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Quitting Caffeine

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231–240 of 363 posts

Re: Quitting Caffeine

#231
post #170

I am a coffee drinker but I don't really get boost or anything. Nor do I feel tired or anything else that could be called withdrawal during the weekends, when I don't drink it. For me, making a cup of coffee is just a... ritual of sorts. Weighting the beans, pouring over water, all these things. And I really enjoy the taste, trying different beans. I don't want to sound pretentious, it's just a hobby for me. Maybe th…

Seriously, try 1-2 weeks without coffee... you'll feel it.

I have and I genuinely don't notice any significant difference compared to drink 3-5 cups a day.

Re: Quitting Caffeine

#232
post #221

What the author didn't mention, and I haven't seen mentioned in these comments, are the extremely beneficial health effects of coffee (not caffeine, decaf has shown the same benefits). Most significantly, studies have shown that coffee reduces overall mortality rates significantly, with the reduced chance of dying from any cause increasing with coffee consumption (up to a point). >Compared with nonconsumers, particip…

I wonder if some of this is due to a subtle intervening variable like conscious or subconscious (i.e. fidgeting) decisions to exercise more accumulated over time because of increased energy, rather than caffeine per se.

If that were true, decaf wouldn't show the same effect because it wouldn't give you increased energy. (I don't drink decaf)

Re: Quitting Caffeine

#233
post #107

One thing that was striking to me when quitting caffeine (after drinking coffee consistently for years every day) was how after a week or two the feeling you have when waking up is completely different. I had always assumed when you wake up it was normal to feel terrible until the morning coffee. Not so. Off caffeine, a proper nights sleep will have you up and active right away.

> Off caffeine, a proper nights sleep will have you up and active right away. This is not universally true. I've experienced mornings in four different cases. Chronologically: drinking lots of soda, dropping caffeine and taking Adderall, consuming basically no stimulants for a year or so other than the occasional soda once or twice a month, and drinking black coffee and/or green tea regularly. They've all been univer…

Assuming you wake with an alarm, the biggest impact on how you feel when you first wake is where you were in your sleep cycle. In deep or REM sleep you will feel lousy.

Re: Quitting Caffeine

#234
post #226
post #170

I am a coffee drinker but I don't really get boost or anything. Nor do I feel tired or anything else that could be called withdrawal during the weekends, when I don't drink it. For me, making a cup of coffee is just a... ritual of sorts. Weighting the beans, pouring over water, all these things. And I really enjoy the taste, trying different beans. I don't want to sound pretentious, it's just a hobby for me. Maybe th…

If you love coffee, the best alternative to coffee is decaf. If you buy directly from a great roaster, you'll hardly be able to tell the difference. I'm not sure I'd be able to in a blind taste test (decaf if anything takes a little less bitter in latte form). If you have a grinder, you could buy beans from any number of places online, like Blue Bottle. I'm lucky enough to live near a ton of roaster coffee shops that…

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Re: Quitting Caffeine

#235
post #226
post #170

I am a coffee drinker but I don't really get boost or anything. Nor do I feel tired or anything else that could be called withdrawal during the weekends, when I don't drink it. For me, making a cup of coffee is just a... ritual of sorts. Weighting the beans, pouring over water, all these things. And I really enjoy the taste, trying different beans. I don't want to sound pretentious, it's just a hobby for me. Maybe th…

If you love coffee, the best alternative to coffee is decaf. If you buy directly from a great roaster, you'll hardly be able to tell the difference. I'm not sure I'd be able to in a blind taste test (decaf if anything takes a little less bitter in latte form). If you have a grinder, you could buy beans from any number of places online, like Blue Bottle. I'm lucky enough to live near a ton of roaster coffee shops that…

I considered this, but the options are very limited where I live (Lithuania). We have a few high quality local roasters, but even they have only one blend of decaf (and dozens of normal coffee).

Re: Quitting Caffeine

#237

Quit coffee 6 months ago after 20 years on the daily (generally 2 very strong home made double or triple espressos). It's not so much that eliminating caffeine is a life changing experience, but rather, you're unchained from the necessity to, above all else, get your caffeine fix. Some people can take it or leave it, go without for days at a stretch, which was not at all the case for me -- the only time I ever went w…

How old are you? I love my coffee but I have those problems too.

On my short experiment quitting coffee (30 days IIRC), nothing really changed, so I restarted using it (which always feels great).

Re: Quitting Caffeine

#238

I have a lot of problems trying to quit caffeine. Ever since I was a young child, they gave me really powerful amphetamines to get me to focus. Then when I turned 18 it became much more difficult to obtain. In the US, Ritalin/dexadrine/adderall are all class II controlled substances with similar restrictions to cocaine or fentynal, so in order to get it I would need to have a doctor's appointment every month, which w…

I also do large doses of caffeine to get through the day. I have long-term severe insomnia, and have just been prescribed modafinil, which in theory does not affect sleep.

And definitely go see your doctor, if you are anxious about it, doing it will make you feel less anxious afterwards, even if the visit accomplishes nothing.

Re: Quitting Caffeine

#239

> A caveat to all of these points: I also now consume very little sugar and alcohol and I meditate regularly. Things like this generally make me wary. Not so much because of them causing side effects that are harder to disentangle, but their adoption indicating that the author is fairly stabilized, which is a giant side effect in itself.

This why it's so hard to do controlled experiments: habits rarely come alone. When you change a habit, you often start a cascade that changes significant parts of your life. Some habits make your life considerably better, like exercising regularly leading to eating, sleeping, and working better, sometimes worse, like smoking leading to drinking.

Re: Quitting Caffeine

#240
post #170

I am a coffee drinker but I don't really get boost or anything. Nor do I feel tired or anything else that could be called withdrawal during the weekends, when I don't drink it. For me, making a cup of coffee is just a... ritual of sorts. Weighting the beans, pouring over water, all these things. And I really enjoy the taste, trying different beans. I don't want to sound pretentious, it's just a hobby for me. Maybe th…

Two days is not enough. Try being off it for a week. I bet you will feel terible on day 4.

When I give up I get bad headaches for 2 days then it gets easier after that.

Been off for a few months now.

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