hmmmm

Caffeine withdrawals!!!

Several weeks ago, when I (we-Anna, Steph, Leslie, & I) went camping, I experienced a terrible head and neck ache. I'm a coffee drinker & I was drinking less than normal to not at all. Steph suggested it might be due to a need for caffeine. Her perscription? Drink some coffee Colleen.

You were right Steph. I thought about what you said over the next couple of weeks. Then the LORD led me to fast - fast from salt, sugar, and caffeine, one week at a time. Because I was still in school at the time, I decided to first fast from salt, then sugar, then the caffeine (so I'd be done with my semester before going off the caffeine). No problem until the caffeine fast.

That first day I started experiencing headaches. The next day, I not only had a headache, but my back and muscles ached too. I had a really weird experience. I stretched my back and it felt like something (fluid?blood?) travelled up my spine, into my head, and made my head feel like it momentarily expanded then went back to shape and my vision temporarily blurred - headrush. Over the week, I had to take frequent naps to keep the aches manageable (thank God for breaks and lunches!!!) and I popped painkillers as often as I could.

I looked up caffeine withdrawals and found out this:
Drinking caffeine regularly reduced my sensitivity to it. When I reduced my caffeine intake, my body became oversensitive to adenosine. Because of this oversensitivity, my blood pressure dropped dramatically, causing an excess of blood in my head, leading to a headache. See What are the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal?. The article doesn't say why my back and muscles ached. Maybe something similar was going on throughout my muscular system.

I never really realized how much I've been drinking. I used to only have two cups of coffee in the morning. But gradually over time, I would occasionally have some coffee during the day or in the evening. I also began drinking tea over the course of the day. It all adds up and I now know I've been taking in alot more caffeine than I had thought.

I decided to keep on the fast until the headaches were gone. This morning I had my first cup of caffeine (coffee). On my way to work I started on cup number two but part way through it I started feeling funny & kind of jittery. I stopped drinking it and poured the rest out at work. It's been a long time since that little caffeine could affect me so much. I think I need to get some decaf tea & coffee for drinking during the day, saving the potent stuff for when I first get up. (How I enjoy that hot cup of java first thing in the morning!)

By the way, check out this link to the Michigan Irish Music Festival if you'd like to see all that'll be going on. Maybe I'll enter that limerick contest!

posted by Colleen @ 4:27 PM