I cut caffeine out of my life completely when I went to see a psychiatrist about my anxiety problems and she told me one cup of coffee was enough to trigger a panic attack. A year later and I still don't consume it. I sleep better, go to bed and wake up on time, and have much more manageable energy levels throughout the day.
Just because it's socially accepted doesn't mean it isn't one hell of a drug.
1) Before you attempt to deal with a 'caffeine addiction', look at whether you have sugar addiction - which is far more dangerous for your health and more complicated to address.
2) Many of us don't get the amount of sleep we really need to function. Unless you sort that problem out first, you will just end up feeling sluggish and unproductive without the caffeine.
Thank you. I'm a habitual soda drinker, and I realized that after giving up caffeine (several times) it's really the taste of soda that brings me back; aka, getting my sugar fix throughout the day. I'm working on addressing this now even as I continue drinking caffeine, simply so I don't deplete myself of any self control.
Do you have any relevant articles on addressing sugar addiction? I'm not sure any grand strategies besides cold turkey.
I tried for years to give up an 8+ cup a day habit.
The first few times after a few days of no coffee I would be literally falling asleep at my desk at work.
Recently I went on a long vacation, and though I was drinking coffee, it was no where near as much as usual, and even that trickled off completely during the last week. At that point I thought I may as well try stopping completely - it was hard, but it's been about a month now, and I definitely feel the better for it.
The main benefit is just being able to wake up easily in the morning - previously I would wake up and feel groggy for 30 minutes or so. I'd feel normal after 30 minutes whether I had a coffee or not, but it still made waking up unpleasant. Now, as soon as my alarm goes off (and usually 10 minutes before) I'm wide awake and feeling alert. It's seriously life changing - no more hitting snooze 17 times in a row...
The downside is, I miss the taste of coffee. There's some cereal drinks that make a passable drink, but they're like a watered down, bad tasting substitute for the real thing =/
The good tasting coffee that I enjoyed encompassing a meal is what kept me on it as well. A good decaf can kick the habit. I even like my decaf more than a normal one.
I've been off coffee a few weeks ago like you are now and it had the same effects on me. For a long time I got back into normal sleeping habits without even doing anything for it. I just got sleepy in the evening.
Then I started drinking some normal coffee again to push the boundaries at night (learning, programming) and here I am. It's 6 in the morning and it'll be a few hours before I go to bed.
I've planned on decreasing my caffeine intake again - actually avoided coffee but kept drinking sugar-free caffeinated soda, but cold-turkey is definitely the better way and it's my end-goal to go caffeine-free anyway. So this article and the discussion here had at least some impact. ;-)
To clarify the last paragraph: From experience I actually have doubts that just lowering intake works for me. I'll need to find a good replacement for a cold coke zero, though. There is a decaf version of coke too, maybe I'll try that again, or I'll try to avoid soda completely.
"Some people get jumpy after drinking a single cup of coffee, while others can gulp down a Venti Americano without feeling a thing. Part of that variability is due to the development of tolerance by regular coffee drinkers; but there are genetic differences in how people metabolize caffeine as well."
Cold turkey from caffeine is hard, often involving lethargy and headaches for a few days.
But you can taper off. In my experience, tolerance/dependence can be reduced by acclimating to lower dosages without triggering the full withdrawal symptoms.
So when quitting, I've found it useful to progressively:
• substitute smaller coffees for larger
• mix in decaf grounds in growing proportion over several days
• substitute tea for coffee
• avoid caffeine between meals and have only one caffeinated drink at full meals
• get to just one drink in the morning and one to nurse all afternoon
• get to just one drink (usually tea) to nurse all day
After progressively less each day for a week or so, and reaching just a single cup-of-tea a day dosage, then cutting it off entirely becomes much easier, and no day of the process is like the worst day of cold turkey.
I have been off caffeine for 6 or so months now. I stopped cold-turkey before and went a whole year before joining my new job and free soda was too big to pass up.
