As the extreme jitters and heart palpitations got underway last week when I was stressed at work, I realized I really need to cut back on the amount of caffeine I’m consuming. It’s part of reason I often wake up in the middle of the night, why I find myself having to poop and pee so much. And I end up dehydrated and can even have cramps despite drinking so much coffee, especially at camp where there is also some beer drinking going on.
For years I’ve had coffee in the morning. Indeed, when I got the percolator that I use on my stove top 10 or 15 years ago, I ended up getting the smaller one as I though the big one was too large. Often even with the small one, I would have left over coffee that I would either reheat or drink cold the next day, especially in the summer heat. I enjoyed a cup or maybe too, but rarely more then that.
Then I got to point in life when I wanted to cut back on calories, and coffee seemed like a low calorie to start one’s morning without orange juice. It also meant less plastic garbage to burn, or when I buying the concentrated stuff, not having to deal with recycling the metal ends. Coffee seemed like a fairly guilt-free, healthy way to get morning started. Yes, I’d use a 1/8th or 1/4 cup of skim milk in it, but relatively few calories there, compared to orange juice or milk. I like to have a beverage to wash down breakfast.
Which was fine, but it started my journey down drinking more and more coffee each day. Then with COVID and remote work, I started getting up, especially on days when I would work from camp. I would leave often at 6 or 7 in the morning, to head up early to camp so I could get set up before work hours started. Then I started getting up early, as I found I woke up early and wanted more time to do cooking before work, getting up most days at 5 AM. At that early hour, I was tired, so I turned to more coffee.
For a while when traveling, I started to get those 5-hour energy shots, as a way to get my jolt for driving without having to find so many restrooms along the way. But they were expensive, and a lot of plastic trash I was trying to avoid in my life. Then I discovered Jet Alert caffeine pills. Not only do they give you a good jolt without excessive pissing for road trips, they are a lot of fun to mix with marijuana up at camp, so you have a giggly good time, without falling asleep and feeling so tired while getting high up in wilderness. Cannabis and coffee really can improve your high, if your looking for a europhic experience.
Then I moved up to the suburban office with the free, unlimited coffee provided by the agency. It had been years since I worked in a corporate-style office with free, unlimited coffee, and that was good way to get in another one or two or three cups in each morning, because well my employer was paying for it. And after riding to work, the caffeine started to wear off. Likewise, when I worked up at campaign committee, they also had a steady supply free of Red Bull, Kureig and sometimes just old fashioned drip coffee flowing. I stay away from the Red Bull unless it’s the sugar free stuff, but it’s still more coffee. Some mornings when I want more to get moving, I’ll open up some of those Jet Alert pills. They’re so cheap and caffeinated.
Truth is though I need to cut back. I started doing caffeine-free Sundays, choosing to skip making coffee on Sunday mornings for better sleep to start off the work week. I don’t always stay with that now, as it can be miserable for a coffee addict like me, but most mornings I do try to do a few less cups of coffee – often just one at home and work – but it’s tough. I also try to drink more water in the morning and a work, to avoid drinking so much coffee. But if it’s keeping me up at night, and giving me severe jitters, I really should be cutting back. But caffeine is fun.