I'm totally stopping sodas - Anyone else here massively addicted?

[Chaotic42]

I'm 34 with Type 2 Diabetes, high cholesterol, Restless Leg Syndrome, and I had a heart attack at 26. I'm also completely addicted to soda (wonder if there's any causation there...)

I knew they were bad for me, but I guess I wasn't aware of just how much damage I was doing to myself. I used to drink more than 100 cans of soda per week when I was younger. Fortunately through diet, exercise, and medicine, my A1Cs are just 0.1 above the normal level of concern (I'm at 5.7 now, I was at 10.1).

Unfortunately I haven't been able to completely cut out soda. I'm not kidding when I say that if I could just drink it with no ill effects, I'd trade in ever having sex again for that ability. I told my doctor that and he got a shocked look on his face.

Guess I've got a problem.

Anyway, the problem is starting to materialize in my kidneys now, so I need to take even more serious action and just stop with the sodas completely. They literally sit in the back of my mind all day. It's about like Fry and Slurm from Futurama. As the doctor said, soda is pure evil, and he's right. Like smoking and hard liquor, they provide no health benefits whatsoever.

Is anyone else here completely addicted? Have you been able to stop drinking them? Any advice?

Update 2016-08-24:

So yeah, totally stopping didn't work, but I've cut way back. It's got to be entirely mental because sugar from other sources makes me feel bad, but coffee doesn't get rid of the cravings. Unless I'm addicted to caramel color, carbon dioxide, or one of the secret Coke ingredients, I just don't know.

 

[cbrunny]

Best of luck to you. That sounds very difficult. I'm not sure I can be much help, but this certainly makes me never want to drink another ever again. I only have a handful each year because of how bad they are though.

I'm not sure what advice to give. Are you able to replace the pop with something that's healthier? Something like a low sodium canned v8? Most juices are just as bad if not worse, and that extends to sports drinks.

 

[vi edit]

With the level of health issues you have, cessation programs should be readily available to you. Check with your cardiologist and see if you can be referred to one.

There is nothing physically addictive about soft drinks. Caffeine to a small degree, but that's' really nothing big. You need help with habits and lifestyle changes. A cessation therapist should be able to help.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I had a problem similar to you. Addicted to sodas. Another downside is the fact that they dehydrated me. I quit cold turkey over a year ago. Had migraines for about a week due to caffeine withdrawls. Yes withdrawls. Sh@t is f ing addictive. Don't believe anyone that says otherwise. Get off that crap asap. I don't miss them at all.

 

[vi edit]

I had a problem similar to you. Addicted to sodas. Another downside is the fact that they dehydrated me. I quit cold turkey over a year ago. Had migraines for about a week due to caffeine withdrawls. Yes withdrawls. Sh@t is f ing addictive. Don't believe anyone that says otherwise. Get off that crap asap. I don't miss them at all.

Yes there are withdraw headaches from caffeine. But for most people it's a few days of annoyance. That's it. Nothing remotely similar to the physical (and sometimes life threatening) and psychological addiction of alcohol and cigarettes.

 

[Chaotic42]

Yes there are withdraw headaches from caffeine. But for most people it's a few days of annoyance. That's it. Nothing remotely similar to the physical (and sometimes life threatening) and psychological addiction of alcohol and cigarettes.

When my blood sugars started getting into the normal range, I would shake, burst out into ridiculous sweats, and get very sharp nausea. Sugar detox is very real.

 

[edro]

I'm addicted to diet soda. I drink 2 a day during the week and ~4 a day on the weekend.
I know its not good for you, but the caffeine, carbonation and taste are so damn good.

At least they aren't 160 calories per can though.

 

[RockinZ28]

I love Coca-Cola. So awesome, could never give it up.

Do limit it to 2 cans/day max these days, but try to do just one.

 

[Zivic]

I'm 34 with Type 2 Diabetes, high cholesterol, Restless Leg Syndrome, and I had a heart attack at 26. I'm also completely addicted to soda (wonder if there's any causation there...)

