My Caffeine Addiction 

I remember watching Urgelt's video years ago...This is what youtube SHOULD be about, REAL people sharing bits and pieces of their lives, not the commercialized pop culture idiocy that's all over the website today =( Urgelt please make more videos!! I would love videos where you simply read from poems or storybooks. Your voice is very therapeutic.

Been coming back to this video for years now; it’s oddly relaxing. Crazy to think this video is 17 years old now-your channel belongs in a museum! Hope you are healthy, and wishing you many more happy new years to come.

Coffee itself is not just caffeine, there is a cocktail of other chemicals, namely Beta-carboline that acts as a potentiator for caffeine. Much in the same way tobacco contains harmala alkaloids and B-carbolines, that potentiate nicotine. Tea is a much more balanced array of alkaloids that smooths the caffeine effects, thanks to antioxidants contained in the leaf

I was blind, and now I can see... I know the feeling well. That was me, 29 years ago. For seven years I had no clue what was happening to me. It was all unconscious. I think 2 cups of coffee is enough to establish a mild addiction in most people, and as you know, once you're addicted, drug tolerance comes into play, making your body seek higher doses. Understanding that, and putting your conscious mind in control while the addiction is still mild, is a good thing.

I struggled with caffeine addiction when I was in my teens and this video came out around that time and helped me over come it! hope you are still doing well

I miss you so much! I wish you'd come back.

People don't understand just how addictive caffeine really can be. People throw around the word addiction too lightly but when you are really both physically and psychologically addicted to it, it is kinda like being an alcoholic. Bad reactions to it are rare so most people don't understand what this like but for some people it is as horrible as hard drugs!!!! I'm both physically and psychologically addicted to it. Believe me it's really, really hard to give up! I started using a lot of caffeine to counteract the exhaustion caused by my depression. It made me feel awake, alive and almost positive at first which my brain couldn’t do on its own! But it really just makes everything worse and I still keep reaching for it because I have a have never been a strong person!!! I go through 1 to 4 cases of Diet Mountain Dew a day. That means I can reach up to 48 cans in one day!!!! I'm a brain dead zombie without it, feeling extremely disconnected and almost slightly drunk and too physically sick to function!! But with it my thoughts race and I'm edgy and irritable and sometimes kinda manic!! Either way I feel completely crazy!! I'm not blaming the caffeine I have mental health issues I’m working on but it's really not fair that people don't take it seriously! People with addictions or any mental health problems are already treated like crap but what does someone like me do? There’s no rehab for this, the world runs on dunk’n! Most people with more serious addictions just laugh at me thinking I'm somehow faking this. I have high blood pressure, heart issues, get dehydrated easily and the aspartame in it is rotting my brain making my depression worse! In most people it probably is a benign substance but I wish people would understand that it is still a drug and it can still be a problem for some people. I struggle against the urge to self medicate my mental health issues with worse things and I've managed to pull back my drinking so I don't become an alcoholic but no matter what I do I can't stop myself from consuming caffeine, I feel so fucking powerless to it!!!! I always say I’ll stop, or it is my last one but I know I’ll go back to it because I always do!!!! I hate what it has done to my life and who I am because of it but then all I can think about cracking open a nice cold can of dew and forgetting my problems for a few moments!! And then the guilt and shame and the cycle starts again! But when you try to tell people they just laugh at you because it can't be real! Maybe it is just me? Maybe I’m just some kinda freak with no self control at all! Maybe I just failed at this like everything else in my life!! I really hate the thing I have become!!!!!!

I drink 4 monsters a day. Help!!!!

this is an interesting story, my ex husband was plagued by mirgraines in the same frequency and duration you describe, like a couple days of every week were migraines - I asked him to consider his diet/food choices. He refused. He just wanted a drug and like you, the drugs were full of caffeine. . . He honestly thought the caffeine was helping he drank coffee all day long

Damn right caffeine is bad for you...i don't drink it for 2 weeks now and i am feeling so much better! (note: i am having strong social anxieties) The only problem i experience is with gym motivation, i was used to drink strong black before a training seasion.

