Side effect of spring breaks

[velvetpage]

I came in this morning with a slight headache already developing. I couldn't figure out why. I had enough sleep last night. I had a good breakfast. There are no weather changes in the air, and this didn't feel like a pressure headache. It got neither worse nor better throughout the day, until all of a sudden about an hour ago I figured it out.

Caffeine.

For the last two weeks, I've been drinking at least three, usually four or five cups of tea every day. I've been drinking pop, too, and eating chocolate. My caffeine intake has been huge, and much, much more than usual.

This morning, I didn't even have a cup of tea. Why should I? I was well-rested, no toothpicks needed, and therefore no chemical toothpicks, either.

The headache is about caffeine withdrawal.

To test this theory, I went to the staff room and broke every single rule of tea-making. I squeezed the teabag until the tea was nearly opaque. I put cream in it, because there was no milk. I sweetened it enough to give me two cavities all on its own. Then I downed it. Fast.

The headache is mostly gone. WHat's left could easily be the result of Klepto's latest acquisition during gym class - a gold bracelet that we suspect is in his coat pocket.

I'm going to have to watch my caffeine intake as I gradually bring it down to more reasonable levels. Maybe a can of pop on the way home would get rid of the rest of the headache. Tomorrow - tea in the morning, pop with dinner. Thursday - tea in the morning, no pop. At least, that's the plan.

Comments

[anidada.livejournal.com]

Can you switch to caffeine-free pop? Or is the sugar part of the problem, too? (Or do you drink diet pop? There are caffeine-free diet "colas"... :)

Once I figured out that I could lose my morning grumpiness and actually focus by downing a cup of coffee, I embraced caffeine wholeheartedly. Plus, it works wonders on barometric-pressure-related migraines. But there are limits. Nothing caffeinated after lunch, generally, unless I've got a migraine.

Everyone's different. I have a friend who can down gallons of coffee and still be half-asleep most of the day!

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I usually drink diet pop, and I wasn't feeling too hungry this morning, so I don't think it was about the sugar. I've never noticed the effect on pressure headaches. I'll have to give that one a try.

The issue is not that I usually drink too much caffeine, it's that over the last two weeks I've OD'd on the stuff. So now I need to gradually cut it back again.

[rikoshi.livejournal.com]

Back when I was in college, I used to go to a certain diner about 5 nights a week, where they'd serve bottomless coffee. I'd hang out with friends, do homework, et cetera, and end up drinking several mugs a night over the course of a few hours. I'd still just go right home and fall right to sleep, but suffice to say that my body was well-adjusted to extreme caffeine levels (since I'd often drink coffee during the day between classes, as well).

Over summer break, my caffeine intake thus dropped drastically. There was neither a need nor a source of such endless coffee, and with my body readjusting from school schedule to home schedule, I don't know if I particularly ever noticed the caffeine withdrawal symptoms.

That all changed one day. I got myself a nice, tall, sugared-up iced coffee in the early afternoon, because my dad was nice enough to pick me up one on my way home. Not too much later that day, I went out with one of my friends, and she suggested grabbing some coffee. Never one to turn down the Blessed Java, I naturally got myself another coffee of about equal size to the first.

After dinner, I was hanging out at the computer, and I had some Mountain Dew in the fridge. Well, about four cans later, I realized I should probably lay off the stuff, since I was liable to make myself feel less than good.

It's worth noting, at this point, that I habitually stayed up until about 4:00 AM during this summer, because I had no compelling reason to wake up early, and I knew people all over the world who were a lot easier to get in touch with online during those wee hours.

Anyhow, once this day's caffeine intake wore off, I crashed. Hard. At around 11:00 PM. I couldn't figure out what was making me so painfully tired at such an early, early hour... until I looked over and noticed my empty iced coffee cup from earlier that afternoon, sitting next to my computer.

I'm a bit less wanton with my fix, nowadays.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I've been tired the last few days, which was part of the reason for the extra caffeine - I needed to stay awake. Then I get a good night's sleep, so I lay off - and find myself with a headache. Gah.

I've had the crash effect too, sometimes. Never that drastic, though.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

I admit it, I'm addicted. I've always had to go off slowly...going cold turkey gives me killer headaches.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I don't think this has ever happened to me before, or at least if it did, I didn't make the connection. I'll be more careful with my holiday caffeine intake from this point out.