I know it’s still quite early (I’m around day 18 right now) but I haven’t noticed any further improvements since day 5 or so.

I was doing mild running almost every day before quitting and I’ve exercised maybe twice since quitting. I just don’t have any spark or inspiration (or adrenaline) within me to go exert my body anymore and it sucks. I let myself lean into the resting period the week after quitting but haven’t climbed out since :/

It’s great having less anxiety and more consistent brainpower through the day, but I’m waiting for the anhedonia and just general boredom to lift! I haven’t been motivated nor productive at all. In fact, I’ve been visiting some family out of state this week and have felt soooo fatigued all over again. Body heaviness, sleepy throughout day, some brain fog. I’m 29 by the way. I struggled w that before quitting but was hoping quitting would impact it more.

Any advice ??

Just got my first sampler shipment of Teacino and it's not too bad! I've also been drinking Rooibos Chai as a substitute.

Takeaways:

• Quitting coffee gives me a host of benefits, including a huge reduction in my anxiety symptoms. Over the last few years I have had panic attacks and anxiety while driving (usually at least 1x/month or more) and this has not occurred since I quit.
• More patience and calm (good especially for these times)
• Easier to get up in the morning - I don't feel like I just got hit by a 2x4 until I've had coffee
• Made it easier to curb my sugar intake because I notice that I am less likely to submit to sugar cravings when I'm not drinking coffee.
• I live in the US and in the event that Trump starts putting tariffs on imported goods, it's nice to know I'm not reliant on caffeine/coffee beans, and won't need to buy coffee making equipment.

However:

• Quitting coffee has not completely cured my insomnia and sleep issues, and so I'm trying to work on better sleep hygiene and other techniques.

Love the sub, best of luck to all y'all out there.

Mind is blow

Food bolis is where the food gets stuck at the bottom of your oesophagus and it hurts like hell as your muscles try to push it through but the sphincter remains shut.

I stopped coffee and caffeine for other reasons more that two months ago and the food bolis stopped, except for the day after the one occasion I had a morning coffee.

Posting here in case it helps someone.

Interested what people think might be the mechanism here. I think it was that coffee / caffeine. was giving me a little bit of heartburn but not sure. I'm naturally very sensitive to caffeine.

Caffeine/trimethylxanthine is an exceptionally methylated substance with 3 methyl groups (CH3). Could people with mthfr be self medicating without realizing it when they drink coffee? But with side effects of acidity, mold, adenosine blocking… Maybe methylated b vitamins might help in replacing caffeine but there’s so many posts on Reddit of people getting serious anxiety from them. Also I heard that excess histamine from sibo, as well as synthetic folic acid eats up methyl groups in the body and that might cause more dependence on caffeine

Day 1 : insane headache

I was never too addicted to coffee, I was at 2 cups/day for about 1-2 years, but I always thought "yeah I'm not addicted, I could quit anytime". So I thought I'd test that out. To my dismay, I got an all-day headache, and realized that I have a problem. So now it's been a week without coffee, I feel pretty tired obviously, but at least I'm overcoming the addiction!

Been off for two years then got back for another 2 years, its toxic and toxins my life how to fucking cut it for good

Spent a few days drinking like.. 3+ cups of coffee, which was awful, realized I might have migrains triggered by coffee...(i.e. had weird eyesight during class but, this time, around the same time every week, I had the same effect but worse and a MASSIVE headache. My irisees were also off + it being genetic makes sense. I've accidentally triggered simmilar before, and alcohol gives me a headache too).

Ok.. main reason I quit? I was somewhat obsessively thinking about a certain topic over and over and over again... thought if i had enough coffee id be able to stop that... and I kinda did? sorta? sorta but barely... anxiety being over the roof seemingly stopped on day 3. My heart rate seemed to be worse off, i was having issues focusing during a test cause my eyes and brain hurt a sh-t ton... was close too a wall, got headaches from that, ect.

