I keep telling myself that day 2 of no caffeine really isn’t that bad. In fact, I barely notice it! 

Then I remember that I am a terrible liar. Today’s lunch break I spent sprawled out in the backseat of my car, passed out, drooling on a canvas grocery bag that served as a pillow.  Less than an hour after waking up, I could barely hold my eyelids open and I was counting down the minutes until I could go home and lay down.

Caffeine is a sneaky drug. I didn’t even realize I was addicted! Suddenly I feel like a skid row junkie who swears “I don’t need it, I’m not addicted. I can quit anytime I want.” Today has shown me that I can quit caffeine, it just isn’t going to be pretty. 

I quit coffee over two years ago and switched to tea. It did wonders for my stomach and overall health, so it really wasn’t that difficult. To help me get through the next few weeks of caffeine withdrawal, I have been consulting Dr. Google for information regarding the cons of consuming this energy boosting nectar of the gods. I found this tidbit and it makes me even more excited to quit it:

Perhaps the most important long-term problem is the effect of caffeine on sleep. The half-life of caffeine in the body is about 6 hours. If you drink a big cup of coffee with 200 mg of caffeine at 4PM, at 10PM you still have about 100mg in your body. By 4AM, you still have 50mg floating in your system. Even though you may be able to sleep, you may not be able to obtain the restful benefits of deep sleep. What’s worse, the cycle continues as you may use more and more caffeine in hopes of counteracting this deficit. -www.overcaffeinated.org 

Hmmm. I’m thinking that a girl who sleepwalks several nights a week is probably not benefiting from a ginormous cup of black tea every day at 3pm. Here’s hoping the sleepwalking starts to fade and my body can find its own source of energy without the help of caffeine. Here’s also hoping my coworkers and friends can put up with me while I am in my detox period.  

Did you know caffeine can also:

• dry out your skin
• accelerate aging and wrinkles
• accelerate bone loss
• cause mood swing
• increase stress levels
• raise blood pressure causing anxiety and nervousness (don’t need more of that, thanks!)
• cause migraines
• result in decreased attention (decreases blood flow to the brain by 30% WHAAT?!) source here

So while coffee has some great side effects (instant pooping, more energy, more energy while pooping?), I feel that the cons outweigh the pros here. Our bodies don’t need caffeine. Why not let our fragile bodies get back to a more natural state instead of constantly telling them: I know you are tired right now but here take this drug and you will still be tired but will act like you are not. It doesn’t seem right. It’s like a person getting anti-depressants from the doctor but not receiving any type of counseling or therapy. It is simply masking the problem.

I can’t wait to see how a few weeks without caffeine will make me feel. I’m not going to swear it off forever because sometimes a Chai Latte is just too hard to pass up, but I think not consuming it daily will really help my health and dry skin. We’ll see!