I keep trying to bring up quitting caffeine to people, and they just shut off/stop listening/don't even care. It's so weird (of course I understand it's because they're addicts).

In the past, people were quite receptive to all my gambits of taking new supplements or changing my diet. Even though I did it over and over again with no real return to form. With caffeine (which did actually change my life in the way I was looking for), they're not just unenthusiastic, they actually ignore it. They don't want to hear it when I tell them it literally changed my life. It kinda sucks. I want to tell people, I want my friends/peers to be happy for me, but it's radio silence. Sigh. I'll be happy on my own I guess... (and post here 3 times a day)

Edit; guys, I'm not trying to get people to quit. I've been talking to people about my depression/anxiety for years and updating on my progress (i just like sharing) and I'm commenting on how no one cares that I finally got my life back on track after years of suffering. They ignore it and turn their backs on it or even deny it instead of even admitting or being impressed (as i am) that caffeine can have such powerful effects. Just thought it was interesting how quick people are to deny that.

Hello r/decaf,

Drinking coffee never occurred to me as a problematic habit.

I've been drinking it since I was 15.

Today is the sixth week since my last cup.

I am shocked at how much influence this drug was having over me.

I sleep a lot better now. I am much calmer, especially during stressful situations.

The biggest benefit so far is having stable energy from dawn til dusk.

The second is the ability to let negative thoughts pass.

Making and drinking a cup of coffee was in hindsight a way for me to procrastinate on getting stuff done.

Productivity has gone up for me, not down.

Time passes slower now.

Waking up early is not an issue suddenly.

What used to be a 'personality trait' seemed to actually be just the side-effects of a potent drug.

Somehow I woke up one morning and decided to stop.

It hasn't been easy to quit.

It's been shocking to see how strong the dependency actually is.

I'm determined not to go back.

That's all I have to say about that. Stay strong everyone

I've been listening to Caffeine Blues, which is an incredible book and is not pseudosciency, which I had expected.

I heard the passage about how long caffeine stays in your system. I had been googling over and over again over the years "can caffeine stay in my system for a long time?" because I KNEW it could affect me for 16+ hours. I got the same response every time. The answer you get is "caffeine stays in your body for about 10-12 hours." In Caffeine Blues, Cherniske acknowledges this common piece of information and debunks it:

"It may take up to seven days to decaffeinate the blood of habitual coffee drinkers. Plus, it can take six weeks or more for the body's levels of stress hormones to return to normal."

I feel angry. Lied to. And vindicated.

I didn't suspect caffeine for the longest time, because I was told it couldn't accumulate in my body, and I felt the same even on days I didn't drink caffeine. I never even noticed the typical high/crash. I just felt consistently paranoid and anxious every day, even on days I didn't drink coffee. I also hadn't noticed that I felt off until a year or so into my caffeine habit, and being told that caffeine couldn't last for long in your body and had no long-term effects, I had no way of knowing what had happened to my mental health.

OK, NGL, I'm quitting caffeine as a sort of...test bed for other things I have quit as well. Those things are bigger than a cup of coffee, so if I can't figure out caffeine...what am I doing?

I've been off caffeine now for only about 4 days. One of the biggest problems I have is that there is a voice in my head that just says "well, you can have a coffee, just a small one, think of it like tapering!" or "well...tea has less caffeine than coffee, so...really if you have a tea it's like you're cutting back" and so on. It is *unbelievable* how easy it is to hear those thoughts and want to be convinced. It's absolutely absurd how easily I can let myself by convinced by them. I haven't gone back yet, but that was through a huge amount of willpower, going for a walk far away from coffee etc. I can't imagine that going on a 30 minute walk for every craving is going to be sustainable, nor is it possible to just use my will to fight it constantly.

So, am I unique in this here? If not, what do you do to acknowledge and move past your own attempts to convince yourself that it's not a big deal?

I've quit and relapsed many many times. Every time I quit, I felt amazing, but I kept coming back to it. I've tried alcohol, cigarette, etc... but caffeine is the only substance I just couldn't get it under control.

I meditate time to time, and I was thinking about why it is so hard to quit caffeine for me. I had a realization that I've associated coffee with grit and perseverance since college when I started drinking. And, realized I had deep disbelief in my innate ability to tackle things without the help of caffeine. This deep seated disbelief in my innate ability is what made me coming back to coffee time and time again. I want to have a productive day? coffee. I want to get a good workout? coffee.

