Caffeine Fast Update...

[khiemtran]

Well, it's been a month now. The great fog that has been sitting over my brain has finally lifted and the last of the other symptoms have gone. Talking no longer seems like a great effort and staying awake in the afternoon isn't an ordeal any more. I'm still getting the occasional moment of melancholy, but that's probably more due to fatigue than anything else. (I've been fighting a hacking cough at night and that's been disrupting my sleep.)

So, what next?


Right now, with the cough, going back to coffee is the last thing on my mind. Likewise, with all the withdrawal symptoms fresh in my mind, there's no great desire to jump back in and go through all that again. On the other hand, I have a lot of travel coming up, including another long roadtrip over the school break, so I'll probably be back to at least emergency coffee by then.

It seems pretty clear that more than one espresso a day is too much for me. Any more than that and I end up in a cycle which leads me, sooner or later, to four a day and shaking hands and a racing heart. The question is whether even one a day is sustainable. The great problem with each level above "none at all" is that as soon as you get the satisfaction, there's the ensuing craving and dis-satisfaction later in the day, which neatly multiplies the more doses you give yourself. If one a day means feeling miserable every afternoon, then maybe it's not worth it. On the other hand, I know one a week certainly isn't worth it, because I end up fretting about the next coffee for the next seven days.

On the other hand... the satisfaction of a well-made flat white at a local cafe or trying tea in Xiamen or a melange in Vienna. It would be a dull and miserable world without it.

Comments

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

When you lay out the caffeine facts like you do, it is clear that you are better off without, but the idea of going without FOREVER is just too depressing when you think of all the things you must never let pass your lips again. :-

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, that was how I felt when I did the big year off caffeine. I think I'd like to have another go at making one-a-day stick, just in case I can make it work.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I changed to decaf about six months ago. I've found an organic instant decaf (Tesco's own brand) that works for me as an everyday thing and also decaf beans for grinding when I want something a bit better and/or want that ritual of grinding the beans and smelling the coffee as water drips through the filter.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, I suppose decaf is getting quite good these days. Thanks!

[(Anonymous)]

Yes. I suggest you try organically decaffinated rather than chemically decaffinated, though. I honestly can't taste the difference.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'll have a look out for it. I wonder what sort of decaf our local cafe has. They give me a hot chocolate on sight now, so I wonder how they're going to cope with the change...

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

Hm. I recently told my doctor that I may have found the right maintenance level of caffeine: a few dark chocolate candies throughout the morning, chai at lunch sometimes, maybe another chocolate candy or two in the afternoon.

Tweaked daily for carb issues and 'sleepy after meals' issues.

Have you seen this site? http://blogginginparis.com/2006/03/29/getting-sleepy-after-eating/

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Interesting, thanks!