I promised to write about my caffeine withdrawal experience after nine days of being caffeine free, but I was pretty busy last week; so here’s the rest of the story, a few days late.
Last Wednesday marked the ninth day since I had my last cup of tea or coffee, and is the recognised length of time it takes for the body to be no longer addicted to caffeine.
Let’s continue the story from the Wednesday evening, where I left off in my previous post…
I was writing about how I didn’t think I would sleep on Thursday 22nd October, due to the pain in my legs. That prediction came true. Through the night I was in excruciating pain, writhing, grinding my teeth, and tearing at my hair in agony. It sounds incredible, but I really did feel this bad.
The next morning (Friday) I hobbled into the office with the pain in my legs spreading up into my lower back. Around nine o’clock it became so intense I had to take a couple of pain killers, and seriously considered a strong cup of coffee to ease my body’s cravings for a decent caffeine fix.
I held out as the pain killers kicked in, and made it into the afternoon and evening. The pain then started to leave my legs and migrate fully into my lower back. It was fierce, and I wondered if I had developed sciatica or some other back problem, and was perhaps mistaken about the symptoms being due to caffeine withdrawal.
Somehow, that night I slept like a baby, probably because I was so tired after the two preceding nights. I woke the next morning (Saturday) to find the pain mostly gone. There was still a little discomfort in my back, but I could cope.
I was scrambling my way out of the valley of addiction!
The rest of the day I slowly improved, and slept fine again. The next day (Sunday), I had no symptoms at all, and am happy to report I’ve remained that way since.
I sailed through last Wednesday, my ninth day without caffeine, and now believe my body is free of the addiction. It was a rough road, and with hindsight, I should have weaned myself off tea and coffee gradually instead of stopping suddenly. That way, I could have steadily reduced my intake and perhaps avoided the nasty withdrawal symptoms I experienced.
I haven’t had a tea or coffee for two weeks now, but I don’t intend to give up completely. When I’m ready I may start to have the odd cup every two or three days, but I have no intention of returning to my habit of between five and eight cups a day!
Interestingly, as my caffeine-fuelled stress levels have fallen, I think my mood has improved too, along with my decision-making, and ability to concentrate, although it’s a little early to tell for sure.
I’ll report again in a few weeks!
4 Comments
I find that allowing yourself the odd cup of coffee is like an alcoholic having one drink, it is a slippery slope and before you know it you might end up drinking a cup every day. I’ve tried to limit myself to one or two cups a week and it has never worked for me. After feeling the pickup of that first cup of coffee which is extra potent because my tolerance level is down after having quit, I’m addicted again and end up craving that feeling every day. I’m interested to see how successful you are with it – would be interested to hear from you in a follow up post. Good luck!
Hi Marlene, thanks for commenting.
I’ve been limiting myself to one or two cups a week, and have been managing fine so far. I left it at least a month without either coffee or tea, in order to ensure I was completely ‘clean’ first.
Fortunately I don’t have time for morning coffee during the week, as I have to leave home very early for work, so can’t be tempted.
Good idea about doing a follow-up post. It had crossed my mind. Stay tuned!
Hi Brian, I just came across your blog about being caffeine free and wondered how you are getting on. I decided to try to become caffeine free because of high blood pressure. However, I have found that it has created a whole new set of difficulties; namely discovering just how many products there are out there that have caffeine in despite not being shown on the ingredients lists. At least I think it is caffeine??
Basically, when I came off caffeine I didn’t experience any of the extreme pains you went through. I got the initial headache which lasted a week. It’s a very sickly headache which makes me nauseous and feverish. From that point on if I eat or drink anything with caffeine in I will go through the same headache for 3 days. I am now unable to eat chocolate or chocolate related products (bummer, but it is good that I don’t crave them in any way). I also find that certain products with colours and E numbers have the same effect. Have you had similar difficulties? As I said I’m not 100% sure that it is caffeine that is causing this to happen, but it has all come about since going ‘caffeine free’. I was also wondering if you know of any painkillers that are caffeine free, cos if I take paracetamol etc, I wake up with a headache???
Hi Aisha, thanks for commenting!
It sounds to me like your withdrawal was a bit more complicated than mine. I had the headache initially, but that stopped after the second caffeine-free day. I have had coffee/tea/chocolate since, but haven’t experienced any of the problems you’ve been having.
I am planning to write an update post in the next couple of weeks or so.
Mmm, I suggest you see your doctor and talk to them about your symptoms. He/she might be able to pinpoint what you’re intolerant to, and recommend caffeine-free painkillers.