Caffeine Withdrawal

I'm sipping hot chocolate in July. I'm in my air conditioned apartment, so that makes me sound a little less crazy.

It's Day 9 of my attempt to greatly reduce my caffeine intake. Yes, I know hot chocolate does have some caffeine, but the amount is negligible. Enjoying a mug of hot, delicious liquid is fooling my mind into thinking it's drinking coffee. Or that's the hope at least.

I would consider my relationship with Starbucks to be exciting, yet unhealthy. Starbucks lures me in with it's delicious flavors, welcoming environment, comfort, and coffee with more caffeine than any I've ever tasted.

However, too much of my favorite drink can cause jitters and lots of mental distraction. On the other hand, too little (AKA the mini-withdrawal) can cause fatigue and irritability. I theorize that eliminating caffeine almost entirely will, in the long run, cut the highs and lows of the caffeinated roller coaster to a normal energy level. The hope is that my practicing and performing will benefit as well.

The turning point was this: I was in a lesson with my previous teacher, and we were doing some tone work. I had been driving before this and wasn't expecting my visit to her house would mean "long tones." I had already drank a cup of coffee, a diet coke or two, and sipped another cup of coffee at her house. This meant that I was, in all effects, wired. I noticed it was difficult to control my embouchure, particularly my upper lip.

And that's when the switch went off...
"I bet quitting caffeine would help flute playing."

I was surprised how strong withdrawal symptoms were, even without going "cold turkey." I guess I did slash the caffeine rather quickly, eliminating coffee right away and going from my typical 4-500 mg to 200. The next day I had 160, then 120, 60, 30, 0.

The first few days, I was almost nonfunctional. All I wanted to do was sleep, I had a headache, and I couldn't focus on anything. Thankfully, I had a couple days off from work. One day, I shut myself in my bedroom with the lights off almost all day. I was irritable and didn't want to see anyone. (I did have my flute in my room with me, and picked it up a few times.) Somehow, I resisted by telling myself that life would be better on the other side - no more "jitters."

Running became quite difficult. The coveted "runner's high" that usually comes after a few miles of jogging was impossible. My body was so exhausted from this caffeine crash that excitement about anything wasn't happening.



I had the strangest "brain fog." When I returned to work, even the simplest of tasks required some in-depth thought to complete. The information was usually funneled through a caffeine-enhanced brain and was now short circuiting.

Around 5 days into the withdrawal, my left eyelid started twitching. I've never had this happen before, but I can only assume it was due to dehydration, the stress of eliminating an addictive substance, and fatigue.


9 days in, and I'm still sleeping 10-11 hours a night. I've heard it can take a month or more for the body to recover from all the stress that caffeine has put on it. Every day, I think about caving into the cravings, but I want to give it more time. Despite the side effects thus far, a few of the benefits are coming out: more calm, less anxious mind, no more jitters, amazing sleep.

I'll wait it out...even if that means hot chocolate in July.