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I've been drinking coffee/tea/energy drinks for years and usually have 3 cups of coffee in the morning and 2 cans of Monster Rehab throughout the day. These have no effect on me whatsoever and totals about 800mg of caffeine per day. I want to know how I could 'normalize' my adrenals to be sensitive to caffeine again. What is the best method for doing so, and how long would it take?

Note- this is not a question for people to respond with "monster rehab isn't paleo blah blah chemicals blah."

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6 Answers

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If you want any sort of 'normalization' you have to stop taking in caffeine, probably for at least 30 days, and then reintroduce it in small amounts to see if you've become more sensitive.

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Yes, pretty sure this is the only way. – DanielleO812 Feb 7 2012 at 20:05
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Not sexy, but this is the only solution. – JayJay Feb 7 2012 at 21:11
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You'll probably have an easier time of this if you actively support your adrenal glands at the same time with vitamin C, enough salt, and adaptogens like eleuthro ginseng. – Happy Now Feb 8 2012 at 2:03
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I agree you're going to have to get off the caffeine to re-sensitize yourself, but just wanted to toss in that you should probably go off slowly, because you're probably going to have one hell of a headache.

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If you have ADHD, caffeine can calm you and give you focus, but doesn't help you stay awake. It may have the opposite effect. A lot of people who don't know they have ADHD say, "Caffeine has no effect on me."

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I'd start by making sure you have found whatever ingredients in the energy drink other than the caffeine draw you to it, and either make sure you are getting them in your diet or supplement. I had a looksie at the ingredient list for the Monster Rehab and things you might want to make sure are dialed in right off the bat in your diet are the b-vitamins and amino acids by making sure you eat some liver and maybe heart a couple times per week.

Secondly, cut the coffee down to 1 cup within a week or two. I've found that the first cup brings the wakefulness, and the second cup and beyond to either do nothing or cause a sort of cranky backlash fatigue to set in.

If you feel like you need to be more awake try Celtic Sea Salt salted bone broth first thing in the morning (if your adrenals are shot, you'll really feel the jolt from the salt), followed by a dose of eleuthero ginseng extract (which brings a deeper energy than the caffeine, I can even feel it if I've already maxed out on caffeine, and it also happens to be one of the ingredients in Monster Rehab). You can add a second dose in the afternoon if you get hit with a case of the afternoon sleepies. The eleuthero can take a week or two to feel the full effect, but it is worth keeping up on it to get to that state. And, the usual disclaimer, if you are taking any meds talk to your doc or a pharmacist before adding new herbs to your routine.

For the vitamin C there is always citrus or you can eat or juice some raw greens and herbs.

Best of luck!

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I found liquorish to be really effective. I was actually stunned at just how much of a difference it made.

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Lots you can do to speed renorm up. Sauna, steam bath, and contrast showers can help to flush out a lot of the byproducts from caffeine. I always found sitting in heat until I started to bead sweat followed by a warm shower for five minutes, then a cold shower, then repeat the whole cycle, was very helpful. You can look up other methods similar to this as well, try looking up Bompa and the book Supertraining I believe explains a great deal about what adrenal fatigue is and how to deal with it.

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