I thought quitting caffeine would mostly be about headaches and missing coffee.

The bigger surprise was realizing how often I used caffeine as the answer to things that probably had another cause. Bad sleep? Coffee. Skipped breakfast? Coffee. Mentally fried at 2pm? More coffee.

Once I removed it I had to actually look at sleep, meals, movement and how much I was asking from myself in a day.

What did quitting caffeine force you to fix that you had been covering up before?

I used to get sleepy a little after sunset, but push through it and stay up until 10ish most nights. Now, off caffeine for 3+ weeks, I find myself getting incredibly tired between 7 and 8 most nights, sometimes even earlier. I’ve had busy evenings the last week, but have been prioritizing a 9/9:30 bedtime when possible. But looking ahead, I’m wondering about just rolling with it and getting in bed the minute I start yawning.

For those of you who have been off caff for a while, was there a sleep schedule that helped you recover faster? And how long did the deep exhaustion last? I’ve heard a lot of people say 6 weeks to 8 weeks, but I know it varies a lot person to person. Did any of you try a 7pm bedtime? It feels kind of ridiculous, but I’m thinking I should give my body what it’s asking for in this situation.

OK, NGL, I'm quitting caffeine as a sort of...test bed for other things I have quit as well. Those things are bigger than a cup of coffee, so if I can't figure out caffeine...what am I doing?

I've been off caffeine now for only about 4 days. One of the biggest problems I have is that there is a voice in my head that just says "well, you can have a coffee, just a small one, think of it like tapering!" or "well...tea has less caffeine than coffee, so...really if you have a tea it's like you're cutting back" and so on. It is *unbelievable* how easy it is to hear those thoughts and want to be convinced. It's absolutely absurd how easily I can let myself by convinced by them. I haven't gone back yet, but that was through a huge amount of willpower, going for a walk far away from coffee etc. I can't imagine that going on a 30 minute walk for every craving is going to be sustainable, nor is it possible to just use my will to fight it constantly.

So, am I unique in this here? If not, what do you do to acknowledge and move past your own attempts to convince yourself that it's not a big deal?

I keep trying to bring up quitting caffeine to people, and they just shut off/stop listening/don't even care. It's so weird (of course I understand it's because they're addicts).

In the past, people were quite receptive to all my gambits of taking new supplements or changing my diet. Even though I did it over and over again with no real return to form. With caffeine (which did actually change my life in the way I was looking for), they're not just unenthusiastic, they actually ignore it. They don't want to hear it when I tell them it literally changed my life. It kinda sucks. I want to tell people, I want my friends/peers to be happy for me, but it's radio silence. Sigh. I'll be happy on my own I guess... (and post here 3 times a day)

Edit; guys, I'm not trying to get people to quit. I've been talking to people about my depression/anxiety for years and updating on my progress (i just like sharing) and I'm commenting on how no one cares that I finally got my life back on track after years of suffering. They ignore it and turn their backs on it or even deny it instead of even admitting or being impressed (as i am) that caffeine can have such powerful effects. Just thought it was interesting how quick people are to deny that.

Edit 2: Part of it is also that I'll just be talking about my own experiences and then people will take it as an attack on them and start explaining all the reasons they don't want to quit/caffeine never affected them/etc... when all i said was caffeine affected ME.

Lately, I’ve been trying various types of tea, I’m looking for something hot to enjoy while I work. Some options have been excellent, while others turned out to be little more than hot water with only the faintest hint of some plant-based ingredient. Can you recommend anything interesting that’s worth a try?

the positives:
- no more violent mood swings
- anxiety has pretty much vanished
- overall stable and calm mood
- I fall asleep like a baby
- appetite slowly coming back (I‘m way too skinny and could use some extra weight)
- facial skin appears to be a little softer and smoother and my lips are not as dry as they used to be

the negatives (please note that these are mostly temporary withdrawal symptoms):
- constant feeling of emptiness and lethargy
- depressive episodes (I wouldn’t attribute those solely to the withdrawal because there are some aspects of my life that I‘m deeply unhappy with, e.g. my volatile romantic relationship with a fearful avoidant [24F])
- low motivation resulting in procrastination
- I have difficulty concentrating when I‘m trying to study for law school
- I sometimes wake up way too early when deep sleep (first few hours of sleep) is over; after 4-6 hours

I hope that things will stabilize soon, especially my sleep. Anyone having a similar experience?

