Notch8

Anybody?

ciowa

Ive given up caffeine a few times over the past 10 years and each time my bodies reaction was different. Each time I experienced side affects.
Cold Turkey - intense headaches around day 3-5 and also extreme drowsiness on those days, like sit down on a armchair and accidentally nod off for 5 minutes in the middle of the afternoon drowsiness.
Weaning off for a week - Very mild headaches, slight drowsiness around day 3-5 but then ok by day 7
Weaning off for a week - extreme fatigue and lethargy from days 8-12.
Each time, by day 14 at the latest and had a more even level of energy from the time I woke up til I went to sleep. My alertness was level as well and not the crash and peak cycle of caffeine use. I slept better and gradually woke in the mornings from sleep instead of snapping to full on alertness as soon as I opened my eyes.
Im drinking coffee right now but want to get off again in time for the summer.

advbike

I wish I could. I love the taste and smell so I drink too much. 4 cups every morning, and possibly an espresso early afternoon.. and i like it dark and strong. So I am on that up and down, crash and burn cycle. I recently started trying to wean off by getting some good decaf beans that I mix in starting with cup 3. But I doubt I will ever quit completely as I just enjoy it so much. Like, umm, gonna make an americano right now, haha.

PS - great analysis Ciowa. Helpful info.

Bethany57

Wow...interesting thread. I drink 3 -4cups a day (before noon) and really wish I could give it up. I may try to keep adding a decent decaf and eventually do all decaf ( i realize de caf even has some caffeine). Once when I did go off completely I felt so tired and emotionally flat. Afraid to try it again but I should.

2ndhandrose

Never!!!

least

When I was still drinking I had to give up coffee in the morning as I'd be going thru w/d and the anxiety was off the charts. But once I got sober for good, and didn't have that w/d anxiety, I started having it again. Usually about 3 cups a day. Love my coffee!

ScottFromWI

My story is a lot like this - my anxiety was crippling at first and caffeine made it even worse. After the withdrawal anxiety went away, I was still dealing with undiagnosed GAD for a while and again, caffeine made it worse. I completely gave it up for a while and it definitely helped, but after I was able to start managing/treating my anxiety I was able to ease back into regular coffee. I still don't drink as much as I used to (coffee) but I can now drink a couple cups of regular without worrying that it will ruin my day.

CincyFin

I drink coffee but caffeine has the opposite effect on me. I can drink 2 cups of coffee and get sleepy. My wife is an RN and says that is prevalent in people with ADD. I have never been diagnosed ADD but I do have some symptoms. But if I am drinking coffee regularly and stop I will get headaches.

Skyhawker

I love the taste and smell of it, but never had any when I was drinking. As with others, it would cause my already bad anxiety to skyrocket. Now that I do not have much anxiety anymore I will have a cup of it here and there. I will notice a slight spike in anxiety when I do have a cup... However, on some days when I really am exhausted, it is nice to enjoy a nice white chocolate mocha in the morning .

silversky

I cut back to one cup of coffee in the morning about 3 weeks ago. Was drinking 2-3 before. I did this to lessen anxiety. After reading this thread I realize I'm not having the peaks and crashes anymore. I did not have any headaches cutting back. I drink decaf or green tea the rest of the day. It seems to help. Someday might try a total fast. That feels intimidating right now but might be worth trying.

Grateful09

I also cut back to one cup of coffee in the morning. It seems for some people, giving up entirely is the thing to do. But for me, having that one cup of coffee is part of my morning victory celebration - good morning, I made it sober for 24 hours, and this morning I feel OK (minus ongoing PAWS symptoms, but still better than hangovers and upset over that). And now I commit to another 24 hours. I think if I had adverse symptoms in relation to coffee in recovery, I would give it up. But for me, keeping it to one small cup has worked, with a bit of green tea and then herbal tea the rest of the time.

JustJohn

Coffee is one thing I dearly love - can't see a legitimate reason for giving it up. I'm on a keto/low carb diet, and I have 2 cups each morning before 0900 and none the rest of the day. I put in 2 tablespoons of heavy cream, one teaspoon of coconut oil and a dash of unsweetened cocoa powder, mixed in a shaker, in each cup. Then I work out. Gives me a nice, slow burning energy all day.

Notch8

I was up until nearly midnight last night and awake at 5:30 this morning. Been going full-speed ahead and resisting the urge to hammer the coffee pot. Just put on a K-cup to get me through the afternoon.

shakeel

I only drink Decaf. in other words, I try to stay away from anything that would raise my heart beat(except exercise of course). Anything that would give me that feeling of anxiety that used to precede the obsession for the first drink.

Nevertheless

I still drink caffeinated coffee most of the time. But a couple years ago my girl got a coffee grinder for me. Whole bean coffee also comes decaffeinated. The local grocery store has one called intense French. You can't tell by the taste of it that it is decaffeinated. My coffee grinder is one of my prize possessions. I think it was around 35 dollars off of Amazon. If caffeine is keeping you from sleeping and you can't handle store bought ground decaff,grinding your own might be an option.
I believe i did quit drinking caffeinated coffee for a while when I first quit drinking,and probably should cut back on it again.

Sloinge

I guess that I had the reverse experience - when I was drinking I couldn’t handle caffeine on top of the existing booze anxiety.

Sober - I love coffee - probably too much. But I stop at noon and switch to green or caffeine free teas.

One of the great joys of waking up sober is my first breakfast latte in the am. I don’t think it’s a replacement addiction, but I very much enjoy coffee now.

Sloinge

I think I just posted the exact same response!

Aellyce

I love coffee and would not want to give it up unless it had some strong contraindications. I did cut down a lot over the years though. When I was younger, I would just sip coffee all day most days, including sometimes drinking it late in the afternoon and evening. Not sure if it qualified as an addiction, but I was definitely a workaholic and associated coffee strongly with an energy boost back then, so I would also drink coffee to consciously increase my alertness sometimes beyond healthy measures. I managed to find a healthier compromise for both the excessive working and coffee without having to completely stop either, and I'm happy with it now. I drink on average 2 cups of coffee now, max 3 occasionally, never after 4pm, and most often all before noon. My sleep was often a mess when I was young, I even started abusing alcohol more to "manage" that, but of course it only made it worse long-term. I sleep so much better now that I don't drink alcohol and moderate the coffee and don't feel it's necessary to completely stop all caffeine. I very rarely drink tea and never drink sodas and other energy drinks, don't even eat chocolate, so whatever I get is from those cups of coffee. I do have some anxiety, but 2-3 cups a day don't make it worse for me, and other ways like exercising more, relaxing in drug-free ways, and maintaining a healthy routine help me more than eliminating coffee. But if I had to cut it off completely for a medical reason, for example, I definitely would.

Cascabel

When I was working, I would drink coffee all day long. Since I retired (23 years ago) I have gradually reduced my consumption to one cup (mug) a day. I thoroughly enjoy that one cup but don’t want any more after that.

MyLittleHorsie

I quit coffee about a year ago. I didn't have any withdrawal. I had a cup recently, didn't do anything for me.
Now I will have tea here and there, but I am careful to drink naturally decaffeinated, although I do love a good Earl Grey with steamed milk and honey. That's an indulgence, not a necessity. Same with spiced teas. I drink them because they taste good, not for what they do for me.
I don't think you have to give up caffeine. I just wanted the necessity of it gone. I went back to work last year and my office is an hour commute, my bladder is middle aged. Coffee was not It's friend in the morning. Plus it triggers an inflammatory response in me, so it was time.