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6/17/12 11:00 A

When I quit caffeine I was drinking a lot of it. Usually a 2 liter of diet coke/Pepsi/mountain dew a day plus 1-2 cups coffee. I was miserable for a full 10 days. The headaches got better everyday but were around for at least 5 of the 10 days. The worst for me was the fatigue. I felt like a zombie. Sleep helped during the first few days. After 10 days it was like a fog lifted. I was full of energy and feeling better than ever. Whenever I think about going back to caffeine I think back to the transition time. I know I am better off without it. I do still have chocolate occasionally so I am not strictly caffeine free but it's not everyday. I'll have a sip of coffee or an occasional cup of decaf green tea but those are very rare events. Decaf coffee and tea still has caffeine. If you want to be truly caffeine free you can't drink them. Decaf green tea has very little and the benefits of green tea may outweigh the negatives of the caffeine. That is personal choice. Carob is a good caffeine free alternative to chocolate. You might have to get used to the taste but I have come to like it. I believe ETL recommends no caffeine. I shoot for no caffeine but I am not absolute about it. My rule for myself is no soda with caffeine and no coffee. It's all about finding what is right for you.

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6/16/12 9:29 P

Really!? 5 to 10 days!? Well, it is better today, thank goodness. I do feel better all the way around today so hopefully it won't be quite that long. It's amazing what caffeine does to your body. Can you have decaf coffee on the ETL plan? or decaf tea?

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6/16/12 7:55 A

It's probably caffeine detox causing the headaches. My guess is that it will last 5-10 days. It should get a little better every day.

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6/16/12 12:50 A

This is day 2 for me and I considered my diet very healthy before although I did have a daily cup of greek yogurt with berries and bananas topped with kashi and I was already meat free. But today I have a terrible headache. I guess going salt free, coffee free, and dairy free is radical enough for my body that it's causing my headache. I sure hope it goes away soon. I work third shift at a hospital and my headache is not cool! How long might this last? I usually drink two cups of coffee daily with splenda and skim milk as well as that yogurt.

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6/13/12 10:15 P

Just cutting caffeine and not changing anything else will definitely cause headaches and extreme fatigue. I stopped caffeine on a whim years ago. Way before I started trying to eat healthy and I had headaches for 5-10 days and extreme fatigue that lasted 7-10. After 10 days it all went away and I felt fantastic. I still eat chocolate occasionally and have a hot cocoa every now and then but no coffee, tea, or soda with caffeine.

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6/13/12 4:27 P

A couple of times I went from eating really terrible to really exceptionally healthy - with no transitioning - and I got headaches so bad I'd land in bed for a day. NOT fun!

Amber

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6/13/12 3:03 P

Today was Day 1 for me, BUT I cut out the caffeine last week (5 days ago) because I thought going from 6-8 cups of coffee every morning to decaf was going to be a problem. I was right. I have had a headache every single day, a low dull pain all day long. This obviously isn't from freggies because I just started the eating today. I just thought trying to cut out caffeine and make a major food change on the same day was just a crazy idea. Glad I did it in advance or I may have quit just from feeling cruddy.

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6/12/12 6:10 P

I'm on week 3 of ETL and the first week was the worst in terms of headaches. I had a constant headache for a week straight. I consumed alot of caffeine, alcohol, salt, sugar, etc before starting ETL so the first week was my body trying to adjust. Hang in there, it gets better.

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6/12/12 10:23 A

When I go really off plan, and then get back on my headaches would last about 3 days. Now I may have a headache one day, cause even when I stray it isn't near as bad as I used to stray.

So, I don't imagine your headache will be around very long.

Amber

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6/12/12 4:49 A

I had a few headaches in the beginning. If you usually drink caffeine and now you are not they tend to be worse from the caffeine detox. If you stick it out the week they usually go away and then you feel so much better. Try to take it a little easier the first week and get a little more sleep if you can.

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6/11/12 11:53 P

Headaches are normal its part of the detox, so just don't give up, it will go away. Drinking water might help

keep it up.

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6/11/12 10:59 P

Hi! I'm new to the team and new to Eat to Live. I am on day 2 and have started to have headaches. Has anyone else had these and is there anything I can do to ease them while staying on the program? Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!