Why you should, or shouldn't stop taking caffeine


Last month I decided that it was time for me to kick caffeine. It just had to do with my sensitive stomach, and caffeine wasn't doing it any good, and I figured that I really didn't need the extra energy that caffeine gives. This may, or may not be right for you. I'll see if I can explain why it was right for me, and how I did it.

No, I haven't stopped drinking coffee, which is a wonderful part of my mornings, I've just switched over to decaf. Well, "switched" makes it sound like I did it quickly, I guess "eased away from it" is more accurate.

Now calm down there if caffeine doesn't bother you, and if it actually makes your life better. I don't need you to start marching in front of my house with "death before decaf" signs - go and enjoy! And that's what I'm trying to do. I enjoy coffee, but the caffeine wasn't settling well with my stomach. I'll say no more about that, but it was a side effect for me that was spoiling my enjoyment of life.

The best advice that I got was from the pharmacists at the grocery store where I was looking for caffeine pills so that I could split them, and ease out that way. He said to not do that, but instead just mix some regular coffee with decaf. He was right. I mixed up some and have been making my first cup (8 ounces) in the morning with that. I'm inclined to think that the chemical process is over for me after a month, but there's still some psychosomatic stuff that worries me, that I might keel over in the morning without that tiny amount of caffeine. Probably not, and so today I'm pondering not using the half caf anymore (which has turned into about quarter caf anyway by now). 

I like the process of making coffee in the morning, smelling it, feeling the warmth, and I don't want to give that up, so I won't. But caffeine just ain't working for me anymore.

I'll let you know how it goes.

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