THE DAILY GRIND - Should YOU give up coffee? (1)

Yes. Instantly. I'm just wondering why on earth I didn't do it before? 

Since Sofia was six-months-old and off the breast, and still awake for massive chunks of the night, coffee has been a massive part of my daily routine.

It begins in the morning, when brain foggy, I lumber down the stairs heavy-footed and heavy-eyed to put the kettle on. As it boils I'm successfully piling FIVE ultra large scoops of strong ground coffee in my cafetiere, simultaneously emptying the kids' cereal out of the mug I just mistook for a bowl.

I consume 6 of the 8 strong cups of coffee throughout the morning, but keep two back in preparation of the afternoon drop (also known as that time in the day when I begin to feel foggy, heavy-footed and heavy-eyed all over again).

My day has started this way consistently for the last 3.5 years. That's a lot of coffee. That's a lot of coffee mainly because to reach the high I'm used to having, a small dose won't cut it. I use the words 'dose' and 'cut it' purposefully.

1. Caffeine is a stimulant drug, which means it speeds up the messages travelling between the brain and the body. It's found in the seeds, nuts and leaves of a number of different plants, including: Coffea Arabica (used for coffee) Camelia sinensis (used for tea)10 Dec 2014

2. Caffeine - Drug Prevention & Alcohol Facts - DrugInfo

   www.druginfo.adf.org.au/drug-facts/caffeine

Of course I've always know that so much coffee can't be good for anyone, that I can sometimes be hormonal to the nth degree, that I'm mostly sapped of energy, and that when I'm not, I'm on the ceiling. So wouldn't it be good to see if it was the coffee that was responsible for all that shit? But why now? What drove me to quit? Well coincidence really...

Last weekend I went away, and was horrified to realise there was no ground coffee available. I usually take my cafetiere with me in these circumstances but was thinking glamping literally meant glamorous camping - i.e. strong coffee on tap and a ready made bed to get into. What a fool I am. (I didn't take bedding either).

Anyway, it was a great weekend in the beautiful Mendip hills. Even when narcolepsy took over. Seriously. The first two days that my body was starved of its coffee hit, I felt so ridiculously tired. Jet lag tired. Fortunately, an afternoon nap had been scheduled after afternoon tea. Result.

I slept deeply at night and then fell fast asleep onboard the minibus on the way home too - dribble style. Nice.

On day three - for the first time ever - I passed out on the train coming back from work in the afternoon. Fortunately, I happened to jolt awake right before my station stop.

Since then the sleep thing has passed, replaced with sudden snapping, all-day-all-night long migraines, and, feeling fuzzy - rather like I've taken drugs. Ha.

The good news is, on day six of no coffee, today, I like the way I feel...

To be continued.