Not i'm going to go back to quitting it... but i'm worried that ill fall back into hyperfixating a ton about some randdom topic like before and it will mess up my focus. Thing is, i didnt 100% get my head out of that hyperfixation. Also experiencing the weird eye thing to a mild extent, not sure why. Had a bit of tea, wondering if i clenched my jaw and just now have a huge coffee insensitivity after all that. Its so mild though.. no after image from looking at an object for a second or from every minute movement my professor makes while writing on the board. no flashing specks of light (also from experience its corrolated heavily with stress.) Could be dehydrated as heck right now.

I have realized caffeine is really damaging my sleep as I have slowly inched up my intake over the years. I have tried multiple times to cut it out, but the sleep issue has really convinced me to change.

I track the mg intake pretty religiously, so I was wondering what a doable or appropriate reduction plan would be. I got up to about 600mg a day for a few weeks this past month.

I am already back down to 400mg the past few days, but want to make a clear plan to reduce it to zero. Is 10mg reduction per day a good idea, or should I be more aggressive or maybe even slower? 5mg per day? Thoughts?

Hi! I’ve made it to five months. But now I’m tired all the time - basically to the extent I was in my first week off coffee.

Has anyone else experienced something like this? Any suggestions on how best to cope/change this?

I’ve been napping every afternoon, which I actually enjoy tbh, but wondering what good alternatives are. If I ever get a job, I probably won’t be able to nap every afternoon. I don’t have good sleep hygiene at the moment, so I know that’s something I need to work on.

Thanks

I drank decaf yesterday, started sneezing instantly. Felt like crap after. I'm starting to think that it's probably not just the caffeine but the whole coffee that makes me feel awful. I'm allergic to it somehow? Do you have the same experience?

When I drink green tea it doesn't happen to me.

Tomorrow will be 30 days caffeine free for me and the end of my first trimester of pregnancy. The first 9 days or so were very rough… physical withdrawal followed by a stupor that made it really hard to function at work and home. I’m coming out of it now and feeling pretty good and getting better! I had already cut back to 1 cup a day prior to getting pregnant so the withdrawal was probably mild in comparison to many but still absolutely sucked!

American Academy of Pediatrics has given safe guidelines for caffeine in moderation for many many years and I have lightly but consistently used caffeine in all 3 of my previous pregnancies. Learning now what I didn’t know then, I’ll always wonder if that’s why I had restless babies.

Fetuses and even newborns can literally not metabolize caffeine. The half life for a small dose of caffeine in an (already born!) newborn is like up to 200 hours… so imagine, if you’re a new mom drinking a cup of coffee every day and your either pregnant or nursing, your baby is going to be CONSTANTLY CAFFEINATED. Does this feel right? Not for me.

There are new studies out there finding more and more adverse correlation between fetal growth, childhood development and maternal caffeine use. Do your research… now we can all blame our coffee drinking mothers for our problems! (as if we didn’t already) 😋

In other news, I’d wanted to quit for a long time. I’m grateful for my unexpected pregnancy - the catalyst for quitting altogether! I will never go back!

I've noticed this a few times, and I feel like it can't be a coincidence...my nails are usually so short and thin and brittle and flaky. Seems like they only grow past a certain length when I'm off caffeine...god only knows how much it might be affecting my hair then

Quitting caffeine - in progress (currently day 3, had a 28 day streak in mid Sept to mid Oct).

Question; has anyone had or noticed what could be construed as positive side affects to their sexual health after quitting caffeine? If so what have you noticed?

My experience thus far; may be related to quitting porn and masterbation in October, but these past two days I’ve noticed erectile strength and ‘enthusiasm’ have increased. Not full blown and fully torqued, but random semis have returned like I used to get through high school and my early 20s. Also, a lot of ‘leakage’ has occurred yesterday and today. No change in diet or supplementation, aside from doing some really heavy lifting the past few days and increasing my water intake. Would love some other anecdotals to see if these are weird correlations to quitting the PM or if it has some combination greater than that. I will say my stress/low grade anxiety has been rolling lower than normal so imagine that’s an influence too. Any thoughts are appreciated, love ya you beautiful people

