This is one mommy blog post that’s not about breast milk.
For the last few weeks I’ve been having a weird symptom when I get really tired or have a beer or two. My eyeballs make a disconcerting nano-shift to the left…and that’s it. It’s simple, small, and passes quickly, and it happens when I am waking up in the morning and goes away after I’ve had my coffee. But then it started happening at night if I’ve stayed up late enough that I feel really tired. And then over the weekend it happened mid-day, and then I just felt slight dizzy. And then it happened after I drank a beer. (Because I thought that would help?)
I spent the day going to doctors who scanned my eyeballs and ruled out things like pituitary gland tumor and meningitis. Awesome, right? Next up, a neurologist. I’m grateful that they didn’t automatically recommend a psychiatrist and twirl their index fingers in a circle next to their ears.
Meanwhile, my research on the internet suggests that perhaps I may be drinking too much of things like, say, caffeine and alcohol. While excision of a tumor seems way easier than cutting out coffee and wine, I am going to try the latter because it’s much cheaper and I won’t need additional childcare.
So. Today is Day 1 of the Great Caffeine Reduction of 2013. Normally we make a pot of 10 cups of coffee every day: 10 cups of water to 5 scoops of coffee. This morning I substituted 1 scoop of (I hate to even type this) decaf for one of the scoops. We’ll do this every day for a week, then increase the caffeinated/decaf ratio to 3:2, and so on until it’s all decaf.
It’s hard to imagine, really. I’m not sure I can do it. I suppose if my eyeballs depend on it, I will.
I’m going to similarly not drink alcoholic beverages for a while. Not in a ratio shifting way, I’m just going to drink water instead of a glass of wine with dinner. Etc.
Sigh. There are few things that give me such pleasure in life. Stay tuned to see how this goes, and how many people unfriend me because I turn into a raging, chemical-free bitch. And please, for the love of all things warm and good, give me your recommendations for great-tasting decaf coffee in the comments.
I can’t help you with the decaf recommendation. (So sorry!) But tonight I too drank water with dinner instead of wine. (Ugh.) But not because of funky eyes, rather because I am trying to lose some weight. So not fun. At all. Keep us posted Kim!
Ugh,i cannot do decaf. I buy half-caff from Fesh and Easy and sip on that- but shh, dont tell my obstetritian
You know me, but I can tell you this: espresso actually has LESS caffeine than coffee. I found this out when I got preggers because I refused to let up on my consumption. So if you really want to be caffeine conscious not just coffee conscious, I say ditch the coffee and start with decaf espresso! I know it sounds contradictory but it is a WAY better alternative to decaf coffee. I mean, you might has well have hot brown water.
Here’s what I did when I got pregnant: switch from coffee to espresso (see above from Auntie Rola), switch to nonfat/dairy free milk for less calories (see Charlene’s comment), and then switch down to an Americano instead of a latte (uses water instead of milk but is the same as a latte). THEN . . . if you nee a little flavor, you can add coffee syrup (regular or sugar free 1-25 calories a pump). The whole drink is called a “What’s the Point?!?!” Do that (or some reasonable facsimile) along with your decaf-ing and you’ll be mellow and eyeball-twitching free in no time. xoxo
I make 12 cups of water to 3 scoops of Foldgers coffee. If I need a pick me up mid-day I drink a diet coke.
Good luck! When I try to suppress my need for coffee, I’ve been drinking Bigelow green tea with pomegranate. They may have decaf. Also been using organic blue agave to sweeten my coffee and tea to cut down on sugar. Can’t really tell a difference in taste. I’m sure you can do it, especially since you are weaning slowly. 🙂