We live in a world surrounded by Starbucks Coffee shops on every corner and a large variety of coffee shops to appeal to our tastes and smells; constantly feeding our addictions. CNN Medical Correspondent wrote in her article called “Beware the perils of caffeine withdrawal” that coffee contains about 100 milligrams of caffeine, and that trying to become independent of the drug can make you feel a little funny. Michael Kuhar, chief of the division of neuroscience at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University in Atlanta says,
“Withdrawal symptoms can start from 12 to 20 hours after your last cup of coffee and peak about two days later and can last about as long as a week.”
With those thoughts in mind, I decided to take a trip down recovery road just to clear myself of the caffeine dependency I’ve built up since the last time I gave up the juice. I devoted one week to my self-rehabilitation. Here’s the diary of how my week was without coffee. Follow me…
The First Day:
I woke up and immediately wanted my hot cup o’ joe, the night before was a late one; I didn’t leave work until 1 am and I had to be back in at 10 am so, this first day was seriously gonna suck.
I bought some green tea on the way into work and made it while at work. I like tea and all but it’s not something I look forward too first thing in the morning. By, 10:30 AM I was still tired and starting to get irritated, so I hit the tea again, double strength. As the day went by I tried to slow the drinking down, I had another cup at 1:30 pm and another at 5:30 pm. I tried to just drink more water as the day finished. One long day down, six more to go.
Day Two:
I was hungrier than usual probably because coffee is an appetite suppressant and now I had no COFFEE! But besides that, and my 11 AM headache, it was fine. I really needed some more sleep and some mad doses of caffeine. I was really feeling the withdrawals.
Day Three:
On the third day, there was peace and way less irritation. I guessed the worst part was over. I was drinking more water too. Altogether, I was drinking about 4 cups of green tea, paired with about 2 cups of water for every green tea. I was really liking tea even more, and that was a nice little breakthrough.
Day Four:
I didn’t have any tea today, and honestly, I felt fine. I had a lot of water, and I wasn’t sleepy. However, I was tired earlier, but I’m honestly all right with that.
Day Five:
Looks like smooth sailing from here; no headaches or cravings. I desired coffee because my whole place stills smelled like a coffee house from my excessive usage, but I didn’t crave it the way I did those first few days.
Day Six:
I figured since I’d made it through the darkness of beating the addiction, that I should have a cup, but I decided against it. I wanted to make it to the end of the week. So, this morning I had a green tea vanilla latte, hot. It was delicious. I love drinking delectable drinks, and since I prefer to craft at home I can have as many as I desire. This change wasn’t so hard after all.
Day Seven:
No complaints here, but I’m ready for that cup of hot coffee tomorrow.
Well, that about rounds it up. I’ve started back on the grind, drinking just the serving size six ounces. I also only drink a cup when I would like a cup, not as a part of my morning routine, I feel that has helped break the feeling of dependency. I’ll probably have to step away from coffee again in a few months just to refresh myself, but as of now, I feel good and really ready to start the new year like a hot cup of… um… green tea -- or coffee.
Farewell coffee lovers.
