I gave up caffeine drinks over eighteen months ago as my addiction to coffee (I’m only a very occasional tea drinker) was getting worse, my daily intake was rising and after twelve large mugs a day (minimum) I could barely sleep and my nerves were frazzled. My hands trembled and my eyes resembled a cartoon animal suddenly mesmerized by the glare of the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, or those unfortunate, brain-washed individuals who try to stop you in the street and push some bizarre sect/cult dogma onto you. In addition, I was getting frequent bouts of acid-indigestion and I was crunching on stomach settlers every day.
Not good!
So … after decades of strong black coffee (no sugar) consumption, I decided to see what abstinence was like and I went cold-turkey. The first day passed without much incident, I was alone in the house and the TV wasn’t on to tempt me with coffee advertisements.
So far, so good.
Two days passed and I experienced only a few pangs in the morning which I fought back by drinking lots of mugs of hot water with a spoonful of honey stirred in. It may look like a urine specimen but tastes great. It's also a great additional remedy for sore throats and colds ... just in case you were wondering.
The tremors didn’t hit until I was into the third day and that was the hardest to get through … headaches, sweats, stomach cramps, paranoia … I never dreamed that addiction to just caffeine and coming off it like this would result in these symptoms. Caffeine really is a drug!
The following day, I was over the three-day-hump and it was plain-sailing after that.
I was officially on the caffeine wagon!
I hardly missed the black stuff at all, apart from those times when I was eating my favorite Subway in a diner and someone nearby was sipping coffee. The smell of their drink would drift by my table and the pangs would strike again.
However … the past couple of months I’ve being feeling more tired and less able to concentrate. I have two book projects in the works, along with other stuff pending.
My daily work quota is suffering and I'm missing my liquid helper.
This morning, I had my first cup of black coffee (no sugar, as usual) and that first hit was like an explosion in my skull. I couldn’t drink it fast enough. The second mug was a leveler. I ate two slices of toast with it and enjoyed the caffeine high. I made my third cup as I settled down to write and I was wired! My mind buzzed and my fingertips flew over the keyboard.
I could write more on this … but the pangs are back … so, I’m off to fix myself another mug of black java.
I am officially back off the caffeine wagon and will be until further notice.
Judge me as you will - but I have work to do!
Want to join me for a mug of java?
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