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I quit caffeine

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Re: I quit caffeine

#241

Post by rcarmo »

kkjjkgjjgg wrote: post #167
rcarmo wrote: post #145

I'm one of those people who stopped taking 5-6 Espressos a day (an average amount for a Portuguese person, given that we imported Cimbalino machines from Italy a few decades ago and just couldn't kick the habit nationally). I did that for around 20 years (with occasional breaks), then progressively petered out to 2-3 cups a day and, last year, I finally removed the last Espresso (the breakfast one) from my diet. I sw…

I would think diet Coke to be much worse than coffee, am I wrong?

It has much less caffeine.

Re: I quit caffeine

#242

Post by qqqwerty »

carlgreene wrote: post #112

I quit caffeine about 8 weeks ago for mental health reasons. It has been TREMENDOUS so far. I'm still hesitant on writing about it because it's such a new experiment. When I was on caffeine I was on a lot of it. Probably around 400-600mg a day combining my pre workout with my daily coffees. It is one of my favorite drugs and I loved taking it. This was the last 15 years of my life. I became quite irritable over the p…

I quit over a year ago. Mostly for sleep reasons. I have cheated on my "caffeine fast" quite a bit though. I agree about the duller part, but that should go away eventually. One thing that helped, I used chicory root as a coffee substitute and I found replacing the routine helped fill the void a bit.

Also, I was originally hoping I could go back to 1 or 2 cups per week, on an "as needed" basis (i.e. when I needed a productivity boost) without developing a tolerance. The first cup of coffee after a few months off was absolutely magical. But I found that even at 1-2 per week, my tolerance would quickly shoot up. Like you, I used to drink a ton of coffee so I suspect I would need to take a full year or more off with no cheating to really reset the system.

A final note, I found that decaf and chocolate both have enough caffeine in them to "muddy" the waters so to speak. To get to a good "baseline" I had to cut both of those out as well.

Re: I quit caffeine

#244

Post by fleddr »

serf wrote: post #231
fleddr wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pure boredom. Compare it to BBQ culture. In simpler times, one would have a cheap metal grill and throw some raw meat on it. By the time it almost turns black, you'd eat it. Now people have a design baking skirt, a machine that can grill 50 things at once, temperature management, a slow cook schedule lasting days, hipster recipes for the sauce, and this doesn't even begin to describe what is now a "science". Bac…

>The only meaningful difference with high-end coffee is that those have a softer, smoother taste. Less bitter. That's it. respectfully disagree, and i'm not even a coffee snob -- just a life long addict who doesn't analyze, just drinks. Wine tastes like shit to me, but i'd never be so sure that my interpretation of it was correct that i'd try to explain why wine snobs exist. I understand there all wines have nuances…

No. there's only two coffee tastes: hard and soft.

Relax, I was intentionally simplifying. I am fine with people deeply exploring every nuance of every coffee, the only real challenge and pushback I have is that much of it is learned.

People think coffee at work (or any other "regular" coffee) is bad because somebody else said it. Not because they discovered this on their own. Likewise, discovering "better" coffee is not having superior taste buds, this too is largely acquired knowledge and taste.

I'd take this even further to say that the entire categories of coffee, wine, and beer are learned. If you'd take anybody from an uncontacted tribe and let them drink any of it, they'll think you're trying to poison them. It's not natural to our taste buds, and instinctively rejected. You actively need to be told and learned that all this stuff is actually very good, you just don't understand it yet.

If it's learned, it's malleable.

Re: I quit caffeine

#245

Post by commandlinefan »

rzimmerman wrote: post #26

Quitting caffeine cold-turkey is very unpleasant. It can take a full two weeks of withdrawal (bad headaches, general tiredness). I’ve had more success reducing the amount (3/4 caf -> 1/2 caf) over time. Anything more that 4 cups a day is probably unhealthy. Remember that 1 “cup” of coffee is actually 6 oz, so a normal coffee mug or latte is twice that. One coffee (2 “cups” or a latte) in the morning and one around 2p…

> 1 “cup” of coffee is actually 6 oz

Wait, 8 oz is a cup of anything else - why is a cup of coffee only 6?

