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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Caffeine

lucsdc

lucsdc

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
58
Location
Brazil
I know many members of this forum use opiates and heavy shit, but caffeine is a drug too.

So, let me share my story with you guys, and I wanna know if anyone can relate to this. I'm 16, I live in Brazil, where 97% consumes coffee on a daily basis. I didn't drank coffee until I was twelve, although I drank some redbulls because: "Older kids do this, so it must be cool." When I was 13 I started drinking coffee because I liked the flavor, but it was a rare thing, once a month or less. I never felt the effects of caffeine(probably because 45mg is such a small dosage). One year later I started high school, so i needed to be functional through the night/morning sometimes. Wasn't making to much effect neither. So I met some older kids who smoked and took big amounts of caffeine (300mg/400mg per day).
I started doing the same thing (stupid mistake: jump of 90mg to 400mg) and once in my life I could really feel the rush! I was more gentle to people, I was actually paying attention to the classes, I was more sociable. But I grow some tolerance (I'm taking about 500mg/600mg per day to have the same rush) and I can't function without morning coffee/redbull. You guys have any advice to improve my use of caffeine? Caffeine pills are too expensive here, and I'm a teenager, I don't work, so, no money. Sobriety break to get rid of tolerance is not an option too. Tips? Advice? Anyone can relate to this? Oh, if I made some grammar mistake, it's because my main language isn't English. :D

PS: I already did opiates. Didn't liked the buzz. And it fucks you up.
 
Why do you want to improve your use of caffeine and why are you immediately opposed to not consuming so much of it?
Although caffeine is perfectly healthy if you consume moderate amounts, I'm very skeptical that the amount you're taking isn't harmful to you - in fact, it's probably doing you a fair amount of harm. Quitting caffeine even if you're addicted isn't too difficult and you'll regain normal function very quickly even if you might have trouble in the first couple weeks. A few years ago I'd drink about 15 strong cups of coffee a day and now I get on fine without any caffeine at all. Lots of people can't function without some sort of energy drink in the morning but lots of people also manage to quit that very easily. Just stop taking it. You'll regain normal sober amounts of energy soon enough.
 
I've experienced many times caffeine comedown. It was horrible to me, I felt nauseas, headache, I was anxious, pale, couldn't focus on anything. It was horrible to me.
 
Taper the amount of coffee you drink per day until you cut it off completely. Side effects of caffeine withdrawal may include a headache, fatigue, irritability, emotional withdrawal, and muscle tremor. But many people stop caffeine without experiencing any withdrawal, so worrying about the withdrawal will probably do more harm than caffeine cessation itself. Take an ibuprofen if you get a headache, but aside from that just power through it.
 
MrFister said:
Taper the amount of coffee you drink per day until you cut it off completely. Side effects of caffeine withdrawal may include a headache, fatigue, irritability, emotional withdrawal, and muscle tremor. But many people stop caffeine without experiencing any withdrawal, so worrying about the withdrawal will probably do more harm than caffeine cessation itself. Take an ibuprofen if you get a headache, but aside from that just power through it.
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^This. Gradually lower your intake. You don't have to just instantly stop - reduce the amount that you use so as to limit withdrawal symptoms. The effects MrFister listed are probably the only withdrawal symptoms you'll experience, if that, which as said, can be helped by taking some ibuprofen and being gentle on yourself. I used to drink like 10+ cups a coffee per day (I also live in Vancouver, the land of a Starbucks on every corner ;)) and really had no problems quitting, but everyone is different. Try not to stress about it. If you don't want to quit, or want to gradually ease yourself off caffeine, I think switching to green tea (and/or black tea if that's easier/cheaper) is a good idea - are you currently taking caffeine pills?
 
I can't relate to the OP because caffeine doesn't work on me, but for WD from other medications I've found the tapering method works best.

I would also recommend using an adrenal supplement during the WD period because it will help to ease some of your symptoms, especially if you are reliant on caffeine for wakefulness and alertness.
 
The other thing worth looking at is how much sugar you may be consuming a day is a result of your caffeine habit. Do you take sugar in your coffee? Do you drink sugar-free or normal Red Bull? If you can't cut down on caffeine immediately, at least cut down on the additional sugar you're consuming. Maybe once you're down to no added sugar it'll be easier to start cutting down your caffeine intake. Just a thought...
 
If you want keep with the daily caffeine intake, just more moderately, I'd recommend practicing your timing to see what works best. I take mine in the morning after breakfast and with lunch, and that works pretty well.

However, if you want to really feel it, I'd quit with the daily intake. You're gonna need at least one day breaks between uses if you want to maintain that, probably longer.
 
Well said. Caffeine is certainly a drug too and tolerance to caffeine grows very fast. As fast as the amphetamines. Taking a break after tapering your dose down is the way to go. Your tolerance will go down quickly. Otherwise you'll end up with some physical withdrawal symptoms, as other posters have mentioned.
 
