Caffeine

Now I never thought in a million years that I would be writing about caffeine. What a dull topic, but it is very relevant as it has become clear that I am also addicted to it in the form of tea and diet coke or anything artificially sweetened. Bloody hell, talk about addictive personality! Living with bipolar means we have to eliminate stimulants and therefore toxins, as the correlation between mood and food (including drink) is significant. So it is with regret that I have to advise the reduction of and preferably elimination of caffeine. I absolutely love tea and diet coke and am find it very difficult to give them up. Of course it is just an oral crutch like wine was and although I use de-caffeinated where possible I prefer the real deal. Herbal teas make me want to vomit although I believe green tea and rooibos or red bush tea have powerful antioxidant rewards and chamomile is supposedly a natural sleep aid. Fortunately I do not mind drinking water so I try to flush 1-2 litres down a day (again I am quite inconsistent with this). (See W for benefits of water and hydration). Caffeine is hard to give up especially as we have given up or will give up practically everything else enjoyable (bar sex and even that is a nightmare when the tablets affect your libido!).