How inspiring. You are a smart man by figuring it out on your own. Thank you for sharing. I am a 1 or 2 cup in the morning drinker, but convinced to quit now😮

I lost count of my years with caffeine addiction.im now30 and I started taking caffeine in different forms as a teen.i know I would take pain killers with caffeine such as Excedrin with a coke or even energy drinks.im now out of control taking 4-10pills a day every single day!!!to keep going with my chronic migraine issues.doctors don't help at all.i cut caffeine cold turkey about 5 times up to fifteen days in a row.but then I get back involved with things I have to do like work as and chores little by little I get hooked up again in Excedrin.i feel miserable hopeless and helpless.i want to know what it feels not to have a migraine again.ill like to take back control of my life,and not pain controlling my life.

Your options are: 1) Do nothing. At the dose you are taking in, likely your symptoms will worsen. 2) Quit cold turkey. Withdrawal is very tough to get through, but this option lets you do it in the shortest possible time. I think it will help with your sleeping within a few weeks. 3) Taper off gradually. You can't avoid withdrawal symptoms by tapering, but you can ease them somewhat. The downside is it takes much longer; you stretch out the discomfort.

Definitely inspires me to totally quit caffeine for the rest of my life. It's hard. It's not just the effects of caffeine that I enjoy, it's just the whole thing about holding a cup of hot, black coffee in your hands. But it's getting to the point it's making my anxiety go crazy. It's not going to cure it, but caffeine definitely will make me anxious/nervous for reasons I never would be before, and things that do make me nervous, it just escalates it to a whole different level.

About how coffee makes me feel: irritated, unhappy, depressed,I don't tolerate when someone does something stupid,I sleep badly and my stomach gets inflated. thank you for your video, maybe it will help me now..

Your English is good enough, Shay, I understood your comment. The first step to ending an addiction is awareness, and you've completed that step. You understand exactly what caffeine is doing to you. The second step is the decision. You've made yours. Now comes the hard part. Withdrawal is no fun. But if you can get through the first 30 days, I think you'll start to feel better.

True. In my total ignorance about caffeine, I abused it. There was no moderation in my habits back then. It's my hope that if we can inform people, they'll make better consumption decisions. Alas, mainstream media isn't interested in educating people about caffeine. They would not wish to upset their advertisers.

I'm constantly amazed at the number of people who believe that the truth about a thing - in this case a drug - is established by consensus. Nature is indifferent to our opinions. The properties of drugs in humans don't change at our whim; it matters not what laws we pass, or what consensus we form. A drug's harm or addictiveness depends on our physiology and the drug's chemical nature, and only on those things. It's a lesson we all need to take on board. I'm glad you have done so.

Absolutely, I couldn't agree more, especially on the fact that most of society is ignorant to just how powerful, and addicting, caffeine can be. Sadly most people don't understand that it's a "drug" at all!

You have a point. That's why addictive foods and beverages are so dangerous to us, they exploit our weakness. I think the only counter to that weakness is to be aware of it and exert conscious control over ourselves. It's not effortless.

Congrats, SOUPRUNO1. You've done well for yourself. For me, the worst symptoms of withdrawal were over within a few weeks, but like you, I didn't feel "right" immediately. I still felt cravings when I smelled coffee brewing, for example. And my migraines diminished gradually, not really coming to a complete end for several months. I chalk that up to profound changes caffeine makes in the brain. Ending the addiction is just the first step; then your brain needs to heal the damage.

You're absolutely right. Because media treats caffeine as harmless - which they do to benefit advertisers, their life's blood - there's a reality disconnection in our minds. It's a rare caffeine addict that realizes their addiction is a health problem, and an even rarer one who decides to take action. Most of those go it alone, as I did. I think if you look hard enough, though, you'll probably find a forum.

