<p>I’ve gotten into the habit of drinking a large cup of coffee at 6:30 every morning because I typically have meetings as soon as I get to work. Now I wake up many days -especially weekends with a massive headache. Could I be addicted to caffeine? If so, what should I do?</p>
<p>I’ve seen this happen to other people. They consume a lot of caffeine on weekdays because it fits into their workday schedule and often because coffee and tea are readily available (and free) at the office.</p>
<p>But on the weekends, they consume little or no caffeine because their habits are different.</p>
<p>Our bodies don’t like that. They prefer – and get accustomed to – a consistent intake of caffeine.</p>
<p>Take a look at your total coffee, tea, and cola intake on weekdays and compare it to that on weekends. If there’s a drastic difference, can you make adjustments to make it more consistent? That’s probably all you need to do.</p>
<p>And yes, you’re probably addicted to caffeine. But so are millions of people, and it doesn’t seem to be doing any massive harm to society.</p>
<p>keep drinking coffee, its amazing for your health. if you don’t want to, give it 36+ hrs and should resolve.</p>
<p>This was happening to my husband as he leaves the house wicked early with heavily leaded coffee for the long commute and drinks it through the day. If he doesn’t get up at a similar time on the weekends he’ll get a caffeine w/d headache. We switched to half-calf in the mornings (I know coffee purists would balk, but it’s decent and I love my Starbucks), and his weekends have him up much earlier now so the discrepancy isn’t as great. This also happens to our family when they visit from overseas, all serious caffeine addicts. With the time change if they don’t get a coffee hit when they normally would they get headaches. They are 6hrs ahead so I brew a pot before we go to bed. Somehow they all still sleep.</p>
<p>For some people this can be a health issue. If you’ve had a physical and you’re otherwise healthy it’s not a big deal. The impact of navigating a potential headache is up to you to decide how inconvenient it is to cut down.</p>
<p>Excedrin Migraine is simply acetaminophen, aspirin, with caffeine added so it should be pretty effective at kicking your headaches when they do hit.</p>
<p>The bad actor here is probably the LARGE cup of coffee. Work your way down in size. Pick something with a more intense flavor so your tongue gets the “coffee hit”. Or try the half-caf moving down to decaf route. Last summer Happykid and I did that before she made an international trip where her schedule and access to coffee were going to be very different. One cup of espresso-style decaf (which actually has a bit of residual caffeine in it) in the morning, and we were good to go. No headaches for either of us.</p>
<p>It’s also a good idea to gradually decrease your caffeine intake for several days if you’re going to have surgery or if you’re going to undergo medical tests that involve periods of fasting.</p>
<p>Caffeine withdrawal symptoms can be a significant contributor to how miserable you feel during those situations.</p>
<p>Coffee is really good for you, particularly in massive doses, oddly.</p>
<p>But, if you don’t want to drink coffee, then you have to titrate off the caffiene by going to smaller doses a day.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t give up my coffee even if it was actually bad for me, but to each his own.</p>
<p>I only drink the one cup of coffee a day. I don’t even drink soda.
I definitely don’t want to get up at 5:30 on weekends. Even at my age my body clock says I should sleep 12-8 so that’s what I do on weekends. I feel like I need to do something to be more alert for my meetings if I cut back on caffeine. Any ideas?
I’m intrigued by the notes that caffeine could be good for you. How so?</p>
<p>Quit drinking coffee - it’s bad for you as you can readily tell by its effect on you. A large cup of coffee typically contains a huge amount of caffeine hence what you’re feeling.</p>
<p>Switch to decaf or forego the coffee altogether.</p>
<p>Go to bed earlier since you have meetings at 6:30 - don’t rely on substances (caffeine) to get you through the meetings.</p>
<p>I cant imagine getting a headache by going from one cup of coffee to no cups of coffee.
That must be really strong coffee, are you using a press pot?
You may want to switch to espresso or something with less caffiene.( darker roasts have less as do methods that reduce contact with the coffee)
I drink a lot of coffee, ( well not for Seattle), but I also drink 20 oz of water for every cup of tea/glass of wine, because dehydration can also be unpleasant.</p>
<p>My H is Scandinavian, and his family drinks coffee all day until bedtime, its crazy!
