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Addiction to caffeine

Metalhead

Metalhead

Video game and movie addict.
V.I.P Member
I am finding that I get ridiculously cranky and depressed if I go without coffee for a couple of days. But after a couple of cups, I am back to my normal self.

I wonder how normal this kind of dependence on caffeine happens to be. I can still function without it, but it seems like it takes a hundred times more effort if I go without the coffee. When I was a child, I thought people were joking when they said they needed coffee first thing in the morning before anything else. Now I realize the feeling is very real.

I have a dependency on caffeine. I suppose there are worse substances I can be addicted to, but seriously, this is a billion times more addictive than alcohol and marijuana is to me.
 
I'm probably addicted to caffeine. Yet I keep it to a total of two to three cups of espresso a day. I really like coffee, it's probably the only thing I would miss over anything else in the world. My father offered me my first cup of coffee when I was eighteen, and said 'Your an adult now, you can drink coffee'. Liked it the first moment I tasted it.
Once on a two week canoe camping trip a mob of raccoons pilfered a pound of coffee from the camp as I was turned away getting water. I chased them down and got my coffee back. I didn't care what else they made away with, only the coffee was important to me.
 
Caffeine is my vice of choice. The withdrawal symptoms for me are difficulty concentrating, and headache.

I usually can keep it down to two mugs of coffee a day. If I want some in the mid afternoon, I just take a 4 oz demitasse cup. I don't use any caffeine after dinner, or it will interfere with my sleep.
 
I most definitely was addicted to caffeine. I may still be. I love caffeine. I love the rush I get when it hits my brain. Before Christmas, on a regular work day, I would drink 5 or 6 16-oz diet Pepsi's. I estimate that it's equivalent to ~3 cups of coffee.

But I found that the only thing that caffeine does is make me not feel tired. It doesn't make me focus better or make me more productive. Also, a friend of mine who chugged coke all day long got horrible kidney stones last year and I started getting some aches that could possibly be the beginnings of gout (which can be exacerbated by the acids in soda).

I've tried to quit a couple of times before, but never lasted long. I've gone almost 4 weeks now (because I had 2 weeks off for the holidays). This may be the longest I've gone without caffeine for almost a decade. I hope to sustain it.

I don't judge anyone who loves them some caffeine. I really miss it. But I'm trying to take better care of myself and get myself in better mental and physical condition. 18 months ago, I was focused on getting enough sleep. Now it's getting off caffeine. When I have that done, it'll be adding exercise.
 
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No doubt at all that I'm addicted to it.

Not coffee though. Mountain Dew. I must have my fountain drink from the local Shell station each day, lest my sanity begin to crack.

Or, when I'm somewhere that isnt near there, I'll have the bottled stuff.

One way or another, it must be had daily. I really dont try to fight it.
 
KagamineLen said:
I wonder how normal this kind of dependence on caffeine happens to be.
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I think it's normal/common and inevitable for regular coffee drinkers. If I do without coffee, I get mild withdrawal effects. Feeling sleepy/lack of concentration and a headache after a day of not having it, and then after a day or so, the headache disappears and my body readjusts.
 
I may have a caffeine addiction as well, but I get it from tea and not coffee. The thought of drinking coffee all the time makes me feel sick.

Last week I even bought a new cup that says "Caffeine is my Valentine". Of course, if it said "Alcohol is my Valentine" I'd be completely disgusted.
 
I just deal with withdrawal, recognize it as such, and move on after some nasty headaches for two or three days. Folllowed with a diminished and inconsistent intake of caffeine for a while, before I inevitably get hooked on it again. Not necessarily a vicious cycle, but it's one I can avoid if I really try. Buying decaf tea helps a lot. I only drink coffee as an after-dinner drink usually on formal occasions.
 
Every morning I drink 3 or 4 cups of coffee and my wife drinks 1 or 2 cups of tea. If we miss our morning beverage for whatever reason, it really does not make any difference. We just really enjoy the taste of our morning drinks.
 
clg114 said:
Every morning I drink 3 or 4 cups of coffee and my wife drinks 1 or 2 cups of tea. If we miss our morning beverage for whatever reason, it really does not make any difference. We just really enjoy the taste of our morning drinks.
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My wife is like that. Caffeine doesn't seem to do anything to her. I wish it worked like that for me.
 
My wife doesn't even like to talk until she has had her coffee in the morning. She is NT so it isn't exclusively an aspie thing.
 
Ive been experimenting with limiting my caffine intake. Thus far its been successful. I dont have a routine for this. But i might have some every other week. With no intake in the mean time.
 
I love the taste of a great strong balanced cup of java with a nice leche infusion. My taste buds do a happy dance. Nothing can ruin my day after that. Not even bad drivers.
 
I like coffee, my favourite is Fair trade Machu Pichu. It's yummy, and helps me focus. I don't feel bad if I don't have it, but I would likely have tea instead so also with caffeine. I guess there's a range of levels of addiction, this coffee drinking seems OK to me, while it may not suit another person.

I stopped smoking by cutting down then substituted eating small oranges for cigarettes. I have more recently reduced my alcohol intake to almost none, substituting low calorie fizzy drinks.

However I remain somewhat addicted to trousers, rich tea biscuits, my tablet and my phone, playing scrabble, reading, and quite a lot of other habits and activities. I think it's fairly usual, and probably not problematic.
 
Tea and nicotine - I notice withdrawal symptoms if I haven't had them.

I try to avoid espresso. Has me all buzzing and jittery.
Quite a heady rush. Then a headache.

Love the smell of freshly ground beans and freshly made espresso in the house though.
(When others make it for themselves)
 
I was not addicted to caffeine before, but now I'm not sure. I can avoid soda. But even my sleep doctor told me I should drink more coffee. It's better for me than to depend on a pill to stay awake. I don't always need it, and it doesn't help in the long run for me. Just appearance wise in the short term.
 
I'm not addicted to caffeine or likely to be.
I am allergic to it.
Gives me hives.

So I don't use coffee, not even de-caf.
Have gotten hives from the amount of caffeine in decaffeinated coffee.
I don't use black tea, green tea, or chocolate/cocoa either.
For same reason.
 
Caffeine is my preferred poison of choice. It most likely will be my downfall with the amounts I drink...kidney stones for starters, which are NOT fun at all...but there are indeed worse substances out there to get hooked on.
 
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