4 ms·

You’re right. Quitting caffeine is easy. I did it at least twenty times in 2020 alone.

tptacek 6y ago
Serious question: why do you start back up? What do you miss about it? I had a 5-6/day habit towards the end, and all I really look back on is (1) having it be impossible to get moving in the morning, (2) insomnia, and (3) headaches.
- Shared404 6y ago
  > (2) insomnia Unfortunately for me, this is a feature. Even when I go a week to a month without caffeine, I tend to stay up late, but not late enough to get things done. However, if I drink something caffeinated, then I can turn that into staying up late enough to work while it's quiet, and I become much more productive. There are other reasons as well, however they are more specific to my personal scenario, and not really generally applicable. If you're curious, I'd be happy to talk about them in some other way, but not in a public forum. (My email is in my bio if anyone's interested.)
- winrid 6y ago
  Not OP, but I quit for months in 2020. What happened for me was winter. I was waking up at 7, running every day in the morning, working on a project before work. Then winter hit and seasonal depression makes it hard. So now I'm waking up earlier, and doing more work, but I'm using coffee again....
- fantod 6y ago
  How much coffee were you drinking? I have 1-2 cups a day (for many years) and always felt fine.
  - hombre_fatal 6y ago
    I drink 2-3 carafes a day and I feel fine. More when I'm taking amphetamine. The body is too effective at regulating anything that feels good.
    - ta988 6y ago
      Lets talk again about that in 10 years will you.
      - hombre_fatal 6y ago
        Been doing it for 15 years. We'll see if the trick is to eat healthy and exercise instead of doing neither and then acting like it's the coffee that's going to kill you.
- caskstrength 6y ago
  Are you sure all of these issues are directly resulted by caffeine intake? Two years ago I had to quit caffeine for some time (medical issues) and it turned out that my sleep problems where (are) mostly related to the lack of physical activity and stress. Of course if several of those 5-6 cups were late at the day, then yeah, that might impact your quality of sleep, but regular morning cup of coffee shouldn't cause such issues considering caffeine half life is ~5 hours.
- onionisafruit 6y ago
  My comment was meant as a play on the old Mark Twain† bit about quitting smoking. I also now realize I misread your comment as saying quitting was "easy" when you said it's "easily one of the best quality of life decisions". In reality I have quit caffeine and gone back to it. I didn't see the same benefits as you. After a few days of adjusting, I felt about the same as before. The only difference was I didn't get to enjoy a morning coffee anymore. † It probably wasn't really by Mark Twain.
  - hajile 6y ago
    Don't forget the other effects of caffeine. It raises blood pressure. Hypertension is called the silent killer with good reason. I've quit caffeine 3 times now. This last time was at my doctors recommendation (slightly elevated BP). It really helped along with not drinking all the gunk in soda. Since then, I've cut salt intake, sugar binging, and set aside 30 minutes most days to get the heart rate up. I'm no "health nut" but after breaking my sedentary habits, I do feel better than I have in a long time.
- bpyne 6y ago
  I quite several times over the years, one time as long as 6 months. I go back, ultimately, because I love the flavor. That said, I would never work as early as 9am if I didn't have to. Caffeine allows me to jumpstart my brain for programming. I need coffee in particular: tea sustains but doesn't jumpstart. Exercise first thing in the morning can act as a substitute for coffee in getting my brain jumpstarted. While I find it easy to exercise at 6:30-7am in the Summer and Fall, Winter and Spring in southern New England suck. At 6:30am, it's often dark, 10-20F, windy, and damp. It's an area made for depressions. I can't see ever giving up coffee while I live here. It's important to point out that about every decade you're going to have to adapt your diet and exercise to meet changes in your body. I'm 53 now. When I don't exercise at least 5x/week I start to have sleeping issues. Alcohol affects me more, especially my sleep. Carb bombing happens with a portion of half the amount I could eat 10 years ago. Back to coffee, I have 2 espressos in the morning and, occasionally, one after lunch but never after 2pm. Breaking any of those coffee "rules" causes me hypertension, sleep loss, and/or a sour stomach. Sorry for the tome. Hopefully some of it is useful.
  - eurasiantiger 6y ago
    IIRC academic studies have shown that people don’t ”love the flavor”; rather, they misattribute to flavor the craving they have for the neuropsychological effects of their preferred substances.
    - bpyne 6y ago
      I tried black coffee for short durations and hated it. So, I'm willing to say my experience follows the conclusion of the study. However, people have wide variations in what they taste (and smell) as pleasurable. Without reading the study, I have a hard time being as binary as "nobody likes the taste of coffee".
panta 6y ago
That’s nothing, I quit caffeine at least three times a day :-p

Serious question: why do you start back up? What do you miss about it? I had a 5-6/day habit towards the end, and all I really look back on is (1) having it be impossible to get moving in the morning, (2) insomnia, and (3) headaches.

