Caffeine Withdrawal

[Soul]

I'm a 16 year old. About a week ago I drank a lot of tea (About 5-7 cups a day) and a bottle of cola a day. I stopped for a little while so I could get some sleep. Now I'm getting headaches, anxiety, constipation, my muscles hurt a little and I feel like throwing up sometimes too. I'm not trying to quit caffeine cold turkey. I just wanted a little break. But after stopping drinking lots of tea I began to feel these, but the anxiety is really getting to me. One regret popped back into my head and I kept replaying it over and over. Then "what ifs" starting popping into my head such as "What if this feeling never goes away?" "what if this is a disease?" "what if I have depression or OCD?" "what if this stops me from doing the things I love?" My question is, do these feelings go away? I don't want to feel like this forever. My mother who is a nurse told me to drink a cup of tea whenever I feel like this for the feelings to stop, they did for a bit. Then they came back about 3 hours later so I had another but it didn't help at all. I've been experiencing this for about 5 days. It's starting to get really frustrating!

 

[eldub]

Sounds like you should see a doctor.

lw

 

[Soul]

I plan to. Luckily I hear that these feelings go away after a few days. It just gets kinda annoying not being able to do much especially since I never intended to drop tea or coffee cold turkey.

 

[eldub]

It sounds like you might have an addictive personality. Does substance abuse run in your family?

 

[Soul]

Not that I know of.

 

[eldub]

How late in the day did you usually drink caffeine when you couldn't sleep at night?

have you considered drinking tea in the morning and afternoon and not in the evening/

 

[Soul]

Well, I drank the tea in the afternoon and kept going to get another one every 2 hours or so because I was thirsty and wanted to stay up. I woke up at around 2pm because I stayed up until 3 - 5am. I only do this when I'm on the school break. But after staying up quite late for quite a while I wanted to wake up early for once so I stopped drinking tea for a bit. The first day I was fine. But the day after the withdrawal symptoms started coming in. I think I should also mention that have a lot of energy drinks. Mostly Cola. I used to have at least 2 1.5 Litre bottles a week which I usually finished within a day or two ever since I was 11 or so. I haven't had that much for the last 2 years. I only have one or two every fortnight or so now. Cutting back is something I definitely plan to do now. Slowly of course.

 

[BestestBarista]

It sounds like you might have an addictive personality. Does substance abuse run in your family?

I was thinking the same thing...maybe you should check into the family history to make sure. It sounds like you are having a rough time. Other than that was posted previously I'm not sure what advice I can give you. I agree with the fact that you should seek help from a doctor because the anxiety you are feeling can be controlled with certain medications. Good luck and I hope they it subsides soon for you.

 

[Soul]

I went to the doctor today. He said I was perfectly fine. He said that I should try to replace the bad thoughts with positive ones through meditation. He didn't think I needed medication but he said if these feelings don't go away soon I should get my blood tested. I want this to subside fast. It's starting to make me not want to do anything.

 

[ChopShopCoffee]

It sounds like you might have an addictive personality. Does substance abuse run in your family?

Yea I am thinking you would have addictive personality too...I have the same problem everything consumes my life when I stop using it...like pop or chips ect.
My doctor wanted to medicate me too but instead I just started running 2 times a day and did yoga. so instead of having bad addictions I have good ones that better my health=)

 

[PinkRose]

Hello Soul,

You started consuming a lot of caffeine at an early age when your body was still developing and maturing. Believe it or not, your body is still developing and maturing.

It sounds like your excessive caffeine consumption has taken its toll and it's worn you down, both physically and emotionally. You mentioned that you're 16, which is an age where hormones and emotions bounce from highs to lows and back again.

The caffeine in your system and your efforts to cut back on how much you consume, are creating the physical and emotional symptoms that you've described. It's good that you saw your doctor, and he said you are physically fine. It's normal to worry and predict the worst when strange things are happening to you physically (the caffeine withdrawal symptoms). People tend to wonder if the pain or strange feelings will ever go away.

Cutting out caffeine all at once "cold turkey" isn't a good idea, and it's good that you taking it slow.

Your doctor recommended meditation, which is okay for people who can sit, and breathe, and try to control their thoughts. But meditation isn't for everyone, especially someone who is experiencing caffeine jitters and other withdrawal symptoms.

It's time for you to find a distraction. Do you have a hobby that you enjoy? Do you have a pet that you can take for long walks? Do you play sports? How about cleaning the house for your mother??? If you do something other than sitting around worrying about how bad you're feeling, the time will pass, and soon you'll discover that you're gradually feeling better.

Just take it one day at a time. Stop predicting doom and gloom in the days ahead. Live for today and do something that you enjoy. Before you know it, you will safely cut back on your caffeine consumption, your body won't be screaming for it, and your head will clear.

Rose

 

[Soul]

Thanks Rose. Due to the anxiety which I believe was due to the caffeine withdrawal I have been unable to a lot of the things I like such as playing video games and watching Japanese animation because the thoughts keep coming back while I'm doing those things. But I have been able to do them lately. The thoughts still pop up every now and then. I still get headaches and some of the other symptoms but none of them are as bad as they were a few days ago. If I had known about these symptoms before hand I would have cut back slowly. It's not like I wanted to stop cold turkey in the first place. I just wanted to fix my sleeping patterns and go to bed earlier so I could get more done.

I planned to continue drinking tea after the withdrawals had stopped and I have been feeling better slowly. After having a cup of tea one day last week I felt better for a while but the anxiety got worse afterwards I think I got a headache too. So I felt that I shouldn't have any drinks or food containing caffeine until the symptoms had stopped but earlier today I ate two bars of chocolate and afterwards I learnt that they contain caffeine which I didn't know at the time. Will this affect me at all? Or do I have nothing to worry about? (If anyone needs to know, I ate a Cadbury Flake and Cadbury Picnic)

 

[Soul]

According to my blood test results which I got today, I have a vitamin D deficiency and that's why I've been feeling anxiety over my past mistakes. I've spent my last few days getting lots of sunlight and have felt better only worrying about the feeling and not being able to drink caffeine, but today after I got my results I've felt a little worse. I go out for 10 mins to get some sunshine like my doctor said but have still been feeling a little worse and thinking about my mistakes again. My question is, can I have a cup of tea while this is going on?

 

[PinkRose]

Hi Soul,

Drinking a cup of tea while you're adjusting your Vitamin D level won't hurt you.

Plus, you can always take a Vitamim D supplement in addition to spending time in the sunshine to help with your deficiency. As you start to increase the Vitamin D in your body, you'll be better able to adjust your sleeping patterns.

You need to figure out what schedule you want to be on and stay with it....For example, don't stay up real late one night and sleep in late the next morning and then expect to be able to go to sleep early the next night and get up early. Go to bed the same time each night and get up the same time every morning, even on the days when you don't have to go to school or work.

Regarding the mistakes that you may (or may not) have made. . . . . remember that each day is a new beginning. Try not to repeat the same mistakes and move on.

Rose

 

[Soul]

Thank you for the advice. I just had my first cup of tea in three weeks and I feel fine. I was getting a little frustrated that I kept thinking I couldn't drink anything with Caffeine. It's good to know that I can start drinking tea again.

Okay, I'll try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.

Thank you for the kind words. I have learnt the lessons from my mistakes and I have accepted and let them go.

Do you happen to know how long it takes for my levels to be back to normal? The doctor said I had 38% vitamin D.