DrSober

When I was using I drank 6-8 cups of coffee every morning just to drag myself out of bed. Monster tolerance. I did 30 days of coffee abstinence after I got sober. In the last 10 days I've slowly started drinking coffee again, about 1-2 cups a day (I had a cup and a half this morning).

I'm wondering where to draw the line. Also, I took a half-dose of Benadryl on two separate evenings over the past two days.

Obviously this is all very gray area stuff.

I have decided to abstain from coffee at least until next Monday, just to re-evaluate things. Also am making a plan just to limit myself to one cup on the days I *do* drink, and see if that works. Finally, I'm thinking since I only have to get up early two days a week that I just do coffee on those two days. However, I'm not entirely certain I'll stick with that plan, or if I should feel I should. Maybe I should quit coffee. Maybe no more than one cup in the mornings. What to do? Maybe I'm obsessing.

Thanks

GerandTwine

If you can do 2 cups a day indefinitely, then I'd say enjoy it. But I wouldn't encourage you to think of it as a wake up or stay-awake tool. Just think of it as a brain high. It made me feel so optimistic and competent about everything for about 45 minutes.

I wanted that high to last longer than caffeine provided it.
I was getting a bunch of negative effects from 10+ cups per day, degraded sleep, digestion, thought stability.
When I cut way back, I had huge headaches and bone joint pain, which I never experienced otherwise.

So, I quit coffee a number of years after booze/drugs.

Then I fairly quickly quit chocolate when I realized how my caffeine Beast was driving a Hershey's semi truck load of extra large semi-sweet chocolate bars through that loophole.

I've been able to 1) get out of bed faster, and 2) stay awake longer and on a more even keel without any caffeine at all than when I used it.

DrSober

I think the thing with caffeine is I'm trying to figure out where I draw the line with it in a healthy way. 6-8 cups per day = bad. A cup maybe 2-4 days per week? Not bad. Dunno.

Lyoness

Those are good questions. I can't tolerate coffee or black tea though do have a decaf mocha treat now and again, especially if I'm trying to ward off a migraine (the little bit of caffeine helps). I do have chocolate, including daily cocoa that I make myself with unsweetened, organic cocoa and I feel fine about that. Especially since it has increased my HDL cholesterol (the good stuff).

I do worry about my sugar intake though which has been a lifelong addiction and has come roaring back now that I'm not using opiates anymore. I figure that it's okay for that to stay on the back burner for a bit longer while I get a handle on the opiate addiction.

What I am concerned about is the diphenhydramine (benadryl) that I use nightly for sleep. I feel like it's a gray area, too, but am worried about it. I guess I'm really the only one who can answer/decide for myself but I would really like to know how others feel about using it temporarily while my body adjusts? I haven't been able to sleep without help for decades, though. I think benadryl is an improvement but wonder if it is or will be a problem?

raku

I am a night owl, have been since I was a kid. I'm attempting to gradually get my time clock, my circadian rhyme, re-adjusted, totally without any night time aids...lots of exercise helps, naps in the day help, and a cup or 2 of coffee a day is what I consider moderation. I do know that one's body adapts to sleep meds, excess caffeine, excess alcohol, or excess sugar, but those excesses can be a double edged sword, creating the same or worse symptoms than those we are trying to control. Hence the expression
"Re-Covery" or "The Beast" !

CharlieNoogan

Coffee is about as benign a substance as you can find. It's much more harmful to eat grilled red meat than it is to have a few cups of java. There are actually many health BENEFITS attributed to coffee drinking:

This Is Your Brain on Coffee - NYTimes.com

DrSober

Well, a glass of red wine in the evenings is cardioprotective. But swilling two bottles of it isn't.....

Off the coffee today. Dragging a bit, low motivation at work (seem to be hanging around here a lot!) - but no headache or depression. I don't want to be addicted to anything, really. This is annoying.