Hi all. I just stumbled upon this subreddit, and figured sharing my experience and mentality could be valuable to some of you trying to quit.

So, I don't drink coffee. A lot of people find that weird (I live in Australia, huge coffee culture here).

I always saw it as a way to save yourself if you were tired, or for some people, they genuinely enjoy the taste. Whatever it was, I knew that it was something that people easily became attached to.

And that is where I drew the line. I always wanted to be in control of my energy, my mood, and be the one to control how locked in I was.

During the critical stages of late high school, this was where many of my classmates turned to coffee as the only way to study and cram last minute, and into the night. But since I drew the line at relying on a stimulant, I got my ass so organised and on the ball that I aced most of my exams, and was honestly chilling in the final weeks before those exams.

Not having coffee to rely on made me opt for a better life. I'll get shit done so I can get a good sleep. I started going for more walks as breaks, or drinking water or having fruit. I feel so engaged with life and I don't feel anxious or irritable.

And now, I am a Industrial Designer. Again, as a creative field it has a big coffee culture. But when my colleagues go get coffee, I'll still go but just enjoy t he social time while I sip on my water. I can be super focused on my work, and even when I need to stay up late, I can. They all compliment me on how I don't drink yet I am such a hard worker.

...

Because I said no to drinking coffee as a teenager, it help me build great skills and shaped me into a motivated worker who can smash out 10 hour shifts without struggle.

Not only that, but I am so proud that my body functions without any stimulants. My parents call me a monk, but I just embrace my body and what works to keep me happy. I'm not even spiritual or anything. I just know that this lifestyle is the right one for me.

So my advice isn't about the withdraws or quitting. It's about how I am genuinely thriving, present with every moment, and how you need to have healthy habits in order to live without caffeine.

Please feel free to ask any questions on how to leverage the decaf mentality!

57F- I was having migraines that woke me in the middle of the night. I had an MRI of the brain that was normal. We figured out that it was caffeine withdrawal, causing the headaches. I tried tapering down, but was not successful. I listened to the Allen Carr book and I was able to quit cold turkey by basically being a zombie for about a week, thankfully I had just retired.

I struggled with cravings for two years and would have an occasional Swiss water decaf and I did eat fairly heavy amount of chocolate. This past 9 months I have been on a GLP medication which has taken away nearly all the chocolate cravings, and I rarely have the decaf coffee.

My sleep continued to be poor, despite quitting the coffee. A couple of weeks ago I got myself fine-tuned with ways to improve my circadian rhythm. Sunrise walks, daylight frequently, sunset walk, dim amber lights in evening, turning off screens at night. Sleep is greatly improved. That’s my 3 year recap!

I'm thinking I'll keep posting daily until I get to day 0. I'll get there eventually

My mid-lower back aches are horrible, they were worse yesterday but still pretty bad today.

I had back aches last time I gave up cold turkey and that was pretty bad. I think it lasted for roughly a week last time. I'll report back here when the aches finally leave me. I hope it leaves in the next couple days.

After a year of telling everyone I was caffeine free I started dark chocolate 3 weeks ago and was confused why I was jittery but high energy after.

I only started it cause vegan chocolate sucks and dark chocolate has barley if not no milk in it 😂

My friend has been “caffeine free” for 3 years until I told him this

I've quit a few times before, the longest I've gone is probably 6-8 months no caf. As of right now, I've been off again for 21 days.

When I look back, it's always the same reason I hop back on basically - I just want the euphoria of that first few hours after a sugary caffeinated drink. I forget about the negatives (anxiety, gut pains, palpitations, etc.) and I think to myself that I can handle the downward mood swings because this time I'll be mentally prepared - which has always been a lie. Even if I can stay strong for a few weeks while drinking caffeine, I end up having these crazy mood swings that leave me in a very depressed state generally.

I guess my question is, has anyone else had this sort of "chasing the magic dragon" effect? I'm almost depressed knowing I won't feel that "good" again. That's a very hard pill to swallow.

Maybe this isn't the right place for this but I have been involuntarily caffeine free for 6 years now. I drank a Mt Dew on the way home from work one day. A hour later I bent over to adjust the sprinkler and almost hit the ground. My heart was racing and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I took my blood pressure and it was way high and the machine reported an erratic heart beat. I did not end up calling an ambulance but that was the start of my caffeine free journey.

I am at the point now where even dark chocolate can make my heart race and give me a major headache. I miss coffee. I didn't like the effects of caffeine but I loved coffee and black tea and unsweet tea. My question to you is, what is your alternative drink when you gave up coffee or tea? I like seltzer waters but sometimes I want something hot and with more body than seltzer water. I have tried herbal tea but there isn't enough body for me. What are your thoughts?

EDIT: I should have included that I have tried decaf coffee and tea but unfortunately there is still enough caffeine to give me heart palpitations from a couple sips. I have talked to my doctor about this and he just kinda shrugs because he doesn't have an answer for why I developed a caffeine sensitivity after so many years of drinking caffeinated beverages.

Im off caffeine nearly a month now anxiety way down thats the only benefit so far but . Im having like 4 decaf tea a day a decaf latte and chocolate is this keeping me stuck . My sleep is still bad . Feel tired after 8 hours and cant fall asleep handy

If everyone could only get once a day 250 mg of pure caffeine powder in some water or just water. What would be the point. Would anyone even use it then.

I've been drinking coffee/tea regularly for the past four or five years and I realized recently that it's been a pretty long time since I last went without it for any significant stretch of time. I mostly use it as a substitute for ADHD medication, of which I've tried many but none have really worked that well for me. Caffeine, meanwhile, is available everywhere and in whatever amount you might need basically anywhere you go.