I knew they were bad for me, but I guess I wasn't aware of just how much damage I was doing to myself. I used to drink more than 100 cans of soda per week when I was younger. Fortunately through diet, exercise, and medicine, my A1Cs are just 0.1 above the normal level of concern (I'm at 5.7 now, I was at 10.1).

Unfortunately I haven't been able to completely cut out soda. I'm not kidding when I say that if I could just drink it with no ill effects, I'd trade in ever having sex again for that ability. I told my doctor that and he got a shocked look on his face.

Guess I've got a problem.

Anyway, the problem is starting to materialize in my kidneys now, so I need to take even more serious action and just stop with the sodas completely. They literally sit in the back of my mind all day. It's about like Fry and Slurm from Futurama. As the doctor said, soda is pure evil, and he's right. Like smoking and hard liquor, they provide no health benefits whatsoever.

Is anyone else here completely addicted? Have you been able to stop drinking them? Any advice?

how much do/did you weigh?

how are your teeth?

what is your soda of choice?

diabetes will devastate your kidneys. how long have you known youve been diabetic? took my dad 20 yrs from diagnosis till he needed a transplant

 

[moonbogg]

I drank pepsi religiously for almost my entire life. Food sucked without it. No meal was complete without that sugary fizz drink. I drank it every day and some days put away almost a whole 2 liter, sometimes more. I recently stop drinking soda cold turkey for weight and health reasons. Quitting was impossible before, but that day came when I just stopped and I don't miss it. I had to become internally convinced that the benefits of stopping outweigh the benefits of continuing. Once that switch flipped, stopping was easy and when I saw the weight fall off, staying stopped became all but guaranteed.

 

[Chaotic42]

how much do/did you weigh?

how are your teeth?

what is your soda of choice?

diabetes will devastate your kidneys. how long have you known youve been diabetic? took my dad 20 yrs from diagnosis till he needed a transplant

I'm 6'1 or 6'2 and at max I was around 280. I'm down to 225 now. My teeth aren't great, part of that is growing up on well water, part genetics, and doubtlessly part health issues. I've been diabetic for about three years now. They caught it really quickly, which is good. Any time I think about eating poorly, I think of my kidneys or losing my eye sight and that pretty much halts the cravings.

 

[Zivic]

I'm 6'1 or 6'2 and at max I was around 280. I'm down to 225 now. My teeth aren't great, part of that is growing up on well water, part genetics, and doubtlessly part health issues. I've been diabetic for about three years now. They caught it really quickly, which is good. Any time I think about eating poorly, I think of my kidneys or losing my eye sight and that pretty much halts the cravings.

youre so young to have those kind of issues. a heart attack at 26 is crazy.

these issues run in your family?

 

[Chaotic42]

youre so young to have those kind of issues. a heart attack at 26 is crazy.

these issues run in your family?

Not really, though I don't know my dad's side. Both of my parents drank and used a fair amount of drugs. A lot of it is stress though. There have been very few times in my life that I haven't either been working large amounts of overtime or working and going to school. Still the case today.

Once I get the Master's degree though, I'm out. I don't think I'm doing the PhD.

As far as soda replacements, the best I've got is coconut water. I can drink gallons of that stuff.

 

[hardhat]

You really need to plan on drinking something (preferably water) to replace the soda during the day, or the cravings will continue and you will run into other issues. Try to get into a routine to make sure water is always available. Before bed, put some water in the fridge in your water bottle, and drink from it during the day. Replace over lunch with more water. Get in the routine of always having it there, so you don't get thirsty and just grab a pop. About 64 oz of water a day is recommended by most doctors for adults. Quitting soda is pretty difficult, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Man, a heart attack at 26 is crazy young so you have to think 100 cans a week may have been the cause of it. That's a ridiculous amount. Best of luck, you need to reduce that to 100 a year.

