Addict?

Khannie

So...recently I've noticed that I'm thinking about coffee a lot. I mean A LOT. I'm not drinking that much. Maybe 3 mugs a day, but I think about it A LOT. When it's coming close to the evening I think to myself "I'd better get that last mug in before it gets too late" (I'm fairly intolerant of caffeine, so I wont drink it past 6pm).

I've had this sensation before....when I was a smoker. I'd be thinking about my next cigarette etc. so I did a quick google and found this article.

My question to you is this: Do you think you're a coffee addict? I'm starting to think that I might be.

Nevyn

I am.

I can enjoy 1 cup a day maybe 2 but once I get regluarly into greater then 2 a day I get caughtup to the extent it could be 7 good cups of good coffee and I get headaches and grouchy when I am due my next hit.

Currently I won't drink coffee before noon and I won't drink it after 6/7 in the evening.

Ocassonally at a lan or a gaming convention I will go on the rip and binge on good coffee
which is wonderful and means I don't mind the lack of sleep.

When I have gone 2 or 3 days with out a coffee and go to make one opening up the sealed container of essspresso or java the smell starts me wanting one sooo bad, the smell as it starts to perculate can have me drooling.

I would also say that despite not being a smoker actively for over the last 10 years occasionally I still get the craving for one, I have friends who smoke and I joke that they are my nicotine fix.

Does chocolate effect you in the same way ?

There is a shocking ammount of caffine in good chocolate.
77% chocolate with bits of coffeebean in it is wonderful.

Caffine is a drug it hits some of the same receptions a codine, some people are affected more then others but if you become aware of it you can tackle it and hopefully find away to still enjoy with out it having a hold on you.

dudara

I posted a thread on here a while back about giving up coffee. I knew I drank a fair bit, but I didn't realise until I gave it up that I was fairly addicted. I suffered through the worst headaches for about the best part of a week before I broke free.

These days I limit myself to 2 or so coffees a week. I love the stuff, but I hate the thought of something having that control over me.

Mr Magnolia

If I'm at home the machine is on more often than not. I don't really drink it out that much anymore as I prefer my own, some of the coffee you get out is a joke; this is one of the pitfalls. I imagine some of the other forum regulars are in the same boat, but that's another thread.

It probably does have addictive properties, I don't know how these would manifest themselves be they physical or physiological. If you come across any more research stick up a link.

Personally, I don't feel I'm addicted to caffeine, I start the day with a good dose and could go the rest of the day without really thinking about it. That said, I wouldn't like to have to give it up. No matter what your 'vice' there's always going to be someone somewhere telling you it's bad for you.

BTW, I used to be the same as you. I couldn't drink coffee in the evening or I'd be staring at the ceiling. Not any more though, it doesn't seem to affect me like that anymore.

Khannie

Interesting thread dudara. Complete lack of empathy from the readers of the board. Addicts one and all.

Thaedydal wrote: »

Does chocolate effect you in the same way ?

Not really. I do enjoy chocolate a fair bit (to the extent that I still had it while heavily restricting calories to "make weight" before), but I've given it up for lent in support of my wife and son and thought nothing of it tbh. I'll let you know how I find it 40 days hence.

Mr. M: I've wondered if I'm still as intollerant, but wouldn't tempt fate tbh. I've just finished my 3rd mug today and that'll be my last for the day.

dudara

Khannie wrote: »

Interesting thread dudara. Complete lack of empathy from the readers of the board. Addicts one and all.

TBH, before I gave up, I would have been exactly the same. I kept telling everyone that coffee had no effect on me (probably the result of starting every morning with 2 double espressos for years, followed by numerous cups), and that I wasn't addicted.

Well, the headaches completely showed me!!

JIZZLORD

coffee doesnt affevt me that much anymore, but i do make a point not to drink it after 9 when i'm knocking around the house.

i've been known to have 7 or 8 cups a day (i blame odd college time tables). but i'd never say i was addicted.

Allison91

im a tea addict..the first cup in the morning is always the best....

Black Swan

Charter member of Java Drinkers Anonymous. Oops! I guess I am not anonymous anymore!

