Caffeine and meltdowns etc.

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My friend set me the challenge of no caffeine for a month. I accepted on the theory that it will reduce my meltdowns, challenging behaviour and generally keep me calm and logical.

If it works I will continue with no caffeine.

What are your opinions.

Good luck with what seems a worthwhile experiment; I look forward to learning how it goes for you.

My own experience with caffeine was an initial unpleasant withdrawal period that maybe lasted a couple of weeks. Hopefully you won't experience such, but if so it may be helpful to just recognize it as part of the process and push through it.

I generally stay away from caffeine - in addition to it making me really jumpy, it tends to give me a stomach ache.

Good luck with your experiment SteelMaiden

My own experience with caffeine is that it is less expensive to buy in bulk, but then I tend to drink it is bulk, and then it is a mess. A little bit is quite helpful, but more than a can of soda a day and it starts to be detrimental.
Depending on how much you were drinking yesterday, today could be very rough. Caffeine has some 'annoying' withdrawal affects, (they can scale up into the debilitating, so be cautious.) Generally these last till you add caffeine again or a few days, so stay strong and ride it out. For challenges like this it is helpful to keep a journal. That way you are writing down your thoughts on a daily basis, so at the end you can read through it and make a good decision of what is best for you and your body.
Good luck and stay safe.

I think it sounds like a good idea to try. I can't handle caffeine anymore.

Same. After drinking a bottle of redbull (0,5L) every day, i became oversensitive to anything that contains caffeine.
1 cola or 1 cup of tea is enough to make me puke within 5 minutes and have a massive panic attack. I also had this reaction when i ate chocolate the other day. I figured out later that chocolate also contains caffeine.. so eating alot of that is BAD

That's actually a fairly good idea. I might try to lower my caffeine intake.

I think it is worth trying. I would miss its antidepressant effects but reducing meltdowns is probably more important.

Sounds like it's worth a shot to me and please update us. I don't tolerate caffeine well and it exacerbates a lot of my problems, so I wouldn't be surprised if you do find yourself more stable.

Day 2 of no caffeine. I am surprisingly not excessively tired. I have been headachey, dizzy and nauseous though. And my intellectual functions are fluctuating. However there is a heatwave of 35C in London at the moment so that explains most of my symptoms, as I have thermoregulatory dysfunction and one of my meds prevents me from sweating enough. So when it's hot, I suffer a lot. Last year I had heatstroke twice and heat exhaustion several times in the summer. I have no air conditioning in this house because my dad won't pay for it (I can't afford it myself) so I'm relying on intermittent fan usage and cold showers. I have gastrointestinal side effects from caffeine withdrawal.

But actually it's not extreme in terms of caffeine withdrawal. It's the heat that is making me ill, not lack of caffeine.

I didn't have a meltdown yesterday, which is unusual and a good sign.

That's encouraging. The heat situation is terrible, though.

I can't remember where I read it, but I once saw that the withdrawl symptoms of caffeine only persist for 7 days before you're no longer physically addicted to it. If that's true, you're well on your way to kicking the habit.

Good luck and keep us updated.

I wish you the best of luck with kicking the habit. Caffeine addiction can definitely be a pain, and back when I was convinced energy drinks were the solution for my constant brain fog, I was consuming them so much that they definitely increased my anxiety and sensitivity to stimuli. Nowadays, I've cut down a lot, though a lot of it's because I haven't been wanting to make the effort of leaving my room to grab coffee or energy drinks. >_>

Thanks all.

I have been experiencing myalgia, constant moderate migraine and increased appetite, but seeing as caffeine has mild painkilling actions and also suppresses appetite, I am not surprised.

I tried to stay away from caffeine for a while, but I ended up giving up because I couldn't take it anymore. I still don't drink a lot of it anyways, just a morning cup of tea usually. Any soda I drink I'd rather be caffeine free, and it helps that Fanta's my favorite soda.

Also, if you have anxiety problems then eliminating caffeine should make things less severe should you have a panic attack. Main reason I love Fanta: tastes great and no caffeine to exacerbate my anxiety. Sunkist not so much, since it still has caffeine.

Hmm good luck! Perhaps caffeine makes meltdowns more likely, but caffeine won't be the cause.