I have found that being with caffeine has actually helped me tremendously, I don't feel jittery anymore, I am more alert, I am able to stay awake longer (that one was weird to me as well), I was less likely to feel mentally tired at the end of the day, and my sleep has never been better (although I still have a delayed sleep phase ... luckily my work lets me work on my own terms =))
I also kicked the soda habit, about 3 months after I kicked the caffeine habit, and it has also changed me. I drink a LOT of water now, and overall don't mind the taste. I stay away from most everything that contains high fructose corn syrup, and have found that I have less energy dips throughout my day, and since I can keep my blood sugar pretty constant throughout the day I don't have any major dips where I feel like I am crashing.
I used to be at the point where I would roll out of bed, drink a liter of Mountain Dew, then half a pot of coffee when I got to work, and at least another can or two of coke or something along those lines before lunch to try to kick-start my day. At some point I figured that I was dependent on caffeine much like a drug addict and that I did not like the fact that a chemical I was knowingly putting into my body was directing how I lived my life and what I bought for food.
Anti-caffeine bloggers are so annoying. There is nothing wrong with caffeine, it pretty much drives the modern world. Caffeine is a highly successful and safe nootropic and I'm convinced that people who tell you to stop it are the same people who would tell you to stop masturbating, or to take cold showers, or to sleep without a mattress.
There is no good reason to stop caffeine. If you want an extra boost, just drink more! Duh!
Repeated studies show caffeine to increase panic and anxiety symptoms in people with depression, panic disorder, and related mood disorders.
I stopped taking caffeine when my psychiatrist told me it was contributing to my anxiety problems. Went from several sleepless nights per week to falling asleep at the same (reasonable) hour every night.
Masturbation changes your testostron levels, so I some cases that might be beneficial. Cold showers influence your metabolic rate, so they can help with weightloss.
Sleeping on the floor may be better for your back, but honestly I don't know.
There seem to be genetic variances in how well you deal with caffeine. Some people definitely have problems with it. 23andMe claims a slightly increased risk for heart attacks for me in relation to caffeine, though I don't think it is so bad. But I do have a problem with caffeine. (According to 23andMe, I am a slow caffeine metabolizer - I suppose that means that I can't gulp down 8 cups without side effects, like some people claim doing).
Sure, you could use coffee strategically. But what do you have to give up to do it? [Decaf isn't really an option, whatever the author says at the end of the post].
I think there'd have to be a serious health negative to maintaining my coffee addiction before I feel it'd be worth skipping my morning latte.
Oh, and a sugar hit can have a very similar effect in my opinion.
Really? See, I drink mostly decaf espresso, and I'm pretty picky about my coffee, grind my own beans, etc. I can't tell a difference. If it's good coffee, it's good. If not, it's not, no matter decaf or regular. Am I the only one?
> I think there'd have to be a serious health negative
Not a health negative but you build a tolerance to it. So then when you actually "need" a caffeine boost you'll need more of it. So...you'll have to buy a bigger mug and deal with more sever headaches if you somehow go without it.
I am actually doing what the article suggests. I normally don't drink coffee (I drink tea) except when I need a boost, then wean myself off of it. Then I do get the headaches and I manage them buy drinking more tea than usual and taking aspirin.
I got off alcohol, can live without Red Bull but coffee always seems to find a way back into my life. The quality of sleep after being caffeine free for a week is amazing. But unless you set your own hours, that coffee becomes tempting when you're running low on sleep. I think I'll give it another go though.
I used to be addicted to caffeine. If I didn't have some before lunch I'd get a terrible headache. So I used caffeine pills to control my dosage and step off gradually.
One big benefit, I find that my hands are much steadier now. Helps tremendously when soldering.
I used to not drink coffee until a friend of mine introduced me to good coffee (i.e. not Maxwell House or Folgers). I normally only drink about 3 cups a week, usually in the afternoons, on busy days when I'm feeling sluggish. If I drink much more than that, I do notice that it loses its effect of waking me up, while simultaneously making it harder for me to sleep. It's kind of a shame, because I really enjoy the taste of good coffee now that I've found it. Making the perfect cup of coffee is a kind of art.
I quit caffeine cold turkey about 6 weeks ago. I was drinking one cup a day in the morning, and the odd afternoon cup.
