I also made it through yesterday without caffeine. I am so excited. My head does hurt some which might be withdrawal. But I already feel calmer.

It is so much easier to stay motivated since you are doing it too. Thank you!

SoberHappyHour or anyone else- Join us whenever you want to.

made it through day 2 without caffeine, but had a cup of tea today.....was out with freinds and got tempted. Sorry oak.

Hi blueray- I can understand temptation. It is hard, especially if your friends are drinking tea, or if being out with them is just a trigger to drink caffeine. As long as you stop again now, I assume you won't have withdrawal symptoms. Is that right? How have you been in terms of withdrawal?

I am at 3 days without caffeine. I have had a very low level headache for all three days. But I am surprised that I do not have intense withdrawal symptoms. I often do when I quit.

Shall we continue? (Knowing that we are in this together has been a big reason that I have made it 3 days. I would have definitely given in yesterday if it was not for you.) For me, being able to substitute lemonade for soda is working. Is there something you can substitute? I know you said herbal tea does not work great, but are there other substitutes? Or perhaps a reward? The reason I bring it up is that I think it is harder to change a behavior if you do not have something else to do instead.

Please lets continue
 

Am very sorry oak. Yes we continue please......I start again tomorrow as day 1.
Yes rewards are working ....choclate cakes...but iam going to end up really fat if i reward myself too much.Sorry again oak...i invited you and iam the one who cant keep the challenge. I start again from tommorow. Going to try substituting with deep breathing excercise. Please be with me.

Please do not be sorry to me. I am so happy that you started this thread, because it has helped me so much. I felt bad that I had caffeine on Sunday after saying we should start immediately. Sometimes it takes a few times before we stop a habit.

I have the same concern about replacing caffeine for desserts or sugary drinks. For now, I am content just to get off caffeine. But I will need to do something about sugar too (soon). I love your idea of using a deep breathing exercise. Focusing on my breath helps me so much. When I am centered and grounded, I naturally eat healthier. I will try deep breathing too when I am craving soda.

One cool thing is that soda does not taste very good to me anymore (after just 3 days off). I had caffeine-free Pepsi last night and it was not good enough to finish. I dumped it out. (I am sure that I will still crave it when I go out to eat!)

Thanks much oak......its 1.30am and iam as awake as an owl....without caffeine iam ready to hit the bed by 8.30pm. Its the low mood/lethargy which starts from the 2 - 3rd day which is difficult for me to accept knowing a shot of caffeine can lift it in minutes. i start again today.....happy day 4 oak....

I totally know what you mean about the lift from caffeine, especially in those first few days of withdrawal. I think it is a particularly hard drug to quit since it is so popular and thought of as mostly benign. But I get bad insomnia and anxiety from it- and I can only imagine what it does to my overall health.

I hope you sleep well tonight! Stay away from tea today! :) The withdrawal symptoms will be over in a few days. Then you will feel so much better.

Hey Oak....how are you doing?
Day 1 s been a breeze....no withdrawal headaches:c031:...
I wouldnt have started again if not for u oak....thanks so much.

Yay! I am so glad you started again. I was afraid I lost you. It does help so much to stop with someone else. Your thread is the only reason I went 5 days without caffeine.

But... I had caffeine yesterday. But today has been very easy- no cravings. My husband has a cheat day every Saturday- where he eats junk food. And I was wondering if I could confine soda to just Saturday. I wonder if it would increase the cravings to have it once a week- especially since it would reinforce neural pathways that have to do with caffeine addiction.

I plan to stay away from caffeine this coming week.

Its pretty much the standard for everyone in recovery to turn to caffeine and ciggs. The stimulants help somehow, which is odd since most of use have anxiety. I was drinking diet dew like it was going out of style, but I quit smoking 6 months ago, and the huge amounts of caffeine were making me jittery. It is said that when you are a smoker, your body can metabolize larger amounts of caffeine, but when you quit, it slows down by almost half and the caffeine builds up causing anxiety and panic attacks at times. I drink more water now, but still have some dew through out the day, just not as much.

Oak....i ve had caffeine now for 2 days in a row......surprising...that i too thought of having caffeine just once a week on sunday...and i had .....but i couldnt stop with that....i had today too....cheat day is not working for me.
Will stay away from caffeine from now.

blueray- Sorry cheat day did not work for you. Funny that we both had the same thought. I doubt cheat day will work for me in the long run. I usually crave soda so much more intensely if I have had it within the last 24 hours. I assume it activates something in my brain that increases the cravings. But after a few days without caffeine, the cravings lessen.

I will be caffeine-free with you this week. When I get tempted to have soda, it helps me so much to think of you also stopping.
(I assume we are far apart on the globe. I am GMT - 7. West coast of US)

Nighthawk- Maybe I should smoke so that I can drink soda! (Sorry- I had to say it. Spoken like an addict, eh?) I get so jittery too with soda. I love the calm in my body when I do not drink caffeine. Congrats on stopping smoking. That is huge!