Reset Password
Reset Link Sent
| Blogs > Fallic40 > Seeing Red ....... |
C-C-C-C-C-Caffeine Withdrawal
|
C-C-C-C-C-Caffeine Withdrawal As is usual in the Catholic side of my family, it is expected that something needs to be given up for Lent. This year, I pondered giving up all kinds of things: spinach, working, Mexican soap operas, network news broadcasts, shaving my nuts….. But in the end, I settled for the safe and easy path and gave up coffee and other sources of caffeine and kept on watching Telemundo and Univision. (My Irish priest did jokingly ask if I was turning Mormon on him.) Previously, I have given up masturbation for the necessary forty days (but since I had my fingers crossed, I didn’t have to give up impure thoughts). One year I gave up bad tackles from behind ‒ what can I say, it’s in my nature to hack an opponent down with callous disregard for any sporting or gentlemanly element. Probably the best Lent I ever had, I gave up marriage ‒ that one was a stunning success. I also tried to give up profanity one year. That did not go very well. Well, Day 1 went very well and Day 2 went to shit really quickly. And as I told my good friend, the priest (and a surprisingly good central midfielder and deft hand with a pint), after that I was well and truly fucked. Now, there was one unfortunate incident where I found myself coming out of a sugar coma while laying on the cheap kitchen apartment linoleum with the freezer door wide open. I was naked and covered in the remains of the contents of my frozen chocolate chip stash. (I apologize if you find yourself all hot and bothered from the thoughts of my ice cold nipples all covered in chocolaty goo.) I can only guess that I was in the grip of caffeine withdrawal and therefore, in the best modern sociological and apologist terms, not responsible for my actions. I have partaken of lemon tea, orange tea, raspberry tea, mint tea and black cherry tea (my personal favourite) at work. There has been 1%, 2% and skim milk: preferably ice cold. Orange juice, apple juice, lemonade, even V8 has been partaken of. At home, all of my pop is caffeine-free and I avoided caffeinated beverages while I was out and about. There has also been enough water to float the ark. And no caffeine went through my body for forty days (except for the chocolate chip binge ‒ say no more). But now Lent has ended and I can once again drink coffee, ride the caffeine train and stay hyped up for days on end. But surprisingly, I have not missed the caffeine. I think that I will stay caffeine-free for a while longer. Also, and this surprised me as I have not altered any part of eating patterns other than avoiding caffeine, I have lost seven pounds. Supposedly this would not go hand in hand with removing caffeine from my diet, but it could be from some of the side effects such as sucking down water like a Hoover dam turbine and not drinking coffee and regular tea so therefore not adding sugar to it. My temperament does not feel altered in any way. There is no more focus than usual and since I never speedballed caffeine to the point of high anxiety or heart palpitations, there was no come down. I did have some severe headaches on several occasions that were relieved with acupressure (the fold of skin between the left thumb and pointer finger). I have slept well, but not gotten more sleep: in fact I sleep less. Much more importantly, the sleep I get is much more restful and, seemingly, much deeper. So, yes, I have decided that caffeine is now going to be a thing of the past. After all, nobody said that I cannot go and get a Decaf Grande Peppermint Mocha.  |
|||
|
I'm not worthy...I'm not worhty.... (but I'm super impressed).  I make mistakes, I am out of control & at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best. ~Marilyn
|
Become a member to create a blog