I needed to hear Ur story right now as I'm suffering from a bad caffeine headache. Tomorrow,I'll be fine.Last year I realized that my "weekend headaches" were due to not consuming coffee over the weekend.My realization took some time because I never thought 1 cup a day could equal addiction.I quit. Last week I had a heavy workload & decided a cup of Lipton tea a day shouldn't hurt.Boy,since Sunday evening, my head has been pounding & I can't eat. I'll never do that again. Thanks for this vid.

It's a potent addictive drug. Not the most potent and addictive, but by no means is it benign. Persons suffering from anxiety and panic attacks are well advised to stay away from caffeine. It can make things much worse. I'm glad you're feeling better, Stephen.

I like the perspective in which you present caffeine. It is so socially accepted that people don't even think about it as an addictive drug with side effects that have such a negative impact on ones quality of life. Thank you for posting this video.

It's good that you understand your situation, 2pawd. What drives me nuts, looking back, is how long it took for me to realize that I was abusing a drug and addicted to it. I was totally oblivious. Like everyone else around me, I believed caffeine was completely harmless. I don't believe it now. Science doesn't think it's harmless, either. I hope more people will get the word.

Your story mirrors that of many of the viewers who left comments. It's easy to fall into the trap. We are taught to "just say no" to drugs which don't profit industry, but the message for caffeine is "no worries, drink up." Advertising targets a younger audience these days, too. That isn't helping matters. Good luck with your cold turkey, Rez. Won't be much fun, but you'll feel tons better once you're gotten through it.

Oh, absolutely. The notion of migraines continuing - and mounting in intensity and frequency - for the rest of my life was a real motivator. I wasn't sure it was the caffeine doing it until I quit cold turkey, and they tapered off and ended. But I had strong suspicions. Once that was confirmed in my mind, there was no chance I'd ever resume high-dose caffeine consumption.

Deceptive advertising is at the heart of the popular belief that caffeine is harmless. Our opinions are shaped by it; we can't quite get it through our heads that anyone would lie to us in a slick, professional, feel-good commercial. This, too, is part of the solution to soaring health care costs. We have to stop the corporate lying about food and drugs, and that's where the FDA should be leading the way.

The signs of caffeine intoxication include restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, flushing of the face, increased urination, gastrointestinal disturbance, muscle twitching, a rambling flow of thought and speech, irritability, irregular or rapid heart beat, and psychomotor agitation. Overdose can produce mania, depression, lapses in judgment, disorientation, loss of social inhibition, delusions, hallucinations, psychosis, rhabdomyolysis, and even death. (Source: Wikipedia.)

Wow! I Have to thank you for posting this, I have a girlfriend who has constant migraines and I will share this information with her. I drink a lot of yerba mate which has caffeine too... I can't drink coffee at all, I start shaking and my mom told me she drank it during her entire pregnancy with me, this was before women knew better I think... thank you! I've learned a lot.

I'm glad you understand your addiction. And I respect your decision not to end it. My main purpose is to inform. Many do not seem to grasp what caffeine is - an addictive drug - nor how it might affect them. I'll advise you to keep an eye on your dosage, and keep the other eye on how it affects your health. You know what to look for.

One of the lowest moments in the FDA's history was its craven capitulation to the food industry's demand to approve aspartame as an artificial sweetener, despite its toxicity and addictiveness. I hope you can stay free of the horrible stuff, Sue.

Interesting story! I gave up coffee 25 years ago, since it gave me nausea, stress, and discomfort including slight depressions. Since then, I have gradually decreased caffeine use, like in tea. I now drink only water and sometimes hot cocoa and beer. Unlike caffeine addicts, I do not feel sleepy in the morning; no need for a caffeine shot! Headaches have never been a big problem, though I have them occasionally. Drinking a few glasses of water before sleeping helps a lot to prevent them.

It's very, very good that you are able to connect your symptoms to the cause. It took me seven years to connect those dots... because I just couldn't bring myself to regard caffeine as harmful. My head was full of the 'common wisdom.' It couldn't be that. Could it? It could, and was. I'm not on a crusade to get people to do what I think is good for them. For me, the name of the game is accurate information, so people can make up their own minds how to go forward. Good luck, GM.

