notgonnastoptry

I'm not an addict to either (would have been better than the former addiction), but over the last few days, I've been really enjoying the morning coffee. I didn't drink coffee when I drank. First, I would have rather pounded vodka, and as stupid as I was, I knew I shouldn't mix alcohol with caffeine. Now that I have a couple subs in place like the low cal lemonade mixed with sparkle water and stevia, that's great. Coffee doesn't wake me up or anything. It's honestly just a ritual I have when I'm sober and I think it's become something connected, psychologically, to my sobriety. This time and in the past.

The last few mornings, after I drank my coffee, I also felt like I was going through alcohol withdrawal. I got really nervous and even shaky. I'm still only 11 days out, but the only times I've felt like I was back at day 3 in the hospital (forget the first 2 when I was in a bad way).

I switched to tea. I don't really like tea so much. Most of it tastes either like medicine or like it has artificial sweetener in it. I looked and looked and finally found a chocolate mint tea at Target. It was pricey and gourmet. I was really loving sipping on it but then I had the same reaction. Shaky and panicky. I looked and discovered it has caffeine. I thought all tea was without.

I don't like the minty, fruity, mango, on and on teas. I do like the chocolate mint, and other things in that group. I would like pumpkin tea or something or caramel tea. Do these things exist without caffeine? Today, I almost had to leave the grocery store after IOP because I thought I was going to faint. I hadn't eaten much either. I know a lot of it was in my head because I work myself up.

Bottom lines: Any recommendations?
Did you wait a while before having coffee?
I know my nervous system is still adjusting, so I'm trying to be patient.

I talked in IOP about my physical weakness. My therapist urged me to get a multi-vitamin and said that my body is now just started to absorb nutrients again, so it might take some time. I'm also doing follow up blood work next week. All was fine when I left the hospital, but it'll be nice to see it improved more i hope.

JoeinHouston

Look around for plain (pure) rooibos, a herbal tea from South Africa. No caffeine, pleasant taste, very slight natural sweetness. I also like white tea which has almost no caffeine in it, particularly if you strain and discard the first brew. It can be re-used multiple times. The good white tea is expensive, but because of multiple re-brewing it is economical. Very light and satisfying with none of the 'medicinal' tea taste.

happyandfree

Have you tried decaffeinated coffee? I like it for the flavor without the nervousness.

Della1968

Krispy Kreme makes a really good decaf coffee. I also like decaf green tea.

notgonnastoptry

Decaf I feel has a metallic taste to it.

I will look for the white tea. Does that mean you use the tea bag twice? I wasn't sure what it meant since Im so new to tea. I'm so new that I have to boil my water in a cooking pot. I have to get a real teapot or one of those hot water plug in things when I go out again.

JoeinHouston

For re-using the white tea (brewing it more than once) you would need to buy the loose tea-leaves from Teavana (if you are close to a tea store, or online will work) or somewhere similar. Get a real teapot with a little sieve, measure out the required amount and then pour the water over it, etc. Many of these teas are brewed with water at much less than boiling point; white tea for example is best brewed with water around 175 to 180F.

TigerLili

How to make tea:

Boil the kettle or bring water to a slow boil in a cooking pot. A slow boil means just as it comes to the boil and you start to get large bubbles. Remove the pot from heat. I like to turn the kettle off just before it turns itself off. I find that is a sufficient boiling point.

Put one teaspoon of loose leaf tea per person into a teapot, or put your teabag into a cup. Add your almost boiling water.

If using a teapot, leave to steep for a few minutes, then turn the teapot around 3 times to "stir".

If using a teabag, dunk the tea bag a few times to "stir".

Add milk and/or sugar. If you prefer black tea, try adding a small slice of lemon.

Don't add the tea AFTER the hot water. The hot water should be poured on the tea. If using a teapot, the flavour of the tea will get stronger while it sits in the pot, so you can add extra hot water to your cup if it gets too strong. If you want to be fancy, you can put hot water in an insulated pot so you have it on hand to "water" down the tea as it gets stronger while sitting.

Try 'tisanes', which are herbal teas that don't contain caffeine. Teavana and similar places should be able to help you find herbal and decaffeinated teas to your taste.

TigerLili

Some larger loose leaf green and white teas can be put directly into your cup and almost boiling water poured over them. If they are large, uncut leaves, you might put 3-4 of them in a large cup depending on the strength of the tea you prefer. They will just sink to the bottom of the cup. You can reuse them a couple of times.

least

Anxiety is common in early recovery and coffee or tea could make it worse. Give yourself more sober time for the anxiety to get better.