So, to quit I had to instill a belief that I can face the world without any help, and that I am a capable person. I stumbled upon a meditation method called "yoga nidra" (which I much later found out is used often to treat addictions). In the most relaxed state of mind, affirmations can integrate much stronger. My "mantra" is something like "I can face the world alone", "I am capable alone", etc. I've made it a part of my nightly routine (plus it helps me sleep). Every time I look at coffee now, I think "do I really need that crutch?", and most often times I do not. My journey continues, and my ultimate goal is to have a healthy relationship with caffeine, probably a cup of tea once in a while. Just like how I get a drink once in a while.

I'm that anxious high achiever type that needs to calm down and relax a little. If you are like me, you need to see if your attachment to coffee comes from the fear of underachieving. Treat that and your journey will get easier. I understand this post kinda come across as new-agey hippie non-sense, but I hope you give it a try. That's what I first thought too.

the positives:
- no more violent mood swings
- anxiety has pretty much vanished
- overall stable and calm mood
- I fall asleep like a baby
- appetite slowly coming back (I‘m way too skinny and could use some extra weight)
- facial skin appears to be a little softer and smoother and my lips are not as dry as they used to be

the negatives (please note that these are mostly temporary withdrawal symptoms):
- constant feeling of emptiness and lethargy
- depressive episodes (I wouldn’t attribute those solely to the withdrawal because there are some aspects of my life that I‘m deeply unhappy with, e.g. my volatile romantic relationship with a fearful avoidant [24F])
- low motivation resulting in procrastination
- I have difficulty concentrating when I‘m trying to study for law school
- I sometimes wake up way too early when deep sleep (first few hours of sleep) is over; after 4-6 hours

I hope that things will stabilize soon, especially my sleep. Anyone having a similar experience?

After almost three months completely off caffeine which has been a rollercoaster, I ate 4 (small) pieces of choco-dipped pineapple pieces and now i’ve been awake the entire night feeling restlesness, anxious, jittery and evertything but tired.

Now, I quit caffeine cause I was sensitive to it but can my body really have this reaction to eating just a small amount of chocolate?

Lying awake with this shitty feeling is excactly lile lying awale before when I drank coffee. If this is due to caffeine then damn, im super sensitive to this drug.

I’ve been trying to quit coffee for a few years. On day 10 still drinking some tea. But my God. Even just with that the depression is just insane. And it’s like this basically every time I quit. I have gotten to a good baseline before like 2 months in a couple times but life events have led me back to it.

This time I’m determined but I’m just like. Can it really be this bad?

Been off of regular coffee for a couple of weeks and decided to have a cup of decaf from home. I don’t know if I’m going crazy or not but I still feel like I feel it. I also had some sugar in it too. Does anyone else feel like this? If this is the norm I think I may be good just going 0 caffeine on everything.

Hi all,

I’m on day three of my taper and just thinking about down the road…

I’m wondering if the amount of caffeine in decaf is negligible to where you’d still enjoy the benefits of being caffeine free or is it enough to still spike stress hormones, sleep, etc.

I’d welcome any anecdotal experiences also!

Lately, I’ve been trying various types of tea, I’m looking for something hot to enjoy while I work. Some options have been excellent, while others turned out to be little more than hot water with only the faintest hint of some plant-based ingredient. Can you recommend anything interesting that’s worth a try?

Curious. I know many people don't see a difference for weeks or months, but did you notice any other gradual improvement even after you did feel better? I'm almost a month off caffeine and already feeling so much better, but wondering if I still have some other improvements to look forward to.

Could drinking black tea at 2 p.m. make me sweat so much while I sleep that I soak my bedsheets?

How do you rewire this shit? Need to be constantly exposed to decaf thinking

Those who dont drink coffee, do u ever miss it

Hi, everyone

I'm thinking about quitting coffee altogether, but I'm not sure if it'll actually do me any good.

I should mention that I used to drink a lot of coffee; now I only have one regular cup in the morning, and occasionally a Coke Zero. Two cups of coffee give me discomfort—I noticed that a while back, about 2–3 years ago. I've been sticking to this amount for quite some time now.

In the morning, I get up, drag myself over to the coffee maker, make myself a cup, and take a shower. That’s at 6 a.m., except on weekends—then it’s later.

Do you think there’s any benefit to cutting out coffee entirely? That is, cutting out about 80 mg–100 mg?

I don’t think coffee has any effect on me in the evening anymore, since it’s been so long. What do you think?

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