My energy level skyrocketed about a week after I quit. I was waking up an hour earlier on average with no alarm clock, and wasn't groggy like I normally was.
Then Yesterday AM I had a cup in the morning to see what it was like, and I was a productivity madman. Definitely wont be going back to the daily cup, but I think once every couple weeks to get some crazy work done will be a great little trick up my sleeve!
The same benefits could probably be achieved by maintaing your current habits and then increasing sharply your caffeine intake at times when you need a boost. It's all relative, right?
Caffeine's main effect (though not the only one) is as an adenosine reuptake antagonist. That means that it makes it harder for your body to re-absorb adenosine in your bloodstream. Wikipedia has more detail, but effectively, your body will adapt to regular caffeine intake by increasing the number of adenosine receptor sites. So in the morning, when there is very little adenosine in your blood to begin with, more or less caffeine will not have much effect. But after you've been awake for a long time and there's more adenosine in your blood, increasing the amount of caffeine will not have as much effect because your body already has a lot more receptor sites, it's got some resistance to the effects. But decreasing the amount of caffeine will cause a "crash" where your body starts taking up lots of adenosine all at once.
So, keeping a baseline level of caffeine in your system causes your body to become resistant.
A good practice in general is to rotate your receptors. In this case would mean alternating between coffee, tea, and maté, because each has different analogs in different proportions.
"Drink coffee and then take a 15 minute nap.". Advice like this makes it hard to take this article seriously. It's also a little thin on the data. Sure, it's an article on caffeine, so it'll rank on the geek sites, but do you feel richer or empowered after reading it?
I used to drink about 5 cups of coffee a day. I stopped cold turkey and life didn't seem worth living. So I scaled back to one cup of really really FUCKING good coffee every day. Jamaican Blue Mountain roasted beans, $40 a pound. That's right bitches. The only thing more expensive has passed through the asshole of a small cat-like creature. You already know what it's called because you're a geek and you're smart. Hey, I like pussy, but that's taking it a little too far.
So I take my one cup of blue mountain black, no sugar, milk or other evil pollutants. Fresh ground, French pressed. And then it's tea for the rest of the day to segway from my morning caffeine kick in the ass to a righteous l-theanine zen buzz.
> That's right bitches. The only thing more expensive has passed through the asshole of a small cat-like creature. You already know what it's called because you're a geek and you're smart. Hey, I like pussy, but that's taking it a little too far.
Was this part really necessary to make your point?
The caffeine nap works. Well for me anyway.
Also helps with stopping you from sleeping longer then the recommended 20min (give or take) and falling into deep sleep.
Actually for the money, you can do better than Kopi Luwak or Jamaican Blue Mountain.
Cup of Excellence winners are always good, though it may be more expensive than Blue Mountain. I was given a sample to roast once. Something like $40/kg _green_. Otherwise just sample various beans from a speciality roaster.
If you're breaking a caffeine habit doesn't that imply that you are no longer drinking coffee? That's sort of like saying you are giving up on nicotine but will only have a smoke every now and then. My thinking is you either embrace you vice or avoid it — no?
Going through withdrawal effects right now. The effects of coffee are great, but they comes at a huge cost for me. Coffee and auto-immune diseases are a recipe for disaster (joint pains).
[+] [-] skimbrel|14 years ago|reply
Just because it's socially accepted doesn't mean it isn't one hell of a drug.
(If you want a citation for caffeine's anxiogenic effects: http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/145/5/6...)
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] Havoc|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sn0wright|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] yannis|14 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] dotBen|14 years ago|reply
1) Before you attempt to deal with a 'caffeine addiction', look at whether you have sugar addiction - which is far more dangerous for your health and more complicated to address.
2) Many of us don't get the amount of sleep we really need to function. Unless you sort that problem out first, you will just end up feeling sluggish and unproductive without the caffeine.
[+] [-] tiles|14 years ago|reply
Do you have any relevant articles on addressing sugar addiction? I'm not sure any grand strategies besides cold turkey.
