PLEASE help me out of my tea funk

I’m not a doctor or a psychologist, however, I have dealt with severe depression almost my entire life. I suspect that may be what is going on here. I think that your diagnosis may have been more traumatic to you than you realize and there may be some post-trauma depression going on. The next time you visit your doctor, you might ask for a recommendation for a therapist.

Rachel – I have had tea funks as well. I agree with LiberTEAS above. Also, sometimes simply breaking the cycle and making that first cup of tea can help you get back into tea. For me when I don’t make tea (or do anything I really enjoy) I get more upset, down, etc. which then means I make less tea, etc.

Give yourself some time; this diagnosis is new to you and you need a little time to process it. Someone who gets in an auto accident may well be afraid to drive, or even to travel by car, for awhile until their brain can put the incident into its proper perspective. Think “moderation” and remember, going without things you enjoy can do you as much harm as overindulging in them. And lose the damned diet soda, especially if in contains aspartame.

I also have frequent migraines but they do not seem to correlate with caffeine… Maybe you’ll just see that yours don’t too and go back to tea again :)

PS. did you try Sumatriptan?

I think that as with all things, these changes sometimes just happen. I’ve been drinking only a cup of tea a day for the past year because I never seem to have the drive to make more – but I still love tea, I still have lots, and I still enjoy discussing it with others who are more passionate than I. Time may be what’s required on that front. :(

Also, side note but is it even remotely possible that the aspartame or sucralose in the diet soda/Splenda contributes to your migraines? Aspartame happens to give me headaches and I know I’m not the only one.

I agree about dropping the diet soda! My daughter and I are both type 1 diabetic and I REFUSE to consume that stuff! IF and WHEN which is rare either of us want soda we get the regular stuff and take more insulin for it – diet soda IS THAT terrible.

As for the tea maybe switching only to pure teas would help? I am not a doctor but I would consider teas that are not “adulterated” perhaps and see if maybe that helps lessen the effects of the migraines.

Caffeine is the most water soluble compound in tea. The vast majority of the caffeine is infused right away. If you use a gaiwan and “wake up the leaves” by steeping your tea for about ten seconds and then pouring the water off you will remove about 80% of the caffeine from the tea. If migraines are the issue you might also try steeping the tea at lower temperatures. Low temperature steeping extracts more of the theanine. Theanine is a relaxant. Gyokuro can be steeped as cool as 140 degrees and is already high in theanine due to being shade grown.

The migraines I’ve had since 3rd grade. I definitely wasn’t allowed any diet sodas or other caffeinated beverages back in 1981. So I knew my docs had to think a little harder about the reasons behind them. I know that changes in the barometric pressure will cause one. Zeks, sumatriptan is a little too harsh for me so I’m on its little brother, naratriptan. It works for me. BTW, I make my sodas with my SodaStream. They are made with Splenda.

I think that those of you who pinpointed depression may be right. It’s been a rough year for me medically. On November 17 of 2011, I had to have emergency open heart surgery to repair an error a doctor made during a routine procedure. The recovery was long and taxing. Then, right about when I was physically recovered from that, I started having more medical problems which have finally now been diagnosed as lupus and the lupus anticoagulant (clotting disorder) but I have been to so many docs in the meantime and taken so many tests because they wanted to make sure it wasn’t my heart before they looked into anything else. I was also found to have a vestibular disorder which affects my balance and makes me dizzy every now and then. I’m facing bankruptcy with all the medical bills.

I really haven’t dealt with this past year in any meaningful way, and the therapist I tried didn’t go into that at all. I didn’t connect with her so I have called another counseling service that takes Medicare and am hopeful that I can get a therapist who will help me deal with all this stuff a little better. In the meantime I have determined that I’m going to start tomorrow morning with a little Good Morning Sunshine guayusa from Butiki Teas! If that doesn’t cheer me up, what will? ;-)

Rachel:

After the year you have had you are my hero.

Drink that tea, be proud, be strong enough to go to counseling and know that someone halfway across the country, that you don’t even really know is pulling for you.

Ellyn

My husband’s migraines turned out to be triggered by MSG. I had to get a list of all the things that they can call MSG on a food label because there are so many terms for it. We avoid one particular Chinese restaurant in town that triggered a reaction in both of us. (MSG makes me high and then sleepy.) A friend tried feverfew at the advice of her P.A. and said she went from 3 debilitating migraines a week (for many years) to maybe one or two a year.

I think it sounds like depression, too. I do hope you start feeling better soon! You have had so much trauma to your body and bodies can react with depression. Your “feel good” stuff gets depleted. You sound like a very strong person. You will be in my thoughts and prayers!