6/12    Goddammit, quitting caffeine (again) sucks.  How the hell did I do
        it the last time, and how do I stay awake in the meantime? --erikred
        \_ Don't go cold turkey.
           \_ Too late.  And now I'm a cranky bastard. --erikred
           \_ You *have* to.  You can't slowly cut down.  It never works.
        \_ How do people get addicted to caffeine? I used to have coffee
           and/or soda daily, but one day I just stopped, and I never really
           felt anything different.  Was I not drinking enough?
           \_ Soda daily is not as likely to cause addiction.  Two cups of
              coffee per day is much more likely.  I got addicted when I
              started teaching (from zero to two cups per _morning_ in
              nothing flat).  Also see:
              http://home.howstuffworks.com/caffeine.htm and
              http://home.howstuffworks.com/question480.htm
              \_ Ah ok. You take it all at once. If I do drink more than one
                 cup, it's usually hours apart.
                 \_ If you drink coffee, you've got a caffeine addiction.  Try
                    stopping and see how shitty you feel.  Either that or
                    you're getting it from somewhere else like massive amounts
                    of chocolate.
                    \_ Is this the same dumbass who said "no one drinks coffee
                       for the taste"?
                    \_ Not necessarily. I went on vacation for two weeks and
                       never had a sip of coffee or soda and didn't feel any
                       side effects. And I despise chocolate and most sweets.
                    \_ Is this the dumbass who said "no one drinks coffee for
                       the taste"?  Get a life...
                       \_ No and you've added nothing to this thread.  Thanks
                          for nothing.
        \_ Why are you quitting? If you want to zip thru the morning, eat
           half a melon for breakfast. Avoid carbs for lunch. If you crash
           in the evening, have a small cup of coffee to get you thru the
           last hours.
           \_ what does a melon do for helping you zip through the morning?
              Or are you just talking gastrointestinally?
              \_ Well, carbs are one form of brain food. Unfortunately, refined
                 sugars zip in and then out of you too quickly, i.e. they pick
                 pick you up, but then let you crash too quick. The carbs in
                 fruit, like a melon, seems to be more time-released. So, at
                 least for me, my thought processes and productivity were pretty
                 incredible during the mornings. A low-carbo lunch helps to
                 avoid having (or feeling) to take a nap in the afternoon.
              \_ Well, carbs are one form of brain food. Unfortunately,
                 refined sugars zip in and then out of you too quickly,
                 i.e. they pick pick you up, but then let you crash too
                 quick. The carbs in fruit, like a melon, seems to be more
                 time-released. So, at least for me, my thought processes
                 and productivity were pretty incredible during the
                 mornings. A low-carbo lunch helps to avoid having (or
                 feeling) to take a nap in the afternoon. [corrected wrap]
                 \_ Yeah like I would just make sure to take the final using
                    the same drugs I studied on and it puts me in the same
                    state of mind!
                 \_ you are an idiot. -phuqm
                 \_ Oh, thank you, guru!  Tell me how else to fix my miserable
                    life through your, populist/hippie/newage/media-hyped
                    anecdote-driven, "nutritionalist" nonsense.
                    \_ Believing it works is half the battle.
           \_ Why not just use crack?  If you're going to be a drug addict,
              just do it right and stop playing around like a baby.
        \_ Wimp.  Just fucking stop.
           \_ Oh, thank you, guru!  Tell me how else to fix my miserable
              life through your tough-love method.
              \_ Kill yourself.
                 \_ Would that prove that I'm hardcore?
                    \_ It would improve your life.  Proof is for the weak.
        \_ I've quit coffee a couple times, once was at the start of summer
           vacation, i had nothing to do and was too lazy to buy and make it
           for myself, (it was easy at the co-op) so i just quit.  I had a
           headache for three days/nights straight, but then i was over it.
           The last time i quit i was working and the cold turkey thang was not
           an option.  I did the gradual thing and it worked fine.  for the
           first week or so i allowed myself one cup in the morning and then
           all the black tea i could drink.  Then i went to just all the black
           tea i can drink, now i pretty much drink nothing but green-tea.
           I never had a headache, but i had desperate cravings for coffee,
           much worse than any i experienced when i quit cold (because i
           was at work, and I haven't had a job/school without chain drinking
           coffee since i was about 14). -phuqm
           \_ be a slave to your drug of choice!
              \_ I'm a slave to both my drugs of choice (caffeine and alcohol)
                 but if i believe the populist-hippie-newage "nutritionalistis"
                 like the one above then, hey, that's o.k. because green tea
                 is good for me, so the 8 cups or so a day i drink are helping
                 me stay healthy.  -phuqm
                 \_ Rice and green tea and living atop a mountain spinning
                    prayer wheels and humming all day while mastering Bruce
                    Lee moves will keep you healthy and young forever.
           \_ This is cool, phuqm, but I'm trying to quit caffeine, not
              just coffee.  Sure, I'll still drink decaf (3-4mgs I can
              handle), but switching from coffee to green tea is like
              switching from crack to cocaine-- I don't just want to
              trade masters. ok, thnx --erikred