In 2004, caffeine withdrawal became officially categorized as a disorder, according to the Johns Hopkins Medicine website. Since then, this disorder has been added to the World Health Organization's International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It only takes one cup of coffee a day to develop symptoms of caffeine withdrawal, which include headaches and feeling irritable, nervous and tired. The more caffeine you ingest, the worse the withdrawal symptoms generally become, but there are a few methods to overcome caffeine withdrawal.
Reduce or Eliminate Caffeine
The only real way to treat caffeine withdrawal is to quit your caffeine consumption so you no longer have withdrawal symptoms. If you cannot fathom the thought of that, you can at least reduce your caffeine consumption so your withdrawal symptoms will be milder. The key to reducing or eliminating caffeine from your diet is to do it gradually, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. If you try to quit cold turkey, you will have more intense withdrawal symptoms. It is important to look at all the caffeine you may be consuming, instead of only tea and coffee. Chocolate, pain medications and other products can include caffeine you might not even realize you are consuming. MayoClinic.com explains that your withdrawal symptoms will usually subside within a few days of quitting caffeine.
Use Substitutes
Substituting decaffeinated or non-caffeinated beverages or products is a way to make reducing or eliminating your caffeine consumption easier, notes Johns Hopkins Medicine. You can substitute these for one source of caffeine each day to slowly go off caffeine and then continue to use them after you have quit. Black tea contains less caffeine than coffee, green and white tea generally have less than black tea and herbal tea usually contains no caffeine, so different types of tea might be an option to help you reduce or quit your caffeine intake.
Increase Sleep
The relationship between sleep and caffeine becomes a vicious cycle. If you consume caffeine to feel better when you have not slept enough, what you really need is more sleep, says MayoClinic.com. Further, when caffeine makes you feel better in the morning, it is not waking you up but instead subsiding your withdrawal symptoms from not having caffeine the night before, explains Johns Hopkins Medicine. To combat caffeine withdrawal, get more sleep and stay away from caffeine for at least eight hours before bed so you can have a good night's sleep, advises MayoClinic.com.
Member Comments