 

[Raizinman]

Sugar addiction is just that, an addiction. I was hooked on Coco Cola. I could not have a meal without a coke. At one point I was drinking over 2 liters of the stuff a day. Yes, overweight, high blood pressure, kidney stones, diabetes, etc. etc. It’s like I used the Coke for my highs and lows. I would use a sugar low to go to sleep with, a sugar high for extra energy. I’ve been off ALL sodas (diet only tempted me to drink a real Coke) for many months and not only have things gotten better, they have actually reversed. From what I use to say about Coke as being the drink of the gods, I don’t go near the stuff anymore. Just think of it as poison, which is pretty much what it is.

 

[slag]

Gave it up when I had cancer and couldn't eat/drink anything except through a tube in my stomach. Tried it after I started eating again and it was horrible -- burned my mouth due to the acid and fizz and was too sweet for me. I haven't had a drink in over a year. I don't miss it at all and am not pumping the chemicals and/or sugar into my body which means its easier to look good and feel good.

 

[moonbogg]

Its crazy to think of how much sugar is in a soda and compare that to what your body evolved to process daily. Major overload.

 

[WelshBloke]

I'm 34 with Type 2 Diabetes, high cholesterol, Restless Leg Syndrome, and I had a heart attack at 26.

Any time I think about eating poorly, I think of my kidneys or losing my eye sight and that pretty much halts the cravings.

I'm not trying to be Mr Scaremonger here but I work on a Vascular ward and we deal with people who have diabetes and don't look after it well all the time.

First they come in with a couple of foot ulcers.

And we treat those.

Then they come in because their toes look a bit manky.

And we end up cutting those off.

Then we end up doing a forefoot amputation.

Then a below knee.

Then an above knee.

Seriously. Look after yourself.

It might not be easy. Indeed it's probably going to be hard fucking work. You're going to have to not do a load of things that you want to do and do a bunch of stuff that you don't want to.

The alternative is to say fuck it and come see us to get bits chopped off every now and again until there aren't any safe bits to chop off and we make you comfortable until the rotting bits kill you.


It's fucking fizzy sugar water! Stop drinking it! It will literally make bits of you rot and drop off.

 

[VirtualLarry]

It's fucking fizzy sugar water! Stop drinking it! It will literally make bits of you rot and drop off.

When you put it that way... ugh!! I drink maybe 1-2 Mt. Dew KickStart a day, and probably 1-2 Coca-Cola or Barqs a day too. Generally only with meals though.

I also drink a lot of Snapple tea. I go through perhaps two 32oz bottles a night.

Those have 27g of Sugar per serving, and 2.5 servings per bottle.

So, I'm getting ~70g of sugar a day, not including the meals of the HFCS in the Coke/Barqs.

Can't be good for me.

 

[mikeymikec]

I stopped drinking soft drinks about 14 years ago, and I was hardly a big drinker of them (maybe a 330ml can a day, maybe three, maybe none). When I started experiencing unpleasant symptoms shortly after drinking them, I knew without doubt that there was a serious problem.

I can drink them on occasion now (the condition I've had for about 14 years is chronic), but these days IMO they just taste very sugary and very chemical/fake, and I wonder why I ever drank them.

Additional note - as I understand it, you should beware not to substitute soft drinks for fruit juice. While fruit content is good for you, it still contains a fair bit of sugar (fructose) and shouldn't be drunk in large quantities.

 

[Billb2]

4-6 12 oz cans of Pepsi per day - cold turkey for 6 months.
Now I'll have a 6 oz can with a meal maybe once a week or so.

With that and smaller meal portions I'm down 45 lbs.

 

[edro]

You guys just need to switch to diet.
You get used to the flavor quickly and still get the cold caffeine kick.

You still have to worry about increased appetite, rotting teeth and cancer... but at least you don't get fat.

Quitting regular soda has obvious benefits, but its tough to find actual benefits from abstaining from diet soda.
(There are too many bro/hippy science benefits online.)

 

[msi1337]

I used to drink about a 2 liter of diet pepsi everyday. I stopped about 5 years ago and switch to purely water and unsweetened green tea. I felt so much better after the first 2 weeks or so.

 

[WelshBloke]

The odd can of pop isn't particularly bad for you, all things in moderation.

Unless you're diabetic. Don't drink that sugary shit if you're diabetic!