Goodbye Morning Coffee

[Jon]

I had to give up my longstanding and much loved habit of drinking morning coffee due to the upset stomach it causes me. The further I got into into my quit, the more pain I was feeling. Drinking coffee has also exasperated the morning anxiety I feel.

 

It would take a lot for me to give up coffee, especially after quitting Adderall, yet here I am doing without. I am actually afraid to drink it. Coffee was a major source of energy for me. Now I can’t drink it.

 

Please share your experience about drinking coffee after you quit Adderall.

[resetBrain]

I did the same thing a couple months ago. For the same reason, to try to ward off anxiety. After drinking coffee every day since age 14. I never would have thought I could get up in the morning without it. But, yeah, green tea. Much less caffeine than coffee. Plus the theanine.

[resetBrain]

Green tea and an e-cigarette. My old habits there but watered down.

[Zerokewl]

I've been drinking 3 shot americano's twice a day and smoking about 20 cigarets a day.  Probably contributing to my general rage mode. I really need to address the coffee / smokes.  I'm working on a branding project for a tea company this week. The  bedtime tea is crazy powerful.  Learning lots about tea... try Dragon Pearls if you can afford them. Also do not brew green tea in boiling water. Brew at 80 degrees it burns the tea. 

[quit-once]

I have found drinking coffee to be absolutely essential to my energy level and general well-being.  I dunno how you can get by without it, but if you can, more power to you!  On adderall, I would drink coffee throughout the day and night.  Now, I just drink it in the morning.  Now, I drink about a half pot of good coffee in the morning, maybe tea or red bull in the afternoon. 

 

How have you been feeling since you quit the coffee, Jon?

[Cat]

I drink coffee almost every day but don't feel anything beyond a mild pleasant caffeine buzz. I drink a cup or two in the morning and then none the rest of the day. On adderall I needed coffee in my hand first thing upon waking, while still in bed waiting for the pill to kick in. Now I can get up and start my day before I realize it's time to drink coffee, but then it's just really enjoyable to have a cup.

[BeHereNow]

When I first quit, I kept a bottle of Stacker 2's by my bed.  They have around 200 mg of caffeine each.   I would take 1 or sometimes 2 in the morning before getting out of bed as an adderall substitute.   They still didn't do much except maybe get me moving a little.  Coffee did NOTHING for me at first.  But I slowly weaned off the caffeine pills as I started getting my natural energy back, and now I''m really scared of them.  Now I am finally at the point where coffee works for me again.  It does hurt my stomach too, but not as bad as adderall.  (Caffeine pills don't hurt my stomach btw, which is part of their appeal.)   I don't drink coffee every day, but just here and there.  

 

I'm curious to hear how quitting coffee is going for you Jon.  I can't imagine quitting caffeine only a couple months after quitting adderall! 

[resetBrain]

Ugh. I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth anyway. This morning on the way in to the office I got a cup of coffee and a pack of American Spirits. I started taking Lamictal Saturday (which is a whole other issue) and apparently this catching up with me.

[Zerokewl]

Oh well  a pack of American Spirits and some Coffee isn't the end of the world.  Just a lapse not a relapse. 

[Krax]

Coffee has a much longer half-life than amphetamines; yet it's clearly not as potent at least in the short term sense. 

[Jon]

Thank you all for taking the time to post. It's all good because it comes from you—you who know the struggle.

 

I am crushed to lose coffee from my recovery tools. If life was hard before, it's even harder now. My only stimulant is called Zip Fizz Energy Shot. It's got 2500 mcg of vitamin B12. I try to take it only once a day. I don't get anything done before taking it.

 

I still take the tyosine, but only felt the magic that first time, when I was utterly exhausted.

 

My parents always said that I have to do everything the hard way. Evidently, it's true.

 

I'll update this post if my tummy or my anxiety improves so that I can have coffee again.

[Krax]

Thank you all for taking the time to post. It's all good because it comes from you—you who know the struggle.

 

I am crushed to lose coffee from my recovery tools. If life was hard before, it's even harder now. My only stimulant is called Zip Fizz Energy Shot. It's got 2500 mcg of vitamin B12. I try to take it only once a day. I don't get anything done before taking it.