[+] [-] davesmylie|14 years ago|reply
Recently I went on a long vacation, and though I was drinking coffee, it was no where near as much as usual, and even that trickled off completely during the last week. At that point I thought I may as well try stopping completely - it was hard, but it's been about a month now, and I definitely feel the better for it.
The main benefit is just being able to wake up easily in the morning - previously I would wake up and feel groggy for 30 minutes or so. I'd feel normal after 30 minutes whether I had a coffee or not, but it still made waking up unpleasant. Now, as soon as my alarm goes off (and usually 10 minutes before) I'm wide awake and feeling alert. It's seriously life changing - no more hitting snooze 17 times in a row...
The downside is, I miss the taste of coffee. There's some cereal drinks that make a passable drink, but they're like a watered down, bad tasting substitute for the real thing =/
[+] [-] hacketyhack|14 years ago|reply
I've been off coffee a few weeks ago like you are now and it had the same effects on me. For a long time I got back into normal sleeping habits without even doing anything for it. I just got sleepy in the evening.
Then I started drinking some normal coffee again to push the boundaries at night (learning, programming) and here I am. It's 6 in the morning and it'll be a few hours before I go to bed.
I've planned on decreasing my caffeine intake again - actually avoided coffee but kept drinking sugar-free caffeinated soda, but cold-turkey is definitely the better way and it's my end-goal to go caffeine-free anyway. So this article and the discussion here had at least some impact. ;-)
To clarify the last paragraph: From experience I actually have doubts that just lowering intake works for me. I'll need to find a good replacement for a cold coke zero, though. There is a decaf version of coke too, maybe I'll try that again, or I'll try to avoid soda completely.
[+] [-] Ideka|14 years ago|reply
You can always put it in your mouth, and then spit it out.
[+] [-] lusr|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pella|14 years ago|reply
“Coffee, I Must Have Coffee…”
http://spittoon.23andme.com/2011/04/18/coffee-i-must-have-co...
--
"Caffeine Consumption "
https://www.23andme.com/health/caffeine-consumption/
--
"Caffeine Metabolism"
https://www.23andme.com/health/Caffeine-Metabolism/
"Some people get jumpy after drinking a single cup of coffee, while others can gulp down a Venti Americano without feeling a thing. Part of that variability is due to the development of tolerance by regular coffee drinkers; but there are genetic differences in how people metabolize caffeine as well."
---
http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Caffeine
[+] [-] gojomo|14 years ago|reply
But you can taper off. In my experience, tolerance/dependence can be reduced by acclimating to lower dosages without triggering the full withdrawal symptoms.
So when quitting, I've found it useful to progressively:
• substitute smaller coffees for larger
• mix in decaf grounds in growing proportion over several days
• substitute tea for coffee
• avoid caffeine between meals and have only one caffeinated drink at full meals
• get to just one drink in the morning and one to nurse all afternoon
• get to just one drink (usually tea) to nurse all day
After progressively less each day for a week or so, and reaching just a single cup-of-tea a day dosage, then cutting it off entirely becomes much easier, and no day of the process is like the worst day of cold turkey.
[+] [-] X-Istence|14 years ago|reply
I have found that being with caffeine has actually helped me tremendously, I don't feel jittery anymore, I am more alert, I am able to stay awake longer (that one was weird to me as well), I was less likely to feel mentally tired at the end of the day, and my sleep has never been better (although I still have a delayed sleep phase ... luckily my work lets me work on my own terms =))
I also kicked the soda habit, about 3 months after I kicked the caffeine habit, and it has also changed me. I drink a LOT of water now, and overall don't mind the taste. I stay away from most everything that contains high fructose corn syrup, and have found that I have less energy dips throughout my day, and since I can keep my blood sugar pretty constant throughout the day I don't have any major dips where I feel like I am crashing.
I used to be at the point where I would roll out of bed, drink a liter of Mountain Dew, then half a pot of coffee when I got to work, and at least another can or two of coke or something along those lines before lunch to try to kick-start my day. At some point I figured that I was dependent on caffeine much like a drug addict and that I did not like the fact that a chemical I was knowingly putting into my body was directing how I lived my life and what I bought for food.
