Doctor Says Not to Worry....it's probably fine. Serious Coffee Withdrawls!
Doctor called me last night. Said that even though my ECG says it is abnormal it also says "uncomfirmed" which means it hasn't been read by a doctor yet. She said it looks fine to her, and she suspects that there aren't any problems with it. She is going to send it to the cardiologist for review just to be sure, and will let me know next week what they say. She said that I don't need to stress, that most likey everything will be just fine. So....that was a relief.
I have decided to give up coffee, and caffeine too! OMG...what a difficult endeavor that has been. Now mind you I don't drink a lot of coffee. I have one really good cup in the morning, made in an single serve machine, with gourment french roast pods. It is truly the only vice I have as I don't drink or smoke. So, I thought it was going to be a relatively painless thing to give it up and stop. BOY WAS I WRONG! So yesterday was my first day without coffee. I had a cup of ovaltine instead. Was good, but not like coffee. So, I get in the car and I'm driving my son to his dads (which is only 5 minutes away from my house) I'm thinking as I'm driving how people with sleep apnea often fall asleep at the wheel. Now mind you this has never happened to me, but yesterday.....it so could have! I could hardly hold my eyes open. I felt like I was in the twilight zone or something. The whole ride from dropping my son off to work was like that, I was thinking, this cannot be very safe, no wonder it is such an issue. So, I get to work. I kid you not, I seriously could barely stay awake. I could've laid my head down on my desk and gone instantly to sleep. I was like OMG! how could one little cup of coffee make such a difference in my ability to stay awake. I suffered until about 1:00 at which point I could no longer endure and hit the chocolate easter eggs to carry me over for the rest of the day. I know, its sorta cheating....but I think I might have lapsed into a coma if I hadn't had them. Instantly I was my perky self again!
So today is the first official day with no coffee. Had ovaltine again, a cup of organic yogurt with some organic granola, a glass of EmergenC, my multi-vitamin and a calcium supplement, and so far I'm doing ok. I'm a little tired/groggy but no where near like I was yesterday. I must admit that I do feel a bit better, but I'm really missing my coffee. I don't really drink coffee for the buzz, I drink it because I love the taste of a good cup of coffee. This is a big sacrifice for me, since I really don't have anything else that I indulge in. I mean I really don't even eat chocolate (other then about 2 days a month, right before my monthly friend comes to visit) no smoking, no alcohol, and I try to exercise regularly. Probably the worst think I eat is non organic baked potato chips for goodness sakes!! I'm sure it has got to be better for me to be off caffeine though especially before surgery so I'm doing it for my health. WISH ME LUCK!
If anyone has any suggestions for something else hot I can drink (preferably low cal too) I would be grateful. I absolutely hate herbal tea though, think it tastes like mop water! So that is out for sure!
I have decided to give up coffee, and caffeine too! OMG...what a difficult endeavor that has been. Now mind you I don't drink a lot of coffee. I have one really good cup in the morning, made in an single serve machine, with gourment french roast pods. It is truly the only vice I have as I don't drink or smoke. So, I thought it was going to be a relatively painless thing to give it up and stop. BOY WAS I WRONG! So yesterday was my first day without coffee. I had a cup of ovaltine instead. Was good, but not like coffee. So, I get in the car and I'm driving my son to his dads (which is only 5 minutes away from my house) I'm thinking as I'm driving how people with sleep apnea often fall asleep at the wheel. Now mind you this has never happened to me, but yesterday.....it so could have! I could hardly hold my eyes open. I felt like I was in the twilight zone or something. The whole ride from dropping my son off to work was like that, I was thinking, this cannot be very safe, no wonder it is such an issue. So, I get to work. I kid you not, I seriously could barely stay awake. I could've laid my head down on my desk and gone instantly to sleep. I was like OMG! how could one little cup of coffee make such a difference in my ability to stay awake. I suffered until about 1:00 at which point I could no longer endure and hit the chocolate easter eggs to carry me over for the rest of the day. I know, its sorta cheating....but I think I might have lapsed into a coma if I hadn't had them. Instantly I was my perky self again!