Soberpotamus

Some people don't metabolize caffeine well. It might be something you should discuss with your doctor.

Plenty of caffeine free teas and even coffee to try.

Ruby2

I read through your entire thread and then thought "aha!". There it was. The phrase I was looking for. " I hadn't eaten much. " I get symptoms much like yours when I drink caffeinated anything after not eating. And I smoke. Do you smoke too? Horrible combination. Feel faint and like I'm crawling out of my skin. Yuck.

I switched to decaf and I make myself eat. And I try to limit my sugar intake. It's helped. Also, remember to drink lots of water. When I first started my sobriety journey over ten years ago I did IOP and drank endless cups of coffee and not much water during sessions and ended up in the hospital for three days with a kidney infection due to hydration. Caffeine is a diuretic and will contribute to dehydration.

So, eat more, drink more water and switch to decaf is my suggestion.

notgonnastoptry

Thanks for all that info. A few questions. Where can I buy these leaves? I've never seen them. Do I have to go to a tea store, or are they available at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's?

Thanks, Ruby. No, I don't smoke, and I never used to have any reaction to caffeine. I was never an all day coffee drinker either. I will definitely take your advice and slow it down. I do like hot drinks even in the summer. I didn't bother with them while drinking, but now I want them again. I think I'll get some white tea leaves tomorrow and a teapot. I might get one of those electric hot water heaters since they work quickly.

Lookingforchange

I've tried lots of teas, now I'm trying juices.
The best thing that literally gives me 'zing' in the morning is 2 slices of lemon with hot water. I tried it thinking it would feel like a chore but it's lovely-really gets my metabolism going! Cheap too!

Marcher13

notgonnastoptry Ruby said exactly what i was thinking, are you drinking coffee on an empty or almost empty stomach? That will set off a reaction like you describe. Have some muesli or toast made on good bread or an egg scrambled in the microwave, then have your coffee.

PurpleKnight

Fantastic thread!!

Well I do love my tea it has to be said, it's also blurred into a bit of a hobby in Sobriety too, I got my teapots, my tea leaf eggs/sieves, my tea cosies, and finally my tea leaves.

There are soo many flavours out there, I'll generally pick up something new to try when I'm out and about, my sister lives in England and when I go to visit I stop by this Chinese tea shop, it's practically wall to wall types of tea leaves, I've moved away from black teas onto green and white teas, there's something for everyone, my sister and her husband recently were in Florida and they brought me back a container of some Jasmine tea from Teavana, I haven't tried it yet, tea is one of those things I now buy and save the enjoyment of trying out new flavours until maybe a Saturday/Sunday afternoon, but every evening I have some sort of brew on the go.

I replied on another thread my daily routine, I still have my 2 black coffees each morning, I then switch to decaf for the rest of the working day, and when I get home the whole evening is green or white teas, I think though I did notice that I have become more aware of caffeine and it's affects on say heart rate, stress levels etc, whereas when I was in a hangover haze I wasn't as aware of it, that sparked the need to change up my consumption of coffee.

LBrain

I was gonna mention decaf coffee too. I do know that if you are served decaffeinated coffee and think it's just regular coffee, you won't know the difference in taste. And Della, how do you know about Krispy Kreme coffee? Stay away from there!

I picked up a water pitcher yesterday and a bag of lemons. Sliced up lemons and filled with filtered water. It's the new hot drink here at the compound.
As long as I can get her from drinking high fructose corn syrup in a can it's a win.

Decaffe coffee, lemon water, white tea of some of the fine herbal teas, and eat to keep your blood sugar level even throughout the day. Peaks and valleys in blood sugar cause this as well. Water - the best.

immri

I drink a LOT of coffee, I've drank it since childhood. It really doesn't wake me up much either, I can fall asleep right after.
BUT if I haven't been eating properly/enough I get that same reaction you described.
I think I was probably more sensitive to that in the first few weeks of sobriety too which I had always put down to being generally weak and malnourished. My doctor recommended vitamin b and d and lots of water and healthy food all throughout the day right after I got out of hospital. That helped. I was able to go back to my coffee-guzzling ways pretty quickly after that.

Definitely don't recommend drinking as much as I do, btw, and white tea or decaf sounds like a good alternative, but the lack of food and vitamins is my bet