« Beating a dead hard drive horse | Main | A walk in the woods »

Dazed and confused

I don't get much caffeine. I drink black tea every morning and some Diet Pepsi* during the day. But I am pretty dependent on what little I get. Yesterday I was running late for an appointment and skipped the tea. My head was foggy all day. And today, for various reasons, I didn't drink more than a quarter of my tea before it got cold, and again, the effect is a little surreal. (Or maybe that's just the Kevin Shields tracks on the Lost In Translation soundtrack having an effect on my brain.) It amazes me that such a relatively small amount can have such an effect on me, and I really wonder what the withdrawal is like for those of you who start the day with 16 ounces of dark roast.

Are any of you out there not hooked on caffeine? Or are you addicted to something else? In the spirit of National Delurking Week, please, share!

*Not Diet Coke.

January 10, 2007 5:33 PM

Comments

sorry i am a self described addict of coffee. i crave it, the smell, the taste, the feel... also diet coke (sorry but diet pepsi might do in a pinch)... but in a test - coffee HANDS down. it is love juice, motion potion, and fever reliever in one ;) He He He.

Marissa | January 10, 2007 7:12 PM

Not hooked on caffeine? I think that would be me. I can be oversensitive to it at times, so when I have the choice, I just plain avoid it.

Country Mouse | January 10, 2007 7:55 PM

Caffeine withdrawal is brutal! I get splitting headaches if I don't have my 5 - 10 cups o' joe each day. These headaches are vicious and nothing seems to help rid me of them...except coffee.

Jonas | January 11, 2007 7:57 AM

Coffee. Definitely.

I used to be hooked on soda. I drank a lot of Mountain Dew and Pepsi through college to keep me up and alive. It was especially good before softball games (I never slept the night before a game).

Then came Donner with Shannon. She lured me into drinking coffee one cold morning before the Donner triathlon. It was warm and bitter and, unlike soda, full of good things for you.

There are lots of studies now that have shown the benefits of coffee (as along as you don't drink too much) and since I pretty much try to stay away from sugar and chemicals in my food and drinks, it is a much better addiction for me.

When I trained for an Ironman I was definitely also addicted to exercise. Sometimes I wonder if I might still be.

Deb | January 11, 2007 9:47 AM

Dear lord, 550mg in a Starbucks grande coffee? I have those three or four mornings a week... ack!

Jess | January 11, 2007 1:53 PM

Interesting that a 16oz coffee has 550mg but a 16oz latte (with 2 shots of espresso) only has 70mg. I've always assumed they had about the same amount.

dave | January 11, 2007 2:43 PM

I drink a few cups of caffeinated tea each morning but I'm not addicted to it. I can't have caffeine during agility trials because it winds me up too much and the dogs get unnerved so there are many weekends I go without it entirely and I had none for a whole week when we were at Nationals. Didn't miss it at all, no headaches, etc. I'm foggy & cranky in the morning no matter what.

Jonny on the other hand cannot function without mega doses of extreme coffee first thing in the morning. This makes travel interesting.

Elayne | January 12, 2007 7:09 AM

On more than one occasion I've tried to teach myself to enjoy coffee. I just don't like the taste.

I used to drink soda (mountain dew, specifically) like it was water. I went through almost a solid month of caffeine withdrawal when I finally gave it up.

These days the only thing I can think of that I'm addicted to is my computer and the internet.

Adam | January 12, 2007 6:56 PM