There are a few health benefits, but like anything- moderation.
I have exercise asthma, and coffee helps that quite a lot.
[Caffeine</a> Shown As Effective At Reducing Exercise-induced Asthma Symptoms As An Albuterol Inhaler](<a href=“http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090531102507.htm]Caffeine”>Caffeine Shown As Effective At Reducing Exercise-induced Asthma Symptoms As An Albuterol Inhaler -- ScienceDaily)
[Caffeinated</a> Women May Be Fighting Depression With Every Cup](<a href=“Women May Be Fighting Depression With Every Cup : The Salt : NPR”>Women May Be Fighting Depression With Every Cup : The Salt : NPR)</p>
<p>Caffeine also dehydrates you. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water along with the coffee and on the days you don’t have it - for me, when I’m dehydrated I get headaches as well. And for me, even one cup of coffee makes me feel parched. But I still enjoy that one cup. :)</p>
<p>I drink coffee at the office and none on the weekends. I often sleep for 11+ hours Friday night to Saturday morning though.</p>
<p>Headaches for me are very rare - usually due to an infection, cold, flu, etc.</p>
<p>Definitely you are addicted to coffee. Everyone’s tolerance is different. If you want to get off of coffee try tapering down slowly to avoid the headache, or go cold turkey and grin and bear it. I have a small amount of caffeine every day (a tall non-fat latte at Starbucks before work and a Diet Coke with lunch), and will get a headache if I don’t have it. But, coffee makes me happy and I don’t want to give it up, so I just get a Starbucks every day.</p>
<p>I was always a decaf coffee drinker but I can tell you, based on my own personal experience, that caffeinated coffee is MY miracle drug:</p>
<p>I had back surgery in 2008 and experienced severe post-op back and leg pain. Three years later my wife purchased a Keurig coffee maker and, after running out of the decaf K-cups, brewed a cup of regular coffee. My back pain was cut in half and then about 4 hours later, returned. Once again I brewed regular coffee and once again my back pain was cut in half.</p>
<p>From that day on, I drink 3 cups of regular coffee per day. I am getting about the same relief with coffee as I got with powerful pain meds, INCLUDING Oxycontin and Morphine, and now have eliminated pain meds altogether from my daily regimen. Thankfully,I was never hooked on pain meds but, if I were, I’d much rather be “hooked” on coffee than pain meds. </p>
<p>I definitely agree with others about scaling back gradually and drinking plenty of water.</p>
<p>I typically drink 2 cups per day. On occasion, the afternoon cup is omitted. The following morning I wake with a headache at times, gone as soon as I drink a few sips of coffee. </p>
<p>Yes, cutting down on the volume in the AM, or at least the caffeine containing volume might be of help. </p>
<p>Adding a little caffeinated something to your mid day to early afternoon routine might be of help, as then it would be less than 24 hours till the next dose.</p>
<p>
Thank you for finally solving the mystery of the endless coffee drinking scenes in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo! I thought it was just a personal obsession of the author, but apparently not.</p>
<p>Aside from what other posters are saying, I think addiction is unlikely if you only drink one large cup on your regular work days. Dehydration is more likely, and perhaps try mitigating with drinking more water. If you don’t care for drinking water, try seltzer. I drink a fair amount of it myself and find it more palatable than drinking plain water.</p>
<p>I was a serious coffee drinker for 30+ years, addicted. But getting some serious palpitations, i had to quit. I found a great coffee substitute. TEECINO. it comes in all the flavors, french vanilla, hazelnut, mocha, etc. Looks like coffee, brews like coffee and is organic. To wean myself off of caffeine, I mixed coffee with the teecino, then graually reduced the amount. Ive been off coffee for 2 years. I do drink decaf when out or at work.</p>
<p>On another thread someone mentioned a product called Choffy. I am really intrigued. In fact I told my SIL about it and she ordered some so I’m hoping to get a sample,</p>
<p>It is NOT coffee based but made from cacao beans and is thought to give you a more natural “lift”</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.drinkchoffy.com/[/url]”>http://www.drinkchoffy.com/</a></p>