Having bad caffeine withdrawels...need some help.

[j22]

I'm a soda fiend, and quite often over the past year or so have consumed on average up to 4 liters of Coca Cola a day or other caffeinated beverages. I also have begun to take Xenadrine recently and cut out the caffeine to a point in my diet once I started on those pills because they contain such a large amount of caffeine. Recently, I've decided to stop taking Xenadrine and stick to sodas like Sprite for my soda cravings.
The problem is, I'm getting fairly severe headaches every day I do not ingest some amount of caffeine, to the point where 3 Advil don't even help that much, so I give in, and drink a Coke to ease the pain in my head, although not as much as I used to.
Am I just basically screwed and have to deal with the headaches until my withdrawels will go away, and will they go away. Should I ween myself off of caffeine rather than just stop? The pain really is unbearable sometimes, and I'm just looking for some advice to deal with the withdrawel headaches and the caffeine cravings. Any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Effigy]

If you ween correctly you shouldnt experience any noticeable wd symptoms. However the problem with weening is that many times people simply fail. If you decide to got that route you really have to structure your porgram and stick to it. Example: Drink X amount of caffeine daily for the first week. Drink X * 0.75 daily for the second week....and so on. If you dont do something like this it's just too easy to fuck up.
If you go cold turkey you can use other drugs to help with the physical and mental hell you're goin thru. Opiates would help with both. Benzos would take car o the psychological problems. GHB would help out alot. If you're having problems with sleeping Ambien would work. So would OTC meds like diphenhydramine. For me, goin cold turkey means taking advantage of all available resources (other drugs). Physical WD is too much for anyone to handle. It kills the body and the spirit.
Good luck. I've never heard of anyone with such a raging caffeine habit.

 

[Mushy Chicken]

Avoid the headaches at all cost...there is nothing worse. I'd suggest coming off slowly, but get something like NoDoze pills from the chemist which are basically just caffeine pills. You know exactly how much you're taking so you can wind it down gradually, and you're not filling your body up with so much sugar which will reduce the chance of stress headaches if you don't use up the energy.
Drink lots of water...water...water...it's good for the brain and everything else

 

[Effigy]

^^^I agree on the water suggestion. Flush out yuor system as quickly and as often as possible.

 

[FoX]

I also think that the headaches and other "withdrawal symptoms" have more to do with the cut of your sugar intake rather than your caffeine....

 

[min]

Fox, caffeine is well-known to cause mild physical dependence; withdrawal usually consists of headaches and fatigue.
I've had to deal with it a few times, and popping some APAP and gets through the few days I have it.
For your case, however, tapering off first with caffeine pills, then with drinks with a known amout of caffeine--there are numerous sites listing the average caffeine content of various beverages. Once you're down to ~50 mg a day, stopping cold should be painless.

 

[emkee]

as a altenative junglist 22 maybe u could use pure guarana(pills) it contains caffein (about 5 %) but its combined with a tannin which causes the release of the caffein to occur over a time.
as normal caffein works fast and makes you crash hard. makin it eassier to get addicted.
in guarana the caffein is released slowly giving you prolonged lift. and avoiding the addiction associated with the fast hit & crash. its also healthy so u are doing your body some good.

 

[Dr. Quack]

Switch to tea.
Have you tried to cut back yet? 4 liters today, 3 tommorrow.... you know cut it in half. Decaff? 1/2????

 

[ucfhottie2001]

I used to take xenedrine but switched to hydroxy cut...worked much better and had ephedrine in it...i dunno you might wanna try that..but i could be wrong... ???? sorry if i am
~ashley~

 

[*KANE*]

First of all , stop buying soda with caffene Sprite is not caffinated and is much more refreshing then cola. Then have a cup of coffie in the morning to get you going. This way you get your caffene to start you off the day but don't drink more then 3 cups in the morning or you will just end up back where you started

 

[aliengrrl]

tea is the key. im a hardcore caffeine addict. its the only drug that has got me. i don't really drink soda though. i drink coffee, which has about 3 times as much caffeine as a coke. i quit for about a month last winter. i just started mixing caffeineated coffee with decaf. then i just stopped completley. weening is the key. don't go cold turkey. but soda is bad for you anyways. drink black tea or green tea both have caffeine but in moderation caffeine is fine. so thats my advice just cut down over time. stop drinking soda.