I Went Caffeine Free

This is one reporter who can speak from personal experience about kicking caffeine successfully. I had to, it was really making a mess of my life and I didn’t realize it until things got really bad.

Soda consumption was always a big part of my life, starting at the age of about 14. It got to the point where, as I got older … I was drinking several cans a day.

Keep in mind these are the big cola brands with caffeine.

It slowly got worse. After getting out of high school I remember the days when my friends and I would gather to drop a engine in a car, and during the course of one day while working on cars, … polishing off two or three 2-litre bottles of the smooth flowing soda in the green bottle was no problem because it went down easier than the carbonated cola’s. At the time, it never dawned on me this brand of soda had the heaviest level of caffeine of all the major brand names.

As I entered the world of employment, working more than one job, … I used this beverage to keep going at both jobs. This lifestyle continued for more than twenty years. The magic soda in the green bottle that I put so much trust in, was starting to lose it’s affect that I needed.

As it’s effects on me started to slip away, I noticed other things that were going wrong. Not only was the caffeine losing its effect, but I noticed I was unable to get a solid stretch of sleep when I went to bed for just that purpose. I was also getting moody around close friends, and couldn’t focus on simple projects.

In my late thirties and early forties, I looked for a way to get the effects of caffeine back again.

Enter, the energy drinks:

Within a short period of time I was consuming several cans of energy drinks in addition to the consumption of the soda in the green bottles, per day.

In the year 2005 I ended up in the hospital with a very scary symptom I would have never thought was connected to my soda and caffeine consumption.

One night while watching television I noticed my chest was racing without cause. I’d been sitting in my arm chair for the last hour and a half. My heart shouldn’t be pounding like it was. I drove to the hospital to be seen and checked by a doctor.

After a lengthy conversation with the doctor and some tests, he blew up at me saying it was my consumption of caffeine causing these problems with a otherwise healthy body. I was instructed quite firmly to quit consuming caffeine because it may or will cause problems with my heart. He further explained the other negative effects of caffeine, which ended up matching what I was experiencing prior to my visit.

This was a wake up call that didn’t need to be made twice. I started cutting the caffeine as soon as I got home from the hospital.

The first thing I did was go directly to my refrigerator and took all the caffeine soda and energy drinks and threw them out. This was just the beginning.

The next few weeks held a surprise for me that came hard to handle and deal with. My energy levels came and went in sharp spikes. What I won’t forget is the headaches, those absolutely god awful pounding headaches that wouldn’t go away, Some of which brought me to tears a couple times.

This folks, … is caffeine withdrawal. Something the doctor warned I would experience.

As I said above, this lasted several weeks. It was the worse time of my life because I was told not to try to take aspirin to avoid the pain, because a lot of aspirins have caffeine as a ingredient.

After the withdrawal period, things slowly looked up and got better. The headaches feathered away permanently. My spikes of energy stabilized at a feeling of exhaustion, but got better over the next month or so. My heart rate was back to normal.

Now, three years later, I’m almost 50 years old but feel like I’m twenty-five or thirty years old.

I am totally caffeine free and not missing it at all. I am capable of working from sunrise to sunset and then going home and watching television before going to bed, and doing so without any problems.

When I do get to bed, I sleep sound all the way through the night. In the morning when I get up, I am full of energy.

Currently the only soda’s I do drink, ‘if I drink soda’ are caffeine free diet 7-up, everything else I drink is juices, milk and Gatorade. I stopped eating chocolate because chocolate has caffeine in it too. I feel fresh and alive, not missing the caffeine at all. Three years totally caffeine free and feeling great. I’m focused on things I do. My contacts with others are very peaceful and friendly by nature. This is the life. It’s great.

My next goal is to go totally soda free period. Soda is a synthetic drink that serves no benefit to the human body at all. The human body can benefit more by the consumption of juices, milk and lots of water. Drinking water is extremely good for the human body because it helps just about every part of your body, from your joints to your intestines. Water also plays a important part in flushing toxins from your body as it keeps you hydrated. Regardless of what anyone tells you, … in hot weather, soda does not hydrate your body at all. If you don’t believe that, ask your doctor.

If you know anyone getting to much caffeine, especially a youth, help them. Get them off the caffeine track.

Caffeine is a drug. Although it’s a drug found in family beverages and chocolates, non the less, it’s still a drug. Don’t let it take over your life.

My name is Joe, … This is a true story.

Reporter Joseph Toth

Washington Micro Bank BBS