Quitting Caffeine
Woke up feeling awful this morning with a headache. Drank a cup of coffee and felt instantly better. Trying to get by with just that one cup today.
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Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 8,637
yep! I used excedrine to deal with the withdrawals as I tapered.... one pill was 65mg, so I knew exactly how much I was ingesting versus the variability of caffeine drinks.
I have twice managed to get to zero caffeine intake for about a total of five days over the past month.
I'm now hovering at 1-2 cups a day..... just cannot seem to shake this thing!!!
ARRRGGHHH!!!
I do think that if / when I can knock it off for 60-90 days it will be a benefit to my body, but holy hell is it hard!
I have twice managed to get to zero caffeine intake for about a total of five days over the past month.
I'm now hovering at 1-2 cups a day..... just cannot seem to shake this thing!!!
ARRRGGHHH!!!
I do think that if / when I can knock it off for 60-90 days it will be a benefit to my body, but holy hell is it hard!
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Canada
Posts: 500
i have a question. I was reading your thread and you said month 2 you felt good. Was the entire first month painful? I am nearing the end of week 2 but I still am having very mild headaches. (btw I never get headaches until this). I've never really tried cutting out caffeine before but I am on this diet that says no coffee... decaf or otherwise. I think I have more cravings for coffee than I do for alcohol.
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 5,439
cusper, the headaches weren't that bad for me at the end of week 2 (but then I went to one cup a day for a week before quitting and that might have helped. When I first tried cold-turkey, the headaches were killer which was why I cut back first). But I was super tired for the first few weeks. I slept a lot. It was a month or so before I really felt like myself again. It got progressively better though. The first week was the worst, week 2 was a struggle and weeks 3 and 4 I saw more improvement. Withdrawal symptoms can vary for everyone, but I suspect if you keep at it you'll start feeling better soon.
I also have more coffee cravings than alcohol. In some ways, I think it's been harder to quit. Granted, alcohol took me to a much lower place and I think that provided me with more motivation for quitting that.
I also have more coffee cravings than alcohol. In some ways, I think it's been harder to quit. Granted, alcohol took me to a much lower place and I think that provided me with more motivation for quitting that.
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Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 15
Originally Posted by DG0409 
cusper, the headaches weren't that bad for me at the end of week 2 (but then I went to one cup a day for a week before quitting and that might have helped. When I first tried cold-turkey, the headaches were killer which was why I cut back first). But I was super tired for the first few weeks. I slept a lot. It was a month or so before I really felt like myself again. It got progressively better though. The first week was the worst, week 2 was a struggle and weeks 3 and 4 I saw more improvement. Withdrawal symptoms can vary for everyone, but I suspect if you keep at it you'll start feeling better soon.
I also have more coffee cravings than alcohol. In some ways, I think it's been harder to quit. Granted, alcohol took me to a much lower place and I think that provided me with more motivation for quitting that.
I also have more coffee cravings than alcohol. In some ways, I think it's been harder to quit. Granted, alcohol took me to a much lower place and I think that provided me with more motivation for quitting that.
I'm down to one cup of coffee the past three days. Rested as much as I could this weekend to compensate.
Things I've noticed (good):
1. Feeling much calmer
2. Less digestive distress in the mornings
3. Virtually zero craving for alcohol.
Things I've noticed (bad):
1. My brain on less caffeine is slllllooooww.
2. My sugar/carb cravings are out of control and I gained 3 lbs this weekend.
3. Energy ebbs and flows. Some moments are brutal and other times I feel fine. It will take time for my body to find balance again.
Today was my last cup of coffee I decided.
Tomorrow, I'll have a cup of chai tea if I must or take an Excedrin instead. No more coffee though....it is my love and the quicker I get used to not drinking it the more I'll be motivated to get fully off all caffeine. Hope everyone had a successful weekend!
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 5,439
Well, the last week or so I've been really good about limiting it to 2 cups of half-caf. So I figure that counts as one cup of regular. Been struggling a lot with other stuff in my life and lacking the motivation to try to cut it down further at the moment. I've thought a few times, "I could just have an extra cup of coffee, that would make me feel better." But I know that after that would come the crash from it. It also just seems like terribly unhealthy thinking to me.
ABLK- The good news is that I think the good things you've noticed will all continue. From my experience, at least numbers 1&3 of the bad things will improve a lot within the first few weeks. I'm not really sure about 2, but it seems like once you have more energy again, tackling diet and/or exercise will be easier. Or perhaps it will work itself out like the others.
