Go Slow Off the Joe

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PEOPLE WHO DOWN MORE THAN THREE CUPS OF coffee a day know how awful they can feel when they can't get their caffeine fix. Now a study reveals that even those who sip just two or three cups a day can become anxious, drowsy, sluggish, headachy and depressed if they go cold turkey on Java. The symptoms can be so severe that people stay home from work or visit their doctor, who may fail to tie the patient's problems to sudden cessation of coffee consumption. In the experiment, people deprived of caffeine complained that they felt worse than when they had the flu, and one woman noted the sickness was as bad as what she experienced while undergoing radiation and chemotherapy for cancer. Caffeine withdrawal may explain the puzzling distress some people suffer following surgery (pre-op procedure often prohibits food or liquids), or on weekends (no office coffeepot), or during visits with people who prefer decaffeinated beverages. The findings, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine by a Johns Hopkins University team, may apply equally to moderate drinkers of tea or caffeinated sodas. Those wanting to give up caffeine are advised to reduce their consumption gradually over a few days.