I think more than anything, I just want to remember what it's like to not have caffeine in my system. I think it's dulled a lot of life and I've also become entirely dependent on it to function, plus I'm so bad at measuring how much is enough that I so easily go over just to feel something and end up too anxious to function instead. I'm always so tired and incessantly yawning when it wears off and sometimes it makes me even more tired. The issue is that I recently started at a new job and am about to start tutoring someone independently, and I'm scared out of my wits that giving up caffeine will spell out failure for me, that I won't be able to get any of what I need to get done because I'll be too scatterbrained and exhausted. I'm gonna try to take it one day at a time, but I guess I'd just like to hear some success stories or advice others might have on this front.

Facial flushing, stiff neck, diarrhea, eye pain, anxious, back of my neck hurts by the base of my skull, if I turn my head or try to pop my neck my body will start sweating

I tried to quite caffeine cold turkey yesterday, I was having 600-900mg of caffeine daily but I decided to try quitting. I didn’t have any symptoms besides my heart felt super weird and at 2pm I caved and had a shot of espresso so that the feeling would go away… is this normal

Long time scroller first time poster. Please be patient with me.

I have been drinking coffee since I was 11, now 19, turning 20 next week.

For my 20th birthday I'm going to Mexico and won't have access to my parents coffee machine and since I'm not in a familiar space my habits will be disrupted.

What is some advice you have for quitting caffeine? Once I'm back from Mexico I am determined to stay clean. Only decaf for me.

Does anyone have any recommendations for decaf espresso beans that do not have a fruity note taste?! when I go get decaf at the store. It taste great when I make it at home and it has this sour/fruity taste and all of the ones I’ve purchased have a fruity note. I keep messing with my machine but no luck so far. Just want a delicious bean!

I'm a teenager (16y.) and I used to drink coffee, byt I would get panic attacks and get nauseous after it everytime. So when I discovered decaf, it actually helped me. I still drink decaf. But i'm just interested if decaf counts as coffee despite having much less caffeine in it? Please, donxt ban me, I really want to help and I also had addiction before. I don't have it now.

For those who train hard, caffeine waithdrawl can sometimes have a stronger effect on you recovery, than those who don’t. We are more in sync with out bodies.

Hard workouts will be really tough to recover from since your CNS is working extra time. Take it slow and easy as it WILL get better with time. I tought it was something wrong with me when I did a workout and couldn’t sleep after. People saying electrolytes, you are working out too close to your bedtime, too little food blah blah blah… I did all kinds of those stuff which only lead to feeling bloated, constipated, feeling too full, etc. I know my body and I know when I am hungry or thirsty. This time it was something entirely different.

Years of caffeine and pushing yourself with broken sleep really messes up with you hormones which eventually leads to burning out. So do not listen to those so called experts and listen to yourself and what YOU think is good for you. Internet is full of stupid advices.

I think it’s like depression, I don’t have much experience with that. But it’s just this deep horrible sense of doom feeling. I have anxiety in general but this is different

I'm about 3 days into stopping caffeine but I've been feeling hungry non-stop. Anybody else feeling this?

A few months ago I went from three strong individual brews to two. I would say that was pretty easy for me, but I was also quitting thc at the time and the brutal withdrawals from that took center stage.

Three days ago I decided to just do one cup and found myself with a pounding headache and lethargy since.

This morning I decided since I was dealing with withdrawals I may as well go all in and just quit coffee all together.

This is my first day without it and the headache has been monsterous, which I expected from previous experience cutting back.

I have been looking through peoples decaf stories and am honestly getting a little nervous. I start a new job on Friday (this will be day 4 of zero coffee) and am wondering if sticking to one cup is the way to go. My line of thinking has been to rip the bandaid off since the first couple weeks at work will just be shadowing anyway (office environment)

I was curious if people had some general advice or a better idea on the timeline for the withdrawals…? Thank you in advance!

Update: thank you to everyone who spent the time to add value and information to this thread! The advice has been great! Trying to read through all the older threads while having the worst headache I have ever experienced is like torture! I am going to stick it out and no longer drink coffee/caffeine. I have been popping Tylenol and Ibuprofren which have made the headache much more manageable as well as staying extra hydrated.

I have been a caffeine junky since i was 14 years old and had my first summer job. I got started on daily coffee. Through out the years i just kept increasing and increasing till more current times, where i was consuming anywhere from 400-500mg a day. Just the thought of quitting was giving me severe anxiety which made me eat more and i put on a few lbs. But after reading a few posts here on the reddit, i decided to give it a try. At this point in my life, caffeine seems to bot do anything for me anymore, other than make me crash harder and just make me more irritable. I started last week by consuming a low dose of caffeine. One of those mushroom coffees that have only about 40mg of caffeine. Then Saturday was my first day, no caffeine at all. Today is about to be my 5th day as the time hits midnight! So far i haven't felt any withdrawals. The worst thing right now is the thoughts. But i do have a secret weapon. Feels almost like cheating but i used it for quitting my alcoholism, nicotine addiction, and to lose a lot of weight. Has anyone had an easy first week and then get hit with some crazy crazy the next week? What should i possibly expect?

Feeling a little lethargic in the afternoons. But also feeling much calmer. I will come back here in 27 days, and then again on day 60 and day 90.

I was the 3 energy drinks a day type of guy and I have been struggling tapering down for awhile. I seem to get myself down to a cup of coffee and work my way back up to the 3 energy drinks again. Tomorrow will be day 1, after anxiety at all time highs and reading caffeine blues I’m motivated to have control again! I’ll try and post an update in a few weeks to document as well.