27 Jan 2003 MichaelCrawford   » (Master)

My name is Michael, and I'm a caffeine addict

Bonita got the idea that it would be soothing to her jangled nerves if she started drinking decaf instead of regular coffee. Things were in fact more pleasant for her the very first day off caffeine.

In part to be supportive and in part out of convenience I started drinking decaf too. I cut out the caffeine cold turkey.

It happens that I have always had a powerful thirst. I always have a beverage at hand and I'm always drinking something. So if a pot of coffee is on I will drink it until it's gone. (Unquenchable thirst is a symptom of diabetes - I've been tested several times and don't have it. It just seems to be the way I am).

So it turns out that when we brew a pot, Bonita will have one cup of coffee and I will drink the whole rest of the pot. So I have been drinking about three pots of coffee a day for quite some time.

So yesterday around 5 pm I lay down for "a little nap". I just wanted to take a little break before setting into some difficult work.

Bonita tried to wake me but I was so exhausted I could not get up. I slept until 9 am this morning. So my little nap lasted 16 hours.

When I lay down for another little nap this afternoon Bonita got really concerned. After some discussion we decided that the decaf must be my problem.

We went out to the local bookstore cafe and I had a large coffee and then another with a shot of espresso added. Caffeinated.

When I got home I had the energy to work and in fact fixed a difficult problem I've been working on for a few days.

Bonita feels that she doesn't need to cut out all caffeine, just most of it, so she had me brew a pot of regular coffee to drink while I worked.

I find it disturbing though that skipping caffeine for a couple days could have had such a dramatic effect. I think I want to continue trying to cut down on my caffeine.

I just don't think I should try to do it cold turkey.

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