...it's encouraging.
Awesome! I REALLY needed to
Awesome! I REALLY needed to hear this as I'd like to give it another go very soon. Thanks a bunch!
Caffeine
Its so nice to read this. No one around me understands what is going on, they think I am too stressed and it is causing panic attacks (to an extent, it is) but this sounds just like me. I kept on thinking what these symptoms were from, I thought I was going crazy! I feel tired, like I am going to puke, and my leg cramped on me really bad this morning, which it has never done before. I was drinking up if not more than 4 or 5 sodas a day and occassionally a coffee in the morning or a Monster Engergy drink, and now I quit cold turkey about 4 days ago, when all this mess and haze started. I also had no idea how strong caffeine was. I am around my 5th day and am starting to feel better now, I was exremely anxious and then depressed the last couple days and it seems to be getting better today. Lets hope tomorrow is even better. Good luck everyone, and if you are thinking of quitting caffeine, then take it easy, slow your intake day by day, try and not just quit.
"Recovery" period: how long?
I quit the stuff nearly 5 weeks ago. I realised, thanks to this forum and others, that the cause of what appeared to be chronic fatigue syndrome may have been caffeine induced. My GP told me to go away and come back in a few months if I was no better. That helped, not. After stopping, I got some of the usual (bad) headaches but the tiredness is still there, although it’s “different†in a way and is now helped by having a kip. The former caffeine-induced fatigue is particularly unusual and seemed to start with an odd tightening at the back of my head. Has anyone any idea if this length of recovery time is normal and how long will it take to get my flippin’ life back? Or am I just a loon?
I don't know...last year I
I don't know...last year I went 31 days with no caffeine and felt really dead the whole time...every morning was a chore to get out of bed and it took several hours just to be able to half-way function...my sleep never did normalize, however I have lost some weight since then and sleep through most of the night so I am thinking seriously of trying again soon...but man oh man it sucks to have to go through that "just to see"....but then I think to myself, if caffeine is the solution then it must be the problem right?