Caffeine alternative?

You can slap yourself silly J/K (you have to forgive me I get really goofy on Fridays LOL)

I don't know what to say, I drink coffee no matter what.  I have a friend who recently had to cut out caffeine too and she used to drink coffee all day long (she lives in Seattle) and it was really tough on her but she says she's getting used to it.  Did you just recently stop caffeine all together?  There are aromatherapy scents to relax us, there probably are some that rejuvenate us and give us energy too... I'm sorry hun, thats got to be tough.

You do seem a bit down today... you usually laugh at my funnys

I have noticed that the weather changes are making me more sleepy and depressed.  I think its called seasonal affective disorder.  I would suggest walking around as much as possible and drinking lots of water.  (and try not to think about being sleepy)

A really healthy alternative to get some needed energy is exersising at least 3-4 times a week, hard at first but the all around reward is worth evey drop of sweat.

Coffee is a natural bowel stimulant, try cutting your consumption down and switch to decaff.

Take care!

I don't doubt that exercise helps increase energy; but what about those days you just don't get enough sleep? What do you do then? Years ago before class I would grab a yummy coffee on the way. Now I practically fall asleep at my desk at work. :(

I used to be a big cokeaholic. I could drink a three liter Mountain Dew just on a Saturday (wonder why I gained weight?). I cut way down on my coke consumption when I was in college because I was poor and I would rather have food than cokes. I would buy a 12-pack or two of the generic stuff when I bought groceries, but when I ran out, I ran out; I didn't have any more until I went back to the store, which was usually at 3-week intervals. So being somewhat weaned off them was very helpful when I finally made the connection to caffeine aggrevating my gall bladder problems. I dropped it like a hot potato. Since having my gall bladder out I have gone on and off caffeine several times depending on whether my guts will let me have it or not. Currently I'm in the "not" stage. It's hard sometimes to resist a coke, especially when my fiance brings home the kind that I like the best. But when I have the fridge door open and I'm staring at it, I just imagine being on the toilet all the next day and the burning diarrhea I will have and the lethargy and I close the door and stay pure.

My new coke of choice is a Stewart's Black Cherry because they have no caffeine and very little carbonation and so don't bother me at all. Unfortunately they are pricey, so I treat the two of us to a four-pack once every couple of weeks or so. A couple of those really help to satisfy my coke cravings.

If you've been on caffeine for a very long time, it may not actually affect you anymore at any rate; you are just addicted to the taste of the drink. Me, I don't mind caffeine free drinks because it's the taste of the drink, not the caffiene I am after. I was on such high doses of caffeine for so long that it no longer affected me at all; I could down two iced vanilla expressos and go home and go to bed when I was in college. I noticed the change when I was in high school: I was doing our "hell week" in theater which was 3 nights of dress rehersal at appropriate show times (meaning we went until 9 o'clock or later, then I had a 30-minute drive home, then had to get up for school the next morning at 6), plus the Thursday, Friday and weekend showings. I was drinking two Mountain Dews a day to keep awake. By Thursday I was dragging despite drinking my usual number of cokes. And ever since that time, caffeine has done nothing to pep me up. It didn't even wake me up taking some No-Dozes in college while trying to finish a final paper. Might as well have been taking a plaing sugar pill.

So some of your dependence on caffeine may be psyhcological. Of course there is an actual connection to caffeine and alertness, but like any drug, with repeated use over a long span of time--and espcially with high doses--you become immune. So caffeine may not really be making up stay awake; it may be you just thinking that it does. A caffeine placebo effect, if you will. All the same, caffeine can have some withdrawal symptoms, though, including headache. You may want to be on the lookout for that and have ibuprofen or whathaveyou ready. Just give yourself a little bit of time and you will get used to being off it. Switching to decaf coffee will let you have the taste you like without the caffeine your body doesn't like. You may also want to try drinking non-black teas to try and ease yourself off. Green tea has a low caffeine content; I drink a pitcher of it every day at work. Black tea--a staple of Southern and Midwestern dinner tables--though, has a fairly high caffeine content; you will have to take it decaf too.

my aunty has colitis and she used to drink something called dandelion coffee or something , she use dto get it from health chops like holland and barret or something , she used to love it  ,not sure if it would b ne gud for u tho

Hey guys, I'm resurrecting this as its the only post I can find related to this subject, and as abs doesn't go away I'm sure the op is still feeling it. I'm the same way, I avoid caffeine at all costs unless I need it. I take 1 pill of intensive bowel support every day by digestive advantage. That works on a normal day. If I need caffeine, however, I always Carry 2 pills of Imodium multi symptom. 2 pills is one dose, I usually take 1 pill before I drink coke or tea. 2 pills if I need coffee. Works great for me. I did research on Imodium it is safe to take long term, but I still only take what I need and when I need it. The one pill is good enough to harden the stool without backing me up, with coffee it's strong enough that the 2 pills does the same thing as the 1 with coffee or tea. I work in manhattan as a commercial real estate agent and can't afford to be in the bathroom every 5 mins, nor can I afford to fall asleep in taxis on the way to a meeting or to show a space. So this is what works for me.

You may laugh at this and I have no idea if there's any medical knowledge behind this theory, but back when I was pregnant with my two daughters, I would just drag without caffeine.

And my mom would swear by taking an ice cube and running it back and forth over the inside or your wrist, until the ice cube melted.

She claims this sends blood to the brain and you'll feel alert.



Do I believe it? Oh on some wacky level, it could work. Did I try it? I sure did! lol