Caffeine withdrawal headaches.....

Disney1fan2002

Disney1fan2002

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Joined
Jun 21, 2002
Sweet Mother of All That is Holy. Almost a whole week has gone by of giving up diet coke, and no amount of excedrin, advil, or motrin will touch it. I have had to resort to drinking a 20 oz bottle, and the headache goes away immediately.

3 days this week I had to break down and drink a diet coke. The headaches do not seem to be as intense as they were in the beginning, but still there. My friend told me it took her 3 weeks before her caffeine withdrawal symptoms went away.

Another 2 weeks? UGH
 
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I feel your pain. I had a very bad Diet Coke habit. I gave it up cold turkey, and avoided the headaches by drinking coffee. I don't like coffee. I used creamer, but did not want all the sugar. However, I don't like black coffee. Now I use sugar free creamer. It is still not healthy, but it did the trick. I also like sparkling water. That fizz and sound of the can opening are great for the old Diet Coke lover in me. Doesn't help with caffeine headaches, but it is still better than Diet Coke.
 
They are terrible. I had to detox from caffeine when my 3rd son was 3 months old. I LIVED on caffeine. It was awful. Now I can go a day without it. I don't LIKE to, but it can be done without any issues.
 


was drinking a ton of mountain dew. quit cold turkey one day. had a wicked headache for one full day. just pounded down water, and felt good the next day. no caffeine for last 15 years. feel great. and tons of energy.
 
I just tried to kick my tea habit, the headaches were just as you described and nothing helped ease them. Guess what I'm drinking as I type this? Yep, tea. I am weak.
 


Switch to Aleve liquid gels. Take one every 12 hours. Excedrin has caffeine, so definitely don't take that.

You should step down the caffeine intake. Drink half a soda for a couple days, then 1/4 for a couple days...taper to nothing.

I have migraines and frequent headaches and have had to wean off caffeine several times. Do it slowly and do not take acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Those are more likely to cause rebound headaches.
 
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Ugh! Caffeine headaches are awful. I gave it up a couple of years ago, but have had occasional splurges on the weekend or vacation and regretted it by bringing on the withdrawal headaches again. Kind of dumb, I know. Diet Coke was my preferred caffeine conveyor, as well.

A friend of mine wanted to quit for her pregnancies and her doctor advised her to wean herself off diet coke by buying it in two liter bottles. She was allowed to drink a full glass the first few days and then, using the same glass every day, she reduced the amount by an inch each day (or two, I can't remember). Anyway, it allowed her to slowly reduce the amount and know for sure how much she was drinking each day. According to her, it worked like a charm.
 
I am wondering if it is just the caffeine in the Diet Coke...
I am thinking it might be so bad because of all the other chemical ingredients and sweeteners too???

A 20oz bottle is a LOT of Diet Coke if one is wanting to wean off of it.
I am thinking how that would compare to one glass, 8oz over ice.
Maybe try the smaller amounts to decrease and wean off of it?
 
Wishing on a star said:
I am wondering if it is just the caffeine in the Diet Coke...
I am thinking it might be so bad because of all the other chemical ingredients and sweeteners too???
Click to expand...
You never know. Some people are sensitive to things that others are not. I did not have problems with headaches when I went to water only from diet, caffeine free sodas. But that's just my own personal experience.
 
Disney1fan2002 said:
Sweet Mother of All That is Holy. Almost a whole week has gone by of giving up diet coke, and no amount of excedrin, advil, or motrin will touch it. I have had to resort to drinking a 20 oz bottle, and the headache goes away immediately.

3 days this week I had to break down and drink a diet coke. The headaches do not seem to be as intense as they were in the beginning, but still there. My friend told me it took her 3 weeks before her caffeine withdrawal symptoms went away.

Another 2 weeks? UGH
Click to expand...
Stop drinking caffeine. Period. Until you really quit, the headaches will keep recurring. When you get the headaches, do not drink caffeine. Remind yourself that the soda is the cause of the headaches, and they will keep recurring until you stop drinking caffeine.