[+] [-] tripzilch|14 years ago|reply
Free soda at work?? Do they really not care about their employees health at all?
Caffeine is one thing but having your employees guzzle HFCS throughout the day ... does the job come with a healthcare plan? That covers diabetes? :)
[+] [-] forensic|14 years ago|reply
There is no good reason to stop caffeine. If you want an extra boost, just drink more! Duh!
[+] [-] skimbrel|14 years ago|reply
Repeated studies show caffeine to increase panic and anxiety symptoms in people with depression, panic disorder, and related mood disorders.
I stopped taking caffeine when my psychiatrist told me it was contributing to my anxiety problems. Went from several sleepless nights per week to falling asleep at the same (reasonable) hour every night.
[+] [-] tomjen3|14 years ago|reply
Sleeping on the floor may be better for your back, but honestly I don't know.
[+] [-] Tichy|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tmeasday|14 years ago|reply
I think there'd have to be a serious health negative to maintaining my coffee addiction before I feel it'd be worth skipping my morning latte.
Oh, and a sugar hit can have a very similar effect in my opinion.
[+] [-] zheng|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rdtsc|14 years ago|reply
Not a health negative but you build a tolerance to it. So then when you actually "need" a caffeine boost you'll need more of it. So...you'll have to buy a bigger mug and deal with more sever headaches if you somehow go without it.
I am actually doing what the article suggests. I normally don't drink coffee (I drink tea) except when I need a boost, then wean myself off of it. Then I do get the headaches and I manage them buy drinking more tea than usual and taking aspirin.
[+] [-] ryan-allen|14 years ago|reply
I drink 6-8+ cups a day and I have pretty severe sleeping problems.
I love the taste as well, but I certainly don't get a 'buzz' out of it anymore. I just.. drink it.
The advantages seemingly to give it up as a daily habit is the ability to sleep better, and to actually get a kick when you drink it.
Maybe I'll give kicking it it a try, ugh!
[+] [-] parallel|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] espressodude|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] flocial|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] learc83|14 years ago|reply
One big benefit, I find that my hands are much steadier now. Helps tremendously when soldering.
[+] [-] kellishaver|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] binarymax|14 years ago|reply
My energy level skyrocketed about a week after I quit. I was waking up an hour earlier on average with no alarm clock, and wasn't groggy like I normally was.
Then Yesterday AM I had a cup in the morning to see what it was like, and I was a productivity madman. Definitely wont be going back to the daily cup, but I think once every couple weeks to get some crazy work done will be a great little trick up my sleeve!
[+] [-] thurn|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sp332|14 years ago|reply
So, keeping a baseline level of caffeine in your system causes your body to become resistant.
[+] [-] tmeasday|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Alex3917|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cincinnatus|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] swah|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] d2|14 years ago|reply
I used to drink about 5 cups of coffee a day. I stopped cold turkey and life didn't seem worth living. So I scaled back to one cup of really really FUCKING good coffee every day. Jamaican Blue Mountain roasted beans, $40 a pound. That's right bitches. The only thing more expensive has passed through the asshole of a small cat-like creature. You already know what it's called because you're a geek and you're smart. Hey, I like pussy, but that's taking it a little too far.
So I take my one cup of blue mountain black, no sugar, milk or other evil pollutants. Fresh ground, French pressed. And then it's tea for the rest of the day to segway from my morning caffeine kick in the ass to a righteous l-theanine zen buzz.
Drugs are good. Smart drug use is better.
[+] [-] Alex3917|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chollida1|14 years ago|reply
Was this part really necessary to make your point?
The rest of your post was spot on:)
[+] [-] handelaar|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] semerda|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] qohen|14 years ago|reply
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak
[+] [-] 2muchcoffeeman|14 years ago|reply
Cup of Excellence winners are always good, though it may be more expensive than Blue Mountain. I was given a sample to roast once. Something like $40/kg _green_. Otherwise just sample various beans from a speciality roaster.
[+] [-] InclinedPlane|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bkudria|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] michaelpinto|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] biot|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Havoc|14 years ago|reply