Thursday, November 10, 2011

cutting out coffee

FOUND HERE

here's the deal. i like love coffee. even when i felt absolutely and totally convicted that i should give it up, i prayed that God would send me a different answer. i've known for months that it had to go. i just kept putting it off. yesterday i said "enough!" and decided to cold turkey call it quits. at first i felt nothing and then around noon i got a dull headache which turned it to a full on "ouch" headache in the afternoon. i didn't take anything for it because i try not to use any medicine at all. i drank lots and lots of water and then ate my favorite comfort food: chili. matilda helped me make it, which was the cutest thing ever. she loves to help do anything. she's so awesome. anyways, it was raining and i went to bed early for the second night in a row. don't judge me, it's really 9 even if the clock says 8. oh, 9 is still early you say?

the main reason i wanted to cut out coffee is that i think it triggers my anxiety. i've been struggling with anxiety for as long as i can remember. it's a part of my code, but when i drink coffee it makes me feel like my heart is coming out of my chest and on tuesday i felt like i was having a panic attack. hello. something had to change. i know that coffee can't be good for me if this is what the withdrawal feels like. i want to be able to eventually have a casual cup. i don't like being addicted to anything.

have you ever given up something you love because you knew it was bad for you?

i hope to not be so crabby and uncomfortable as the week goes on. wish.me.luck.

7 comments:

Kate said...

Good luck! I've given up coffee twice in the past five years because of digestive issues and it always SHOCKS me how nasty the withdrawal symptoms are. Stay strong!

Lindsay said...

I stopped drinking caffeine when I was pregnant with Vada (I guess that was like 3 years ago) and my anxiety is a lot better without it! Sometime I'm accidentally served caffeine and BOY OH BOY I know it after like 5 sips when my I'm about to have a heart/panic attack. Have you considered weaning yourself off and going half-caf and then decaf? Good luck!

Anonymous said...

I agree with you about not wanting to take anything for headaches, but I discovered the herb skullcap recently and it has worked so far for me. It worked for 3 different headaches, but then it didn't work when I had a head cold. Or maybe it was working, but it didn't make the throbbing go away completely. I just took one capsule each time for the headaches and it worked. HTH.

Kate Kiefer said...

LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU I'M NOT LISTENING LALALALA

Lesley said...

thanks for the tips ladies and kate... i just laughed out loud!

Kellee said...

I know what you're going through, and it ain't pretty! I gave up all caffeine when I was ready to get pregnant. All I can say is I'm glad I got it out of my system before I became preggo-monster, because I don't think my marriage would have survived it! ;)

I promise you'll feel better today, and tomorrow you will be even better than your previous "normal"!

I most recently had to cut back on caffeine when I found I have a tendency to get fibrous cysts in my breasts (scary!). I'm still on one cup a day (there are *some* health benefits), but if I decide to get preggers again (which I hope to, soonish) I'm going to chuck it all out the window again!

Claire Kiefer said...

Well . . . I write this as I drink my second cup. So I'm surely no authority. But I gave up coffee cold turkey for 5 days when I did the Master Cleanse, and I think that the giving up coffee part was even harder than the whole giving up food part. HA.

A few years ago, I weaned off my anxiety medication b/c I thought I didn't need it anymore. I stayed off it for a year. About 10 months into it, my anxiety started getting EXTREMELY BAD. Like major attacks every day, trouble breathing, couldn't drive across the bridge, etc. So I started doing 7 am yoga 3x a week and gave up coffee (well, I switched to decaf . . . I couldn't give up the ritual). Ultimately, my efforts didn't work. I realized that for me, anxiety medication was the most effective solution (and enabled me to live "normally"). At which point I resumed drinking regular coffee. :)

But for some people with less severe anxiety, I think it can be managed with yoga, breathing exercises, quitting coffee, etc. You're a brave woman--good luck!

p.s. What's up with our epic game of phone tag??