Issues w/*sinuses + tired eyes + puffy, flaky, wrinkly skin around the eyes*

//

I significantly reduced my coffee intake (from daily for several months to once every few days and then to once per week, then to a chai or matcha two times per week) approximately 2 months ago. For reference, I am very sensitive to caffeine (impacts my sinuses, my gut and motility, causes me to break out if I drink it many days consecutively, generally drags my immune system down with consistent consumption, even small amounts) and really shouldn't be drinking it at all (but, addiction...every time I get feeling good again, I think, I can have a cup of coffee...then that eventually turns into me drinking coffee every day again and going through the cycle of having to quit again because I don't feel well). /// At this point, I have not had any coffee / caffeine (other than small amount of chocolate) for 3 weeks. A few days after I stepped down from daily (2 months back), I started feeling like a cold was coming on -- slightly sore / dry throat, slight sinus irritation (felt really dry), and my eyes felt so tired and more sensitive to light. A week later, those symptoms (sinus, throat) were still around and a new symptom popped up -- the skin around my right eye got red, flaky, puffy, dry. In another week, the right one had improved a bit but now both eyes were having issues. In fact, one day the skin around my eyes looked like it aged 10 years overnight (super dry, flaky, puffy, wrinkly). These symptoms - sinus, throat, eyes - have now lasted for nearly 2 months. They are worst in the morning and right before I go to bed, but are present throughout the day. I've tried changing things in my home environment (already do not use any chemically-scented or colored products, everything I use is gluten-free because I'm allergic to gluten and so many other things). I've had blood panels (CBC w/diff) done multiple times and initially my WBC was low (3.5), my total cholesterol was high (239, LDL too high, HDL decent) and my hemoglobin is still low (not uncommon for me since a young age) but WBC is back within normal range (5.2). I also went to the eye doc to confirm no eye issues / damage, because I was also have vision changes (ability to focus was changing). The verdict was - no damage, but natural aging is occurring and my prescription has changed (I'm 42 yo, so, not uncommon). /// I'm trying to rule things out at this point, since basic stuff like increasing the humidity in my room and using eye drops and taking days off of eye makeup, throwing all old makeup away, trying different soap, etc. hasn't helped. It's possible I was glutened a few months back, I've just never had a reaction like this, so it seems to me to maybe be more likely related to the coffee than the gluten. I've also had a lot of gut issues (coffee was really messing w/my gut and it's taken time to get it back to normal) over the past 2 months (coincided with quitting coffee and has taken a long time to get back to anything close to normal in terms of motility, bloating, etc.) My next steps is to test kidney function to make sure nothing is off there, because I'm also just generally feeling dehydrated and fatigued frequently (in the past 2 months) despite being vigilant about drinking lots of water, and because more recently I've had mid- to upper back ache/inflammation. Also for reference: I don't drink or smoke. I eat a lot of greens. I'm a pescatarian. I get a decent amount of sunshine and physical activity (could do better here...I do sit at a desk all day), and about 5 weeks ago (the middle of all of this stuff happening, not the cause), I started working with a trainer to lift weights. I supplement because of the gluten allergy (historic malabsorption) and have had micronutrient levels tested within the past 6 months and overall, they look really good. All to say...I'm living a pretty health lifestyle, I can't draw a direct line from lifestyle to my health issues (primary at present are -- 1) eyes and skin around the eyes, 2) sinus and throat irritation, 3) fatigue, 4) dehydrated tissues overall) and still can't beat these symptoms. /// Totally not expecting a diagnosis; included the lab info in case that's helpful. --- Anyone experience anything like this when they quit coffee?

I have been regulary consuming between 400-800 mg daily of caffeine for 10 years. Now I am clean for 1 week and EVERYTHING is super depressing, not feeling like my self at all, full of anxiety etc. I have been jobless for 3 months and now I have been searching for a job like crazy. I feel restless, annoyed, short tempered, depressed, full of anxiety, gloomy days etc.

I quit nicotine 1 month ago and I was super pissed off for 3 weeks straight but no depression at all. Rather less depression if anything.

Anyone quit heavy consumption of energy drinks?

Last time I was clean was for 30 days in 2019. Relapsed and drank two 350mg boxes on the same day. Was sitting up at night feeling like the world was doomed.

This caffeine stuff is way more powerful than what we would like to admit.