I'm prone to migraines and finally quit caffeine a few months ago. Initially I coped with severe pain, nausea and vomiting for a few days. That was followed up by a moderate to mild, yet constant, headache that lasted for a week or two. I can't take OTC pain relievers for other health reasons, so I just coped with the pain.

And mind you, that was after completely, cold-turkey quitting. The times before that when I tried to taper or quit & backslid just led to recurrent headaches like you're having, and the craving for caffeine never subsided, so I kept sliding back.

Going cold turkey was painful, but it finally freed me from the headaches & from craving caffeine.

I was a caffeinated soda person, and for me, Sprite has been a good reverse-gateway drink to still have soda but not need caffeine. I also drank some chocolate milk for a while after quitting, which has a negligible amount of caffeine, maybe enough to take the edge off, but not enough to keep me a junkie. I don't drink it any more.

Find what coping mechanisms work for you. But the bottom line is that for some of us, caffeine creates a physical addiction that is going to cause us pain for the first few weeks of withdrawal. But it is oh so sweet not to be hooked any more. Don't give up.
 
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Wishing on a star said:
I am wondering if it is just the caffeine in the Diet Coke...
I am thinking it might be so bad because of all the other chemical ingredients and sweeteners too???
Click to expand...
It's just the caffeine. Some people have a harder time with it than others. I was hooked on primarily stevia-flavored, caffeinated sodas, so none of the typical diet soda chemicals were involved, but I still had terrible withdrawal. I think the reason is that I'm prone to severe migraines with accompanying nausea, and the withdrawal from caffeine triggered that.

low-key said:
why would I stop caffeine, why not stop breathing
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If it doesn't cause you problems, fine. For me, if I didn't happen to drink enough during any given part of the day, I would get a painful, 24-hour migraine. So I was basically a junkie who HAD to drink caffeine every few hours or else become ill. That's no way to live in my opinion, so I quit.
 
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I drink 2-3 cups of coffee a day and have for years. When they put me up in the cardiac ward 10 years ago (some BP issues) my caffeine withdrawal headache was so bad it caused me to start throwing up. My cardiologist allowed me 3 oz of coffee each morning after that......definitely fixed the headache!
 
pixiedustedme said:
It's just the caffeine. Some people have a harder time with it than others. I was hooked on primarily stevia-flavored, caffeinated sodas, so none of the typical diet soda chemicals were involved, but I still had terrible withdrawal. I think the reason is that I'm prone to severe migraines with accompanying nausea, and the withdrawal from caffeine triggered that.

If it doesn't cause you problems, fine. For me, if I didn't happen to drink enough during any given part of the day, I would get a painful, 24-hour migraine. So I was basically a junkie who HAD to drink caffeine every few hours or else become ill. That's no way to live in my opinion, so I quit.
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Thank you. I was wondering the reasons people have for wanting to give up caffeine, whether they think it is a vice, or for heath reasons or whatever. :scratchin
 
ronandannette said:
Thank you. I was wondering the reasons people have for wanting to give up caffeine, whether they think it is a vice, or for heath reasons or whatever. :scratchin
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I gave it up because it is a trigger for a medical condition I have and I decided it wasn't worth the pain. I quit cold turkey and didn't have a problem with headaches that I remember, but that was 5 years ago.
 
Let’s say you are drinking 60 ounces a day. You want to quit. You should go to 30 ounces a day for about a week. Than the next week 16 ounces. The next week after that 8 ounces. This will keep the headaches awAy for the most part.
 
dclpluto said:
Let’s say you are drinking 60 ounces a day. You want to quit. You should go to 30 ounces a day for about a week. Than the next week 16 ounces. The next week after that 8 ounces. This will keep the headaches awAy for the most part.
Click to expand...
My wife quit in this way and had no headache issues. Her doctor recommended tapering off over a few weeks and it worked perfectly.
 
LilyWDW said:
I gave it up because it is a trigger for a medical condition I have and I decided it wasn't worth the pain. I quit cold turkey and didn't have a problem with headaches that I remember, but that was 5 years ago.
Click to expand...

Yep, I don't understand the whole headache thing either. I cold turkey quit caffeine 20 years ago. Never had an issue, and don't miss it.
 
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