Rachel writes in...I've been thinking a LOT about caffeine lately, especially the caffeine that's in coffee.
I've been having allergy-related asthma again this past week. I haven't really had any asthma attacks for over two years! And that's due to coffee. Ever since we opened Daisybrain I've been drinking half a pot, or more, (that's 6 to 10 cups) of coffee every morning/afternoon.
So why did the asthma come back? I ran out of coffee and didn't get any for a few days...and then when I did, I ground the beans too coarsely so the coffee I made was kind of weak for a couple of days. And then the asthma came back. Scarey, huh?
Now, I *knew* that the caffeine in coffee was a fair to good bronchodilater. One thing that doctors may tell you is that when you don't have an inhaler/bronchodilater around and you're having an attack, drink a cup of black coffee! But I've been using coffee as a preventative drug. And it works... But I wonder what else this coffee is doing to me...
I have to pee ALL the time. It's actually troublesome. I'm also dehydrated all the time. I've also noticed that if I have coffee late in the afternoon or in the early evening I actually have a hard time getting to sleep, something that I never really believed would happen to me. But I'm older now, and there are a lot of things that affect me more than they used to...like the cold, for example...I used to walk around in the winter without a coat and I never even seemed to notice the weather...
But I digress..
"Rob N. Hood" writes in...The thing that I resent the most about caffeine is that, once you're accustomed to having some each day at a particular time, going without it can cause headaches, at least in some people. My wife, my brother, and I all have problems with this. I usually have a cola with lunch, going without it usually gives me a headache. I hate the feeling I have in a restaurant when I want to try something different or just have water, but I know that if I don't have cola or tea, I'll have to grapple with a headache all afternoon. Ironically, neither my wife nor I drink coffee, the caffeine drink of choice for most folks, but we're both still hooked on caffeine.
Joe adds this:My two cents worth:
A couple years back, I decided (together with my then-fiance) to take a 'dry month': zero intake of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and caffeine. At the time, my intake of these substances was approximately:
The only substance which I had trouble giving up was coffee. I experienced withdrawal, craving, etc. It really sucked. As soon as the month was up, I resumed my previous caffeine intake. Cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana only slowly re-entered my life.