As many of you have had to quit caffeine, some might join me in a collective sigh about having to put down the cuppa in the morning - the only thing (quite honestly) that woke me up, and this was before this horrendous disease.
I’m on pizotifen, so with the added level of tiredness, I need something to pick me up in the mornings.
I was thinking Berocca. Loaded with B vitamins and other magical things… my question is … is this allowed with so many supplements already?
Does anyone have a morning Berocca?
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I had the same issue with Amitriptyline, as I’m sure many others have. I think the tricky dilemma is that part of the efficacy of dizziness medication is it makes the brain “sleepy” so I suspect the last thing you want to do is to make it super excited again :).
Hi Belindy,
I never had the morning fatigue with Amitriptyline, Nortriptyline or Topomax, but I replaced my obsession with coffee with decaf coffee. I actually owned a gourmet coffee shop for years, roast my own beans from green, grind… the whole drill, so yes; it’s an obsession
I made the transition to decaf fairly easily.
I did look at the link and unfortunately that supplement lists caffeine as an ingredient, so you may not want to chance that one Have you tried decaf? I know it has a slight amount of caffeine still that is not extracted in the process but I do well with it and don’t miss the caffeine jolts at all now.
@turnitaround Yes I suppose that is a good point. I do want to calm the brain, just have some energy to wake up and do something so I might feel better in myself. If that makes sense. I’ll have to think about it.
@Naejohn … so lucky you are not to feel tired in the morning. I would be sooo tempted if I owned own a coffee shop! It’s my only vice. It’s mainly for a wake up so decaf just wouldn’t do the job.
Ha. Ha. if that was the case none of us would be on here. Unfortunately Pizotifen is notorious for causing weight gain and drowiness. Could well be your system will adapt in a few weeks. Otherwise might be worth adjusting the time you take it. Sometimes that can help. . Also with some drugs the quantity of food in your gut has some affect. Tweaking is often necessary. Otherwise it’s a question of swings and roundabouts. Does the inconvenience of the side effect out way the benefits of the drug in question. Very much a personal choice whether or not to move on. Btw are you absolutely sure it’s the Pizotifen that’s at fault. If you quit caffeine suddenly that can happen anyway. I have a friend who does heavy manual work for a living and suddenly decided to drop caffeine on a whim and she was getting up from a full night’s sleep only to fall asleep over breakfast literally with her head in her cereal bowl for lack of caffeine. Energy returned with reinstated caffeine levels though I appreciate you don’t have that option.
Could well be Helen, it’s a tough thing to cut it out all together. This is definitely me right now… asleep at breakfast. I can remember a conversation earlier this year with a friend about how difficult ‘quitting’ could be… then we laughed and laughed and cheers our take away coffees… hope you’re all well.
You will be better off without it believe me. Best way is cold turkey but you need to Google it first. It’s much akin to quitting painkillers which is another must. You may well be worse before better. Both caffeine and painkillers are addictions. Depends what diet you follow but John Hopkins allows some caffeine. Most none. Btw caffeine also occurs in ice-cream and most OTC headache/flu remedies but not much elsewhere.
Put the tiredness down to caffeine withdrawal. If that’s the worst Pizotifen can throw at you be happy because it’s likely to get you a lot better relatively quickly but you do need to accept the fact you now have MAV is virtually certain to have some effect on your daily life for the foreseeable.
My neurologist failed to recommend anything beside medication. I have learned a thing or two through this site. Although I’m half way around the world and then some, I feel Dr S has taught me lots about what this is and what to do (even though his words are paraphrased through some of the old users of this site). I like his analogy about the jug. And how positive he is about getting people well. I’m following the 6C diet and taking magnesium, Coq10 and B2.
Im sticking with pizo and will trial it properly. I’m determined to post on that success story category in a good few years - once I’m certain im successful
Oh… and I did go cold turkey with caffeine. A whole 12 days ago. Eeek
It’s equally rare here in UK to be prescribed diet. Dr S is the exception rather than the rule. Neither neuro nor neuro-otologist I saw mentioned diet just said take preventatives and that even that is just Pot Luck. Trial n error. Very few do follow up or management. Just one off diagnosis consultations and bye bye! In fact the neuro-otologist I saw actually told me not to come back as he couldn’t help me any further. That’s why I came here much later to hold a few hands as I had had nobody to hold mine I guess. Everything I had suffered and learned was time wasted otherwise.
Have you tried decaf? I know it has a slight amount of caffeine still that is not extracted in the process but I do well with it and don’t miss the caffeine jolts at all now.
for the caffeine withdrawal.