Just in case us "doomers" are right, and New Year's Evil brings hardship, us coffee drinkers may have a rough time. Heavy coffee drinkers can go through severe withdrawal when no coffee is available. Symptoms include severe headaches and nausea, at a minimum.

I just had this happen to me. It is no fun. A doctor I work with told me about a case that he had in Desert Storm (Iraq), where the patient used to drink 25 cups a day! Needless to say, when the patient had to get by on 1-2 cups, he had a rough time (severe headaches).

Cut back now, or forever hold your peace.

-- Anonymous999 (Anonymous999@Anonymous999.xxx), December 02, 1999

Answers

Anonymous999...don't even go there, dude! I've got a 55 gallon drum full of brewed coffee suspended from the ceiling with an IV in both arms!! Due for a refill in about 2 weeks. The hour and a half to brew it is just murder on my nerves...hafta have some latte made up to carry me through the wait...

-- Jay Urban (Jayho99@aol.com), December 02, 1999.

Simple solution: Stock up on caffein pills.

Any large drug store has them, in the over-the-counter section. "No-Doze," "Trucker's Friend," or their generic equivalent can be found next to the sleeping pills(!). Prices vary a lot, so check carefully.

I got almost a year's supply. I can live w/o coffee but NOT w/o caffeine.

-- trembling (hands@eyes.buggingout), December 02, 1999.

Worst case: The migrane level headaches go away after a week.

"Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt."

Diane, who loves a good caffe latte still but can "live" without it if necessary

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 02, 1999.

Chemical addictions make you vulnerable. My advice is to kick the caffeine habit NOW, and never pick it up again.

www.y2ksafeminnesota.com

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesoa@hotmail.com), December 02, 1999.

Minnesota,

No way! I just stored up 150 lbs. of green beans.

I'll have fresh roasted untill sometime in 2001.

-- (buzzed) LM (latemarch@usa.net), December 02, 1999.

Hah, got it beat. Just had my wisdom teeth taken out, and am avoiding the headaches, etc. with the pain medication. Oh wait, does this medication have caffeine in it? Arrghh...

-- James Collins (jacollins@thegrid.net), December 02, 1999.

HHHMMMMMM

While I haven't quit coffee or tea totally I have gotten to the point of having a cup of either only once every few days. This is from drinking pots of tea, or lots of coffee every day earlier this year. Not only is it more healthy it is just one less thing to worry about.

-- Brian (imager@home.com), December 02, 1999.

I average about 10 cups a day, and have quit several times (I'm soooo good at this quitting stuff!) My experiences have been mild headaches, slight irritability and some mild digestive issues. I have seen other people go through headache hell. As with most things in life, everyone reacts differently to lifes little adventures.

-- Bob (bob@bob.bob), December 02, 1999.

The cheapest caffeine I have found is the "Jet-alert" brand at Kmart. Its much, much cheaper than No-doze.

Luckily the folks I'll be staying with drink as much tea as I do Coke.

-- biker (y2kbiker@hotmail.com), December 02, 1999.

Quitting is tough,. We're stocking coffee and filters, along with tea, but two of us drink those DISGUSTING caffeinated sodas. Hard habit to quit. (If they want it, they can stock it.)

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), December 02, 1999.

One way to kick the caffein in a less than horrendous manner is to have some coffee (kor tea)(or Pepsi etc) only when your headache begins and drink very slow and stop when the head pain stops. You can reduce quickly and avoid most of the withdrawal symptoms that way---worked for me.

-- John Q (Likethis@home.com), December 02, 1999.

Someone on here a few weeks back mentioned FeverFew. Whoever that was - THANKS!!! It works.

Deano - a (not-as-bad-as-it-used-to-be) migraine and cluster sufferer

-- Deano (deano@luvthebeach.com), December 02, 1999.

I've heard that it is takes longer for a coffee addict to kick the habit than it does for a heroin addict. I don't know if that's true, but the few times that I've had to do without coffee in the morning, by lunchtime, I get a horrible headache. And I only drink one or two cups a day. (for about 20 years.)

Got about 10 lbs of coffee in the preps already!

-- (dot@dot.dot), December 02, 1999.

My wife would give ME up before she gives up coffee. I have about 30 lbs of Folgers in my stash. It's good for two years minimum. Maybe I should get more?

-- (rcarver@inacom.com), December 02, 1999.

Don't know what I'd do without my morning java. Well, actually I DO, because I was out of it today. I drank Earl Grey tea. No withdrawal headaches although I was a bit more sluggish than usual. Still, not a bad way to kick the habit.

If you're really hard up for (legal) stimulant action, there is always wild chicory, dandelion, or mullein tea-all of which contain caffeine like molecules.

-- coprolith (coprolith@fakemail.com), December 02, 1999.

Heya,

First Aid:

Just keep in mind that caffeine is hard on the kidneys. I took caffeine pills in college, and ended up in the worst pain, doc said it was kidney spasms from the caffeine, I'd hate to see anyone else go thru that!

Caffeine relieves migraines by dilating the blood vessels. So I figure it would be real bad for someone nursing a serious wound (ie with blood loss), esp. if unable to get professional doctoring...