I've come to view most drugs in the same light, whether prescription, over-the-counter, found in consumer products, or illegal. Most are blunt hammers; they produce some effects we desire, but they also produce harm. Drugs should be a last resort; but there is profit to be had in selling them, which means advertising, which means our minds are saturated with a distorted view of their benefits. But here and there, people are catching on. I'm glad you are joining us, Peter.

Thanks for posting this! I usually stop and get an energy drink on my way to work and almost always have soda with meals. I recently started getting heart palpitations, panic attacks at night, depression, mood swings, problems concentrating and chest pains. After doing some research on the internet I found out that these can be side effects of caffeine. Today I have decided to start my new life caffeine free including chocolate. We'll see where this takes me.

Caffeine is a short-term mood elevator. Withdrawal could cause temporary depression in some people, or make it worse (if already present). For people who have been diagnosed with chronic depression or bipolar, and wishing to end their caffeine addiction, caution is wise. It's advisable to consult a doctor about how to proceed without triggering an unpleasant event.

I stopped consuming caffeine two days ago. Ironically, I was finding myself always exhausted and always stressed when I was on caffeine. I'm experiencing terrible headaches and feeling extremely lazy, but much more calm. I hope this will be the right course of action to feel better. You certainly had an interesting story. Thanks for sharing.

Making the logical connection between symptoms and cause is surely the hardest part. Our information environment is saturated with messages to the contrary, assuring us that caffeine is "harmless energy," rather than the psychoactive, addictive drug it really is. Good luck to you, MWC.

Remember, that's a snapshot. Caffeine, like many addictive drugs, produces an effect called 'drug tolerance.' Your body responds less to a given dose over time. If you keep your dose constant, eventually you'll feel very little from the drug of benefit to you. If you allow the dose to rise, you'll get side-effects of increasing severity. You may be comfortable with your addiction for now. But it may cause problems for you down the road.

ok thank you very much ive cut caffeine out for 3 days, last night got about 10 hours sleep after being awake for around 38 hours, i feel so much better, thank you very much all the very best to you.

It's hard to become addicted to green tea, I think, but probably not impossible. Here's what you can do to virtually eliminate the risk: - Use one tea bag per 18 oz mug of water. (I actually like the taste of it this way, using stevia for sweetening.) - Drink lots of water along with your tea. (Green tea is a diuretic, so you'll need more fluids.) - Mix up your teas. 3-4 green tea bags per week, the rest herbals. Do that, and I think the risk of addiction is vanishingly small.

It's not easy to quit under any circumstances. But you're right, being surrounded by other addicts makes it a lot harder. Especially because of how addicts behave. Your quitting is vaguely threatening to them. You'll take some grief. Under those circumstances, cold turkey is probably the only tactic that has a chance to work. Good luck, Bob.

I'm convinced that food choices are as important, if not more so, than caloric intake. Just recently, scientists have uncovered vital roles for certain gut flora species in promoting or preventing obesity, insulin insensitivity, and inflammation. The food choices we make may be modulating helpful or harmful gut flora populations! Ending addictions is no easy thing. Withdrawal is unpleasant, to say the least. But it can be done. Good luck to you, SonofSilas.

Strangely, stimulants can have a calming effect on children. In adults, it's the opposite. Stimulants can worsen anxiety. The transition occurs during your teen years, which is where you are now. For this reason, I recommend being cautious about drawing conclusions about how caffeine will affect you in the future. The past may not predict the future very well at all.

Thank you so much for sharing your story :-) It's great to hear someone talk about caffeine in this way.

I most sincerely wish you luck, BigDane417. It will be rough- maybe very rough, if you've been a heavy user. But if you can hang in there, it will get better. You should notice it getting easier within 30 days or so. I got echoes of cravings for years after I quit, but they were easy for me to resist. All I had to do was remember the migraines. Your body will want rest - lots of rest. Your adrenal glands will need time to recover. Heavy caffeine use is very hard on them.

