I’m back on coffee. I didn’t expect to last less than 4 weeks, I thought once I went through the pain of getting off coffee that I’d want to stay off for a little while, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

Last week I had to make a CVS run while I was at work. I rarely go to CVS, let alone from work, so I found one in a nearby plaza that I’ve never been to. As I pulled into the place, I took note of the Starbucks about four stores down from CVS and my car more or less parked itself exactly halfway between. This was my first indication that things might be over. So after making my CVS purchase and heading back towards the car, my legs walked themselves into ‘bucks and just like that I was walking out with a tall Christmas blend, I felt helpless. What followed was the most glorious caffeine buzz I’ve had since high school and I knew right then that my ‘no coffee’ days were over.

It’s a weird feeling being back on the coffee train. The weirdest part is I now have this fear of caffeine withdrawal. I didn’t realize how traumatizing those ten days of horror were for me, but it seems like they made an impact. While my one cup of coffee last week did not kickstart the full addiction, I still woke up the next morning afraid of the headache that would soon set in and the crippling leg pain (the leg pain is real! I confirmed it on the internet). So bizarre.

I’m trying to keep my coffee consumption moderate and only drink about a cup a day. Right now that is more than enough, so in this way it was good that I got off coffee and reset.

As for the benefits of getting off caffeine, I really didn’t notice much…I might have been waking up better, maybe I didn’t crash as hard in the afternoon, but it’s really hard to say for sure. What I do know is that I missed coffee so much, I even tried to become an aggressive tea drinker (caffeine free), but it wasn’t the same.

What I learned from this whole experience is that coffee is awesome and I never want to give it up again.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!