Let’s say you drink four to five cups of coffee a day, with your first cup pretty much as soon as you awake, and the second as soon as you arrive at work, with the others spaced throughout the day.
But one day you’re in a situation where you just can’t get that first cup (which means – because there’s a coffee shop on just about every corner in every first-world town – that you’ve been marooned on a desert island, or even in the desert itself!). And because you can’t get a cup of coffee, you soon start to feel pretty bad:
- Headache (located behind your eyes, moving to the front of your head.
- Feeling sleepy, fatigued and/or lethargic
- Irritability
- Constipation
- Feeling depressed
- Experiencing pain in your muscles, cramping or stiffiness
- Inability to concentrate
So what gives? Why does this happen and what can you do to alleviate it.
Caffeine is a drug, possibly the most popular of any drug in the world.
That’s right: caffeine pretty much is a drug, which according to the U.S. Federal Drug Administration is a substance that, other than food, is “intended to affect the structure of any function of the body of man or other animals.”
And because caffeine can make us more alert (or jittery, depending on how much one drinks and one’s tolerance for it), it alters our sleep/wake “function.” It’s a drug.
And it we stop taking it, our body notices it, often quickly because our bodies are used to receiving their daily dose of the drug and when they don’t get it? Headache. Irritability. Fatigue. An overall feeling of lousy.
So how to cope with the withdrawal symptoms? We have some ideas, below.
Take some Excedrin or acetaminophen.
The actual best way to relieve your caffeine withdrawal symptoms is to take some caffeine. If that’s truly not possible, take some acetaminophen to deal with the headache. If you really want some caffeine, take the brand Excedrin (a two-pill blister actually contains as much caffeine as an 8-ounce cup of coffee). If you want to veer clear of caffeine, take ibuprofen.
Drink a lot of water.
You will want to avoid any beverages that contain caffeine. Drinking water helps flush toxins from your body and will help you feel better.
Take a nap.
If possible, go to sleep. Your body needs to rest while the caffeine leaves your body.
Never quit cold turkey.
If you’re a four-cup a day drinker, at minimum, it’s just not wise to try to quit coffee/caffeine all at once. Your body more than likely will rebel. Instead, wean yourself gradually. If a normal day sees you drinking four cups, drink only three cups a day for a week, moving down to two cups a day for the next week, and so on.
Not everyone who doesn’t drink a cup of coffee as usual feels poorly: your withdrawal symptoms are related to how much coffee you normally drink and/or whether or not you’re overly sensitive to caffeine’s affects. Even if you drink just one small cup a day, if you’re overly sensitive, skipping that cup the next day could trigger withdrawal symptoms.
If you love great coffee we recommend you give Ubean Coffee a try. Our organic, fair trade specialty coffee is rich in flavor and we’re certain you will love it. Find an independent distributor near you today.