Addiction!

Recently I was required to go caffeine-free for a day prior to a medical test. To my dismay, I developed a horrible headache, the worst I've had in years. I couldn't think. My mind was muddled. The headache began shortly after lunch and was with me full strength when I went to bed. It woke me at 4 a.m. I began having nausea and dry heaves.

All it took to make the headache go away was a little coffee. I had thought I could fool my body by drinking decaf coffee and cola, but my body knew better. I was addicted to caffeine. I AM addicted to caffeine. It's not a matter of feeling less perky if I don't get my coffee. It's a matter of out-and-out illness!

The jury is out on caffeine. One day the news reports the negative effects; the next day, the positive. But that's not the point. Clearly, I consume too much caffeine if going just one day without it causes me to feel like death warmed over. So starting today, I'm cutting back. I'm going to "water down" my regular brew with decaf. I'll start half and half and work up to 3/4 decaf and 1/4 regular. As much as I love coffee, and I've written extensively about that, I don't like thinking of myself as physically addicted to something. As the years have passed, I have added more and more coffee to my day, thanks to my big coffee cup that my friend Liz gave me years ago. It holds about 14-16 ounces, which is a lot more than a regular serving of coffee (about 5 ounces). I drink two cups full each morning (and sometimes more), so that's about 30 ounces of coffee, just in the morning. Then I drink another one or two cups in the afternoon. Usually just one, I admit, since the older I get, the more caffeine affects my sleep. However, I also usually have one or more diet colas during the day. Sometimes I have hot tea and if we eat out, I often get iced tea. So I'm downing quite a lot of caffeine. Time to cut back.

So this summer I am likely to be lethargic, grouchy, and mentally foggy, until my system readjusts to the lesser amount of joy juice. That doesn't bode well for the various projects we have in mind for the summer. Now that my spouse's semester has ended, he's been spending a lot of time on the golf course or in watching golf on tv. In the evening, he waits until I go to bed, and then he goes to the basement and practices putting. Clearly, I am not the only person in this house with an addiction! S.