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If you want to kick caffeine, I recommend switching to caffeine pills and continue using as many of them as you need to feel normal, then start ramping down the

If you want to kick caffeine, I recommend switching to caffeine pills and continue using as many of them as you need to feel normal, then start ramping down the dose. Since pills are discrete it's hard to cheat. When I do this I usually start at 400mg (sometimes 600mg) a day then over the next month ramp down to 100mg a day until finally going to zero. It takes me about a month before I can function normal with no caffeine. ...then a few months later I decide to start again. Oh well. I've done the above about half a dozen times. It's fairly easy to defeat the chemical addiction which I experience as you describe (really awful headaches, fatigue, lack of concentration, etc), but eventually I'll pick it back up to get a little extra edge.

TaylorAlexander 3y ago
Something I used to do is make a big pot of coffee and sip on it throughout the day, which was very hard to regulate (and it was also just too much caffeiene). Now I make a single cup of coffee in the aeropress and I use 16 grams of beans which i weigh manually. And I only have one cup of coffee in the morning instead of multiples throughout the day. Point is, weighing beans and using the aeropress helps me keep my dosage consistent so I don't go overboard.
- depereo 3y ago
  Decaf is pretty good these days; When I don't feel like ditching the actual cups of liquid I swap over. It's certainly what I reach for in the afternoon if I want another coffee for whatever reason. Might be another option if you still enjoy the ritual of coffee making and consumption.
  - TaylorAlexander 3y ago
    Recommended brands? I bought some Blue Bottle decaf and I still didn't like it, but of course there are a lot of variables.
    - depereo 3y ago
      Being in rural New Zealand; I'd be amazed if we had the same product options for decaf.
gorjusborg 3y ago
I second that recommendation. I've weaned off caffeine multiple times using that method. Just be careful not to double dose when taking the pills.
- kerkeslager 3y ago
  It's telling that both people recommending this method have seen it fail multiple times, and are somehow rebranding those failures as successes. Every time you quit again "successfully" was because the previous attempt failed. While I'm not aware of efficacy studies of different methods of quitting caffeine, cold turkey seems most effective for nicotine and a few other stimulants.
  - gorjusborg 3y ago
    The irony isn't lost on me, but we're recommending a method to safely wean off the substance to prevent having withdrawal symptoms, which have prevented me from coming off from caffeine in the past. I wouldn't frame starting up again as a failure. Quitting short vs. long term are two different things.
jw1224 3y ago
Perhaps (respectfully) this is not good advice? In my experience a “sense of control” over one’s addiction only serves to keep it alive.
- projectazorian 3y ago
  If you have demonstrated the ability to quit any time you want, is it an addiction? Or a tool you find useful?
  - cyberax 3y ago
    The technical term is "dependency". Caffeine causes physiological changes, and withdrawal is unpleasant.
- roywiggins 3y ago
  I've tapered caffeine successfully by measuring out instant coffee. This works pretty well for managing the physical effects of caffeine withdrawal, or at least spreading them out. Basically, I 1) committed to only having the same exact amount of instant coffee, at the same exact times, every day, and then 2) every so often, reduced it a bit. Then I switched to a very moderate amount of decaf (which, yes, has a little bit of caffeine in it, but not enough to cause me problems). I did this because I was getting withdrawal headaches most mornings, which is an unpleasant way to begin the day- I wasn't even drinking that much caffeine!
- cyberax 3y ago
  Caffeine doesn't have a strong psychological addiction, but it's physiological withdrawal symptoms are bad.
  - xattt 3y ago
    I have not found a drink equivalent to a coffee to drink in the morning. This is my psychologic addition. All these fake coffees (I’m looking at you, chicory root) taste like ash-trays from the grimiest bar in town.

TaylorAlexander 3y ago

Something I used to do is make a big pot of coffee and sip on it throughout the day, which was very hard to regulate (and it was also just too much caffeiene). Now I make a single cup of coffee in the aeropress and I use 16 grams of beans which i weigh manually. And I only have one cup of coffee in the morning instead of multiples throughout the day. Point is, weighing beans and using the aeropress helps me keep my dosage consistent so I don't go overboard.

depereo 3y ago
Decaf is pretty good these days; When I don't feel like ditching the actual cups of liquid I swap over. It's certainly what I reach for in the afternoon if I want another coffee for whatever reason. Might be another option if you still enjoy the ritual of coffee making and consumption.
- TaylorAlexander 3y ago
  Recommended brands? I bought some Blue Bottle decaf and I still didn't like it, but of course there are a lot of variables.
  - depereo 3y ago
    Being in rural New Zealand; I'd be amazed if we had the same product options for decaf.

gorjusborg 3y ago

I second that recommendation. I've weaned off caffeine multiple times using that method. Just be careful not to double dose when taking the pills.

kerkeslager 3y ago
It's telling that both people recommending this method have seen it fail multiple times, and are somehow rebranding those failures as successes. Every time you quit again "successfully" was because the previous attempt failed. While I'm not aware of efficacy studies of different methods of quitting caffeine, cold turkey seems most effective for nicotine and a few other stimulants.
- gorjusborg 3y ago
  The irony isn't lost on me, but we're recommending a method to safely wean off the substance to prevent having withdrawal symptoms, which have prevented me from coming off from caffeine in the past. I wouldn't frame starting up again as a failure. Quitting short vs. long term are two different things.

jw1224 3y ago

Perhaps (respectfully) this is not good advice? In my experience a “sense of control” over one’s addiction only serves to keep it alive.

projectazorian 3y ago
If you have demonstrated the ability to quit any time you want, is it an addiction? Or a tool you find useful?
- cyberax 3y ago
  The technical term is "dependency". Caffeine causes physiological changes, and withdrawal is unpleasant.
roywiggins 3y ago
I've tapered caffeine successfully by measuring out instant coffee. This works pretty well for managing the physical effects of caffeine withdrawal, or at least spreading them out. Basically, I 1) committed to only having the same exact amount of instant coffee, at the same exact times, every day, and then 2) every so often, reduced it a bit. Then I switched to a very moderate amount of decaf (which, yes, has a little bit of caffeine in it, but not enough to cause me problems). I did this because I was getting withdrawal headaches most mornings, which is an unpleasant way to begin the day- I wasn't even drinking that much caffeine!
cyberax 3y ago
Caffeine doesn't have a strong psychological addiction, but it's physiological withdrawal symptoms are bad.
- xattt 3y ago
  I have not found a drink equivalent to a coffee to drink in the morning. This is my psychologic addition. All these fake coffees (I’m looking at you, chicory root) taste like ash-trays from the grimiest bar in town.