 

I still take the tyosine, but only felt the magic that first time, when I was utterly exhausted.

 

My parents always said that I have to do everything the hard way. Evidently, it's true.

 

I'll update this post if my tummy or my anxiety improves so that I can have coffee again.

 

 

Jon are you taking any prescriptions now? When I was on wellbutrin I had trouble tolerating coffee.

[Jon]

Krax,

 

I am taking Xanax for anxiety. It has never bothered my stomach before but, it seems that all bets are off for right now. Thank you for your concern.

[Zerokewl]

I feel your pain Jon. I'm gonna drink a extra cup of coffee for you tomorrow. 

[BeHereNow]

Sometimes I wonder if adderall messed up my digestive system permanently.   Has anyone else noticed this? 

 

Some of the stomach issues I started having on adderall are still happening, just not as bad.  Good thing for heartburn pills.

[quit-once]

Sometimes I wonder if adderall messed up my digestive system permanently. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

Some of the stomach issues I started having on adderall are still happening, just not as bad. Good thing for heartburn pills.

Does all food cause you to have heartburn? Why not see what foods cause you to have GERD or heartburn and change your diet? that is what I did because I refused to take a pill for something my body is trying to reject. Even tums or alka seltzer. The proton pump inhibitors (prylosec?) are especially unhealthy in the long term. After I cut the processed foods, especially the sugar containing food and drinks, my stomach began to heal. Now I can eat very small servings of bread or pasta ONCE during the day without a bad reaction. I still do wonder if I caused some kind of permanant damage to my stomach too. Hope not. I really believe that taking a pill to treat the side effects of another pill is not the sustainable answer

[Zerokewl]

@Quit once I go through a lot of Tums. My tummy isn't very happy since quitting. I really can't eat any fast food with meat. I mint can really aggravate the tummy. Switching mouth washes really cut down my tums consumption. 

 

@Jon  starting to understand what you mean about caffeine and anxiety. I'm making a effort to cut down now. 

[JustinW]

My stomach issues have really gotten worse in the past couple of months, time to start cutting out things until I stop having to have Tums every 2 hours.

 

I have 2 issues, acid reflux and some sort of problem digesting certain foods like milk, things with heavy tomatoes, and maybe garlic?

[quit-once]

It took me until a year after quitting to start cutting foods and food groups.  Liquid milk does not agree with me anymore either.  Cheese, cream, sour cream and yogurt are just fine, but not milk.  Now I drink almond milk for the calcium.

[Jon]

Hey everyone,

 

I am feeling better. I eliminated a muscle relaxant (Soma, I’m embarrassed to say) that I was taking as part of my doctors Adderall medication mix and match pill package. The worst part of the stomachaches disappeared immediately after I stopped taking this pill. Krax started asking me the right questions in this thread and we continued by email until I made this great self-discovery. I had no difficulty tolerating this medicine the whole time I was on Adderall. Is it not strange that taking Adderall out of the mix caused me to become intolerant to another medication? It is strong evidence that Adderall fucks with our digestive systems.

 

Even after the terrible Soma stomachaches went away, I was still having mild discomfort in my tummy upon awakening. It took me a week to find the old adage of not eating anything 2-3 hours before bedtime. I thought this was something for old people but it worked for me last night, so maybe I am old. Now I have to train myself to refrain from eating anything 2-3 hours before bedtime. A small piece of fruit is allowed, if necessary.This is something that will be difficult to do on the middle shift, but I cannot tolerate waking up to a sour stomach. I mean it’s bad enough to wake up and face another day of feeling like you were hit in the back of the head with a flat-nose shovel. I’m not LOL.

 

The good news is that I am starting to add coffee back into my daily routine. I am starting with a 4ounce cup.

 

Thank you all for contributing to this thread. You helped me get over a hurdle that could have threatened my recovery. I am very grateful.

[JustinW]

I'm glad to hear that you got it figured out!

 

What does almond milk taste like?

[Jon]

Rant:

The coffee is back on the shelf for now. I am still waking up early with a sour/sensitive stomachache.