Re: I quit caffeine

#246

Post by qqqwerty »

linsomniac wrote: post #63

I quit about the same time the author did, I stopped back in July or Aug. I never really had jitters. I'd drink 1-2 10 cup carafes in a day along with my wife, I'd drink the bulk of it. I decided to stop for two reasons: I sleep pretty crappy, and I was doing a bunch of other diet changes so I figured why not one more... Everyone is different, but in my case switching to decaf was pretty easy. I had headaches a coupl…

Just an anecdotal note. I also switched to decaf, but I found that even decaf had enough caffeine in it to impact my sleep. I didn't really notice any sleep improvements until I had cut out all sources of caffeine. YMMV of course, but if sleep is still an issue, might be worth a try. And just as a warning, I got worse withdrawal when I stopped the decaf then when I went from caf->decaf. That was very unexpected, but also might have been a sign that I was sensitive enough to even the small amount in decaf.

Re: I quit caffeine

#247

Post by jimmygrapes »

bduerst wrote: post #234
niklearnstodev wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a similar habit getting similar flak, but with another added reason. As a remote worker, going to a place every day (often leading to small interactions with others) helps replace replace some elements of working from an office (commute, small chats with other frequenters, the getting presentable ritual you mentioned, etc). I'll append a gripe to this and say that employers should allow "work-from-home budgets…

I've heard nicotine addiction described the same way by more than one person. It's not about the cigarettes, it's about the smoke break, which gets you away from your desk, outdoors, and socializing with strangers.

Adding one more data point for your anecdote. These are the exact reasons I started smoking, and the same excuses I use to continue (along with the newfound addiction of course). It weighs heavily into my cost/benefit analysis for smoking despite all known and experienced bad things about it.

Re: I quit caffeine

#248

Post by daxfohl »

maxk42 wrote: post #239
savanaly wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same for me but with sugar. Quit for a week, felt no different, went back to my usual (not particularly high) consumption. It's a bummer too because I had read so much strong criticism of sugar on HN and about how much it affects us without us realizing it, I thought maybe I'll actually feel something better which would be exciting! Nope, just bored because I had to cut out most of the interesting (to me) food in my…

I'll throw in my two cents as someone who quit sugar in the past six months: I wasn't really free of the addiction until more than two weeks had gone by. Since then I lost 20 lbs without exercising and I just have these periodic moments in the day when I feel a huge surge of energy. After a couple months I cut my total carb intake to Anyway, a week just annoyed the f outta me. I'd give it two or three weeks at least.…

Yeah I also quit sugar for like six months and wish I had stuck with it. If anything, the best part about it was the effect on decision fatigue. "Do I grab this snack while I'm in line or not", etc. No decision to make.

I guess I didn't stick because I didn't really "feel" different, and had a moment of weakness. I agree it takes a couple weeks to really get used to it but the cravings do eventually (mostly) go away.

Re: I quit caffeine

#249

Post by senectus1 »

It's interesting that caffeine is showing up in all sorts of things now.

you can buy panadol (headache tablets) with caffeine added now... protein bars with guarana (caffeine) etc etc.

about 20 years back I had what the doctors called a vasovagal fit. I was working long hours, drinking a LOT of caffeine loaded drinks (soda and coffee etc) and eating poorly.

It took weeks to recover and ever since then I've been watching my dependency on it. every now and again i go full cold turkey and cut any intake for a month or two then slowly get back into it.

I only drink Tea now as well, which helps. its a slower more cumbersome process to make it.

Re: I quit caffeine

#250

Post by fristechill »

JJMcJ wrote: post #215
fristechill wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've 'quit' tea and coffee for long periods. It only takes a small daily quantity of caffeine to eliminate the withdrawal headaches. One 'Pro Plus' pill per day is probably sufficient (50mg anhydrous caffeine), reduced to half a pill per day after a week, then nothing after two weeks. Pills don't trigger the addictive yearning as much as the full coffee experience does. There's still sleepiness to contend with, howev…

Coffee has effects beyond just the caffeine, in a way that caffeine pills or even tea do not.

It's the headaches I'm talking about.
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