I haven't been taking coffee for three weeks now, I just take decaf, which I make myself in the office with capsules, and it doesn't give me any kind of problem with tachycardia or anything like that (I'm scrupulous I clean the machine by making a couple of coffees without capsules first). Today, however, in a coffee shop for a social situation with colleagues we had coffee, I ordered a decaf one, which came with a different cup than the others (so I'm sure they hadn't mistaken it by mistake), yet I have strong tachycardia, probably the machine was dirty with other coffee, they mixed the ground coffee poorly, or similar things. Fact is that it makes me so angry that even though I made a choice I can't enforce it in a very simple way... does anyone have any ideas to avoid risks in similar situations?

I tried drinking chicory and got brain fog, heavy eyes and tiredness. Anybody know why? There is supposed to be no caffeine in.

I’ve had to quit coffee

I’ve been going through this thought process for 3 years on and off and my life’s a mess, when I got a dog and started a business I thought I needed that extra kick but I look back now and I’ve just had crippling anxiety

I’ve moved to tea for a few days to avoid being confronted to how cripplingly dehydrated I probably am

I really need to quit, for me this is cognitive, I always start convincing myself that I can tame coffee if I exercise, eat well and try wind down before bed but this time I’m just going to hate what it’s doing to me

The evidence is there, it puts me in mindsets where I fail, crave other stuff and then beat myself up about not winding down correctly or indulging in other stuff

Any advice at this point is appreciated, I don’t want to relapse and keep doing this

I never used to drink coffee despite what everyone says and I used to have energy, thought, organisation and my life together

For some reason it just fucks me up

I am asking this because for me exercise plays a huge role in the way caffeine affects me. I have less anxiety and jitters.

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I’m fed up of waking up every single night at 4:50-5:30 am irrespective of what time I fall asleep (23:00-1:00). I’m investigating this issue with my doctor at the moment. I switched to decaf about 2.5 months ago and wonder if this could be the reason (even though I find it hard to believe limiting caffeine intake could cause insomnia). If it is indeed the case, how long can I expect this to last? Is there anything I can take to help me sleep better?

I saw an intriguing post on here earlier regarding caffeine discontinuation and time perception. I do tend to feel like I live my life hyperactive and always a little uptight but also disorganized, and a lot of this is due in part to ADHD.

While I currently consume 1 cup of coffee in the morning, maybe a second one every now and then if it's my day off and I'm feeling indulgent (I love the routine of coffee), I may also consume a mountain dew later in the day as well. This is usually all the caffeine I take in. I could pretty easily quit the soda and limit myself to one cup of coffee in the morning. But I have tried and tried to skip the coffee in the morning or go half calf and wean off but there's something psychologically impossible about disrupting this routine that I have carried out since I was a teenager (I'm 28).

I'm wondering if you strangers on the internet believe that one's life could be significantly better if they didn't drink that one cup in the morning.

This is purely my personal experience that I wanted to share.

I moved to Canada close to decade ago and since then I felt like my energy has been lacking.

I used to live in a sub-tropical climate and it's been very hard for me to adapt to the lack of sunlight and the cold.

I've found my refuge in coffee as it feels like without it I cannot function normally in this country.

The weird thing is when I go back to the tropics and I stay for a while (> 1month) I start feeling normal and my body start viewing coffee as disgusting.

Last time I went I stopped coffee completely and the sides have been pretty minimal but the second I come back to Canada I get depressed and get back on coffee to self medicate.

I guess I suffer from SAD and probably the only solution for me would be to permanently move out as my genes are not adapted to this kind of climate.

Also. the top consumers of coffee in the world are countries that are cold and have depressing weather (Finland,Norway, Canada, Sweden) etc..

I just want to know if anybody else feels the same way.

I'm Brazilian and here drinking coffee is a cultural things even children do. After quiting for two month, I've had a expresso today.

I've always thought I depended on coffee to stay awake and productive but quitting made me realise (after a very difficult first month in which my energy and mood was underground) that it was not only possible to live without it, but quiting would make me calm, help me understand my own feelings better and have a more stable energy throughout the day.

However, I'm a university student and it seems I started to develop some mild depression symptoms, the worst of them: a total lack of desire to do anything, especially academically related.

