The Nightmare of Coffee

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 12:00 pm

So, people in the know.

About three or so months ago, when I was adjusting from a sleeping schedule of 'go to bed and wake up whenever the fuck you want' to 'wake up at 6:30 AM every day for class', I used coffee to help me get my butt out of bed, drinking about two cups every day.

I finally 'adjusted' to the sleeping schedule and I now get about 7-8 hours of sleep a night. The problem is that I'm still dog-tired when I wake up and I need to drink coffee if I don't want to feel groggy until noon.

I like coffee but I don't want to become dependent on it to kickstart my day. What do you recommend?

Murtak · Post by **Murtak** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 12:15 pm

Get that body moving. Walk, do sit-ups, dance, whatever it takes to not stand still or worse, sit down. If you are worried about your caffeine intake, but can't get going without it, use less of it.

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 1:35 pm

A long weekend with no engagements a bottle of aspirin and going cold-turkey.

Seriously, caffeine is an easy habit to kick.

Nap when you get tired, take aspirin for the withdrawal headache and you'll be clean and feeling okay in about 72 hours.

Then for the next few weeks, you probably want to try getting to bed an hour earlier and work to kickstart your mornings with activity and natural sunlight - but that's more about trying to adjust metabolism

Zinegata · Post by **Zinegata** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 1:43 pm

Just don't drink coffee until the effects wear off.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 2:11 pm

Ease yourself off it. Try to make do with only 1 cup a day; maybe a cup of tea as well if you really need it. Buy yourself some decaf.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 2:38 pm

out of curiosity, what, exactly, is wrong with a caffeine addiction? I love mine, my demons and I have never been closer, so to speak, next summer we're going to visit every Starbucks in America...

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 2:54 pm

I was once addicted to caffeine as a result of energy drinks. I tried to go cold turkey, but the withdrawal symptoms had me nomming codeine like candy, and I can see drawbacks to using one addictive thing to cure an addiction for another.

After that, I slowly eased off - from 2 bottles a day to one larger can of a different energy drink, down to 1 bottle, then down to regular Coke every whenever.

So I suggest doing it slowly and gradually. As for the energy thing, I hear apples are good for helping you wake up.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 3:15 pm

I need to cut back. I went cold-turkey for a while on all drinks except for water, and managed to get through the headache okay.

But one of the reasons my post count is so high is because I cruise the threads here to wake up. Nothing wakes me up like trying to think...

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:04 pm

Well, one of the problems with caffeine addiction is that you need more to get the same result. Also, some people notice other side-effects.

I do the same as Maxus. Reading really does it for me.

-Crissa

the_taken · Post by **the_taken** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 8:57 pm

I personally hate the taste of coffee. I only drink it to wash down the cocktail of allergy medication I take, mostly to counter the drowsiness. As soon as allergy season is over, I'm coffee free for months.

Try having it black, and getting some really finely ground beans.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 12:37 am

There is a season for allergies?

-Crissa

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 1:01 am

Crissa wrote:Well, one of the problems with caffeine addiction is that you need more to get the same result. Also, some people notice other side-effects.

I do the same as Maxus. Reading really does it for me.

-Crissa

side effects such as what?

the_taken · Post by **the_taken** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 2:03 am

Crissa wrote:There is a season for allergies?

-Crissa

When you are allergic to specific pollens, yes. There's a certain plant that releases airborne supper pollen for a few weeks a year, and I'm allergic to it. Also, thanks to global warming and that freakish cold air syphon in the arctic, whatever that plant is doesn't pollinate the same weeks every year, so I have to wake up with a leaky nose when it decides to start, and guess when it ends.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 2:26 am

Oh yeah, it's allergy season in North Carolina.

Rejakor · Post by **Rejakor** » Fri Apr 09, 2010 5:56 pm

Caffeine has very little effect on me. Similarly, painkillers, knockout drugs (they seriously had to dose me three times to operate on my broken leg), sleeping pills, and all but one type of allergy medication. I drink a lot of it, usually via tea, but sometimes forget to drink anything but an occasional jug of water when i'm into something and don't get any of this withdrawal symptom business.

Conversely, I always have a low level headache and despite never getting 'sick' always have incredibly low levels of energy and wake up far more tired than I was when I went to sleep. As in, while I do suffer from allergies from time to time (floor polish and dust mites), the last time I had a cold or flu was... seven or eight years ago? Might be longer. So. I can't relate to any of this addiction business at all! Ha, ha!~