Just as a point of clarification: migraines almost always affect only one side of your head. If it hurts on both sides, it's very likely a withdrawal headache, but not a migraine. Caffeine can relieve migraine symptoms in the short term by dilating blood vessels in the brain, but in the long term, for many people, caffeine can make them more vulnerable to getting migraines. Acknowledging an addiction is the first step to recovery - if you want to recover, that is. Good luck, AoCranger.

I used to be awfully addicted to caffeine (I consumed instant coffee excessively on a daily basis) some time ago, but now not as much. Now, I drink only one cup in the morning and I am glad to say that I have become more stable emotionally and such. I am thinking of completely cutting off caffeine, at least for a while, since I also suffer from anxiety. Thanks for this helpful vid!

Your story reminds me of my own experience with coffee. I never was much of a coffee drinker, but the following summer i finished my degree, I had aquaintances with Mr. Migraine almost every weekend. The cafeteria where I worked stored free coffee and it was surprinsingly good. The coffee machine was empty? Just make another batch! It was a weekday job and I could easily drink 2 to 3 coffees a day.

That's good progress. Green tea has less than half of the caffeine found in regular coffee. It's still more consumption of the drug than I think is healthy. Here's one thing I do: when I make green tea, I use one tea bag in an 18 oz mug, not a cup. I add stevia to sweeten it. And I keep a tall glass of water on hand, too. Altogether, that's a lot of water and not very much caffeine. If I decide I want more tea, the next mug will be an herbal variety.

Well said, PA. You have clear vision. Tapering off an addiction is an alternative. It works for some, not for others. I don't honestly know if it's better than cold turkey, success-wise. I went cold turkey. I wanted to get it over with, not stretch out the withdrawal process. I don't regret it.

Awareness is a good first step. Your options now are to let the drug addiction continue, knowing it will extract a heavy price eventually, or begin to end your addiction. It's entirely up to you.

Drug addicts often substitute one addictive drug for another. It's usually not a sign of progress. But the example you cited shows how "habits" can be altered, with the new habit being less harmful or dangerous. A beverage drinker has a ritual that is part of the habit. Substituting a non-harmful ritual - like preparing and drinking herbal tea - can help with breaking the addiction. Your point also illustrates how a person can take conscious control away from the subconscious. Thanks!

Headache (but not a migraine headache, which occurs on only one side) is one of the classic caffeine withdrawal symptoms. It's clear evidence of an addiction. If you can tough it out, the headaches will eventually fade and you'll be unaddicted. Or you can try tapering down gradually, which seems to work for some people.

Don't underestimate it. It's considerably harsher- in terms of addictivity, psychoactivity and physiological harm - than some illegal drugs. Hope it goes well for you, DH.

You're doing great, Mariana. If you can stay off caffeine for a few more weeks, you'll be well past the worst of it. I think that the intensity of withdrawal is a measure of how addicted a person is; if it's profound, then the addiction is advanced. Fortunately, the body adjusts to lack of the drug. Getting lots of rest and drinking plenty of water should help with that. Perhaps the best thing about quitting is the drug is no longer making decisions for you; you're back in charge.

I know the feeling. To an addict, water just doesn't satisfy. The only way it *will* satisfy is to bludgeon your way through withdrawal and end the addiction. I drink lots of water nowadays, and it quenches my thirst perfectly well. I think drinking herbal teas (sweetened with stevia) might help a bit with the dry throat. But if you are going to quit, there is simply no way to avoid the unpleasantness of withdrawal. No pain, no gain.

I'm 15 years old and trying to kick the caffeine. It's been going on for almost 2 years, with my daily intake ranging from 100mg to 500mg, sometimes even more. One week is the longest I've gone without caffeine since 8th grade. But thank you for posting this video, it gave me a bit more motivation, and I do hope to break my habit by the time this summer ends.