 

I take the prilosec. I have been on it for 30 years. I have the long term side effect; bone density loss. It causes other problems too, like messing with serum calcium levels in the blood. My prilosec use is coming to a head. I could never eat ANYTHING without taking 20mg Prilosec every morning. I get bad reflux without it. The pill still stops the reflux, but since quitting Adderall, these stomachaches are causing me problems.

 

I called my gastroenterologist today and missed his callback. I stepped outside to wheel in the trash cans and he had called. The office closed at 3:30. These doctors really make you work for it don't they? I go to my primary care physician and come out with 4 scripts to see 4 other doctors.

 

I am at the point now where I don't know what to eat. When I do eat, I eat bland food. White rice and chicken breast with spinach. I eat bananas, apples and mangos. I have a protein shake with soy or rice milk. I drink water and chamomile tea.

[quit-once]

1bad: almond milk is good, sometimes too good. I prefer to purchase the unsweetened variety, I think it is blue diamond almond-coconut milk blend. I simply consume too much of it if I buy the sweetened kind. If I consume too much I get hot flashes in the night because of too much calcium. I blamed these nightime hot flashes on adderall when I was using but I think it was because I always took calcium pills before bed time. I was paranoid that the adderall was leaching calcium out my bones and teeth.

 

Jon: This discussion thread has helped me to remember my own stomach experiences in early recovery. I had to eat breakfast every day after I quit. the reason I remember this was because I have been a breakfast-skipper most of my life. I simply pre0fer to eat two meals a day not three and I normally don't eat until 11 or 12. But I remember lamenting that I could no longer skip breakfast in early recovery and I wondered if my ability to skip breakfast would ever return. it took over a year but I am finally back to my "normal" eating habits. this summer, I have been eating later evening meals (after 8PM) and still have been sleeping OK as long as I don't eat too much starch or sugar. I have only had a couple of acid reflux episodes and that was due to drinking too many budweiser straw-ber-itas. Cakes, cookies and breads were(are) hard to digest late at night so I just avoid these foods.

[whosthisguy]

The switch from Adderall to tea has been AMAZING for me. I go on and on about it to my friends who just don't get it! I use loose leaf tea, which makes nice quality tea affordable. It is $18 for a pound of good-tasting tea and that allows me to use a lot. I use enough to get a caffeine buzz, but the l-theanine in tea helps balance that energy to give you focus. It's not anxiolytic like coffee. It doesn't even make me crave cigarettes, and I quit those! (Btw, if you're trying to quit cigs, remember it only takes 3 days to get over the physical cravings!)

 

Edit -- I meant coffee and tea but I'm gonna leave that because it's semi-true LOL. Shows where my mind is right now.... I try to substitute natural energy for Adderall often. I take a lot of energy-promoting vitamins & herbs--ginseng being one.

[Jon]

Thank you for your replies. Update: I discovered that my stomachaches are actually intestinal aches. I was having spams that mimicked a bellyache. I started taking Dicycoclomine (it is a prescribed anti-Spasm pill). It has only been one day but it appears to be working. I have to take it every 4 hours. The pain was waking me up in the middle of my sleep anyway, so every 4 hours occurs during my sleep. It's okay because the pain was so unbearable, I couldn’t get back to sleep. Last night I woke up with pain again, took the pill and fell back to sleep. This is the first time my sleep was refreshing in about a month or longer. All of the antacid stuff I was ingesting was for naught. I should have guessed that it wasn't GERD sooner, because I wasn't getting any reflux, just pain.

 

I am still off coffee. I’m a little afraid to go back on it. I am drinking chamomile tea. There is no caffeine in chamomile tea but it relaxes me so much, I feel better…it's almost like energy. I am avoiding cakes cookies and breads. The only starch I am ingesting is white rice or sometimes wild rice. I tried to incorporate breakfast into my meal plan, but the stomach pain grew into a perplexing problem. If the Dicycoclomine continues to work, I will try breakfast again. I have no idea if this is related to Adderall stoppage. It's just a wild card thrown into the mix after putting down 3 long term meds in short time.