ABLK- The good news is that I think the good things you've noticed will all continue. From my experience, at least numbers 1&3 of the bad things will improve a lot within the first few weeks. I'm not really sure about 2, but it seems like once you have more energy again, tackling diet and/or exercise will be easier. Or perhaps it will work itself out like the others.
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Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 15
Originally Posted by DG0409
Well, the last week or so I've been really good about limiting it to 2 cups of half-caf. So I figure that counts as one cup of regular. Been struggling a lot with other stuff in my life and lacking the motivation to try to cut it down further at the moment. I've thought a few times, "I could just have an extra cup of coffee, that would make me feel better." But I know that after that would come the crash from it. It also just seems like terribly unhealthy thinking to me.
ABLK- The good news is that I think the good things you've noticed will all continue. From my experience, at least numbers 1&3 of the bad things will improve a lot within the first few weeks. I'm not really sure about 2, but it seems like once you have more energy again, tackling diet and/or exercise will be easier. Or perhaps it will work itself out like the others.
ABLK- The good news is that I think the good things you've noticed will all continue. From my experience, at least numbers 1&3 of the bad things will improve a lot within the first few weeks. I'm not really sure about 2, but it seems like once you have more energy again, tackling diet and/or exercise will be easier. Or perhaps it will work itself out like the others.
Also, finding peppermint tea helps. The mint is refreshing. Also soothing to the stomach and stomach issues were a big reason I wanted to get off coffee in the first place.
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Join Date: Apr 2013
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Well, was down to one cup a day until last week. Was plagued by a nasty migraine for most of last week and resorted to drinking a few extra cups each day in hopes that it would help as caffeine is supposed to be good for headaches. So, tapering back down again. Slow and steady wins the race or at least finishes it anyway. I'll get there if I just keep at it.
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Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Chicagoland
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Originally Posted by yeahgr8
Caffeine is such a mind altering drug, I never put two and two together until end of last year. I have switched to tea and am much more level all the time:-)
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 443
DG, thanks for this thread! It inspired me to cut the caffeine. I was down to 1 cup of coffee a day, and after reading some of your earlier posts I decided to try to switch to 1 cup of decaf only.
It's been 3 weeks and I don't miss the caffeine at all. I used to rely on it pretty heavily, but now that I am not overcoming the effects of alcohol it turns out it isn't actually necessary for me ...
So again, thanks. I feel healthier and stronger because you put this out there...
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Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Arizona
Posts: 33
Always been a caffeine addict. Since I quit drinking 17 days ago, been swapping some of the 4-6 cups of daily coffee for energy drinks. It feels like I'm hindering the healing from going sober by overloading my body with caffeine and all that nasty jet fuel.
Inspired by this thread to kick the caffeine- and the refined sugar for that matter. Thank you.
Inspired by this thread to kick the caffeine- and the refined sugar for that matter. Thank you.
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 5,439
Deckard- Glad you found this thread helpful. Way to go on 3 weeks no caffeine!!
Jade- I used to think I needed it too. But to be honest, I didn't like 'needing' it. Like any addiction, it's scary to think of giving it up, but the funny thing is that once we do, we look back and wonder how we ever thought we needed it and feel better without it.
Sigit- Keep us updated on your progress with kicking the caffeine and sugar.
Keeping it down to one cup of caffeinated coffee today again. Then I'll switch to decaf. A few more days of this and I'll go all decaf again. I woke up with more energy when I was off the caffeine and I'd like to get back to that.
Jade- I used to think I needed it too. But to be honest, I didn't like 'needing' it. Like any addiction, it's scary to think of giving it up, but the funny thing is that once we do, we look back and wonder how we ever thought we needed it and feel better without it.
Sigit- Keep us updated on your progress with kicking the caffeine and sugar.
Keeping it down to one cup of caffeinated coffee today again. Then I'll switch to decaf. A few more days of this and I'll go all decaf again. I woke up with more energy when I was off the caffeine and I'd like to get back to that.
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 5,439
I've been good about keeping it to one cup a day. For some reason, I'm experiencing a lot of internal resistance to the idea of cutting back further. Still, I see that in my future.
I gotta admit though, keeping it to one cup a day is really a huge difference from where I was a year ago- I could drink several pots a day, so this really does seem like it's a lot better than that.
I gotta admit though, keeping it to one cup a day is really a huge difference from where I was a year ago- I could drink several pots a day, so this really does seem like it's a lot better than that.
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