Been off of regular coffee for a couple of weeks and decided to have a cup of decaf from home. I don’t know if I’m going crazy or not but I still feel like I feel it. I also had some sugar in it too. Does anyone else feel like this? If this is the norm I think I may be good just going 0 caffeine on everything.

I quit all caffeine 6 weeks ago. I think I've had about 3 cups of green tea intermittently on massive work days, but other than that I've been off of it... but I still crave the high and 'tunnel vision' focus from it! I'm an artist and have undiagnosed ADD and caffeine really helps me lock into a 'flow mode'.

I have been using this powder that's supposed to make the transition helpful.. it's called MTE (More Than Energy). It definitely helps, but I wonder if it's contributing to me still craving that caffeine feeling?

I know at this point it's definitely psychological over a physical addiction. Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated!

I've been listening to Caffeine Blues, which is an incredible book and is not pseudosciency, which I had expected.

I heard the passage about how long caffeine stays in your system. I had been googling over and over again over the years "can caffeine stay in my system for a long time?" because I KNEW it could affect me for 16+ hours. I got the same response every time. The answer you get is "caffeine stays in your body for about 10-12 hours." In Caffeine Blues, Cherniske acknowledges this common piece of information and debunks it:

"It may take up to seven days to decaffeinate the blood of habitual coffee drinkers. Plus, it can take six weeks or more for the body's levels of stress hormones to return to normal."

I feel angry. Lied to. And vindicated.

I didn't suspect caffeine for the longest time, because I was told it couldn't accumulate in my body, and I felt the same even on days I didn't drink caffeine. I never even noticed the typical high/crash. I just felt consistently paranoid and anxious every day, even on days I didn't drink coffee. I also hadn't noticed that I felt off until a year or so into my caffeine habit, and being told that caffeine couldn't last for long in your body and had no long-term effects, I had no way of knowing what had happened to my mental health.

Hello r/decaf,

Drinking coffee never occurred to me as a problematic habit.

I've been drinking it since I was 15.

Today is the sixth week since my last cup.

I am shocked at how much influence this drug was having over me.

I sleep a lot better now. I am much calmer, especially during stressful situations.

The biggest benefit so far is having stable energy from dawn til dusk.

The second is the ability to let negative thoughts pass.

Making and drinking a cup of coffee was in hindsight a way for me to procrastinate on getting stuff done.

Productivity has gone up for me, not down.

Time passes slower now.

Waking up early is not an issue suddenly.

What used to be a 'personality trait' seemed to actually be just the side-effects of a potent drug.

Somehow I woke up one morning and decided to stop.

It hasn't been easy to quit.

It's been shocking to see how strong the dependency actually is.

I'm determined not to go back.

That's all I have to say about that. Stay strong everyone

Hi, everyone

I'm thinking about quitting coffee altogether, but I'm not sure if it'll actually do me any good.

I should mention that I used to drink a lot of coffee; now I only have one regular cup in the morning, and occasionally a Coke Zero. Two cups of coffee give me discomfort—I noticed that a while back, about 2–3 years ago. I've been sticking to this amount for quite some time now.

In the morning, I get up, drag myself over to the coffee maker, make myself a cup, and take a shower. That’s at 6 a.m., except on weekends—then it’s later.

Do you think there’s any benefit to cutting out coffee entirely? That is, cutting out about 80 mg–100 mg?

