See ya

Last week (two weeks ago?) I stopped drinking (caffeinated) coffee. There was no real reason for it other than the fact that I wanted to see if I could. That, and I don’t like knowing that an incapacitating headache will invade my soul around 11am if I don’t obediently drink my one cup of coffee in the AM. I don’t like that kind of dependency on anything.

Caffeine in modest doses isn’t bad for you. So my one cup a day was actually doing me more good than harm. It wasn’t the daily intake that bothered me. It was the misery that ensued if I didn’t have access to it.

Day 1 went really well up until about 8pm when I was in chemistry and thought I would surely die. I went to bed as soon as I got home around 9:45pm. Day 2 I felt a bit slower in the morning but didn’t have the headache… until the afternoon. But it was far milder than Day 1. Again, I fell asleep around 9:30pm (this is about 2 hours earlier than I usually go to bed). Day 3 I was pretty tired and fell asleep much earlier than I usually do, but I didn’t have the headache. The mild exhaustion continued for the next few days but not enough to make me notice (or drink coffee).

Now I’m in the clear and I’m happy about it. I’m still drinking decaf in the morning sometimes and will absolutely still drink an occasional espresso if the mood strikes. I’m not banning caffeine and would never, ever ban coffee. I love it. I just wanted to cut the habit and lose the dependency. It was unnecessary and made me really cranky on trips where good (read: NOT FOLGERS) coffee and my mandatory almond/rice/soy milk was not available.

Keep in mind I only drink one cup of coffee a day and don’t consume any other sodas, energy drinks, etc. throughout the day. If you’re one such heavy user, I wish you luck if ever you choose to quit. I predict it will be far worse than my three days of headaches.