Going without caffeine not as much of a jolt as I thought

In the wake of my heart excitement last month, probably the biggest adjustment I've made is -- at least for now -- eliminating my consumption of caffeinated drinks.

In my follow-up visit to the doctor, she asked about how much caffeine I consumed per day. My caffeinated choice for years has been Mountain Dew (with on occasional Cherry Coke), and I easily drank between 24 and 36 ounces (or more) of it per day and have done so for years.

I also have taken my share of Vivarin over the years when I was behind in my sleep or just had a high-energy day ahead.

Given what happened last month, she didn't say that I had to give up caffeine, but suggested that I limit myself to 12 ounces of caffeinated drinks per day. For a couple of days, I had about 4 or 6 ounces of it in the morning and it didn't seem to be much of an adjustment. So I decided that if limiting caffeine would be helpful, why not just give it up all together?

As of this writing, I've had no caffeinated beverages since July 13. It's no doubt the longest I've gone without caffeinated drinks since I first was allowed to drink them when I was a kid.

For the first week, oddly, I had trouble sleeping. It seemed illogical that eliminating caffeine would lead to sleep issues so I don't think it was related. Luckily, I've slept pretty well since then so that hasn't been an issue. As much Mountain Dew as I used to drink, I always made sure not to drink any after 5 p.m. for fear that I wouldn't be able to go to sleep when I wanted to go to sleep.

Sleep always has been a bit of an issue, and being a very light sleeper doesn't help. For years, I've taken Melatonin about an hour before I want to fall asleep to help me do so.

I'm drinking lots of water, which probably is a lot better for me and it's a lot less expensive as well. (For the life of me, I don't understand why people ever PAY for water.) Particularly with the heat we've dealt with this summer, I'm drinking Gatorade before and after runs for the electrolytes. But otherwise, I'm just drinking a lot of water.

For years, I couldn't imagine not waking up to a tall glass of Mountain Dew in the morning. I know that caffeine can be addictive for some people, but I've found that it was more than we well-established habit on my part than an addiction.

I know lots of people, including Jean, get headaches if they go without caffeine. I've heard some people have a miserable time in the first days after giving up caffeine, but I'm lucky that I haven't dealt with any of those issues.

I still might drink a little Mountain Dew if I'm really behind on my sleep, but at this point I'm going to still try to go completely without it.

My only concern is what this all will do to the Pepsico Inc. stock price. The drop of revenue because I may never again buy Mountain Dew has got to send the price plummeting.

If you have Pepsico Inc. stock, my advice is to sell.