Should I give up coffee? Sleep is a problem for me.

[[Co...]]

Hello all.

 

Today marks 3 years and 9 months since I took my last benzo (Flurazepam). 

 

It has not been easy for me.  Poor sleep (after quitting my benzo) has been the cause of many medical problems. 

 

Things got bad last autumn with a very stressful situation and my doctor agreed to give me trazodone (an antidepressant) for sleep.  It works, largely, but it has side effects that I don't like.  It is not addictive.  But I need a better solution.

 

Do you folks out there have experience with total withdrawal from coffee?  I don't drink all that much, and I confine it to the morning ...  but perhaps I am caffein sensitive. 

 

Can anyone advise?

 

Thanks,

Luke

[[So...]]

I had to quit coffee mainly because eight months ago developed gastritis due to a medication. So since I also had a diagnoses of GAD, I decided to quit coffee and alcohol c/t as well. Actually, for me they were really easy to quit and didn't feel major anxiety; my main concerned was to get my GI issue better and my anxiety as well. At home, my family are coffee drinkers, and let me tell you, I don't even like the smell of it anymore. I am eager to finish my taper, and fortunately the only sxs I have are some food intolerance to gluten, manageable anxiety and depression/insomnia. I am waiting the results of a food intolerance/and candida test that my doc ordered. I never heard that someone could be sensitive to caffeine, but it just may be true for you. By the way, my Pdoc is a naturapath also, and with the supplements she suggested I have gotten better with my anxiety, sleep, and gastritis. I hope that when I finish my taper I won't get hit with horrible sxs; but coffee for me is out for now. I know some people in this forum advocate to not read the horror stories (which I agree) and just eat whatever you want....but, sometimes we have to make changes and they may be for the better. Good luck and much healing

[[me...]]

Hi Luke,

So sorry to hear you are still having issues! It's been a long struggle.

 

I gave up caffeine a while back, it was just too much of a risk with my fragile sleep. I don't consider it much of a sacrifice as I have found very tasty decaf coffees (but that only in the morning). Sure, caffeine provides a bit of an "up", but I believe we pay for it.

 

The other thing I've done which I think really helps with my sleep, is massive diet improvement. I started with eliminating sugar and artificial sweeteners, moved to eliminating most grains and processed oils, increasing vegetables, and now I eat almost all pastured, organic meats and dairy, and lots of vegetables, salads. The only supplements I take are omega-3 oils and cold liver oil. Everything else seems to increase insomnia, in fact I even eliminated my low-potency daily vitamins recently (just made neuropathy worse).

 

I have to say I'm pretty happy with my sleep, as it is now almost always 6.5 to 7.5 hours and very restful. I hope this doesn't discourage you, I just want to give hope that even after many years of drug usage, the body can learn to sleep again.

[[al...]]

We are all different, but I decided to continue with my coffee drinking throughout my withdrawal insomnia. I would limit how late in the day I drank it, but I had it every day. Some nights I slept better than others, but I could not blame the coffee for bad nights if I still was getting better nights while drinking it. It would have been a lot harder for me to get up and function at work after a sleepless night without my morning Joe.