Conference turris::womannotes-v3

    
    BTW, do cigarettes have a similar effect?

    I am mostly decaffeinated, because I tend to get REAL dependent on it
    REAL fast.  I got to the point in college where I needed a diet coke or
    a cup of tea just to get through a class.  At this point, if I have a
    cup of tea two days in a row, I'll *need* some caffeine in the
    early/mid afternoon the next day or I'll get REALLY drowzy and
    brain-numb.  No question about it.  Caffeine is powerful stuff....
    
    Nowadays if I have caffeine at all it's a rare cup of tea after dinner,
    which is actually half-milk or half-cream....(what my mom used to call
    "Mary Poppins Tea" - fwiw).
    
    
    -Jody
    

    Please see also:
    
    Medical
    60 - Caffeine
    
    Flex
    515 - Caffeine - how bad?
    
    Coffee (currently at node QUARK)
    21 - Hidden caffeine
    96 - Caffeine & pregnancy
    
    -Jody
    

    My understanding, based on what my GP and my OB/GYN said, is that
    reaction to caffiene is highly individual.  The much-publicized
    coffee-drinking study released a few weeks ago basically said the
    same thing:  "If coffee bothers you, don't drink it.  If it
    doesn't bother you, go ahead and drink it -- it's not damaging
    your health."
    
    I don't react to caffeine, and when I took it out of my diet
    totally for six months it didn't have any effect on my "female
    problems."  It doesn't keep me awake, I don't feel groggy if I
    don't  have it, and I don't miss it when I don't have it -- I like
    something hot with breakfast but if the only choice is, say, beef
    bouillon or chamomile tea, that's fine.  But I know many other
    people who react the way you describe. 
    
    --bonnie

    I've had bouts with caffeine off and on for years; I remember periods
    in school and while working where I'd be drinking 2 coffees at breakfast,
    2 during the morning, 2 more over lunch, and more in the evening.  I
    hadn't even noticed the dependency; I drank it because its hot and
    I was in a chilly, damp climate.  But when I stopped, oooph!  It was
    so hard to stay alert during the day without it!  But I did cut way
    down after several bouts with duodenitis (a warning that I was on the
    way to an ulcer.)  In fact, I've tried to give it up completely since
    last December.  Ren is right; its everywhere.  I drink herb teas now,
    and usually avoid chocolate.  No more coffee, no more colas, no more
    aspirin or other medications without checking them in the PDR.  As
    long as I don't get an ulcer, its worth it...
    
    DougO

    
    I notice my addiction mainly through the withdrawal symptoms.
    
    I gave up caffeine for about a month when I realised that I was
    on over six cups a day - I had a headache like never before in my
    life for three days! 
    It's never kept me awake at night though, but I suspect that is
    because my body is so used to my whipping it with caffeine that it
    just doesn't respond any more.
    I was also discouraged to see an article that said that decaffeinated
    coffee is just as bad for you - the chemicals in it from the processing
    to take the caffeine *out* are pretty drastic, apparently.
    
    When all's said, all I really missed about coffee was the sociability
    of it, the convenience, and the SMELL! I LOVE the smell of fresh
    coffee! In DEC here you can't get straight hot water in the office, so
    you can't make your own herbal tea.....:-(
    
    'gail
    

	Re .4

	The coffee-drinking study consisted entirely of men - while
	some of the finding may carry over to women, I'm taking it with a
	grain of salt.  Caffeine doesn't give me the jitters, but it has
	caused other problems for me.  
	
	Several years ago, my gynecologist had me drastically cut back on
        my caffeine intake because he'd noticed tissue changes and an 
	increased sensitivity in my breasts.  I had been drinking 3 or 4
	cups of tea a day, every day. I changed to herbal tea and within a
	month I'd dropped a cup size and was no longer having any discomfort.
	Since that time I've noted the same symptoms whenever I overindulge
	(for several weeks) in Coke, coffee, or chocolate.

         
    re .8    
    
    Oooooooh, that burns me up. If ever there was an example of biased
    research and poor consequences, this is one. Caffeine is cited on every
    known PMS study that I've ever seen, but when it comes to research done
    on MEN, the result is "It doesn't seem to cause a big problem in most
    PEOPLE."
    
    I think the thing that REALLY burns me up is that as soon as someone
    emphasizes the idea of physiological *differences*, somebody else will
    probably come along and make it into another reason why men are
    superior, e.g. they aren't affected by caffeine, they don't have
    periods, they never suffer from PMS, they don't get pregnant and end up
    having to take maternity leave or complaining of nausea for 2 months
    or having to have special uniforms made because their bodies are
    EXPANDING, they have inferior upper-body strength...
    
