My Caffeine Detox

I wasn’t really a caffeine drinker until college. I used to have coffee three, maybe four times a month. I didn’t really drink soda. I didn’t want to need caffeine, but college changes things. Early in my first semester, it was maybe two coffees a week when I was exhausted. Then I discovered my love of Mountain Dew. I started downing glasses several times a week during the day when it was too hot and too late for coffee. Next thing I knew, it was at least one cup of caffeine almost every day. So much for not getting addicted.

And so I am addicted to caffeine. When, for some unexplainable reason, I volunteered to go cold-turkey for a week, I fully expected to be miserable. I’ve come to realize I’m sleep-sensitive, so to speak, and start feeling worse if I have a few nights in a week of less than eight hours of sleep, which in college is pretty easy to do.

My caffeine detox began Monday night. At 8:30 when I was heading to class, I craved my coffee. And Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday morning, and Thursday morning, and Saturday morning, and yes, I cheated on Thursday with a caffeinated Clif bar. As much as I craved my caffeine, without it I found that I felt less tired. I was getting the same amount or less of sleep as ever but I was feeling more awake. It was shocking. I expected to claw my way through my ban and then go right back to caffeine. Instead, I think I’ll try to go back to my old ways: a cup on bad days. Sure, I’ll be chugging the stuff like water this weekend when I sleep a total of 10 hours and study for two exams. Maybe I’m overly optimistic, but besides such exceptions, I really do think I’ll scale back.