Coffee and Caffeine FAQ

OK, for five years now I've had off and on strange symptoms, started with dizziness, loss of appetite, stomach problems, restlessness, being "shooken" awake, depression, etc..

I decided to quit caffeine about three years ago and noticed a big change. While I had general anxiety symptoms - I've been an anxious person most of my life, most of my scary symptoms started to dissipate. I began working again, have two jobs now and had a hearty appetite.

Then in December - after going back on caffeine, at least 3-4 cans of pop a day since the summer, if not more, I felt the symptoms hit back pretty hard. I got scared again, anxiety really crept in. I tried to quit caffeine but couldn't. palpitations, chest pain, GERD symptoms, twitchyness, numbness, flu-like nausea, anxiety through the roof.

I got back on caffeine and that was able to get me through somewhat. Until last Friday. I had my third pop (diet mtn dew this time) of the day at work (I work 15 hour double duty on Fri and Sat - I like to call it my nightmare weekend). I began to feel dizzy, confused, lightheaded, twitchy, panicky. I have klonopin, which I take only when I need to (and I've been taking a lot more of recently), and that settled me down.

I decided enough's enough and quit cold turkey. Needless to say most of my "scary" symptoms went away. The pains, twitching, numbness, chest pains and general anxiety haven't shown up since. I'm left with a set of new ones though. Saturday I had an awful headache all day and by Monday night I developed a pretty raw throat and cough that hasn't got worse, but hasn't got really any better. On top of that I'm quite tired and haven't been able to sleep that well and have had some shakes/anxiety. That said, I feel like I'm withdrawing rather than going nuts like I was when I was on caffeine. I'm pretty hopeful these new symptoms will dissipate as well as I stay off caffeine (and sugar for now) and they are definitely not as scary as the weird stuff I experienced drinking caffeine.

By the way, I also ordered a product called Well Tabs that I saw a commercial for. Generally I don't "fall" for such ads targeted at, well, the frustrated self-medicating depressed type. But I've had success with multi-herb formulas before and I've been taking it for two weeks or so with some nice results. At the very least it seems to keep your bowels regular and thats always a plus. I'll continue to try those (plus my daily intake of One-A-Day, Grape Seed, Flax Seed and Magnesium) as well as stay off caffeine and (for now) sugar. Despite my new sluggishness, I'm generally feeling a lot better about things.