So I convinced myself the anxiety stimulated by a coffee would help me get a way through all the chores I have to do. It's not working and I'm feeling really anxious. I'm seeing a doctor as soon as possible.

If I can give my two cents for those who want to quit: it's worth it and the reasons become clear after the withdrew symptoms are over. I have no intention of continuing drinking it.

I noticed that whenever I drink coffee I become senstive and moody. Sometimes I end up raging people close to me. 3 days no coffee now and I'm chill AF. Is there any way to prevent bad mood whenever I drink coffee? I really miss drinking it

can i just replace coffee with decaf? also, i think i put together that much of my sleep issues are related to coffee consumption hours before a sleep. any good/bad side effects of quitting caffeine? also, is "The Easy Way to Quit Caffeine" a good book?

I work in construction and have been drinking multiple energy drinks or full pots of coffee every day for the last 5 years. I recently started noticing that I would get light headed/fuzzy and increased heart rate while driving home from work and felt like I was going to pass out. I just assumed it was from lack of sleep, but now it’s been almost two months of feeling this way and even after starting to cut back the last couple weeks I still feel it every day even when I’m not driving and it keeps me from being able to sleep. Is this a normal withdrawal symptom?

So for reference, it takes me about 3 days to eat a bag of chocolate chips. I have no idea how much "caffeine" that is. I didn't even think it was caffeine I thought it was theobromine. I'm going to talk about my present and then will go to my past. (I'm posting here because there is no de-cacao subreddit.)

So my present: I'm quite sleep deprived as I'm nursing my 9 month old all night... he probably wakes so much because he's hopped up on chocolate... He wakes 4 to 10 times a night. I'd say typically 7.

I was blaming my symptoms on sleep deprivation but now that they're getting worse I started searching more into the chocolate.

TRUST ME I've always known it is a problem, I just didn't think it was to blame for the way my health is suffering and I don't feel... alive.
I've given my body full blown panic attacks eating too much (in the past, before I built up this INSANE tolerance.)

Symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation are very similar to caffeine abuse. This past week a new level of brain fog is starting to happen to me.

I've been having insane pressure in the back of my head for months on and off, like right behind my ears. Today it's been all day long. 8

My body feels like it's falling apart. I feel like I've been hijacked to be honest. Like my entire life is ruled by chocolate. I barely have any left and I'm like OH SHIT how am I gunna get some. My husband has NO idea the extent of this. I've not gone more than 48 hours without it in like almost 2 years and it's gotten wayyyy worse. I used to be able to eat like half a chocolate bar, now it's usually 2 whole ones a day. 75 g of chocolate a day is what I decided on recently. It's like 400 calories, Somehow a whole meal of chocolate is fine by me

Anyway I don't feel like a real person. I keep thinking of the word hijacked. I don't enjoy anything, except chocolate. I use it for everything. The second my mind even remotely perceives something as stressful CHOCOLATE. Leaving the house CHOCOLATE. I'm using it exactly as I did alcohol (with obviously nowhere near the same effects.)

(I quit alcohol in 2015)

I'm also having pins and needles in my face and arms often.

I used to be able to write so eloquently. Now I feel like I'm scattered and barely know what I'm saying and often times in settings such as these realize I barely articulated what I was trying to say and often feel like the level of "she's a mess" people pick up on his humiliating.

I truly used to believe myself to be articulate, intelligent, and HIGHLY self aware. Now I'm not even sure I'm alive half the time and wonder if somehow AI hacked my brain through the cloud.

My body is in the worst shape of my life. Not weight wise just like... ZERO muscle and fast aging. I feel HORRIBLE every second of every day and complete dread ALL THE TIME. Dread waking up. Dread going to bed. I've really been attributing it all to poor sleep. I do feel a lot better when I get better sleep but not much

I eat absurdly healthy aside from this. Animal based, no grains, never anything processed, no seed oils, etc. My diet is meat, fruit, broth, raw dairy, gelatin, maple syrup, honey and chocolate. Occasionally potatoes or a baked good made with cassava.

I have like... 10 chocolate chips left and then I'm done. I need it in writing somewhere. Thanks for your support.