Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

On my mind

I made a New Years resolution on Jan 1. Im on my third attempt to do it.

My resolution sounds quite simple: stop drinking sodas. I thought it would be easy, but boy was I wrong. As I said, Ive failed twice already; now its time for a third try.

Heres the problem. I drank way too many Dr Peppers in one day before I decided to quit. My body was use to the level of caffeine that I had built up. I guess I was running on caffeine.

The last one I drank was on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Wednesday went fine, but by Thursday, I had absolutely no energy. I was drained. I guess I have to get use to functioning without the help of caffeine.

By Thursday I was having withdrawals  literally. I woke up with a headache that no pain reliever (Tylenol, etc.) would touch. This has happened each time Ive tried to quit. Thats why I relapse; I want to get rid of the headache.

This time I decided to do my research. I looked on the internet (yes, I probably should have called a doctor, but the internet was a little more handy). I found several sites that were helpful, and they all warned that quitting cold turkey would cause the headaches.

There is good news! One Web site said that the headaches would only last four to five days. Four or five days? Thats a long time.

I guess a headache for a few days is a small price to pay for getting off of caffeine. I didnt realize it was so addicting.

So heres my point in writing this: If you are planning to stop drinking sodas, wean yourself off of them. It might work much easier, and then the thought of a headache wont always be on your mind.