    Gee, I guess that hit a hot button. For a minute there, I almost said
    something stupid like "I wish they didn't exist". Lorna move over...
    :-)

    

	Golly,  I feel like an expert here.  Back in '79, I was
	diagnosed as being alergic to caffine.  This after my
	'allergies' had me in intensive care for 6 weeks with
	'acute sinusites'.  Of course, my daily consumption was 
	the equvilent of 15-20 cups of coffee a DAY. And with 
	allergies, you either despise the substance, or crave
	it.  Obviously, I craved it!

	After being diagnosed, (it only took 10 months), I tried
	to eliminate all caffine from my diet. Being 'exquisitely
	sensitive' (my doctor's term, not mine.   I didn't find
	*anything* exquisite about it!) to it, I found that you 
	*can't* completely eliminate from your diet.  The oddest
	things will have it.

	Most over the counter medicines (in the early 80's, at least)
	have it,  along with most perscription drugs.  And if you
	eliminate those,  someone bound to get you at a dinner party!

	I found out that for me (and for most people allergic to 
	something) it's best to have a *little* bit of it in your
	system.  This seems to keep you at a base-line,  similar to
	getting allergy shots from the doctor.  Otherwise, if you
	tried to stop cold turkey, when you messed up & ingested
	some, your symptons would hit ten-fold.  For me, this would
	mean I was flat on my back for several days.

	Luckily, I outgrew my allergy.  The sympton in .0 seem to
	also be an allergic reaction,  not simply someone who is
	'botherd' by caffine.  If so,  take heart.  People generally
	grow out of allergies in 10 years or so.

	One of the side effects in me was an increase in "fibrostic
	tissues' in my breasts,  which in turn, increases the risk
	of breast cancer.  Fun, huh?

	m

    There's nothing I like more than a damn fine cup of coffee. :-)
    
    I drink a fair amount of it, but I don't believe I'm addicted to
    it. I probably could live without it, but why would I want to? :-)
    
    --- jerry

    
    .10
    
    Hot button is right.
    
    Just out of curiosity, I wonder if whatever medical studies exist on
    pregnancy, are also done only on men? :-\ 
    
    D.
    

    Yeah, I'm a caffeine-addict, too.  I can't drink "hi-test" coffee
    because it gives me stomach problems (evidently *not* caused by the
    caffeine, however), but I drink 1 cup of decaf coffee a day and varying
    amounts of tea (from 1 cup of Salada "caffeine-reduced" to several of 
    Red Rose strength, which, to me, is the most "powerful" brand).  As for
    herbal teas, "What's the point?" asks my caffeine-craving body!
    
    The caffeine helps when I get a migraine (which happens according to
    hormonal levels).  However, when I'm ingesting caffeine all morning,
    a rebound soon sets in and *increases* the headaches, demanding still
    *more* caffeine till I become some kind of walking space-freak!
    
    Then periodically I cut back.  I usually do it by going to strictly
    decaf (or nothing), but using medicine (something like Excedrin or
    Emagren) that contains caffeine for the headaches.  
    
    But I *love* tea, and have never "sworn off" entirely as I somehow know
    I'll always go back to at least a little caffeine as soon as I regain
    control.   :-(
    
    How I *wish* I could indulge in a nice cup of strong tea around 4:00 PM!
    What a great sense of well-being!!  (But that would cause muscle spasms
    at bedtime and also cause waking up *early* next morning!)
    
    Nancy

    Actually, I started .14 with the intention of agreeing with the person
    who said that having *no* caffeine in your system then makes caffeine
    hit you even harder.  I agree.
     

	nancy,

	Somehow the caffine in tea is "different" from the caffene in
	chocolate & coffee. Even at the worst of my addiction to caffine
	I could still drink tea.  

	My doctors tested this a couple of times,  and said that while it
	was odd, it had been reported before.

	one half a tablet of no doze, however, would have me walking
	around campas for hours shaking like a leaf, and incidently,
	totally unable to study for the exam I took it for!

	I agree that herbal tea just doesn't do it,  but now that I
	can do 'leaded' coffee again, I've discoverd a liking for the
	stuff.  Poetic justice, no?

	Mary

	ps.. ever try Postum?  and Hot Carob insted of hot chocolate?
	Talking about missing the spot!

    see also (new topic in that conf):
    
    MEDICAL
    828 - caffeine withdrawal