Caffeine in limited amount will calm an ADD kid. Help him focus so he can better learn vital info when danger prohibits you from spending the extra time repeating/verifying that the instructions you gave were heard.

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 02, 1999.

Hate to admit it, but I have coffee/caffine problems. I've quit before - got the headaches to prove it. Also got severe headaches after waking from general anesthesia (which involves fasting before your operation.)

Crazy thing is, when I'm off caffeine, I sleep far better, awaking well rested, with more energy. So why do I want to still drink coffee and colas? Seems to me its a tough habit to break.

I agree it doesn't take long to get past the headaches, just a couple of bad days.

I also find headaches occur from getting too much caffeine. Taking 222's (ASA with codeine and caffeine) can relieve the headache, but sometimes compounds the problem. A doctor told me to take Robaxacet (sic) to help break the habit, and cut down gradually. Robaxacet is the commercial with the marionettes with back pain.

-- Cable_man (tlangan@iname.com), December 03, 1999.

Give up coffee? No way! My wife is Brasilian and coffee was one of my "gotta haves". I can use my 12v coffee maker,my one cup drip,any number of portable heat sources,and I can even brew it in my solar oven !! I'm gonna need it more later rather than sooner.( i never could get into our afternoon teatime Bermuda tradition)

on de rock

-- Walter (on de rock@northrock.bm), December 03, 1999.

Me and coffee?

When the Maxwell House ad came on TV the other day and I found myself licking the screen, and when my lawyer looked at my will and asked who Juan Valdez was, I started to realize I needed help.

-- eve (123@4567.com), December 03, 1999.

I used to drink over two pots of coffee a day myself. Then this past summer I gave it up. Now I only have maybe one or two cups a week (if that). I decided to give it up when a friend asked whether I still had any blood left in my viens or was it all just coffee warmed to 98.6 degrees. I haven't stopped buying cans of coffee though. Great for barter.

I'm feeling MUCH better these days and am gald I 'quit'. Now if I could just give up smoking I'd be golden. I quit smoking for *10 YEARS* and just started again this spring after a wild weekend in Atlantic City. Once an addict always an addict I guess. Grrr....

-TECH32-

-- TECH32 (TECH32@NOMAIL.COM), December 03, 1999.

LOL eve!

Solar cooking the coffee. Humm. What a great idea!

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 03, 1999.

Quitting smoking for me was no problem. All I had to do was move out of my formerly decadent surroundings with bar gigs in my rock band. Now I enjoy an occasional smoke (ie., once every month or so)at a party or a show but it is safe to say I've kicked that habit.

Quitting caffeine? Hell no. You can have my coffee when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

-- coprolith (coprolith@fakemail.com), December 03, 1999.

coprolith,

Rock band, eh? Can you come up with a sort of "It's TEOTWAWKI and I Done Run outa Coffee Blues"? I really need something to sing to myself when I run out.

Thanks,

-- eve (123@4567.com), December 03, 1999.

Addictions are painful reminders of our frailties.

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), December 03, 1999.

Hey I've got one for you eve,

The fellow's comment about his Brazilian wife reminded me of something a friend told me. A few years back we were doing a project with some young scouts, involving coffee cans. My husband was fond of French Market coffee with chicory. My friend was thrilled to see the can. It seems that after the war, when her family moved to Brazil, they used to drink a coffee type of beverage made from roasted chicory root - coffee itself was too dear to come by in those days.

Mmm...Coffee with chicory & molasses.

In the west we have a coffeeberry shrub {not sure about it's distribution}. I've been told it's not the same as a true coffee, though did meet a Columbian who popped open a berry & swore it was the same thing. Folks used to make a coffee-like drink from it in the old days.

Deano,

Yeah feverfew works! Would I steer you wrong?! It's very easy to grow & has pretty little flowers. The plant is best used fresh, with a yucky tatsing leaf eaten between pieces of bread.

-- flora (***@__._), December 04, 1999.

As a 20 year coffee drinker I can sympathize. I've stored a couple BIG jars of instant. Since I've cut down to just 2-3 cups a day of the real thing, it has become a little more managable in terms of prepping. If you are doing MAJOR coffee drinking you may want to decrease slowly to avoid the headaches, fooling my brian with decaff worked for me.

Now all I have to worry about is a steady supply of Crack...

(Jes kidding)

-- Ludi (ludi@rollin.com), December 04, 1999.

flora,

Yes, I'm aware of the Chicory root coffee substitute, but thanks for sharing that story with me. By the way , do you, or does anyone know if Chicory root has a caffeine content? I'm pretty sure it does not, but I can't recall where I saw that info.

-- eve (123@4567.com), December 04, 1999.

Hi, flora,

I just noticed your comment on the coffeberry shrub. I'm not aware of such a shrub where I'm at (SE Michigan). But the Kentucky Coffee- Tree (Gymnocladus dioicus) comes barely as far north as where I'm at. Apparently the seeds can be used as a coffee substitute.

Also, there are "Coffea" species within the Rubiaciae family (aka the Madder family), that can be used as a coffee substitute, but I'm not familiar with them.

Talk to you later,

-- eve (123@4567.com), December 04, 1999.