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The author went old turkey. That is rough. For me going cold turkey caused massive headaches. I cut out caffeine a decade ago. It was a haphazard affair. I want

by le-mark 11mo ago

The author went old turkey. That is rough. For me going cold turkey caused massive headaches. I cut out caffeine a decade ago. It was a haphazard affair. I wanted to improve my sleep, so I started limiting my intake by stopping in the afternoon. At the same time I started having anxiety and panic attacks in the morning before my first dose. It was so bad I lost 10 pounds. That’s when I started to figure out “hey this might be a problem”. Over the course of a month I reduced my caffeine intake to zero. No headaches. Panic attacks went away. Ymmv.

YZF 11mo ago
I drink 2-3 cups of coffee a day. Mostly espresso drinks. There are/were times where I travel or go camping and stopped taking coffee. Other than maybe a very mild headache the first day there weren't any issues. I enjoy the taste, the rituals, and the temporary boost. But I know I'm addicted ;) There are lots of articles about how it's a good thing but I'm pretty sure it has some impact (not always positive) on my mood.
- indemnity 11mo ago
  I’ve gone off coffee for months at a time as a test, but to be honest it’s about the same for me on vs off after the adjustment period. When I go off, after the headaches, I get good sleep without trying, but so do I on coffee if I have my last one no later than 1pm (where good == 7 hours). And a proper flat white is so, so good. Therefore I accept my addiction and have two a day!
- Libidinalecon 11mo ago
  I quit for a month, 15 years ago and I just hated how it felt like I lost my intellectual curiosity. I can completely relate with Paul Erdos on quitting stimulants "You've showed me I'm not an addict. But I didn't get any work done. I'd get up in the morning and stare at a blank piece of paper. I'd have no ideas, just like an ordinary person" Instead of my mind always racing with all these ideas I had this quiet, calm, boring mind. Never again!
faidit 11mo ago
Congrats on quitting, even for something considered "mild" like caffeine it's not easy. I had the same issue with headaches so I scaled down by mixing increasing ratios of decaf in my coffee grounds over a couple months, starting with just 25% decaf. The gradual reduction in potency was barely noticeable. Once you get to 75% decaf you're basically drinking full decaf already (decaf usually still has like 10% of the normal caffeine content) and I had no ill effects from quitting completely after that. If you subsequently decide to relapse with decaf or half-caf it's also much easier to quit again.
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euroderf 11mo ago
Data point: Quitting in my 20s and 30s yielded headaches, but in my 40s and 50s quitting did not bring headaches.
Eddy_Viscosity2 11mo ago
I did the cold turkey thing too. No headaches, but what did happen was day 1 I was groggy but functional. Day 2 I was just so unbelievably sleepy, I took the day off work and slept all day. Then all night, and most the next day. By day 4 the sleepiness was wearing off but wow, I was hit with an adenosine freight train. I have had aches in some big muscle groups like my quads, it felt like the day after running a marathon with no training. Turns out this is a known (though not very common) side effect of caffeine withdrawal. It took about 10 days before I felt more or less normal again.

by le-mark 11mo ago

YZF 11mo ago

I drink 2-3 cups of coffee a day. Mostly espresso drinks. There are/were times where I travel or go camping and stopped taking coffee. Other than maybe a very mild headache the first day there weren't any issues. I enjoy the taste, the rituals, and the temporary boost. But I know I'm addicted ;) There are lots of articles about how it's a good thing but I'm pretty sure it has some impact (not always positive) on my mood.

indemnity 11mo ago
I’ve gone off coffee for months at a time as a test, but to be honest it’s about the same for me on vs off after the adjustment period. When I go off, after the headaches, I get good sleep without trying, but so do I on coffee if I have my last one no later than 1pm (where good == 7 hours). And a proper flat white is so, so good. Therefore I accept my addiction and have two a day!
Libidinalecon 11mo ago
I quit for a month, 15 years ago and I just hated how it felt like I lost my intellectual curiosity. I can completely relate with Paul Erdos on quitting stimulants "You've showed me I'm not an addict. But I didn't get any work done. I'd get up in the morning and stare at a blank piece of paper. I'd have no ideas, just like an ordinary person" Instead of my mind always racing with all these ideas I had this quiet, calm, boring mind. Never again!

faidit 11mo ago

Congrats on quitting, even for something considered "mild" like caffeine it's not easy. I had the same issue with headaches so I scaled down by mixing increasing ratios of decaf in my coffee grounds over a couple months, starting with just 25% decaf. The gradual reduction in potency was barely noticeable. Once you get to 75% decaf you're basically drinking full decaf already (decaf usually still has like 10% of the normal caffeine content) and I had no ill effects from quitting completely after that. If you subsequently decide to relapse with decaf or half-caf it's also much easier to quit again.

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euroderf 11mo ago

Data point: Quitting in my 20s and 30s yielded headaches, but in my 40s and 50s quitting did not bring headaches.

Eddy_Viscosity2 11mo ago

I did the cold turkey thing too. No headaches, but what did happen was day 1 I was groggy but functional. Day 2 I was just so unbelievably sleepy, I took the day off work and slept all day. Then all night, and most the next day. By day 4 the sleepiness was wearing off but wow, I was hit with an adenosine freight train. I have had aches in some big muscle groups like my quads, it felt like the day after running a marathon with no training. Turns out this is a known (though not very common) side effect of caffeine withdrawal. It took about 10 days before I felt more or less normal again.