Anyone else suffer from Caffeine withdrawals? Possible?

[Gigantasor]

I am starting to notice a trend in my attitude. A friend pointed it out yesterday. I currently work out a couple times a day pretty much every day. I lift/cardio in the morning and do sports specific training and a bit more intense cardio.

Anyhow, last night I was wasted at about 6:30pm. I was dragging ass bad. My buddy started asking me questions about my diet, which is strict as hell, and what I have been taking in. My diet is pretty tight, I am still working on some details but we always are right? But what was interesting is that I have been taking in large quantities of Coffee in the am. Usually by 11am I have had possibly 10 cups total volume. This of course with no sugar or dairy creamer.

By 6pm, every day, I feel like crap! I’m not sure why. Granted I wake up at 5am workout, cardio, and work all day but I have been doing this for a long time. Lately I have felt worse the I have in years. I am in the best shape of my life right now and my am training is awesome,

I wondering if I could be onto something here? Could the coffee be the culprit? Could it be causing mood swings later in the day when the effects are out of my system? Could it feel like withdrawals and cause fatigue?

Should I work to cut it back or work to just stop drinking it all together? I love the stuff but I think I am addicted at some level and that in itself disturbs me.

Thoughts?

 

[mrhoon]

I'm so addicted to "good" coffee. I cycle it every couple of weeks to keep the metabolism raising effects high. But I cheat like hell. I cannot resist a nice shot of fresh espresso. I make it myself. Fresh whole bean coffe, freshly ground, and brewed. I cannot drink as much as you. Shots of espresso are a kick in the ass. Especially with controlled tollerance.
As for your dilema iwould suggest trying to cut back slowly, like 2 cups a week until you are at zero, then reintroduce at 2 cups a week. You will be able to determine where your thresh hold is. And where the tiredness and moodiness kicks in/out.

 

[Ish]

When I gave up caffine, I felt like shit for a couple weeks. The feeling went away after that, and I feel fine again.

 

[Cutiebaby]

yes i cannot give up coffee i am horrible untill i have my first cup

 

[HERPECIN]

I got an idea... DONT HAVE 10 CUPS

try 2-3 spread out through the day no later than 4pm

 

[The Red Dragon]

Yeah I crash all the time...I don't use coffee though, I use 200 mg caffeine + 8 mg ephedrine (bumping up to 16 from tolerance) like once a day...but when I crash, I'm irritable, hungry, and anxious.

I usually take weekends off the stack or a week off...the first day I don't use the stack I'll get a light headache (which can be amplified if I do something that requires focus)

 

[macrophage69alpha]

caffiene is both physically and psychologically addictive.

if you are trying to quit, you might consider taking ALCAR (acetyl-l-carnitine), ALTYR (acetyl-l-tyrosine) or TYR2( tyramine and acetyl-l-tyrosine). This will maintain, with respect to ALCAR even restore, your energy levels.



though you may still experience headaches from the caffiene withdrawal (this varies).

 

[xshepx]

I have only been reading these forums for about 2 weeks trying to gather information to build a diet and set up a good training program for myself and have yet to post. Though, when I saw this thread I decided I HAD to comment.

I had some strange version of insomnia for a long time and it was never a big deal until I got into college. I would lay down at midnight and finally fall asleep at about 4 or 5 AM and got up at 7 to get ready for classes. That was if I even got up. It was the high caffiene drinks like Mtn. Dew that I discovered was the main problem. I still drink sodas occasionally but never usually more than a 20oz bottle per day and typically not after 5 PM. I had to drink a ton of flavored water, gatorade, etc. in order to have something with taste but without the caffiene.

I think the withdrawls have something to do with oxygen traveling to the brain but I had bad headaches and felt like crap for about 2 weeks and was exteremely irritable. Eventually it will go away.

My problem now is that I have started a basic exercise program to keep my body limber and work up my stamina for when I do implement my diet and training system and I can't sleep again. I don't know what is causing it exactly but it is the opposite of what happened with caffiene. If I lay down at midnight I am asleep in 10 minutes and up 1-2 hours before I want to be. Not a bad thing I guess but I still get the tired feelings through parts of the day.