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Caffeine use disorder

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Re: Caffeine use disorder

#111

Post by InclinedPlane »

jjkmk wrote: post #97
yeureka wrote: post #96

As someone trying to quit caffeine for health reasons I can relate to this. My current strategy is to replace coffee with caffeine pills so I can control the amount exactly and reduce it slowly until it reaches zero. Also, having to take pills when I feel bad feels rather ridiculous and makes it obvious that I am addicted.

I'm also having a caffeine problem, haven't considered pills at all. Is there a specific brand / type of pill that works well for reducing amount over time?

I've mostly switched to caffeine pills when I need caffeine (which varies, usually I try to go caffeine free). For me I find 100mg is a good amount, though if I could find 50mg pills I would try that. My preferred source is "jet alert" since I couldn't really find anything else that wasn't just 200mg.

Also, I always use an L-theanine supplement when I take caffeine, it's amazing how much it changes things. Instead of feeling all jittery and agitated I just feel less tired and more alert. This is roughly the equivalent of just drinking strong green tea.

Re: Caffeine use disorder

#112

Post by adrusi »

joslin01 wrote: post #104
strlen wrote: post #101

Personal suggestions: 1) Dark roast coffee has less caffeine and is (in my subjective opinion) tastier. So if one wants the taste of coffee without less of the effects, consider an espresso or a Turkish coffee. The latter is just called "coffee" in much of Eastern Europe, one can pick up a beautiful cezve on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3D... 2) Yerba Mate is 75 mg of caffeine per…

> I've never experienced withdrawals I don't believe you. How long have you gone without it? When did you start drinking caffeine? What's your definition of withdrawal?

My caffeine usage has varied quite a bit. At one point I was drinking a cup of coffee in the morning, some caffeinated drink during the day, and then tea in the evening, around seven o'clock. When I was eating a college dining hall diet, I was drinking a caffeinated soda with every meal, plus coffee in the morning, and tea (mostly green) on average once per day. These days I hardly drink any caffeine. The transitions between these patterns have always been abrupt, and I've never felt drowsy or had a craving or headaches or anything following a reduction of caffeine consumption.

As a kid I was taking 30mg amphetamine daily, which I stopped taking abruptly and had no withdrawal (I did eat a huge amount in the days following, but the drug was causing me to not eat and lose weight). I had been taking it for about 6 months. Later I was taking 54mg methylphenidate 5 days/week for about two years, and I stopped taking it abruptly and again experienced no withdrawal symptoms.

Different people react differently to drugs.

Re: Caffeine use disorder

#113

Post by pixelperfect »

jawilson2 wrote: post #91
tylermac1 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What was the medicine that ended up helping your migraines? I suffer from migraines semi-regularly and have at separate times taken Maxalt, Imitrex, or generic OTC migraine meds + caffeine.

Excedrin worked for me before I quit coffee. Also, since starting a low-carb keto diet two years ago, I haven't had a single migraine (I used to get 2-3 per month, both painful ones and visual auras). When I was a pediatric neurology prof a few years ago, a keto diet was standard of care for the kids, and the department was starting research into keto for chronic migraines. Give it a try!

I had the same result after switching to a keto diet 10 months ago. Do you know if there are any research papers on this? I was really surprised how effective the change in diet was because I did it on a whim without receiving medical advice.

Re: Caffeine use disorder

#114

Post by mathattack »

mdip wrote: post #39

I discovered that if I only consumed caffeine when I had a Migraine headache, that it was the most effective medicine I could take provided I didn't already have a tolerance built up so I gave up caffeine in my 20s. Frankly, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I was plagued with minor but persistent headaches for almost a month and was exhausted most of that time since I was used to grabbing a cup of coff…

I discovered that if I only consumed caffeine when I had a Migraine headache, that it was the most effective medicine I could take provided I didn't already have a tolerance built up so I gave up caffeine in my 20s.

I have heard the same. Very potent.

I've also detoxed from Caffiene in the past to reset, and been amazed at how little I can get by with.

Re: Caffeine use disorder

#115

Post by scottlocklin »

strlen wrote: post #101

Personal suggestions: 1) Dark roast coffee has less caffeine and is (in my subjective opinion) tastier. So if one wants the taste of coffee without less of the effects, consider an espresso or a Turkish coffee. The latter is just called "coffee" in much of Eastern Europe, one can pick up a beautiful cezve on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3D... 2) Yerba Mate is 75 mg of caffeine per…

There is definitely a gene for caffeine metabolism. I'm a slow metabolizer. I know people who can drink coffee right before bed and not notice.

