Question regarding Caffeine page

[Sanders]

Right, so, I'm just getting seriously started on PB. I've flirted with the concept for a few months, saw some results, but wasn't ever very serious about it until a week ago. I started a week ago, and everything is going well, save for one issue.

Caffeine.

I'm rather dependant on the stuff. I work the graveyard shift. Seven 10 hour nights in a row, followed by seven days off. The week off, I work a first shift job elsewhere. Switching back and forth between the two schedules is the hardest part of my week, and so I've developed a habit of consuming approximately 300mg of caffeine each night (200 at the start of the shift, 100 six hours later with lunch) to help keep awake and alert.

Reading through the ebook and seeing caffeine listed as one of the things to avoid, well, leaves me curious.

I'm wondering what alternatives to caffeine may exist out there to help with the swing shift, or if this is something I should chalk up to the 80% rule and keep on going as I have been for the last six months.

Any advice is appreciated.

Sanders

[lora33]

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[loafingcactus]

Caffeine and that schedule are both things to avoid. But sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do.

[Digby]

A load of protein on waking, good sleep, will do far more than caffeine. Caffeine is like walking with a crutch, never as efficient as without it. Having said that, my partner who has crazy hours and does poorly on coffee with caffeine, gets cranky, jittery, finds 2-3 cups of tea gives the pick-me-up without the bad side-effects of coffee.

[Sanctus Real]

I totally sympathize with you. I have neurological damage that makes me freakin' sleepy all the time. Nothing I've ever done normalized me. Diet, exercise, Ritalin, nothing helped until one of my husband's friends jokingly suggested 5 Hour Energy. Seriously. And that stuff ROCKS, though it is a bit pricey. Not very primal, but I give myself a pass. That's my 20%, lol. I drink half a bottle first thing in the morning, and again when the sleepy kicks in, usually about 7 hours later.

It's my crutch, and I freely admit it. It's better at keeping me alert than anything I've ever tried. As I said, it's not primal, but you do what you got to do.

[Leida]

Have you tried hot beef or chicken broth? Most days that perks me right up.

[girlarchitect]

Well, I wouldn't drop it cold turkey in your situation. Maybe cutting back a bit would help you slowly move off it. I've been slowly weaning myself off coffee over the past year - first removing all sweeteners and making a weaker brew ... then slowing moving from three cups to 2.5 cups to 2 cups and so on. I'm no expert on living primal, but caffeine is a tough one to break and falling asleep on the job is something to avoid.

[RitaRose]

...and falling asleep on the job is something to avoid.

I don't know why, but I suddenly got a vision of Homer Simpson with his head on the desk, donut in hand.

[ColoradoSteve]

I decided about 6 months ago that I was drinking way too much caffeine in the form of coffee. I would have 3 16oz cups every day (sometimes more). It was easy - here at work, we make multiple pots and it was always available.

I dropped caffeinated coffee cold turkey. I had withdrawal for about 3-4 days - headaches mostly. Not real fun. I switched to decaf and I bring it from home.

OriginallyI was drinking about 32oz of decaf per day. Then I bought a very good insulated cup (Thermos Sipp 16-Ounce Vacuum-Insulated Travel Tumbler, Stainless Steel : Target). It keeps the coffee hot for hours. It's actually too hot to drink fast so it has helped me drop my intake to one 16 oz insulated cup per day. I start drinking at about 7 or 7:30 and I'm taking my last sip at about 11 in the morning.

Once you get off the caffeine, you really don't miss it and you are just as awake as before. What I have to be careful about it going out. I sometimes forget to ask for decaf and – (to quote the old ‘Happy Days’ show) Wowza! I can definitely feel the effect.

[Knifegill]

I am also caffeinated. It's probably 3/4 of my 20%. Three to four cups a day really isn't that much, though I often dry out to one cup a day for days on end. I often talk about quitting, I just never do it.