Thank you for posting this. I was a heavy Mountain Dew and Diet Mountain Dew drinker for years, and I found it made my anxiety and depression much worse. Now I only have caffeine on a sporadic basis and my symptoms are much improved. I think there's a lot of truth in what you say about questioning medical professionals, because many pharmaceutical companies pay lobbyists to convince gov't officials to allow certain drugs, when they may not be safe. We have to be careful and trust ourselves

There's nothing quite so profitable as a product which, if the consumer tries to stop consuming it, nails him with a giant headache. Crack, heroin, nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, aspartame - they're all psychoactive, addictive drugs. Some we criminalize, some we pretend are harmless, some we treat as medical problems when they addict us. Utterly insane. Good luck with getting off of it, madhouse72, and thanks for your comment.

Withdrawal symptoms vary from person to person, but it's usually unpleasant. It sounds like you're mastering yours. Hydrating is good. Fasting for a few days probably won't hurt you much. Be sure it doesn't go beyond that, ok? If you still feel nausea after day three, you'll need to get some food in you regardless, and if that goes poorly, I recommend you call your physician. Minimize pain meds like Tylenol. They aren't really very safe. Your liver will thank you.

Two years ago when I was 15, I was addicted to caffeine. I drank a big thermus of coffee every day. This was only on weekdays, though, so on the weekends I would experience headaches and irritability. After five months of this, I began to get cramps and diarrhea. I had to go to the emergency room because my mom thought I had appendicitus, but once I stopped drinking so much coffee, it stopped. So I totally agree with this guy. You have to be really careful about how much caffeine you consume.

Commercial media doesn't like to mention it. It's bad for their advertisers. Unfortunately, it is very addictive. Which is the exact reason it's added to so many commercial products. Addicts make wonderful customers.

I began consuming coffee heavily in 1973 while working on a survey crew. Everyone on the crew gulped the stuff, so I joined in. The migraines started within weeks. I kick myself for not connecting the dots right then. Not everyone will experience that symptom (nobody else on the crew did). Unfortunately, there are lots of other bad effects from heavy caffeine consumption. It's impossible to avoid them all.

Dehydration was clearly not the cause of my migraines. I've been dehydrated many times since giving up caffeine without triggering a migraine. I attributed my migraines to caffeine years before modern science followed suit. Now it's widely accepted: caffeine is associated with migraines. If you get them, quitting caffeine may help. It sure worked for me.

Medicine is very much a trial-and-error proposition. There's just no way around it; we're still learning about how the body works, still developing effective diagnostic tests, still developing treatments; still struggling to understand what drugs do. The science of medicine has a great deal to learn before it can take out the guesswork. Doctors try stuff. Sometimes it works. Other times, not so much. Give 'em credit for trying.

You're the first commenter, if memory serves, to report that a caffeine addict can take advantage of influenza to end an addiction. I think it's a fascinating contribution to our discussion here. Sugar is addictive, too, though the physiological mechanisms are different. Sometimes the line between drugs and food seems blurred... and the blurring is made worse by industrial processing, where drugs and sugar are added to foods to hook consumers and convert them into addicted customers.

Now there is an interesting question. Alkaloid compounds, including caffeine, morphine, cocaine, nicotine, quinine, tannins, and other substances, are produced by a variety of plants for self-defense. These are all neurotoxins. Dosage required to produce physiological effects - and the effects themselves - vary greatly by species. The short answer is, it depends on the species.

I'll be the first to admit, withdrawal is very, very unpleasant for most people. Like you are doing, I quit cold turkey, gritted my teeth, and stuck it out. It was not fun. If you can hang in there for about 30 days, it'll get much easier to continue without the drug. It's worth it. Good luck, TLG.

I picked up caffeine during university to cope with exams and study. I've found nothing so far to make me want to quit it. It's helped me incredibly and improved my life, and I've never had a side effect from it that I would consider as negative. I know I'm addicted (because I feel tired and without motivation if I go a day without it), but I don't mind it as long as I can keep it coming. I'm sorry it triggered your migraines, but different things have different effects on different people.