Shared404 6y ago
> (2) insomnia Unfortunately for me, this is a feature. Even when I go a week to a month without caffeine, I tend to stay up late, but not late enough to get things done. However, if I drink something caffeinated, then I can turn that into staying up late enough to work while it's quiet, and I become much more productive. There are other reasons as well, however they are more specific to my personal scenario, and not really generally applicable. If you're curious, I'd be happy to talk about them in some other way, but not in a public forum. (My email is in my bio if anyone's interested.)
winrid 6y ago
Not OP, but I quit for months in 2020. What happened for me was winter. I was waking up at 7, running every day in the morning, working on a project before work. Then winter hit and seasonal depression makes it hard. So now I'm waking up earlier, and doing more work, but I'm using coffee again....
fantod 6y ago
How much coffee were you drinking? I have 1-2 cups a day (for many years) and always felt fine.
- hombre_fatal 6y ago
  I drink 2-3 carafes a day and I feel fine. More when I'm taking amphetamine. The body is too effective at regulating anything that feels good.
  - ta988 6y ago
    Lets talk again about that in 10 years will you.
    - hombre_fatal 6y ago
      Been doing it for 15 years. We'll see if the trick is to eat healthy and exercise instead of doing neither and then acting like it's the coffee that's going to kill you.
caskstrength 6y ago
Are you sure all of these issues are directly resulted by caffeine intake? Two years ago I had to quit caffeine for some time (medical issues) and it turned out that my sleep problems where (are) mostly related to the lack of physical activity and stress. Of course if several of those 5-6 cups were late at the day, then yeah, that might impact your quality of sleep, but regular morning cup of coffee shouldn't cause such issues considering caffeine half life is ~5 hours.
onionisafruit 6y ago
My comment was meant as a play on the old Mark Twain† bit about quitting smoking. I also now realize I misread your comment as saying quitting was "easy" when you said it's "easily one of the best quality of life decisions". In reality I have quit caffeine and gone back to it. I didn't see the same benefits as you. After a few days of adjusting, I felt about the same as before. The only difference was I didn't get to enjoy a morning coffee anymore. † It probably wasn't really by Mark Twain.
- hajile 6y ago
  Don't forget the other effects of caffeine. It raises blood pressure. Hypertension is called the silent killer with good reason. I've quit caffeine 3 times now. This last time was at my doctors recommendation (slightly elevated BP). It really helped along with not drinking all the gunk in soda. Since then, I've cut salt intake, sugar binging, and set aside 30 minutes most days to get the heart rate up. I'm no "health nut" but after breaking my sedentary habits, I do feel better than I have in a long time.
bpyne 6y ago
I quite several times over the years, one time as long as 6 months. I go back, ultimately, because I love the flavor. That said, I would never work as early as 9am if I didn't have to. Caffeine allows me to jumpstart my brain for programming. I need coffee in particular: tea sustains but doesn't jumpstart. Exercise first thing in the morning can act as a substitute for coffee in getting my brain jumpstarted. While I find it easy to exercise at 6:30-7am in the Summer and Fall, Winter and Spring in southern New England suck. At 6:30am, it's often dark, 10-20F, windy, and damp. It's an area made for depressions. I can't see ever giving up coffee while I live here. It's important to point out that about every decade you're going to have to adapt your diet and exercise to meet changes in your body. I'm 53 now. When I don't exercise at least 5x/week I start to have sleeping issues. Alcohol affects me more, especially my sleep. Carb bombing happens with a portion of half the amount I could eat 10 years ago. Back to coffee, I have 2 espressos in the morning and, occasionally, one after lunch but never after 2pm. Breaking any of those coffee "rules" causes me hypertension, sleep loss, and/or a sour stomach. Sorry for the tome. Hopefully some of it is useful.
- eurasiantiger 6y ago
  IIRC academic studies have shown that people don’t ”love the flavor”; rather, they misattribute to flavor the craving they have for the neuropsychological effects of their preferred substances.
  - bpyne 6y ago
    I tried black coffee for short durations and hated it. So, I'm willing to say my experience follows the conclusion of the study. However, people have wide variations in what they taste (and smell) as pleasurable. Without reading the study, I have a hard time being as binary as "nobody likes the taste of coffee".

panta 6y ago

That’s nothing, I quit caffeine at least three times a day :-p