Nevyn

JIZZLORD wrote: »

coffee doesnt affevt me that much anymore, but i do make a point not to drink it after 9 when i'm knocking around the house.

i've been known to have 7 or 8 cups a day (i blame odd college time tables). but i'd never say i was addicted.

Really ?

Have you tried to quit ?

JIZZLORD

the day of major coffee consumption is usually tuesday. and i'd only go for smallish cups, never giant mugs.

• breakfast
• after 1st lecture
• when i get home after 2nd lecture
• before 4 hour labs
• during break of lab
• when i get home after labs
• after dinner

i blame my farming background for constant drinking of tea or coffee, though i'd never say i'm addicted.

the only thing i currently rely on is nicotene

dudara

JIZZLORD wrote: »

though i'd never say i'm addicted.

You won't know until you go cold turkey. It's a lesser addiction than nicotine, but still an addiction.

JIZZLORD

i actually dont drink that much every day. i had 2 cups yesterday. and none over the weekend.

Khannie

To those of you who actually do think you're addicted: Does it bother you?

Allison91 wrote: »

im a tea addict..the first cup in the morning is always the best....

I used to share a flat with a guy who drank 8-10 cups of tea a day. :eek:

My last boss would drink 6-7 cups of instant coffee a day too. I tried to change him to using brewed, but he said it wasn't worth the extra effort. :eek:

Jizzlord: I'm with the others on this one....that much coffee in a day and you think you'd have no trouble quitting? Really?

Mr Magnolia

Khannie wrote: »

To those of you who actually do think you're addicted: Does it bother you?

If I am addicted, it doesn't bother me. I do feel I could quit it if say, new information was released that consumption of coffee increased your chances of xyz disease.

Nevyn

Well it is known to effect fertility

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s631804.htm

http://www.ivf1.com/caffeine-and-fertility/

Mr Magnolia

I'll have a read. I'm okay on that front though, my wife did cut down on her intake while pregnant though.

Mr Magnolia

Very interesting reading. It seems that high caffeine intake can affect a womans chances of getting pregnant rather considerabely. Have you ever come across any studies done on pregnant women and the affects of caffeine?

Some interesting extracts:

The men's caffeine consumption contributed to the risk of the couple having a multiple birth. Where men had consumed an additional 100 mg a day of coffee (or one extra cup of coffee) during their lifetime, their partner was two times more likely to have a multiple birth. This went up to three times where they had consumed this amount at the beginning of the IVF procedure.

There are 100 mg of caffeine in a standard cup of coffee.

In a 1999 study of 100 women who abstained consumed less than one cup of coffee or its equivalent per day conceived 26.9 pregnancies per 100 menstrual cycles compared with 10.5 per 100 menstrual cycles among those who consumed more than one cup of coffee per day.

In early 2005, a study published in the journal Diabetes Care demonstrated that caffeine makes it more difficult for insulin to control blood sugar.

Khannie

TBH, I want twins.

/me chugs the coffee.

I'll read those articles though. Sounds interesting.

L31mr0d

yeah i'd say i'm addicted to coffee... its the first thing I think about in the morning. I always have a jar of instant on standby should the coffee machine decide to break one morning.

The wife wanted to do a detox around the new year. We both where perfectly fine without food for the first day but the detox required we stay off coffee for a week and we where already getting really bad headaches on the evening of the first day. So we threw in the towel to get some coffee.

Also drinking coffee at night has no affect on me. The only thing that does happen is that I get a very irritating eye twitch after i've drank around 4 cups of coffee in a day.

Khannie

L31mr0d wrote: »

Also drinking coffee at night has no affect on me.

You may think that, but it definitely affects your sleep. I'm not saying you'll have more trouble getting to sleep (my wife's the same....I must admit to some jealousy), just that you wont sleep as deeply.

Khannie

So....I've been giving this more consideration recently. My tendency has been towards more and more and more coffee. I'm up to 4 mugs and 1 cup per day (the 1 cup I'm having after dinner, which is well beyond my normal coffee watershed of 6pm).

I honestly see a lot of the same markers that I did for smoking. Specifically:

* tendency to increase intake
* desire for more
* cranky if I don't get some
* looking forward to the next one

Do people consider this a real issue? I'm starting to.

