When does coffee addiction become too much?

[njdevilsfan87]

I started drinking coffee a little over a year to help with my studies. When I drink it, I'm just in the zone. Any laziness, or lack of motivation to do some work, was/is completely reversed. So, I used it for a good reason. But last year I only drank it about three times a week. Now I'm drinking it every single day... even on weekends.

Yesterday I tried to go the entire day without drinking any coffee. About 3PM, I went to lay down, and just generally felt like crap until about 5PM. I forced myself to get up at that point because I was not up for reversing my sleep cycle.

I was fine up until about 3PM... and after 5PM I was just in a laid back, just overall generally tired kind of feeling.

So, I cannot get through an entire day without coffee... unless I sleep like 8-9 hours which just doesn't happen, and even then, at some point during the day, I may crave it slightly. I may get 7 hours of good sleep at most.

I would assume I'm averaging about 20oz a day of it, which I'm not sure if it's too much for my body size (6'2'' and 180lbs) but it just seems like a bit more than I see most coffee drinkers drinking.

What worries me is I've read stories about people becoming entirely incapable of doing work period without it. I hope I'm not headed down that path...

I really want to stop, but it's just like my schedule will not allow for it. If I go through a period of withdrawal for like a week, I could actually have some pretty big consequences in regards to my classes, grades, research, and etc.

 

[Ns1]

Welcome to caffeine addiction.

 

[Anubis]

i drink about a pot per day, have for years
my dad has done the same for like 30 years

 

[AmberClad]

So what's the problem? It's not really a harmful substance. Unless you mean from a financial point of view, in which case, brew your own instead of relying on Starbucks.

And yes, the tired/crappy feeling is normal caffeine withdrawal symptoms. Depending on how much you normally drink per day, you might also end up with a fairly serious headache.

 

[TestedAcorn]

Coffee has absolutely no effect on me for some reason.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Ns1
Welcome to caffeine addiction.

Yep.

I drink probably 6 shots of espresso and 3 cups of drip per day, though usually a little less on weekend.

KT

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: AmberClad
, you might also end up with a fairly serious headache.

o got that headache sucks, took me like a month to figure out why on the weekends i always felt like ass in college, sleep in and not drink it and BAM headache

 

[OVERKILL]

Like Ns1 said, this is a classic case of Caffeine Addiction.

It's America's #1 drug.
As you probably already know, alot of people have this addiction.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Ns1
Welcome to caffeine addiction.

Yep.

I drink probably 6 shots of espresso and 3 cups of drip per day, though usually a little less on weekend.

KT

Sweet heart attack jesus! As much as I love caffeine and could easily get myself to that point out of my love for coffee too, I couldn't let myself get to the point of that much caffeine per day. It would probably be beneficial to my attention span, but that's a bit more than I'd prefer pumping through my body.
But then again, I also do use ephedrine daily, which is likely a helluva lot worse for the heart and veins than caffeine is.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: OVERKILL
Like Ns1 said, this is a classic case of Caffeine Addiction.

It's America's #1 drug.
As you probably already know, alot of people have this addiction.

a lot of people in the world have this addiction. Welcome to the modern life of working adults everywhere.
We don't need to coop ourselves into buildings for 40+ hours a week. We desperately need to work on making robot slaves to do our shit for us, so we can just leave more peacefully.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Ns1
Welcome to caffeine addiction.

Yep.

I drink probably 6 shots of espresso and 3 cups of drip per day, though usually a little less on weekend.

KT

Sweet heart attack jesus! As much as I love caffeine and could easily get myself to that point out of my love for coffee too, I couldn't let myself get to the point of that much caffeine per day. It would probably be beneficial to my attention span, but that's a bit more than I'd prefer pumping through my body.
But then again, I also do use ephedrine daily, which is likely a helluva lot worse for the heart and veins than caffeine is.

Lol, you were kind of all over the place there. I would think ephedra is much worse than caffeine, but I wouldn't really know.

