3 ms·

I went cold turkey after developing a facial tic and realizing I was consuming 1000 - 1200 mg of caffeine a day (mostly coffee, French press and canned, with so

I went cold turkey after developing a facial tic and realizing I was consuming 1000 - 1200 mg of caffeine a day (mostly coffee, French press and canned, with some energy drinks too). I was 100% not aware that caffeine is physically addictive and causes receptor changes in your brain. Aside from withdrawal symptoms (joint aches and pains for me), the fatigue didn't fully go away after several months. What did "fix" it was bringing it up to my doctor at my yearly checkup -- I explained that my mystery joint pains from a few years ago were almost certainly physical symptoms of caffeine withdrawal. This led to "why in the world were you consuming that much?!" questions and an eventual diagnosis of adult ADHD (likely lifelong and never diagnosed). 10 mg of generic ritalin twice a day and not only is the no-caffeine fatigue gone, but I basically don't tolerate caffeine anymore and have zero desire to consume it. Fortunately the local coffee roaster has a decaf :P I love coffee with or without the caffeine.

ectospheno 2y ago
My last non-decaf drink was early July. Went from ~1000 mg a day to ~60. Change in sleep was pretty dramatic. I am sleepy every evening. Sleepy during the day just means I’m bored. I wake up feeling more rested. The third day quitting was rough. Other than that it was pretty easy. Now my biggest complaint is finding decaf when I’m out.
- toyg 2y ago
  > my biggest complaint is finding decaf when I’m out I've been drinking decaf for a long time (now exclusively so), and this is a real issue sadly. Even when you go to a regular coffeeshop that has it, it's often been roasted and ground aaaaages ago (because of low demand) and then very loosely preserved, which results in drinks that taste bad and are potentially unsafe.
highcountess 2y ago
It’s minimal, but just FYI; caffeine free coffee still has small amounts of caffeine.
cruffle_duffle 2y ago
Not to intrude but I highly recommend you “play around” with longer acting ADHD meds. Generic short acting Ritalin is the worst. It doesn’t last long and you can “feel it go away”. There are much better meds that have the same underlying drug but in much better delivery mechanisms. I’m sure you’ve done the homework but if anybody is reading who hasn’t… if generic short acting ritalin works, great! You know you respond to stimulant adhd meds. Now go find a better long acting one… focalin xr, adderal XR, vyvanse, etc…
- systems_glitch 2y ago
  I've actually done very little research on it, other than the mandatory "make sure your doctor isn't a pill pusher" kind of research. Mostly I figure they don't try and tell me how to fix hardware or software so I don't tell them how to fix meat :P

ectospheno 2y ago

My last non-decaf drink was early July. Went from ~1000 mg a day to ~60. Change in sleep was pretty dramatic. I am sleepy every evening. Sleepy during the day just means I’m bored. I wake up feeling more rested. The third day quitting was rough. Other than that it was pretty easy. Now my biggest complaint is finding decaf when I’m out.

toyg 2y ago
> my biggest complaint is finding decaf when I’m out I've been drinking decaf for a long time (now exclusively so), and this is a real issue sadly. Even when you go to a regular coffeeshop that has it, it's often been roasted and ground aaaaages ago (because of low demand) and then very loosely preserved, which results in drinks that taste bad and are potentially unsafe.

highcountess 2y ago

It’s minimal, but just FYI; caffeine free coffee still has small amounts of caffeine.

cruffle_duffle 2y ago

Not to intrude but I highly recommend you “play around” with longer acting ADHD meds. Generic short acting Ritalin is the worst. It doesn’t last long and you can “feel it go away”. There are much better meds that have the same underlying drug but in much better delivery mechanisms. I’m sure you’ve done the homework but if anybody is reading who hasn’t… if generic short acting ritalin works, great! You know you respond to stimulant adhd meds. Now go find a better long acting one… focalin xr, adderal XR, vyvanse, etc…

systems_glitch 2y ago
I've actually done very little research on it, other than the mandatory "make sure your doctor isn't a pill pusher" kind of research. Mostly I figure they don't try and tell me how to fix hardware or software so I don't tell them how to fix meat :P