Quitting Pepsi Max in 2021 Support Thread

[NoZoomAtTheInn]

Open to anyone who has already quit with their success stories or anyone who also wants to quit.

I’ve tried twice to stop in the past, once by just stopping and once by gradually cutting down. Both times the withdrawal headaches were awful. Have decided this time to speak to GP first to see if there is anything I can take - like smokers get nicotine patches/gum - while I wean myself off it.

Probably 4 or 5 I haven't been out to the shop but im not sure I'm ready to go cold turkey. Im already on furlough & alone so think I'll be setting myself up to fail. Think I need to cut down first

gwen - sorry to hear about your cold - wising you a speedy recovery! You’re doing so well at kicking this horrible habit.

hue as you can tell from the thread, some can do cold turkey and some (inc me!) can’t. The only way to find out is to try. I would just be prepared though for headaches/thick head/general fatigue for several days. There’s nothing but support here so do tell us the good, the bad and the ugly. Good luck!

I’m still peeing for England but it has slowed in last 24 hours so think my body is finally adjusting to the litres of chai tea : ). . I’ve managed to stay at 3cans a day except for Wed when I had to give 3 hours of virtual training when I reverted back to 5 cans. Overall, happy with how it’s going.

I’d like to join. I’ve got half a bottle and a few cans left in the house. I purposefully didn’t put any in the online order which came yesterday.

Part of my problem is I barely like any other drinks.

I don’t like instant coffee. I don’t like tea. I like those nescafe mocha sachets but at 100 calories each I try to only have one a day.

I don’t like milk, I don’t like juice or squash. I don’t like flavoured water. I don’t like fizzy water.

I don’t even like alcohol! 😂

Which I think leaves me with water.

Oh I do like chai tea but it irritates my bladder terribly and I can’t drink it.

I got heavily into cold out the tap, tap water 🤷🏽‍♀️

DH has bottle of tap water that he keeps in the fridge 🤮 I think it tastes horrid.

Welcome covid - do you like proper coffee? And do you “like” plain water?

: waves at Gwendoline:
I went cold turkey on Diet Coke 2 weeks ago. I was drinking between 4 and 6 cans a day.
I had a banging headache for a couple of days and felt very bunged up and snotty (sorry).
I was only drinking water because I decided to low carb at the same time but I'm now drinking sparkling water with juice.
It was definitely the fizz I liked, I take medication that drys my mouth and throat out and and cold can really helped. It played havoc with my bladder though.
I had a terrible migraine and did have a can with salty crackers to try to lift it, it tasted very sweet and artificial. I'm managing ok without it.
Good luck to everyone

Still haven't been out so managing without but the headache has now kicked in

@Covidcovid have you thought about getting a brita jug? So much nicer than tap water and obviously the filters work out cheaper than a cola habit!

Delay the breakfast one by an hour each day. Then just try to stick to a lunch time one. Open the afternoon one at lunch and leave it somewhere warm so it's unappealing.
Then drop the lunchtime one.

Hello Coco!

I’m still Diet Coke free. I definitely think for people who are on more than one can a day phasing it out will be easier.

After two days of one lucozade a day I’m expecting the banging head of doom to come back again.

You can all do this!
Although cold turkey isn't for everyone, I'm an 'all or nothing' personality type and so I found just cutting it out the easiest for me personally.
It's two weeks today and I don't miss it at all!
I've also noticed I'm having less junk food cravings as well. So win win.

What are people planning to do with the money from Pepsi Max that they're saving? :)

I wouldn’t say I like water. But I’ll drink it. Problem is I tend to only drink it if I’m quite thirsty. So I’m making a conscious effort to drink before I’m thirsty. I find a bottle with a “sucky” spout helps, and really cold water.

You might find the less fizzy drinks you have you’ll start to enjoy water more. I can’t stand the taste of a sweet drink now! My OH gave me a sip of his energy drink the other week, that I used to absolutely love and it tasted awful to me.
I genuinely look forward to my glass of cold fizzy water in the morning now

Yes, really hope I can reset my taste buds.

One thing I know currently happens to me. If I have a drink of Diet Coke or similar I nearly immediately feel hungry/craving something sweet to eat. I really think there’s something in the fizzy drink sweetener which affects your appetite and makes you crave sweet stuff. So I’m hoping cutting the Diet Coke will also help me cut down the chocolate.

Day 2 & headache from hell here. Dug out my Brita jug & having just cold water. Feeling like I can do this

I find it easier to drink from a sports/sippy bottle too.
I cant drink my tap water, it's rank, I usually fill a pint glass up with tap water and add orange squash. I don't need much to make it drinkable. I find it takes the craving away, probably because of the sugar in it, but I take so little I'm not worrying about that.

I'm 11 weeks free of DC. I never thought I'd be able to say that. My friends and family are stunned I've done it. It was the only thing I drank from 7am until 11pm, every single day for 25+ years!

The hard bit was the withdrawal headaches but once past that I've not looked back.

My tip is not to allow yourself to get thirsty. I pour my sparkling water and squash into a pint glass and top it up as soon as it's finished. It takes away the thinking 'I could really do with a DC right now'.

Keep going everyone, you can do this!

@demolitionduo how long did the headaches last?

@Hueandcry The 1st seven days were quite bad. I could still function but didn't feel great. Days 7-13 they eased off a lot and by day 14 I was headache free.
I do suffer from migraines and I have to say since stopping the DC and after the initial withdrawal period, I've not had a severe one.

That’s interesting about the migraines. I think Diet Coke caused mine too. Though I had two weeks of awful headaches when I was quitting, I get severe migraines an awful lot less now. Could be because I’m not as dehydrated?

I also have a glass of water through the day that I constantly top up.

I suffer from migraines too. This is just a really bad headache. I've been to the shops but managed not to buy any diet coke or pepsi max

hue hoping your withdrawal headache and symptoms don’t last long. You’re doing brilliantly especially not buying any more of the horrible stuff.

I’ve had a breakthrough today! I’ve only had 1 can and that was around 4pm! I started off the day with an instant coffee and then drank loads of my caffeine free tea.