I'm glad you know the truth about caffeine, Mike. I'm not at all glad that you're coping with chronic pain. No fun, that. One of these days, we really need to acknowledge that among the cannabinoids are drugs that are safer than any of the pain medications currently available by prescription, they are not addictive, their analgesic properties compare favorably with opiates, and they're cheap to produce.. Which is not to say there are no side effects, but we do need them in the medical system.

We aren't taught to look for negative symptoms - since our society insists it's harmless - but harmless it is not. It does produce negative symptoms. Some may take years to appear, like cancer. Other symptoms can be noticed much more immediately, including mood swings, irritability, headaches, aggression, damage to adrenal glands... the list is long. If, without the drug, you find you cannot perform optimally, the lift from caffeine might be masking a health problem.

Thanks for posting this Urgelt. People need to take caffeine addiction more seriously. Ive been heavily addicted for the last 10 years. I went cold turkey 2 months ago. No caffeine since. The first 4 days are the worst. Extremeley strong headaches and severe fatigue. I could sleep 14 hours a day. Cravings went away after 1st week.First 2 weeks i was very fatiuged then it went down. Now 2 months later im still somewhat chronicallay fatigued but not as much as before. hope it will go away

It's not just a "trend." "Energy" drinks are addictive products which manufacturers have developed and marketed aggressively with one objective: to hook consumers and reap big profits. And we are falling for it in very large numbers.

Cheers, Cooper91. If you can get through withdrawal, it'll get better. Once free of caffeine, the absolute best way to shake drowsiness is physical activity. Take walks, play sports, go bike riding. If you're sedentary, it'll be tough going forward without the caffeine.

Good luck, R1D. It's not easy giving up an addiction. If you can hang tough for six weeks, though, you'll be past the worst of it, and it becomes easier.

I didn't realize that drinking 10 cups of Green tea and eating 10 bars of Chocolate in a day was unhealthy... I just thought they were "normal cravings" I learned that Caffeine damages the brain as well as the intestinal tract. White tea is an extremely healthy "substitute" for caffeine. Thanks for your honesty ,sir ! :-)

Sounds very similar to my experiences 30 years ago, m1ms. I'm glad you caught on to the connection between soft drinks and your symptoms.

It's terrific that you were able to connect symptoms to cause, Carl. Good on you. I'm retired. During my career I was occasionally called upon to teach others in my field, but it was strictly a sideline. My speaking skills are far from professional caliber. But that's ok. If we let the pros do all our talking for us, it's going to be a much more boring world.

There are two general approaches to ending an addiction: tapering off and cold turkey. Which is right for you is up to you. The point of withdrawing is to cease relying on drugs to goose your energy levels and let your body regulate itself. Be wary of "herbal supplements" which claim to have effects like caffeine; either they don't have those effects at all, or worse, they do. Herbal teas are generally safe beverages. I drink mostly those and water.

If you are determined to quit, then the irritability is something you'll have to manage somehow. One thing you can do is inform those with whom you will be in contact that you will be going through a drug withdrawal. Tell them it will make you irritable and irrational at times, and ask for their understanding in advance. Enlist their help; make them your allies. The good news is it won't go on forever. But be prepared for it to last a few months. After that you should be past the worst.

I think that's how it is for many of us. We neither see an addiction coming nor consider it possible. I attribute our general vulnerability to misinformation. Always we are told that caffeine is benign, harmless, helpful. But if you aren't using it, you'll be sleeping better, your adrenals will be in better shape, and you shouldn't need a stimulant to function. Now that you understand your addiction, you have a decision to make, FY.

Thanks alot!! you saved my project. For my biology class we needed to make a presenation about caffeine addiction. Thanks to you im gonna get a good point. Once again. Thank you!!

Good points, Sam. I'm cautious about caffeinated teas, because of my history of addiction. I do drink green and black teas, but no more than 3 or 4 cups per week. There's so many herbal teas that I love, I don't feel I'm missing out.

