I think dropping the caffiene out of my diet yesterday might have been a bad thing. I wonder if that's why I felt so crappy and felt anxious most of the day. It got better when I had a soda and cup of tea.
Ah, hah! Of course, the soda and tea probably had caffeine in them, which took the edge off.
You can absolutely suffer withdrawal symptoms when you cut out coffee. They made us drink caffeine-free in detox; but, I didn't have any side-effects...and, of course I don't remember what they suggested for anyone who did. You can probably find out on the internet.
Here you go:
Withdrawal effects:
Caffeine withdrawal can produce several side effects. These include:
Headaches
Irritability
Nervousness
Restlessness
Tiredness
Hints for cutting caffeine intake:
Reduce the amount of caffeine slowly to help avoid withdrawal symptoms. Cutting down at a rate of about 1/2 cup a day seems to avoid most side effects.
It may be helpful to keep a guide of how much caffeine you are consuming (including soft drinks) per week and begin cutting down slowly.
Some people prefer to suddenly stop drinking caffeine by going "cold turkey", however, the withdrawal effects can be quite severe with this method.
People experiencing withdrawal symptoms may find it helpful to drink a Coca-Cola.
Caffeine amounts in popular soft drinks per 12 oz cans:
SOFT DRINK/CAFFEINE LEVEL (mgs)
Mountain Dew/55.0 (no caffeine in Canada)
Diet Mountain Dew/55.0
Coca-Cola/45.6
Diet-Cola/45.6
7 Up/0
Caffeine amounts per 7 oz cups of coffee and tea:
DRINK/CAFFEINE LEVEL (mgs)
Espresso/100
Brewed coffee/80 - 135
Instant/65 - 100
Decaf, brewed/3 - 4
Decaf, instant /2 - 3
Tea iced/70
Tea brewed/40 - 60
Tea instant/30
(Caffeine is sometimes called "theine" when it is in tea).
Chocolate also contains caffeine. A 28 gram Cadbury chocolate bar contains about 15 mgs of caffeine.