I don’t think coffee has any effect on me in the evening anymore, since it’s been so long. What do you think?

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

I've quit and relapsed many many times. Every time I quit, I felt amazing, but I kept coming back to it. I've tried alcohol, cigarette, etc... but caffeine is the only substance I just couldn't get it under control.

I meditate time to time, and I was thinking about why it is so hard to quit caffeine for me. I had a realization that I've associated coffee with grit and perseverance since college when I started drinking. And, realized I had deep disbelief in my innate ability to tackle things without the help of caffeine. This deep seated disbelief in my innate ability is what made me coming back to coffee time and time again. I want to have a productive day? coffee. I want to get a good workout? coffee.

So, to quit I had to instill a belief that I can face the world without any help, and that I am a capable person. I stumbled upon a meditation method called "yoga nidra" (which I much later found out is used often to treat addictions). In the most relaxed state of mind, affirmations can integrate much stronger. My "mantra" is something like "I can face the world alone", "I am capable alone", etc. I've made it a part of my nightly routine (plus it helps me sleep). Every time I look at coffee now, I think "do I really need that crutch?", and most often times I do not. My journey continues, and my ultimate goal is to have a healthy relationship with caffeine, probably a cup of tea once in a while. Just like how I get a drink once in a while.

I'm that anxious high achiever type that needs to calm down and relax a little. If you are like me, you need to see if your attachment to coffee comes from the fear of underachieving. Treat that and your journey will get easier. I understand this post kinda come across as new-agey hippie non-sense, but I hope you give it a try. That's what I first thought too.

After almost three months completely off caffeine which has been a rollercoaster, I ate 4 (small) pieces of choco-dipped pineapple pieces and now i’ve been awake the entire night feeling restlesness, anxious, jittery and evertything but tired.

Now, I quit caffeine cause I was sensitive to it but can my body really have this reaction to eating just a small amount of chocolate?

Lying awake with this shitty feeling is excactly lile lying awale before when I drank coffee. If this is due to caffeine then damn, im super sensitive to this drug.

Hi all,

I’m on day three of my taper and just thinking about down the road…

I’m wondering if the amount of caffeine in decaf is negligible to where you’d still enjoy the benefits of being caffeine free or is it enough to still spike stress hormones, sleep, etc.

I’d welcome any anecdotal experiences also!

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!

I’ve been trying to quit coffee for a few years. On day 10 still drinking some tea. But my God. Even just with that the depression is just insane. And it’s like this basically every time I quit. I have gotten to a good baseline before like 2 months in a couple times but life events have led me back to it.

This time I’m determined but I’m just like. Can it really be this bad?

Curious. I know many people don't see a difference for weeks or months, but did you notice any other gradual improvement even after you did feel better? I'm almost a month off caffeine and already feeling so much better, but wondering if I still have some other improvements to look forward to.

Everytime I drank coffee my cortisol went through the roof and my body was like let’s fight or flight. Had very bad anxiety spikes, I was worried and felt that it’s just not worth it anymore. Switched to habitone recently which has low caffeine, lions mane and reishi. Been a month and my nervous system feels better and calm. Haven’t had any 11AM anxiety spikes since then. What helped you balance stress levels while quitting coffee ?

Could drinking black tea at 2 p.m. make me sweat so much while I sleep that I soak my bedsheets?

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

How do you rewire this shit? Need to be constantly exposed to decaf thinking

Those who dont drink coffee, do u ever miss it

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 know this sounds weird, but I’m often exhausted with terrible brain fog and dry eyes after ejaculation while on caffeine.

I’ve experimented multiple times with cycling off caffeine, and noticed that my focus is sustained when I’m off caffeine.

Does anybody feel this wonderful?

I seem to take 3 days to recover from caffeine withdrawal, but that’s probably also why I relapse easily.

I tell myself “one cup wouldn’t hurt”, and the history repeats itself.

While off caffeine, I feel calm, focused, and actually happy.