I have to limit my caffeine intake because it starts causing heart palpitations after a short while. I also know a woman who had to have heart surgery after drinking too much caffeine. My doctor told me to stay off it but I talked him into letting me drink two small cups a week. I really envy people who can drink several cups a day without side effects because of the great "pick me up" I get. Thanks for sharing your story.

Yes, that's a natural way to reduce the caffeine in tea, and it doesn't do all that much harm to the flavor, either. I find that 3 green or white tea bags per week isn't enough to cause me cravings. But I agree, if you're consuming several bags a day, it can add up to an addictive dose.

I sympathize. It is bad, in the early period. It can take a couple of months to get past the worst of it, though that seems to vary among different individuals. It's been three decades since I quit, and the smell of fresh coffee still hits me hard in the gut. It's still a craving, but at least the withdrawal symptoms are far, far in the past. I'm glad for that, at least.

You've got a great mom there, DJ. She's done you a big favor. When I was growing up, my mother was herself a caffeine addict. She did make an effort to keep me away from caffeinated drinks, but the example she set taught me that "adults drink Coke." Soon as I could, I joined the club, then went on to add heavy coffee-drinking. Like many young people, I thought I was invulnerable and could handle anything. I should have known better.

Understood. Humans are creatures of habit, more so as we get older. An addiction is a habit raised to a higher power. When you've consumed coffee and soft drinks all your life, it becomes difficult to imagine a life without them.

True. Not every solution is an improvement over the problem it addresses. I'd say Michael Jackson's reliance on injected sedatives to help him with insomnia is another good example of this idea.

I'd be only pretending if I said I had a complete, satisfying answer to your question, AC. But this is a true statement: physiological addiction involves molecular changes to neurons in the brain brought about by the addicting substance. The term 'drug dependance' isn't quite synonymous with 'addiction,' which throws more murk onto a layman's understanding. In practical terms: caffeine and other addictive drugs wreak changes in the brain which generate cravings for more of the drug.

Good questions. I quit coffee and ended my migraines in 1980. I started drinking tea in the early 2000s. For more than 20 years, I consumed no caffeinated products but the occasional bit of chocolate. Now I mostly drink herbal teas and water, but I do consume about 4 tea-bags of green or black tea per week (no more than one on a given day). That's not enough to get much of a caffeine boost, and I feel no withdrawal symptoms on the days when I consume none.

*If* caffeine is triggering your migraines, you *might* have to drop your caffeine consumption to zero to stop them. I prefer not to endorse any specific rooibos brands. Tastes vary from person to person, so the best answer to your question really is "try different brands and see what you like." Go organic if you can afford it. You can usually find organic rooibos teas at any health food store - or Google for on-line sources. I like rooibos best when sweetened with a bit of stevia.

Mainstream media encourages us to avoid the term "addiction" and explain away withdrawal symptoms with milder terminology. By insisting on putting it in those mild terms, they are serving the interests of advertisers. Rest assured, in medical terms, it's an addiction. Not "like" an addiction, or "somewhat" of an addiction. Drug tolerance is a different phenomenon from addiction, where the body stops responding to a given dose and requires more of the drug to produce the same effect.

Probably there are many reasons. I'll zoom in on one of them: you live in a society which is suffused with hypnotic messages asserting that consumer products containing addictive drugs are benign, or even good for you. When you let your subconscious rule you, when you act on impulse, you are handing the power of decision to advertisers. The solution is to exert conscious control over everything you consume. It's a pain, but necessary.

I congratulate you for your insight, Christopher. Hope the rest of your step-down program goes as well.

Wonderful, Inzanex1. I think it takes months, not weeks, to recover from the physical addiction, and the cravings can persist for several years, honestly. I cringed every time I smelled coffee for a few years after I quit. But if you can tough out the first two weeks, you're definitely in the category of people who can get through the entire withdrawal period. You've got the strength of will for it. Good on you!

Caffeine intoxication is no joke; some people die from it. I'm glad you understand what is happening to you. The only question now is, what will you do with that understanding? May you choose wisely.