Issues..

Hi everyone. Hope everyone had a good day...mine not so great..Doc told me to give up pop asap to make it easier for me after surgery...I did, now Im having withdrawls like a drug addict. LIKE SERIOUS SYMPTOMS...headache, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, CANNOT get warm. Any advice for making this a little easier? I went from drinking almost a 12 pack a day to 1-2 and I cant do this.... :(

 When stopping caffeine, it is best to ween yourself down not stop all at once to prevent withdrawl symptoms such as those.  I was never at a 12 pack a day but i did ween myself down one at a time until i was off of caffeine all together.    When is your surgery?

Thnx..They said to plan on Marchish..I have gotten an exact date yet..Yeah my 12 pack a day I know is a lil extreme but it was what kept me awake....thnx for the advice..this is horrible

 Water, water, water. 

I have never been a big soda person, but I have know people who have and it is so hard 
for them to get off of them. 

Good Luck

Pam

 Here's how I did it:

First, I stopped buying soda from the grocery store, and switched to diet Snapple.  That way I was still getting the caffeine and the tasty liquid, but I weaned myself away from the bubbles.  I would still have soda if I was out, in a restaurant or at someone else's house, but I didn't have it at home to drink all the time.

Then I switched from diet Snapple to Crystal Light, to get away from the caffeine.  Now I have diet Snapple occasionally when I'm out, but I'm not addicted to the caffeine any more.

You can do this.  You MUST do this.  Go for it.

You can also try Excedrin - it has caffeine and helps while you're going through withdrawals. I agree with everyone else - I was a crazy heavy soda drinker, and I just lowered it by one or two a day . . did that for a few days .. then backed off a few more .. and kept going like that. It's a slower road, but no where near the headaches of going cold turkey!

Good luck!

I agree, try it slower UNLESS you won't be able to control yourself and have to do it cold turkey.  It was actually better for me to just do it cold turkey and take tylenol for a few days.  For flavor etc... you can drink crystal light or what I drink are the vitamin water zeros and the sobe water 0.  (Kroger has a Kroger brand of the vitamin water that is cheaper).  I drink those like crazy.  No caffeine and they are sweetened with stevia instead of splenda or other stuff. The more water you drink (and flavored waters without carbonation) the faster it will flu**** all out of your system! You can do this!

years ago I heard that a teaspoon of honey helps with the withdrawal symptoms.  I never tried it and I wouldn't recommend it if you have issues with sugar.

 I gave up coffee before my surgery and had 2 days of those symptoms.  I felt like a junkie coming off heroin!  It does get better.  Hang in there...you've got this.

 The things that have worked for me:

1)  Wean yourself off slowly... get down to no more than one or two cans a day, and then you can switch to 6 oz cans.  
2)  Stay hydrated.  Always have something to drink next to you.  
3)  Work on the bubbles first, and then tackle the caffeine.  You can substitute iced tea for the soda at first, and then start switching to decaffeinated tea.
4)  Take your multivitamin.  (This is key).
5)  Try hypnosis to help with the last stage.  I also went to a (really sexy, hot) acupuncturist who was able to help me with withdrawal symptoms.

These are what I've tried in the past.  This weekend, I start my final diet coke withdrawal prior to surgery.  I'll tell ya... I think there's something in that stuff other than caffeine that kicks your butt when you try to quit.  So, take it easy, but do it.  After surgery you can't have it, and withdrawal will just make your recovery miserable.

Good luck!  (and wish me luck, too!)