Mr Magnolia

I read a very interesting wiki article last week on the health benefits of coffee, it's worth a look. I wouldn't say I suffer too much from the affects you note.

Khannie

Nice one. I'll give that a read. Something to calm my caffeinated mind.

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

I wouldn't say I suffer too much from the affects you note.

Picture going a day without coffee. How does that make you feel?

RE*AC*TOR

I go days without coffee all the time. If I'm in a hurry in the morning, I have no time to brew a thermos of vaccuum pot, or something from the espresso machine. I don't work near any decent coffee shops, and I refuse to drink shít coffee. Sometimes I don't get home till after 8 - and at that stage I'm kinda thinking about caffeine vs sleep.

A racy brainrot

I dunno, I HAve my fair bit of tea, but I'm more inclined to just look toward habit

Mr Magnolia

Khannie wrote: »

Picture going a day without coffee. How does that make you feel?

I would rather have the coffee of course. I always start my day with a good dose. I would (and have) survive alright.

Khannie

RE*AC*TOR wrote: »

I go days without coffee all the time.

:eek:

F*ck me. No way I would ever be that disorganised. In the past when there was no coffee machine in work I used a press pot + pre ground coffee. Nowadays I get up early to enjoy a nice brew or use my bodum travel press (which I intend sticking a review up on at some point) on the train if I'm in a rush.

I'm fortunate enough that our cafe here does nice coffee. We have fully automatic bean to cup machines in the office, but they only produce moderate coffee. Still....as my father used to say...."any port in a storm".

I have gone days without coffee in the past, but as I drink more and more, the notion of going a full day without some delicious coffee seems fairly distressing if I'm honest.

Doop

L31mr0d wrote: »

.
Also drinking coffee at night has no affect on me. The only thing that does happen is that I get a very irritating eye twitch after i've drank around 4 cups of coffee in a day.

I used to get major eye twitching going on... and could never work out why !!

They stopped thankfully, and if i recall i was consuming 5-6 cups a day at that stage now 1-2, and no more eye twitching ! thanks for that!

Mr Magnolia

I was in the daldrums today altogether. Couldn't figure out what was amiss at all, the friday of a Bank Hoilday weekend and I'm not in great form???

Then I rumbled it, I used the aeropress this morning for my 'first of the day' coffee for a change. Brewed up and off I went. It didn't have the same kick as my usual 2 x double espresso's, it wasn't even close. I won't be doing that again let me tell ya.

I also consumed an unusually high amount of coffee yesterday, between that and my weak 'hit' this morning my form was waaaay off the norm.

Khannie wrote: »

Addict?

It would seem so.

columf2008

complete caffine Junky start the day with a double shot of espresso Have a cup or regular when I get to wrok about 30mins after my double the place here has a decent bean to cup machine about 2 hours later at 11 have another cup then one with lunch at 1 another cup at 3 a double espresso when I get home from work at 5.30 another double at 6:30 after dinner then possibly another 2 to 3 over the course of the evening in all I have between 8 to 10 cups a day more on the weekend if I dont go somewhere

Kannon

lol

Do you only sleep at weekends?

hshortt

Mornings are special, 2 x double shot espressos, one or two cafe press during the day, maybe another two shots before 9. Weekends will be all espressos, I can do 8 x shots or more even. Addicted yes, concerned - meh, not really. Depends on the coffee really, some beans will have me hopping after two cups, others take more. I sound like a junkie! haha Also I hate throwing it out, so if I'm not happy with the pour, I tend to drink and remake a better one just because I can.

Today was a poor day, just 2 doubles this morning, I've had no coffee since and I'm absolutely wrecked tired.

Cheers

RE*AC*TOR

Still haven't had my 1st cup of the day. Could easily get through the day without one, but don't want to. Reckon I'm not addicted... yet (although if my current consumption doesn't merit addiction I can't imagine anything will).

columf2008

Kannon wrote: »

lol

Do you only sleep at weekends?

Sleep is over rated in trouble now Frenches in limerick now do fixx beans and have a few more blends of espresso in gonna have fun tasting them all