KT

 

[njdevilsfan87]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: AmberClad
, you might also end up with a fairly serious headache.

o got that headache sucks, took me like a month to figure out why on the weekends i always felt like ass in college, sleep in and not drink it and BAM headache

Yeah, I had the headache yesterday as well. Felt like a lingering migraine, which just sucked.

But I guess it's no big. It's making me more useful, and so far has only benefited me (like I said, it's what enabled me to do work/study for hours and hours on end). But it just wasn't until recently that I experienced the real effects of withdraw which is where my concern came from.

Even though the withdraw sucked, I'll still take it for the benefits. As long as I've got some laying around (starting brewing my own because yes the financial aspect of it was just becoming too much). I'm not a full time engineer yet, so Starbucks is totally out of the question.

 

[SagaLore]

Just force yourself through a weekend without caffeine, drink LOTS of water and do cardio. Let your system flush itself out without the nerve stimulation. You might also want to take a dessicated liver supplement (B vitamins + iron) to help replace what coffee stimulates your liver to release.

I myself drink coffee every day for medical reasons. I don't have caffeine addiction - I have chronic neck pain that is only somewhat alleviated by drinking coffee. If I go a few days without it, I don't get headaches, but the pain in my neck comes back full force like it used to before I discovered coffee helped it.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

it is an addiction when other life priorities are neglected because of it

 

[The Boston Dangler]

20 ounces a day? i'd freak out if i drank that little. i can't get the ball rolling without a couple cups, but after that i only drink coffee because i like it. my typical breakfast is a mocha cappuccino (5 shots, no whipped cream) and a bran muffin. after that, i'll sip a large iced coffee through the afternoon.

ya know what goes great with coffee? donuts. have another donut.

 

[dainthomas]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: AmberClad
, you might also end up with a fairly serious headache.

o got that headache sucks, took me like a month to figure out why on the weekends i always felt like ass in college, sleep in and not drink it and BAM headache

I usually get one if I haven't had any by 3-4 in the afternoon. This is even if I'm not thinking about it. I'll usually get a headache and only at that point remember I hadn't had any all day.

 

[zoiks]

Originally posted by: TestedAcorn
Coffee has absolutely no effect on me for some reason.

Same here. I can drink 2-3 cups a day for weeks but then stop with no problems at all.
I like drinking coffee in the morning though. Black coffee usually gives a boost to my alertness.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: TestedAcorn
Coffee has absolutely no effect on me for some reason.

im thinking its the same for me. some months ill drink a couple cups a day, then just stop drinking it altogether. i dont feel withdrawal-like symptoms or anything. i used to drink coffee before bed to make me tired. at work it doesnt make me any more "peppy", im kind of hyper as it is.

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: njdevilsfan87
It's making me more useful, and so far has only benefited me (like I said, it's what enabled me to do work/study for hours and hours on end).

Which is why so many companies are only too happy to provide it for free or at a nominal charge to their employees...

 

[nerp]

A cup a day is really great. If you can hold it down to that and just have a cup to get past
that rough patch at 3 p.m., you're a true champion.

Me, I have to have some every morning.

 

[EKKC]

whats wrong with coffee addiction

i get a cup in the morning, another one at 3pm

 

[Eeezee]

I like to only take caffeine when I really need an energy boost. Most of the time I don't drink coffee. I might drink a green tea, because it tastes good (but green tea has almost no caffeine).

If I need to stay up really late for some reason, the caffeine is more effective. The same dose has more of an effect because I rarely drink caffeine. And then I never have to deal with the side effects of caffeine addiction

 

[V00DOO]

Originally posted by: TestedAcorn
Coffee has absolutely no effect on me for some reason.

Coffee helps me shi+!

 

[gar3555]

I drink it all day long at work. I start at around 6:30a and usually pour my last cup around 3:30p. Roughly 6-8 cups. Strangely I usually only drink ~3cups a day on the weekend, and I feel just fine, it doesn't make me groggy at all.

 

[meltdown75]

why's everything that's supposed to be bad make me feel so good? :music: