Quitting caffeine

Stallion

Tree Young
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So I'm always tired, struggle to get up in the morning even after a decent sleep, and have an absurd caffeine tolerance that most humans probably shouldn't have (and an even more absurd caffeine consumption level to match it). It wouldn't surprise me if I had some level of adrenal fatigue.

That's why I'm about to do something that I'd never considered doing before: quit caffeine cold turkey for a month, and keep caffeine consumption to a bare minimum thereafter.

Anyone else who has quit caffeine in the past, please feel free to share any words of wisdom you might have. Also feel free to share your experiences if you are or were a heavy consumer of caffeine.
 

v

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I've never drank caffeine in large quantities, but once you are past the physical withdrawal you ought to be good. To get energy in the morning, drink cold water. You're usually just dehydrated when you wake up, not in need of a stimulant. Instead of coffee, I just drink a lot of water throughout my work day and that gives me the energy I require to continue existing.
 

Birkal

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I actively avoid caffeine (specifically coffee) for some of the reasons you've mentioned. However, I am married to someone who was very much in the same boat as you. She has stopped drinking caffeine now for a week and a half. Two things that have helped:

1) Drink tons of water. Vader just mentioned this, but it is important to stay hydrated. I would buy a water bottle you really like and keep it with you at all times. Try to keep count of how many you drink (I try to do four a day; she does seven).

2) Find an alternative. Don't be afraid to buy some more expensive flavored water to provide a more tempting option for you than coffee. You can also buy those water flavor squeezy things. Find something you like and drink it, at least for the start. Your alternative could be a food, too! I personally eat an apple every morning.
 

Bughouse

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I drank way too much coffee one year in college and felt the withdrawal when I quit cold turkey. Given that I had it with what sounds like far lower consumption than you currently have, yes you will feel the withdrawal. It shouldn't last too long. For me it was only a few days. So I can't imagine even a serious consumer of caffeine would experience symptoms beyond a few weeks.

Also agree on drinking water. Keep a bottle at your desk/other place of work. Get up to refill it at least once a day, if you're doing it right.

The other thing I'd say is trying find a lifestyle where desiring that much caffeine just isn't necessary. And barring any medical issues, that probably has to do with the quality of your sleep. For me in college it was two things: late night coffee to make my late-night studying habits possible, and 2) mid-day coffee to perk up since even if I was sleeping enough (starting late most days for class), it wasn't a good circadian rhythm and my sleep wasn't high quality. 7 hours from 3 to 10 is not the same thing as 7 hours from 1 to 8.

I am still not able to be a morning person. I still need to go to sleep on the later side and wake up on the later side. So to help counteract my need for coffee, I found a job where me getting in to work at 10 is no big deal so long as I'm getting my work done. If you're able to do something like this with your work schedule to fit your natural sleep patterns, that could go a long way to improving quality of sleep and reducing the need for caffeine. These days I probably get one single cup 1-3 times per week and that's just because I enjoy coffee. Rarely due to any actual need.
 

Oglemi

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JUICE juice juice juice, depending on the fruit juice you drink the carbs and stuff included are an energy boost and help stave off the craving a bit, not to mention it tastes way better than just water, although i personally love water too but it's nothing i ever want to drink a lot of.

I currently drink a fair amount of soda but i've quit it in the past (multiple times, damn dr. pepper keeps dragging me back) and that's usually my only source of caffeine besides excedrin when i get headaches. So juice may not be the best replacer of coffee as it is soda, although you can always do decaf and decaf coffee still has the natural energy component of regular coffee (and the shit-inducing quality teehee) if you find quitting it totally intolerable.

but i've found once the cravings stop after a ~week it's really easy to stay off of it if you have a regular day-to-day schedule and just stop buying your source of caffeine during your grocery shopping, ie. out of sight out of mind. You already work out so there's no point in talking about how much that helps with energy levels already.
 

Mizuhime

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Coming from someone who works mid-nights and also drinks an absurd amount of coffee, I find water to be the best substitute (seriously). Most people just drink coffee to stay awake so replacing that with an absurd amount of water just makes you have to pee all the fucking time and we all know it's impossible to sleep when you have to pee.

If you find that water isn't help the addiction, find something to replace it, keep your mouth or hands busy so when you would be wanting to drink/grab your coffee, chew gum or drink something else, or play with something in your hands to keep them occupied
 

BP

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Stallion I'm going to be honest here I just started drinking a Mug of coffee almost every day again. It's for a completely different reason then what you probably drink it for. I use mine as sort of a preworkout supplement since I don't actually feel like going out and buying an actual Pre Workout supplement that costs around 40 USD. I'm probably not as addicted to it as you are but I definitely notice a difference when I come in and Workout without having that pre workout caffeine boost. Obviously I don't know your stress levels or your work hours but I am curious as to why you would drink so much in the first place.

As for quitting methods I don't think its the best idea to just go cold turkey style. I understand that caffeine addiction might not be the same as an Heroin or Nicotine addiction but if I were you I'd chew some energy gum and leave it at that or just slowly reduce your caffeine intake. I don't think just cutting it down to 0 is the right way to go especially because I know and you know you are going to feel like shit without all the caffeine. Take it easy and don't push yourself to far right off the bat.
 

Tera Melos

Banned deucer.
Like everyone's been saying, JUICE IS THE BEST. I drink a LOT of water, juice, lemonade, Iced Tea, ect. I rarely drink Soda, I mostly drink it to chase down Alcohol or if my Girlfriend is drinking it I'll have some sips.

I got hooked on water when I included it in my daily routine. Every morning I fill a Arizona Ice Tea Jug with water, and drink as much as possible throughout the day, the next morning I refill it. I found that this not only got me addicted to water, but put me on such a great hydration schedule.
 
I loved coffee a shit ton. I would always drink like 3 or 4 cups each day. Granted, I was oblivious to weird symptoms that I thought were just something I had ate or hormonal issues (acne flare ups). Turns out that I can't drink milk anymore (suddenly started becoming lactose intolerant) and I still noticed issues and did some online researching for answers. I quit coffee for a month and wouldn't you know it? It was one of the main culprits for my acne problems. So i have stopped drinking coffee and have tried decaf a couple of times to only still notice breakouts. I believe it's the acidity that causes it too. So I've been mostly drinking black tea. Rip my love for coffee

Its hard, but achievable really. My reason for stopping was that I just couldn't stand seeing anymore pimples on my face that would last for a week.
 
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MattL

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I know someone who used to drink a ton of caffeinated soda every day and went cold turkey. He now drinks a ton of tea and I was surprised at how successfully he went cold turkey given his previous soda consumption.

I don't drink any caffeinated substances, so when I'm feeling sleepy I stand up and walk around really quick. I also do this really weird but effective thing with ice water. You know how your front teeth are more sensitive to cold? What I do is drink a small mouthful of ice water, but I don't swallow it, and I let it sit in the front of my mouth so my front teeth are submerged the ice water. It gives me a slight jolt and wakes me up. Then I swallow the water. I know it sounds really strange but it works lol
 

Taylor

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Funnily enough these last two days, it was 6pm at night until cracked open an energy drink and I am telling you they were the slowest, most frustrating hours of my life. I've gone similar hours without cigarettes and that was by far easier to cope with, perhaps because the negatives outweigh any self-positives I can get out of nicotine. Every morning, thirst or not, I crave caffeine first and foremost before anything so I can relate to you, my boy. You know what happened late on in those nights? I wound up drinking 4-5 cans simply just because I had tried to cut it out completely.

Going cold turkey is not healthy. A gradual decline is far better. If I were told never to smoke weed again, I would go find myself smoking it within the next 24 hours because my body will miss it more and more I think about not having it.

Coffee itself is nice but I don't crave it like I do caffeine itself and the high addictives of energy drinks only propel the cravings to higher levels. I believe in you because I have a very addictive personality and currently I have reduced my cannabis intake to just one bag a week! That, just to prove to people in my life I can live without (even though it probably won't help me) it. So even if you feel the need for it, you know it is possible to substitute for something mentioned in above posts like tea or juice.
 
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Flare

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I rarely drink coffee these days. Partly because I kinda got tired of it (regular coffee at least) and because I can't afford to ingest too much caffeine because of my epileptic condition. Although maybe once a month or something I take a cup of cappuccino caramell from one of those coffee machines in public places. A mild guilty pleasure. But overall I don't feel the need of consuming coffee.
 

AM

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Contrary to what Taylor and others said I quit cold turkey. Depends on the person I think but I know a lot of people are bad at quitting stuff such as coffee cold turkey so do what you think is best. It wasn't that difficult for myself personally but yeah if it works it works. If it doesn't just go baby steps.

Use to drink a lot of coffee until I found out it was one of the causes of acne breakouts I have (caffiene). Water and tea is what I did I personally drink more green tea but whatever fits your needs at the moment. Get good sleep as well. I can't speak on anything about juice as I stay away from most juices due to the excess sugar and carbs which doesn't help my dieting routines.
 
There are a couple of schools of thought here when it comes to breaking addictions, including caffeine addictions:
1. "Quitting cold turkey is the best way"- As long as you make sure to avoid any sighting of said addiction whatsoever, as well as replacing it with something healthy. Apples, water, and juice are the best alternatives. I recently (within the last year) had to give up caffeine all together but once a week because I have IBS which gets 10 times worse if I have caffeine. If I have it every day my life becomes unmanageable. One of the other things I'm doing that hasn't been mentioned is drinking Powerade- It has vitamin B in it, which is a natural source of energy. However, it is still rather sugary, so toning that down to on a need basis is wise. Apples are great because they are nature's energy source- I find that having an apple when I wake up actually wakes me up without a crash, and complimenting it with Powerade and water makes it so caffeine would be redundant.
So a lot of that information applies to quitting "Slow Turkey"- So the biggest question becomes, what are the pros and cons?
Pros: Being able to acknowledge its effects on your system more accurately, Being done sooner, resolve may dwindle if done the slow way. You'll also be able to say "yo bro I'm stronk af", and the nightmare will be over sooner.
Cons: Productivity will be hard because the drop down is so steep it'll hurt like a killer hangover, the urge to get rid of the pain will be so bad it'll be extremely difficult not to relapse, and most people that go this route don't succeed and relapse (studies have been done, etc, it applies to most addictions as well)
In my opinion, quitting cold turkey should be reserved for emergencies only- (aka suddenly allergic or like what happened to me)
2. "Slow Turkey is the only way that works"- This method is hard and takes more resolve than you'd think. It's far more important to slowly replace the caffeine with a preferred drink or food or exercise with this method than the other, as otherwise, the withdrawal will be far more noticeable. Also. because this method takes longer and allows the use of caffeine to stimy negative effects, it's really easy to justify doing more than you planned on. This method requires a lot of planning and support from family and friends, as since it takes longer there are far more opportunities to slip up. However, the withdrawal from this method is significantly less terrible and almost liveable.
Pros: Not ridiculously painful, has a much higher success rate than the other method, and again I mention that withdrawal symptoms from the other method are terrible- You might think "oh it won't be that bad because it's not like it's nicotine or cocaine" but believe me, it's terribly painful, and ruins many things you had originally planned to do during that time period- You will literally need to bunker down to survive the other method without a ridiculous amount of pain- I say this from my own experiences, it could be different for you.
Cons: Takes longer, easier to justify relapse during the planned dwindle-down period, more necessary to devise a plan, without a plan you are unlikely to succeed.

I wish you good luck man, I know you can do it, whichever method you choose.
I included some articles that have information I pulled from as well as possible methods of quitting caffeine.

http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-...oach-to-nix-caffeine-cold-turkey-or-slow-fade
https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-give-up-caffeine-765278
 

Stallion

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Thanks for all the great suggestions in this thread guys.

I probably should have put this in the OP, but I have pretty strong willpower (all the people who frequent the fitness thread would know that), so I have no fear of craving it for the sake of it. Nor do I drink caffeinated beverages in lieu of water, my water intake is actually typically quite high. My greatest fear is the physical effects of quitting. Like tiredness, fatigue and apparently the headaches etc.

This is now my 4th full day of quitting cold turkey, and the only time I've craved a sugar free energy drink or a coffee is when I was out clubbing and hit a wall. Once I've reset my tolerance, I'll probably save my caffeine intake for when I'm djing or need that late night boost, but I'll never have that tolerance reset without giving it up for awhile.

I haven't had any headaches or physical withdrawal symptoms so far. If anything, I've had more energy during the day because I haven't been having that post caffeine adrenal crash that I'm so used to.

Not gonna go the juice route cause like AM, I'm pretty fitness conscious and the excess processed sugars are even worse for the body than caffeine.

After a week or two, I want to start drinking tea - I'm a big fan of both the taste and the health properties. Maybe I'll even find a herbal one that's caffeine free and replace my morning coffee with it!
 
Giving up any addiction really only requires two things, the first one being patience, the second one being an iron will. I used to be super dependent on pre-workout supplements because I want to push myself at my maximum every time I hit the fitness room and trying to exercise without them was initially an incredibly challenging and energy consuming task. But eventually your body adapts and synchronises to your new habits and rhythms. So I guess all you can do is just believe in yourself and stay away. It will happen sooner or later!
 
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Acklow

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Tea is a great way to go. Just make sure if you go Herbal that you don't start drinking Chamomile, lol. I would recommend Rooibos tea or doing a blend with rose hips/dried fruit/ginger. Those are all great options that also all taste great. Rooibos also has the benefits of Green tea while being 100% caffeine free too, so there's that. I personally drink Yerbamate because I kinda need the caffeine (I have a terrible sleep schedule and I also have to wake up really early in the mornings). If I can, I step down to Jasmine Green tea or Earl Gray, but unless you are drinking a decaf blend, I wouldn't really recommend those as they tend to be somewhat bland (though if steeped properly, both Jasmine Green and Earl Gray can go really well with a decent morning breakfast).
 

Soul Fly

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^lol wtf. Dude any tea off the shelf will work. Just don't get the overprocessed, overbred extreme pretentious designer flavours.

e: lol I sound like a jerk. sorry acklow....
 

Raidx

Banned deucer.
Im on the same boat man. I drink so much soda on a daily basis it's insane lol. A couple months ago I drank a lot of juice, but that didn't last long; I ended up going right back to the soda. I'd assume my caffeine consumption is partly to blame for my fucked up sleeping habits as well.
 
My brother works at Starbucks and is a caffeine addict. He has gotten so used to it he takes almost 4 shots of espresso a day just to feel energized. Caffeine is in fact a drug and as one tolerance can be built up that influences you to feel a need for larger doses. If you want to quit and still feel energized I'd suggest trying natural solutions such as improving sleep and eating better. That has had better results in my brother than consuming caffeine
 
I've had a major caffeine addiction for several years. 2 months ago I finally gave it up (3rd time I've tried). It's pretty hard, but I'd highly recommend it. I feel way better. The first week is pretty bad, but after that you start to get over it. I had a hard time staying awake and constantly felt sleepy, and had pretty bad headaches. Find something else to drink, that helps a lot. Herbal tea is good, I went with plain old water. Once I felt "free" from it I started drinking soda again but super carefully (only when going out to dinner or hanging out with friends), whereas before I was drinking soda several times a day at work. Best of luck!
 

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