Giving up caffeine and sugar

I have given up caffeine as of about one week ago. I have also given up sugar except for raw honey, but I've gone back on this about three times, when I craved sugar so badly that I went out and bought cocoa krispies and strawberry syrup for strawberry milk. Also, I've used some regular, non-raw honey, which I don't consider healthful. Today I decided against giving up sugar but then was re-inspired to do it again. I reached a turning point of sorts when I developed back problems. My lower back went into spasm and hasn't been the same since. At first I was kind of despairing over the possibility of back problems, but then I researched the problem on CureZone and discovered that I should ice it, not so much put heat on it, and stay hydrated. I also have been using a gel that contains homeopathic arnica, which has gotten me through the worst of it. I also started drinking a minimum of eight glasses of spring water a day. So far, all this has helped, except when I was putting heat on it at first instead of ice. It has gradually gotten quite a bit better, though it is still a problem, and I have to be careful what I do. I'm enthused by my new lifestyle. I have been addicted to coffee for about three years straight now, and I have been consuming sugar all my life, though I consumed a lot less in my childhood than I have in say the last 6 years (I'm 31). All told, I guess you could say I'm doing alright in that I only have three years (still, a long time!) of caffeine addiction to overcome and haven't consumed massive amounts of sugar for that long. I also used to drink coffee casually in my college years, but I wasn't addicted then, per se. Because of my back problems, there is no way I'm going back to caffeine. I have been so dehydrated these past three years and still am! I know that if I go back to drinking caffeine and its accompanying dehydration, my back problems could get far worse, and I may actually become disabled because of them. I know that this is how things start and that they only get worse. Sugar, on the other hand, I am finding much harder. But I have been doing some reading on the Addiction: Coffee forum and the Addiction: Sugar forum, and this lead me to go back to look at some tests I had done in 2004. At the time, they found that my adrenals were depleted because I have high cortisol levels in the morning and low cortisol levels in the evening, resulting in anxiety first thing in the morning and fatigue in the evening. I did a saliva hormone test. That was a long time ago, and though I've taken an adrenal glandular supplement since then, which I'm sure improved matters some, I realized that this is like my back -- if I don't take action and stop taking substances that are abusive to my adrenals, I'm going to develop adrenal fatigue, just as I would have developed worse back problems. Essentially, I was re-inspired to give up sugar. Just thought I'd share. It's going to take a long time to re-hydrate to the level I was at three years ago. Sugar is dehydrating too, in addition to being tough on the adrenals, so since I gave it up for my adrenals, it helps the situation with my back too. It's been really hard giving up sugar, but I have also developed a new "lease on life" because of it, in addition to the giving up of coffee. Your support would be appreciated. If there's anyone in a similar situation, maybe we could e-mail back and forth and support each other through low periods and times of desperation. Just e-mail me through the site.

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