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Quitting the fizzypops
Tallahasseeriel
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
This is really dumb, but this shit is ruining me now.
I'm up to drinking almost 12 cans a day at times.
I've tried to cut back, I've cut myself off completely, but I always come back harder and faster each time.
I have so much caffeine in my system that days are running together, I never sleep enough, until I crash for 12 hours at a time, I get the shakes and cold sweats from it too.
Worst of all, I have a heart condition now, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pericardial_effusion
They say it's trivial but I do get the occasional mild to bad chest pains, with all the stimulant I put in myself, I am worried I'm going to have a fucking heart attack.
I want to quit but man, I dunno I need help.
I'm up to drinking almost 12 cans a day at times.
I've tried to cut back, I've cut myself off completely, but I always come back harder and faster each time.
I have so much caffeine in my system that days are running together, I never sleep enough, until I crash for 12 hours at a time, I get the shakes and cold sweats from it too.
Worst of all, I have a heart condition now, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pericardial_effusion
They say it's trivial but I do get the occasional mild to bad chest pains, with all the stimulant I put in myself, I am worried I'm going to have a fucking heart attack.
I want to quit but man, I dunno I need help.
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What I did was stop drinking sodas, and started drinking juices a lot. I would drink a bottle of water, and then maybe two other non-caffeinated drinks. I would also drink one Sobe a day, like the Energy or something with caffeine in it, to slowly work myself down. Maybe two weeks and I stopped drinking everything with caffeine. Then, I started drinking slightly more water, slightly less juice. A few weeks and then I was drinking water and the G2 or whatever the lighter sports drinks were. Took me probably two months total to get down to pretty much just water. I haven't really had soda in about five months, and drink about 3L+ of water a day, with maybe and orange juice every other day to help prevent scurvy.
So maybe half your supply per day or maybe limit yourself for 3 cans a day for a week, then 2 then 1 then nothing or leave it at 1? If you go cold turkey the caffeine might make you crash as well, which isn't great. Just don't see yourself quitting as having to stop entirely in order to be successful. Just gradually cut back and you'll find yourself getting the same results a bit slower but a lot easier. EDIT: Sorry, editing this post a lot since I tend to forget things. But the juice thing is a big one, I find if I'm having a craving for something sweet, I can drink juice and, yeah, sugarwise it's not much better for you but it still has good things as well and no caffeine!
When I found myself drinking too much soda, I just put a one glass a day (max) rule but making a concession for if I was nerding out with friends or having a big meal or something.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Now you must be thinking, how the hell is this helpful or relevant? Well my point is that once you get over the challenge of resisting them, you really lose any cravings. It might take awhile but I suggest just drinking only water or very watery drinks (tea, low calorie Gatorade). When you finally get the cravings after just drinking "lighter" stuff for awhile trying soda again (any soda) will feel like the maple syrup analogy I used earlier and you'll start to actively avoid drinking them.
I'm more of an extreme example since I don't drink alcohol or coffee either, and any juice I drink has to be significantly diluted. I'm not sure how helpful that was, but if you have any questions feel free.
This is what I just did about a month ago, I cut myself back from about ten cans a day to two, just enough to keep me from getting caffeine withdrawal headaches, stayed at 2 cans a day for a little over a week, had one can a day for my last two days and then switched to just water. I kept only that day's worth of cans in the fridge and left the rest in the closet, where they were too hot to want to drink anyway, and didn't put the next day's cans in the fridge until I was going to bed. I didn't switch to juices - it gives me heartburn if I have more than 8oz in a day anyway, so it was a lot easier to stick with water. I don't keep soda in the house anymore which makes it a lot easier.
Actually, come to think of it, don't they make caffeiene free pepsi? I remember drinking it back in the day and it tasting the exact same (or very near enough). Or am I just imagining it?
I had a pretty heavy caffeine/pop addiction a few years ago, and due to a medical issue I quit cold turkey. The result was a few weeks of nothing but headaches, inability to concentrate, and general lethargy. The upside, however, was that once I came out of that, I began to feel a lot lighter, like I wasn't as tired as often. Am I recommending quitting cold turkey? Not really, but I am saying that however you manage to end it, it is worth it and you'll feel worlds better.
A few things that hopefully help you out:
Best of luck!
What has been very successful to me was to just wean myself off of it slowly. Like try to cut back day by day until you are down to 2-3 a day. Going from lots of caffeine to none = bad idea. Also, it helps me a lot if I limit myself to the soda at certain times a day, and I always have the soda only at those times. I only drink two cans of soda a day, so I have one at lunch and one at dinner. It might help if you tell yourself ok, I can only have a soda at these times during the day.
I try to substitute the soda with two things: I drink lots of water (makes you feel good and keeps you hydrated), and then I also have a glass of lemonade now and then for the sugar. What helps me drink more water is I keep a large pitcher full of water in the fridge, that way it is nice and cold. It's so much easier to drink a lot of water when it's super cold.
This isn't necessarily true.