Re: Caffeine use disorder

#116

Post by phonon »

InclinedPlane wrote: post #111
jjkmk wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also having a caffeine problem, haven't considered pills at all. Is there a specific brand / type of pill that works well for reducing amount over time?

I've mostly switched to caffeine pills when I need caffeine (which varies, usually I try to go caffeine free). For me I find 100mg is a good amount, though if I could find 50mg pills I would try that. My preferred source is "jet alert" since I couldn't really find anything else that wasn't just 200mg. Also, I always use an L-theanine supplement when I take caffeine, it's amazing how much it changes things. Instead of…

Exactly this. You can buy them combined at http://www.powdercity.com/products/l-theanine-caffeine-capsu... It's night and day compared to caffeine only.

Re: Caffeine use disorder

#117

Post by lcfcjs »

blacksmith_tb wrote: post #99
tylermac1 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What was the medicine that ended up helping your migraines? I suffer from migraines semi-regularly and have at separate times taken Maxalt, Imitrex, or generic OTC migraine meds + caffeine.

I have had some luck reducing the frequency of my migraines with high-dose vitamin B2[1], around 400mg a day. Caffeine (I only drink tea) is helpful for recovery from my migraines. 1: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15257686

Thanks for sharing, I drink a ton of tea, black tea has about 30 to 60mg of caffeine in it. So I find that caffeine doesn't do much for me, but the Vitamin B2 is interesting, i'll try it!

Re: Caffeine use disorder

#118

Post by runchberries »

jjkmk wrote: post #97
yeureka wrote: post #96

As someone trying to quit caffeine for health reasons I can relate to this. My current strategy is to replace coffee with caffeine pills so I can control the amount exactly and reduce it slowly until it reaches zero. Also, having to take pills when I feel bad feels rather ridiculous and makes it obvious that I am addicted.

I'm also having a caffeine problem, haven't considered pills at all. Is there a specific brand / type of pill that works well for reducing amount over time?

Look into time release variety. Much more even throughout the day as opposed to using all the caffeine in a matter of a few hours.

Re: Caffeine use disorder

#119

Post by pc2g4d »

speeder wrote: post #33
mcculley wrote: post #8

I weaned myself off of caffeine entirely seven months ago. Being free of caffeine has greatly improved the quality of my sleep and made my mood more even throughout the day. I really appreciate being able to jump straight out of bed in the morning without depending on that coffee to get my brain working.

I tried a couple times to get off caffeine, never worked properly... I don't feel obvious caffeine effects, but I need it to not be a wreck. Later I discovered I was self-medicating my ADHD... Now I am taking proper ADHD meds, and this allowed me to greatly reduce my caffeine use (that was wandering into dangerous and expensive territory, with me needing to drink litres of red-bull clones to work), still need it some…

> Now I am taking proper ADHD meds You've replaced one stimulant with another, it seems. The meds don't come along with a bunch of calories, so that's a plus, though ADHD meds do have their own set of side effects.

Re: Caffeine use disorder

#120

Post by klodolph »

mdip wrote: post #39

I discovered that if I only consumed caffeine when I had a Migraine headache, that it was the most effective medicine I could take provided I didn't already have a tolerance built up so I gave up caffeine in my 20s. Frankly, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I was plagued with minor but persistent headaches for almost a month and was exhausted most of that time since I was used to grabbing a cup of coff…

Interesting that you mention migraines. I get occasional (very rare) migraines, and my mother and brother also get them, although they have it worse than I do. My mother used to take caffeine to make a migraine go away, but she believed that the continued use of caffeine (even only to mitigate migraines) made the migraines worse in the long run. It had something to do with the effect of caffeine on blood vessel size, but I don't remember the details. She has given up caffeine almost entirely and switched to large daily doses of vitamin K on the advice of her physician.

I've tried to figure out if she was right but all the literature on the subject seems to say the same thing: "There's a lot we don't understand about how caffeine affects the brain, and there's a lot we don't understand about migraines."

For what it's worth, I mostly gave up caffeine fifteen years ago. My friends would have caffeinated drinks but at five o'clock when the party is dying down, I'd be the only one left with any energy. Anecdotally, it felt like caffeine didn't give you energy, but it let you borrow energy. (Later in life I discovered caffeine could also trigger hypomania.)

Now I just use caffeine to medicate my lack of interest in my current job.

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