I don’t have many vices.
I don’t drink alcohol. I don’t drink coffee. Ninety percent of the liquid I consume is water. But that other ten percent? Let’s just say it’s a long-term relationship with Diet Coke.
I first made the switch in high school, during one of my early crash diets. Growing up, I guzzled soda like it was my job. But when I decided to “get healthy,” regular Coke was the first thing to go. Diet Coke took its place, and I’ve never looked back. Now, non-diet tastes too sweet to me — I actually prefer the diet version. The fact that something could be this delicious and have zero calories meant I started drinking it more than I should have. Water gets boring, but why waste calories on a drink when cake exists?
And honestly, there’s nothing like that first ice-cold sip of bubbly brown soda when you’ve been craving it all day. The fizz. The chill. The semi-sweet-but-not-too-sweet flavor. Heaven. That’s how I found myself hitting the McDonald’s drive-thru a few times a week. You can’t beat a large for a buck. Plus, I swear their fountain Diet Coke is the best in the world.
But here’s the problem: migraines.
I’ve been getting them since I was 17. Sometimes Diet Coke is fine, but other times, it’s a fast track to misery. I still don’t know if it’s the caffeine or the fake sugar (my money’s on the fake sugar), but occasionally, one drink will have me laid up within hours. If I felt a migraine brewing, I’d try to avoid it — but I’d still cave sometimes. And sometimes it hit me completely out of the blue.
On December 16th, I caved. I grabbed my usual McDonald’s Diet Coke… and spent the next three days with a migraine from hell. That was my breaking point. No more. I went through the rest of December — including the holidays — without a single Diet Coke.
When January rolled around, I made it an official monthly goal: no Diet Coke for the whole month. The cravings were real, but I’m stubborn, so I resisted.
I didn’t have another one until February 2nd. That’s about seven weeks without so much as a sip.
Here’s what happened in those seven weeks: I had one migraine. One! Before, I’d been getting several a month, sometimes lasting days. I still had headaches here and there, but they stayed headaches — nothing that required my prescription migraine meds. That’s basically a miracle.
So now I’m stuck in the Diet Coke dilemma. A migraine-free life is obviously better, and I probably should give it up permanently. But I’ve had a couple since February started, carefully timed on days when my head felt fine — so far, no disasters. I told myself I’d stick to one a month, but after that first sip on February 2nd, I went back just a few days later. It’s addictive.
I don’t know what the future holds for me and Diet Coke (it really does sound like a breakup). Maybe one a month. Maybe one a week. Maybe quitting altogether. I do know this: I’m proud I identified one of my migraine triggers, and I know I can quit when I need to. (I even went without it for my entire pregnancy with Caleb, so I’m capable of going 10+ months without it.)
No matter what, I’ll keep you posted on the thrilling saga of me vs. Diet Coke. And if you’re a fellow addict who’s ever quit for a while — I feel you.
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