You can buy Caffeine OTC by itself and very sparingly add it to a drink you like. You could do this gradually until you find a safe level that you like.
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What OKC said, additionally, you can find inexpensive caffeine capsules. Drink your bubbly water, take a pill with it.

coffee is an acquired taste, and one you should work on if it relieves your body of 24 ounces of mountain dew a day. Just my thoughts.

Watch That Sugar Film on Netflix or Amazon and then try to stop eating sweet things. Try drinking cold, unsweetened green tea. You can buy it ready to drink in 1/2 gallon containers.

They make caffeinated flavored sparkling water and they are pretty good.

Example:

Unsolicited advice follows. Feel free to disregard.

My recommendation would be to get off the caffeine kick-start habit. It really sets you up for failure the rest of the day.

Far better to get up, hydrate (water), do your morning ablutions, maybe go for a short walk to get the circulation going (or the other way around), get some nutrition, then get on with your day.

You'll probably have much more energy throughout the day.

Mind you: I drink coffee. No foolin' around high-octane stuff, too. (Cafe Americano from an espresso shot.) But, I don't break out the coffee until an hour, hour-and-a-half after I'm up. And, even then, it's not to get me going, but, because I actually like coffee.

By the time I make that cup of Cafe Americano, I've:

• Hydrated (second thing I do after getting out of bed)
  
• Done my morning ablutions
  
• Made the bed
  
• Scooped the cats' litter boxes and vacuumed the area around them
  
• Eaten breakfast (usually a protein bar and a short glass of OJ)
  
• Gone through my morning email and reviewed the prior 24 hours' video surveillance footage
  

Once the weather finally improves enough I'll be adding that short walk outdoors.

It's only when I'm preparing to sit down, kick back, and spend time on SF and a couple other web forums, and whatever else I choose to do in front of the computer that morning, that I make myself that cup of coffee.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
But, I don't break out the coffee until an hour, hour-and-a-half after I'm up. And, even then, it's not to get me going, but, because I actually like coffee.

I'm not far off from that. I'm up around 0530 during the week & don't get a cup of coffee until I get to the office around 0800.
Weekends, it's maybe an hour after I get up, I'll start a 3 cup/serving pot of coffee.

Dr. Enuf "In-between" a soft drink and an energy drink. The taste of most varieties is also similar to that of Mountain Dew. I'm sure they'll ship it to you.