It's mid-morning, the day isn't even half over and already your head is pounding and you're tired and cranky.
What's going on? Are you getting sick? Maybe it's swine flu!! But then, you remember…you missed your regular cup of tea yet.
Welcome to the world of acute caffeine withdrawal.
Just as caffeine can make you feel energetic, alert, more confident and healthy, going without can make you feel drowsy, drained of energy, less alert and downright low and don't forget an unforgiving headache.
You may not have severe withdrawal symptoms similar to those of alcohol or tobacco but you will find it hard to carry out your day-to-day normal activities.
This is because your brain is addictive to the caffeine found in coffee and tea and whenever you miss it craves for it and signals you.
Caffeine is addictive because it blocks our brain’s receptor (adenosine) which in turn lets dopamine (the happy chemical) work more efficiently.
As we consume more caffeine daily, we build a tolerance to it in our brains.
So, when a person misses their daily dose, our brain goes out of balance and release more adenosine and decreases dopamine levels, which results in the withdrawal symptoms.
Withdrawal effects can last up to four to five agonizing days.
Experts say once you build up a tolerance to caffeine, you stop getting much benefit from it at all other than keeping withdrawal symptoms at bay.
Its said the brain activity and mood of regular caffeine drinkers look almost the same after their morning dose as that of non-caffeine users.