Living Without Methyltheobromine
Jul 3rd, 2007 by Alex
I am a habitual drug user.
I take approximately fifty-five milligrams of methyltheobromine every weekday. Sometimes more, usually on the weekend or for special occassions. Sometimes I chase eighty milligrams with sugar water and immediately demand more from my supplier. On a few rare occassions I’ve taken so much that I’ve experienced muscle twitching and irregular heart beat amidst a lot of incoherent babel, to the point where my friends were seriously concerned.
I don’t consider myself an addict.
It could certainly be worse. I know people who are hooked for real. They can’t stop. That have difficulty functioning without it. I can function just fine without it. I can stop for days at a time, albeit with some slightly irritatable withdrawal symtoms.
Ever done 1,3,7-Trimethylxanthine? How 1,3,7-Trimethyl-2,6-dioxopurine? They’re all the same. Identical, actually. They’re also known as guaranine, organex, and No-Doz. Wait a minute…
All synonyms of caffeine.
Soda might not sell as well if methyltheobromine was listed as an incredient. With a name sounding similar to methamphetamine, who’d want to say they’re going to get their methyl fix? Kids trying to sound like badasses, maybe. Kids who haven’t ever met a meth addict.
We’ve coined terms like functioning alcoholic, habitual user, recreational user, and a whole bunch of others that have a stigma attached. Yet it’s perfectly acceptable for someone to say they’re addicted to caffeine. I find it curious what sorts of behavior we condone when it comes to drug use. After a silly idea for an opening line, this is more of tangent than I expected to go on here.
I want to cut back on my caffeine consumption.
Now I’m not planning to cut caffeine out of my life entirely. I enjoy chocolate too much to attempt it. I also enjoy the occassional mixed drink made with various caffeinated sodas. My weakness is Mountain Dew. For the last couple years I’ve have one with lunch every day whether I’m thirsty or not. It is this consumption that I want to give up. I plan to replace the can of Dew with water or fruit juice.
I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. I’ve never liked the idea of making a resolution for the sake of making one, but this is something that I think would better my life. I have mild withdrawal symtoms over the weekend from my minimal caffeine use; mostly headaches and some fine motor twitches. I’ve noticed a developed tolerance throughout each week for some time now that seems to fall off after a day or two, usually over the weekend.
I definitely sleep better when I’ve been off the caffeine for a few days. That’s reason enough to try to quit. I’m curious to see how difficult it will be pyschologically. Physically I know I can manage, but it’s going to be tempting to grab a can from the fridge at work. That’s been my habit for so long.
I start tomorrow.
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I ran across your post and just wanted to congratulate you for making a mid-year resolution that you will probably ‘keep’ based on the conviction I hear in your words. I agree with you about not making resolutions for the sake of making them, it’s silly and it usually doesn’t end happily.
I’ve been making (and keeping) resolutions for years and enjoy the practice and the journey. What a joy it is when you can say, I kept my promise to myself! Good luck and stop by blog sometime if you need some encouragement.
Look who is getting all IUPAC-y.
Kim: Coming up on a week now and doing just fine. Your blog doesn’t appear to be loading at present.
tfg: Yeah well, I couldn’t have drawn the molecule to save my life. I do have a shirt from Thinkgeek with it, but some of those alternate names were new to me.
Hi Alex -
That’s great that you’re doing fine with your resolution. I think there’s a typo with the blog. It’s http://www.iresolveto.com. Let me know how things turn out
Best,
Kim