Caffeine

I don't really drink anything with caffeine in, except a few weeks ago I had a large coffee. The effects were so severe I had to go and lie down for a couple of hours. I could hardly stand, was shaking all over and sweating like mad. Think I will continue to stay away from the stuff :)
 
I drink nothing but Coke and get headaches if I go a day or two without it. Awesome.

CBA to do anything about it because it is probably the least debilitating addiction one can have :cool:
 
i drink quite a lot of tea/coffee 8 - 10 mugs a day. Any more than that and i take headaches. However, i feel fine if i don't get a fix.
 
Smiley Man said:
after lots of reading and research it seems a physical addiction to caffeine is very easy to get, you only need to take say, 200mg a day for 2 to 4 days and stop to get the symptoms
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Guess I'm either pretty lucky then, or very tolerant of the addiction :)

I've never been a big fan of coffee really, it's kinda "ok" as a drink to have socially or at work, but I've never felt like "OH MAN I NEED A COFFEE NOW!!!" (nor alcohol for that matter). I did go through a phase of drinking 2-4 cups a day for a few months at work, mostly through boredom (going to coffee machine to fill time).

In the last month i've only had 1 or 2 cups of coffee and haven't felt any ill effects or withdrawal symptoms.

Personally I reckon half the people who say they get headaches when they come off coffee/tea is simply because they aren't drinking enough. They should be knocking back a few litres every day and maybe they haven't substituted coffee with enough water. I know I get headaches if I don't drink enough water so I guess you could say I'm addicted to water :)
 
There was a recent study in Japan that showed coffee drinkers have a much lower chance of bowel cancer that non-drinkers after other factors had been removed. The study guessed that caffeine was the reason, but as decaff is virtually unheard on in Japan, it was hard to test.

I've also read that caffeine cream is being used to treat skin cancers and they've got as far as human trials.

Yes, a large boost of caffeine when you've not built up a tolerance to it is going to feel bad. If you get a tonne of it in one go (like 8 espressos or something) it you can go delirious. If you get more, it'll kill you. So what? The effects of alcohol are far worse.

I used to drink double spoonful instant coffees soon after I graduated because I couldn't cope with 10 hour days of proper work. 4-5 in a day. My sleep was a bit poor, but not terrible. Stomach didn't like the abuse though and I always had really sweaty hands. I switched to tea instead and now I'm on 3-4 cups a day and I don't start until I'm at work. Now if I go out and get a large coffee at the coffee shop at lunch, when combined with my tea intake, it's enough to make my head throb and I can feel a bit odd. It's all about tolerances.

A guy at work will easily go through 8 cups (and +10 on bad days) of instant coffee at work and drinks at home too. He's fine.

I have tried going completely without caffeine for a few weeks at a time, normally during the summer when I switch to water/squash. After a few days I feel normal and I don't crave the caffeine. But if I've had a few hard days and I'm feeling run down, I'll have a cup as a pick-me-up... Next day I'll have two cups. After a week I'm back to 3-4 again.

At the moment I am a little dependant, I need a cup or two at weekends or I feel really run down and grumpy, probably not a good sign, but if my workmate is still alive, I'm not too bothered.
 
I usually just pop a pro-plus or 2 or maybe a red bull when I'm feeling tired. Maybe a couple times a week if that.....before an exam I usually take just 1 pro-plus. I find it helps me concentrate a great deal, but if I have anything more than 1 I find that I rush through things and get careless.
 
Yeah. I know it's a bad habit and it probably does me more harm than good, but I actually enjoy the taste of coffee, not just the caffeine high, and relaxing on the sofa with a coffee is just a greatway to start the day. Personally, I think that in today's world we're so overloaded with stimuli, temptations, and other miscellaneous demands for our attention, that having a habit or addiction to fixate on is a good defense against having our minds overburdened and stretched too thin trying to encompass all the various things they need or want to think about. (Another, of course, is good inner balance and strong willpower, but chemical substitutes will have to do for those of us who have not yet achieved Nirvana:p) I think Shannon Wheeler has the best take on what I'm trying to say:



...and since caffeine is probably the least harmful of all the various things you can get hooked on, well, the math is obvious.

I go cold turkey every few months because I find that when I become addicted to coffee for too long I stop enjoying it as much. Gonna do it again when I go back to Cyprus for Christmas.
 
Dr.EM said:
I don't think I ever have it. I don't have tea or coffee (tried, didn't like) or red bull type drinks. Don't imagine it's in much else except mabye coffee ice cream or chocolates. I doubt I would get addicted, but I have no reason to start taking it anyway :)
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Caffiene is everywhere... I'd be shocked if you didn't have SOME every now and then. And I like the way you reckon you wouldn't get addicted... unless your body chemistry is different to mere mortals then you wouldn't have a choice in the matter. How you deal with it is completely different of course.

SiriusB
 
Didn't realise caffiene was physically addictive, sorry :o . I may have some every now and then but I don't ever find myself like "ooh, I could murder a cuppa" or whatever :D . I best not have any since you say it is physically addictive, I don't fancy having to have something to get me out of bed (though admittably it is difficult ;) ).
 
I have lots of caffiene via tea. Don't drink coffee much. Although I probably am addicted I drink tea because I like the taste...honest! The craving is first thing or whenever a bacon butty is nearby. Gotta have a brew with a bacon butty. Can you be addicted to bacon...?

SiriusB
 
I drink too much cola and when i first started college i found myself needing coffee which is strange since i dont really drink it. I did get addicted to tea though(10+ cups a day n the like). After about 10cans of redbull its all good until you hit a downer :(
 
I'm not a caffeine fan at all. I really don't like fizzy juice, so I don't drink coke, and I hate coffee.
 
I gave up caffeine a few years ago and whenever I have the very occassional cup of coffee these days I am wacked out of my guord!. :D

I had serious flu like symptoms, the classic caffeine withdrawl, such as a headache, nervuousness, lethargy and sweats that lasted a couple of days and immediately stopped as soon as I got a fix of the dreaded bean. I concluded that something that does that for the body cannot be good for it and gave up regular consumption. Anyway, coffee mings something rotten on the taste front.

Red Bush and Camomile tea for the win.
 
IdontunderstandwhatallthefussisaboutIdrink10cupsadayandithasneveraffectedmeit'sjustsillytalkgottagolotstodolotstoseepeopletomeetcoffeetodrinkhahagottakeepupwiththeschedule!!
 
I drink 4/5 cups of coffee a day in work, plus another few when i get home. Was always under the impression it was because i enjoyed the taste, but after reading this thread, maybe i am addicted :eek:

cant beat a coffee and a cig though (cept in amsterdam...). I think what's arguably more worrying for me is red bull consumption. I never drink fizzy drinks outside of pubs/clubs (vodka + coke/red bull etc), but if i go out on a friday/saturday night, i'd probably average maybe 10 cans of red bull.

I do find i have a much better/livelier time though when on vodbull as opposed to pints all night though. Having said that, i do generally tend to feel like not moving whatsoever the next day...
 
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Luckily caffiene addiction is pretty easy to get over, if needs be. If I don't have a cup of good strong coffee in the morning I'm tired and drowsy all day. I need about a week to wean myself off coffee if needs be - a week of sleepiness.
 
seriously considering stopping it for 2007.

it's only a few days of hell. if i do it over Christmas while drinking merrily it should work out just fine!!!
 
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