The studies that suggested diet pop drinkers are more likely to gain weight were iffy at best. The most probable reason for those results is that the people in the study would have switched to the diet alternative when they were noticing a weight gain, but they would do little else to try and lose weight.
This totally blows.
The thing is it also makes my depression, mood and anxiety disorders worse, I was having a panic attack when I made this thread even. Though my doctor also thinks I kinda do it to self medicate myself from these issues as well as probably ADD.
It's gonna be a rough ride, I really need help through it.
This is very true, take it with a grain of salt (like all studies really). The study was performed on rats I think now that I've looked into it and they found rats on artificial sugars were much more likely to gain weight than the control group on natural sugars.
Also, a lot of the studies regarding diet coke were people who were addicted to coke in the first place, so their massive consumption of it (shockingly =p) wasn't making too much of a difference.
I guess the main point of diet coke is (regardless of the above mentioned study) is that whatever they take out they replace with something else that isn't necessarily better for you. Moderation is key, not replacement.
Also, Uriel, when you are going through the process: try your best, but don't beat yourself up if you slip up so often. That's why I would suggest having a few excuses where you can let loose and indulge a bit so you don't go crazy. Good luck!
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
This sucks ass, I can't fucking do this. This shit has my balls in a vice.
I also have a blog!
Because dealing with the headaches I get from overdosing is just too much, I can't even keep my hands still sometimes.
This is one of the reasons why cold turkey is usually a bad idea. It's also another reason why people try to employ substitutes. In this case, like others suggest, try switching to something that provides less caffeine per ounce. But also something you won't be drinking twice as much of. Switching to non-caffeinated sodas is also a good idea since it tricks you into thinking your having the carbonated sugar water you crave so much.
Stick mainly to 'clear' drinks (lemon-lime stuff, not that shitty 'crystal' junk) since those are easier to find at fast food places than caffeine free stuff and increase the amount of water you drink. The less thirsty you are, the less likely you are to fill up with soda. Keep a refillable bottle of water with you when possible.
And if you don't think you can do it yourself, get your friends and family to help. (And like addicts, this can probably help you find out who your friends really are...)
I really drink the stuff to elevate my mood an attention span and regulate my sleep cycle.
If the goal was to limit, if not outright eliminate caffeine intake, I'd recommend tea.
That. Don't keep any more of it around than you need (if you're weaning yourself off of it), and don't keep any of it if you're going cold turkey.
I know it sounds corny, but just keep thinking positive, and keep the goals day to day (think, "I just have to get through today," then repeat the next day, etc.).
These could be useful to ween yourself off the caffiene and switching straight to water or juice or something healthier.
I don't recommend it, at least.
My situation wasn't quite as dire as yours (I was drinking about 6 sodas a day, I think), but I switched to the caffeine-free stuff in an effort to improve my sleep patterns. Now I'm down to 3 sodas a day, and I'm honestly fine with that even if it never decreases any further, though it probably will.
For a normal person under normal circumstances with an acceptable amount of willpower, sure. The OP has admitted that he has a borderline crippling caffeine/soda addiction. Giving him a much easier, quicker way to take vast amounts of this drug is not a good idea.
My suggestion would be to substitute water with some lemon or lime juice in it for soda; I drink a lot of that during the week, seems to help quite a bit, and adds some taste to the water I'm drinking.
I second the idea of Crystal Lite. I buy the single serving packs (comes with 10 little pouches intended to be used in bottled water) and use 2 packs per jug of water. It's like watered down juice, but it's enough sweetness for me.
Edit; Fuck, man. You're drinking the equivalent of less than one vente coffee from Starbucks per day. I think you should be more worried about the sugar intake than the caffeine.
Edit:edit: And the amount of money you're spending? 12 cans a day? Even when I buy pop on sale it's like $3 - $4 for a 12 pack. Saving between $90 and $120 per month because you're no longer buying pop should be a pretty good incentive to quit, no?
My understanding was that the OP has developed a physical dependence on caffiene as a result of his soda usage. If the OP enjoys getting high on caffiene, the pills are probably not a good idea. In any case though, this entire issue is an exercise in self-control. If you don't have the self-control to not over indulge in caffiene pills, you probably don't have the self-control to drop a caffiene addiction altogether either.
If he is simply looking for a way to prevent withdraw symptoms, the pills are a viable alternative to soda or other caffeinated drinks. A box of caffiene pills cut into fourths to prevent withdraw symptoms will also be significantly cheaper than buying a supply of caffienated drinks to stave off the cravings.
When I quit soda (I still drink the occasional soda, but its more of a monthly treat) my biggest issue was getting my body acclimated to the idea that my fluid intake should not be a source of sugar and stimulants, but simply a source of hydration. The sooner you can get accustomed to just drinking plain water, the better.
Tea with some good raw sugar in it is a good replacement for soda. It will satisfy most of the aspects of soda minus the carbonation and certainly less acid.
Some higher quality lemonade is also not bad. And then of course just ice cold water.