Swimmingdancer said:
^This. Gradually lower your intake. You don't have to just instantly stop - reduce the amount that you use so as to limit withdrawal symptoms. The effects MrFister listed are probably the only withdrawal symptoms you'll experience, if that, which as said, can be helped by taking some ibuprofen and being gentle on yourself. I used to drink like 10+ cups a coffee per day (I also live in Vancouver, the land of a Starbucks on every corner ;)) and really had no problems quitting, but everyone is different. Try not to stress about it. If you don't want to quit, or want to gradually ease yourself off caffeine, I think switching to green tea (and/or black tea if that's easier/cheaper) is a good idea - are you currently taking caffeine pills?
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No, not takinng any caffeine pill, just some energetic drinks and coffe. About 600mg to 700mg per day. If I gradually ease myself of caffeine, will my tolerance will go down?

Ella84 said:
The other thing worth looking at is how much sugar you may be consuming a day is a result of your caffeine habit. Do you take sugar in your coffee? Do you drink sugar-free or normal Red Bull? If you can't cut down on caffeine immediately, at least cut down on the additional sugar you're consuming. Maybe once you're down to no added sugar it'll be easier to start cutting down your caffeine intake. Just a thought...
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I drink black coffe with 2~3 spoons (about 7~8 cups a day) and normal Red Bull
 
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lucsdc said:
No, not takinng any caffeine pill, just some energetic drinks and coffe. About 600mg to 700mg per day. If I gradually ease myself of caffeine, will my tolerance will go down?
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Oh I see, I thought you meant caffeine pills. Yes your tolerance will go down if you gradually reduce how much coffee you drink.

lucsdc said:
I drink black coffe with 2~3 spoons (about 7~8 cups a day) and normal Red Bull
Click to expand...

You can start by eliminating the Red Bull and reducing how much sugar you take in your coffee. You can also try to substitute a portion of how much coffee you drink with tea.
 
Swimmingdancer said:
You can start by eliminating the Red Bull and reducing how much sugar you take in your coffee. You can also try to substitute a portion of how much coffee you drink with tea.
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Why eliminate Red Bull of my diet? And why to reduce the ammount of sugar? Tea can be a good option, but harder to find, I will try.
 
lucsdc said:
Why eliminate Red Bull of my diet?
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Because Red Bull is worse for you than coffee, and because that would be a good starting point to reduce your caffeine intake. Red Bull is also more expensive than coffee and you said you were concerned about the cost.

lucsdc said:
And why to reduce the ammount of sugar?
Click to expand...
Because too much sugar is not healthy and is probably causing you some additional problems (like a sugar crash), and you may have a co-addiction to sugar as well. And as Ella said, reducing your sugar intake might help you to reduce your caffeine intake.

Also I think you are confused about how much caffeine you are getting. A typical cup of coffee will contain an average of 95-200mg of caffeine, or even more depending on the kind. A can of regular Red Bull will usually contain 250mg of caffeine, but can vary from country to country. So I'm not sure why you think when you first started drinking coffee you were only getting 45mg of caffeine? And if you currently drink 7-8 cups of coffee plus 1 or 2 Red Bull, you are easily taking in 1000mg-1500mg of caffeine per day. That is a lot. I would really try to reduce how much you use. Do you not have any unwanted side effects?
 
I drink 60ml of espresso(this is what i mean by cup) which means 440mg of caffeine. And here, 250ml of Red Bull has 80mg of caffeine. So i'm taking 600mg of caffeine per day
 
Less is more with drugs. I drink one cup of coffee every day with breakfast and that's it. I'll only have a second rarely, like when I'm studying for finals and can't sleep anyway. I actually used to drink 2-3 cups daily but I learned pretty quickly that that just tires you out even more than if you don't drink coffee at all. One cup is better than none, and none is better than 2+ unless for some reason you're depriving yourself of sleep.

Also Red Bull is shit. I was big on those in high school but they're reaaaaaaally bad for you and they just make you crash hard. Black coffee with no sugar is the way to go.
 
I would recommend as others have said that you slowly lower the amount of caffeine containing beverages you consume. If you experience low energy levels, something to consider would be vitamin b12 (a much cleaner more sustained energetic feeling, though not at all a buzz). Also when consuming larger amounts of caffeine it's important to make sure that you stay properly hydrated.
 
I enjoy some tea (black) in the morning and a 200mg caffeine pill before working out. Never had problems caused by it. I stop doing it every so often to check for addiction but never saw any symptoms. Closest think to problems related to caffeine was taking 2 200mg pills pre workout (forgot I took the first, so...)... worst hour of my life. My heart was beating at about 130bmp and I was anxious as fuck. Luckily it didn't take long to pas. Damn I wish I had some downers in my gym bag at that time.
 
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