At 17:52 +1100 1/12/99, Wally Day wrote:

> I'm not sure I buy all of the talk
>about "physical" coffee addictions. I sincerely think
>the coffee habit is mostly psychological - caffein or
>no. I say this because during the week I generally
>drink 2-3 cups in the morning, but on the weekends I
>often "forget" to make/drink coffee. No headahces. No
>noticeable withdrawal effects. Nuthin'.

This is how I found out I was addicted. We had an espresso machine at work,
so during the week I would drink a couple of cups of coffee. I don't like
instant, so on weekends I'd go without.

For about a year, nearly every Sunday night I'd have headaches so bad I
would just about pass out from the pain if I tried any physical exertion
(like getting up from the couch!). On weekends when I worked, I didn't have
the headaches.

I have a bad back, so I assumed the problem was caused by poor posture
lounging around on a couch at home, compared to sitting at an ergonomic
workstation at work.

Eventually I saw a TV programme which claimed caffeine was addictive, so I
decided to go off it. Lo and behold, I had splitting headaches for a whole
week!

Perhaps I'm just particularly sensitive to caffeine. I didn't drink it at
all until I was 23 or so. Then I started drinking _lots_ of Coke and Jolt.
Eventually I got hooked on the hard stuff :)

 ...Richard.