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Ask HN: Quit caffeine? Before and after anecdotes

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Re: Ask HN: Quit caffeine? Before and after anecdotes

#91

Post by gopherhunter »

I spent several years using caffeine as a way to squeeze more hours out of my day. Typical week I’d spend four nights staying up until 2am getting focused time to solve problems and code.

The sleep deprivation was starting to impact my physical health so I cut the caffeine out a year ago, and now it’s difficult for me to pull more than one late night a week. The sleep benefits have been great, and in that time period I moved into a chief engineer role with a lot of travel and customer interactions and less straight technical work. Overall I have higher quality output despite fewer hours of focus time, might be a different story if I was still needing to produce the same quantity of code.

I find coding tends to have a dopamine effect and keeps my brain engaged well into the night, but other activities rely on more rest to accomplish the attention to detail required.

Re: Ask HN: Quit caffeine? Before and after anecdotes

#92

Post by taigi100 »

I had to quit coffee last year. Bad headaches the first 3 days, got back to normal after about a week.

One of the interesting effects I noticed, is that my energy levels are more constant. No more highs, no more lows. Also, and this might be significant, my anxiety levels decreased significantly (I'd often get a mini panic attack if I drank a bit too much coffee, which happened every few days).

The thing about constant energy levels happens with sugar as well.

This allows me to have around double to time I had before of productivity. In the past, I wasted a lot of time being tired because of the "lows" of coffee / sugar, and the energy during the highs was way more than required for my daily tasks.

Having a moderate level of energy, but constant, helps me be constant in the long run and able to have a couple more hours of good work per day.

Also, life with less anxiety and stress is awesome lol. Also, some slight money savings since I liked quality coffee.

However, I didn't notice a relationship between development skills and coffee. Maybe that some smarter people around are usually more health conscious.

Re: Ask HN: Quit caffeine? Before and after anecdotes

#93

Post by greatatuin »

For years I was pretty sluggish in the morning and not at my best until had at least two cups of coffee. Then I'd later crash in the evening. After eventually quitting caffeine I realised that all those years of energy levels going up and down during the day was caused by the caffeine itself rather than it being the saviour.

Energy levels much more consistent throughout the day without it. I do miss the routine though and drinking decaf does feel a bit silly.

Re: Ask HN: Quit caffeine? Before and after anecdotes

#95

Post by cwackerfuss »

carom wrote: post #71

I've cut out a lot of foods permanently. Most notable are caffeine and sugar (sucrose, fructose). It will take a few tries but you're better off without it. Regarding caffeine, I would drink a lot of soda each day, like 4+ Mexican cokes. The first month is terrible. You will have an initial withdrawal, then just be in a slump. I am the type of programmer to work on side projects after work and I couldn't. I decided t…

Four Mexican cokes sounds as much like kicking a caffeine habit as it does a pretty bad sugar habit. Good job sticking to it.

Re: Ask HN: Quit caffeine? Before and after anecdotes

#96

Post by doktorhladnjak »

freedomben wrote: post #32
bb123 wrote: post #17

I’d like to offer the opposite perspective to many of the responses here. I regularly have 2 coffees a day, and I’ve taken month long breaks from it in the past. I’ve never experienced any of the severe withdrawal symptoms people often describe, with the exception of feeling a little sluggish on the first day. I did, however, miss the routine of preparing and drinking a warm aromatic beverage in the morning. I find i…

I completely agreed with you until I realized that caffeine was aggravating my anxiety. I went years not realizing this, so it's possible that for some people they're getting symptoms they haven't linked yet. Now that said, when I was younger I didn't have that problem and caffeine was a powerful tool in my toolbox for maximizing performance. Definitely glad to have it when needed.

I gave up caffeine for several months starting around October 2020. It was seriously aggravating my politics and COVID anxiety at that time. I did eventually go back to it last summer. I just like coffee and the kick that comes with it. I usually only drink one cup, sometimes two which strikes a good balance for me.

Re: Ask HN: Quit caffeine? Before and after anecdotes

#97

Post by Bradlinc »

Coffee increases my anxiety and anger but I love the taste and the ritual. I have quit multiple times only to come back after a couple of months. This usually occurs because I drink too much alcohol one night and need a pickup in the morning. In the last couple of years my alcohol consumption has gone down to next to nothing and three months ago I quit coffee again (hopefully for the last time). If I go cold turkey I get severe migraines for several days. To avoid the migraines I go from regular coffee, to de caffeinated coffee, to tea, to a root tea. Currently, I am trying to avoid a hot drink in the mornings. I have been successful for a week now but miss the ritual.

Re: Ask HN: Quit caffeine? Before and after anecdotes

#98

Post by Saris »

carom wrote: post #71

I've cut out a lot of foods permanently. Most notable are caffeine and sugar (sucrose, fructose). It will take a few tries but you're better off without it. Regarding caffeine, I would drink a lot of soda each day, like 4+ Mexican cokes. The first month is terrible. You will have an initial withdrawal, then just be in a slump. I am the type of programmer to work on side projects after work and I couldn't. I decided t…

I wonder how much of that was the sugar too.

Re: Ask HN: Quit caffeine? Before and after anecdotes

#99

Post by sdze »

hughrr wrote: post #76

Anecdotes it is. Quit caffeine in 2015. I was drinking coffee and red bull constantly. Felt like crap for about two weeks. Measurably no difference other than bank balance. Did a crap action film montage in 2019 and went from lard ass to super fit. Massive positive change in cognitive ability and mental health. Started drinking coffee again in 2021. Absolutely no change other than bank balance. Only difference is I k…

Chocolate has plenty of caffeine too ;)
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