So today is the first official day with no coffee. Had ovaltine again, a cup of organic yogurt with some organic granola, a glass of EmergenC, my multi-vitamin and a calcium supplement, and so far I'm doing ok. I'm a little tired/groggy but no where near like I was yesterday. I must admit that I do feel a bit better, but I'm really missing my coffee. I don't really drink coffee for the buzz, I drink it because I love the taste of a good cup of coffee. This is a big sacrifice for me, since I really don't have anything else that I indulge in. I mean I really don't even eat chocolate (other then about 2 days a month, right before my monthly friend comes to visit) no smoking, no alcohol, and I try to exercise regularly. Probably the worst think I eat is non organic baked potato chips for goodness sakes!! I'm sure it has got to be better for me to be off caffeine though especially before surgery so I'm doing it for my health. WISH ME LUCK!
If anyone has any suggestions for something else hot I can drink (preferably low cal too) I would be grateful. I absolutely hate herbal tea though, think it tastes like mop water! So that is out for sure!
posted by Brandyleigh35 @ 9:34 AM
4 Comments:
At 10:46 AM,
Mary said…
Hey Brandy, glad to hear the doctor thinks you are fine, that's good news! You already know I gave up coffee as well, about a month before my surgery, due to GERD. I also think I mentioned that I had to wean myself off of coffee which I did over several years. I grew up in Germany where they put coffee in the baby bottle, I kid you not. I was addicted to coffee by the time I was 4. When I first lived in LA the only drinkable coffee for me was 7-11 until Starbucks came in the early 90's. Then I used to drink 2 large coffees in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. So I've been weaning for many years, first the afternoon cup, then the second cup. Then it took me 2 years to wean from 1 cup to nothing. When I went to 1/2 cup of coffee, I suffered from withdrawals, bad headache, achy muscles, sleepiness, etc. So by the time I finally stopped completely I was down to 1/4 cup so at that point it wasn't that hard. I immediately noticed a difference once I was completely off the coffee. I do however drink green tea. I love the taste of it but not everyone does. I've noticed since then that I sleep much better now, which in a way is good but I don't get up as early as I used to. But I feel better and my muscle fatigue is getting better. There's a great book "Caffeine Blues" that really spells out all the harm that coffee does. The only advice I can offer you is to maybe instead of going cold turkey, you wean off over a few weeks to give your system a chance to "step down" from coffee rather than plunge off. Good luck, I know its tough but definitely worth while! Mary
At 6:29 PM,
Mrs. Shanton said…
I was going to ask you seriously why you are torturing yourself, because it seems like there are always so many studies that come out saying coffee isn't really that bad for you. In fact it has antioxidants, and it's a nice beverage, legal, delicious, doesn't interfere with your productivity, socially acceptable, etc. I love the stuff, myself. I went off of it after surgery, when I was laying around exhausted anyway, knowing I could just sleep any time I wanted to. I kept this up for about a month before I realized that I like coffee a lot and I went back to my favorite deli and had a nice cup of light roast Hazelnut with cream and sugar. Oh, yeah. So, is this about the EKG? Your EKG (ECG) is fine, baby. It's FINE! But if you want to give up the coffee, I will say, of course, it's always nice to be free of physical dependence, I suppose.
At 6:31 PM,
Mrs. Shanton said…
Coffee + Motrin = Longevity. (I sure do hope so, anyway!)
At 4:42 AM,
Rebecca said…
I don't think coffee is so bad for you, either. They even say you can drink up to 4 cups while pregnant now! I don't drink much coffee, maybe a cup once a week. I drink orange pekoe tea every morning, plus 1-2 cans of Pepsi a day. After my surgery I went two weeks with no caffeine at all and it was fine. I could have gotten a headache I suppose but I couldn't tell with the normal post-surgery pains. It IS addictive though. Good luck to you!
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