Today I have gone without coffee for 30 days.
It’s been an interesting experiment.
I started drinking coffee at a pretty late age, probably around 22 or 23.
Since then I’ve consumed three cups or more every day.
Lately I’ve become more interested in my own personal energy. And being hooked on coffee is a bit like the curve above. 
So I wanted to see how getting rid of the coffee would affect my energy, mood and effectiveness.
I know that some get off coffee by slowly decreasing the amount of coffee they consume each week and perhaps by replacing it with tea or non-caffeinated alternatives.
I took another approach.
30 days ago I came down with a bad cold and pretty much knew that I would spend a few days in bed doing nothing more than reading and watching some TV.
I also knew that going without coffee would make me very sleepy.
So I combined the two things. I stopped drinking coffee and then I was sleeping a lot the next few days.
This made it easier to get through the most unpleasant days of sneezing and having a fever. And since I wasn’t doing anything special anyway it was OK to feel drowsy and sleep a lot.
Towards the end of that week my cold had decreased in power and so had my sleepiness.
Since then it’s been no problem to not drink coffee and I have experienced some positive benefits. The big one is that my ability to focus has improved. That has affected my life in a few ways:
- It has become easier to focus just on the task in front of me and shut out the rest of the distractions.
- I’m less prone to procrastination. I didn’t really notice it while I was drinking coffee but my mind seemed to wander off in all kinds of ways a lot of the time. Now it’s easier to single-task and focus on one thing and I don’t feel the same need to check email or other distracting stuff.
- I’m calmer. I’m a calm person to begin with but getting off coffee calmed and slowed my brain down. So I feel more relaxed more of the time. And it’s easier to think with clarity.
Getting of coffee has been a positive experience for me. It’s actually had more of a positive effect than I would have expected. I thought I would feel a little less stressed overall but it has made a significant dent in my ability to focus and concentrate. I also used to feel tired after a meal and used coffee immediately after the meal to boost my energy levels. Now I have a much more even energy-curve throughout the day.
So I’ll continue to stay coffee free and perhaps sprinkle in a cup of green tea or two once in while. I would recommend trying to go coffee free for 30 days and see how it affects your mind, body and life.
One way is do it like I did and go cold-turkey (perhaps the next time you’re ill or during some vacation days over the holidays). Another way is the one where you slowly decrease the amount of coffee you consume each week. And perhaps replace some of the coffee with less caffeinated teas or a couple of cups of decaf. If you get bad withdrawal symptoms then the second method may be the most useful one.
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I quit caffeine while I was pregnant almost cold turkey. It wasn’t intentional, I just lost the taste for it. I say almost because I would drink a soda only when I got withdrawal headaches. Since I didn’t really have any desire for it except to get rid of the headache, it was purely medicinal.
Two months later I miscarried and now I’m back up to 3-4 sodas a day. Darnit.
Bravo for getting rid of coffee!
I’m still struggling to get rid of caffeine. I took the plunge on removing soda a while back, but that was more about the sugar. It’s been my experience that while you can work with either method (cold turkey or gradual), how you react to the shock is the telling factor in which one will work the best for you.
Great job!
It’s extremely difficult to break any addiction, but when you do, you get an immense feeling of freedom and liberation.
If you work out, I’m sure you notice a difference there as well?
Timely post. I am on day 39 without coffee. I only drank a couple of cups a day and don’t notice such pronounced positive effects but, still I am glad I stopped and I certainly don’t miss it. I especially don’t miss the twice daily Starbuck’s tax I had been paying.
Wow, this was timely. I just returned from my doc’s office who explained that the heart flutters, sleeplessness, fatigue, breathlessness, and inability to concentrate is all linked back to my caffeine intake. And after all the expensive heart tests!
I had a *major* coffee addiction. I wasn’t feeling wired, but I just started feeling really yucky. It felt like all the coffee was turning me into a human garbage dump.
The previous times I had tried to quit I found myself giving into the caffeine lure and starting up again.
So I finally found the trick that worked: I realized that I really didn’t need to quit caffeine, I needed to quit *coffee*. So I gave myself full permission to have all the caffeine I wanted, and switched to very strong black tea.
It worked really well. I’m drinking a LOT of tea now (mostly green tea now) - We’re talking about 10-14 standard cups brewed very, very strong. Maybe I’m getting even MORE caffeine that before, but I’m sleeping better, and generally feel a lot better.
Some day I’ll deal with the issue of self-medicating myself with caffeine, but until then this is a pretty good solution for me.
Interesting article man. I posted this one last week entitled:
“Coffee Drinkers Beware: Facts About Caffeine you Did Not Know”. You should check it out. Here the link:
http://www.wethechange.com/coffee-drinkers-beware-facts-about-caffeine-you-did-not-know/
Enjoy man and stick with it!
Todd Goldfarb
Founder, We The Change
Coffee puts the system under the strain of metabolizing a deadly acid-forming drug, depositing its insoluble cellulose, which cements the wall of the liver, causing this vital organ to swell to twice its proper size. In addition, coffee is heavily sprayed. (Ninety-two pesticides are applied to its leaves.) Diuretic properties of caffeine cause potassium and other minerals to be flushed from the body.
All this fear went away when I quit, and it was a book that inspired me to do it called The Truth About Caffeine by Marina Kushner. There are five things I liked about this book:
1) It details–thoroughly–the ways in which caffeine may damage your health.
2) It reveals the damage that coffee does to the environment. Specifically, coffee was once grown in the shade, so that trees were left in place. Then sun coffee was introduced, allowing greater yields but contributing to the destruction of rain forests. I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere else.
3) It explains how best to go off coffee. This is important. If you try cold turkey, as most people probably do, the withdrawal symptoms will likely drive you right back to coffee.
4) Helped me find a great resource for the latest studies at CaffeineAwareness.org
5) Also, if you drink decaf you won’t want to miss this special free report on the dangers of decaf available at www.soyfee.com
ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! Specially STARBUCKS COFFEE. ULTRA CONCENTRATE…I noticed that coffee perks me up and then gets me unfocused and depressed…May be STARBUCKS puts PAXIL in it!!!
I remember when I went to FRANCE during Summer since STARBUCKS WAS NOT THERE, I did not drink coffee at all.
My body after a week did feel better, MY HAIR STOPPED FALLING?? generally speaking I felt better…I noticed VERY FEW MEN are bald or balding there…..
Return to the US and guess what COFFEE COFFEE STARBUCKS etc…side effect? Irritability, depression, wandering mind.
BRAVO FOR THE BLOG!!@!
I quit coffee and most caffeinated sodas when I hiked the Appalachian Trail. It was totally cold turkey, and at most I had coffee and tee maybe 10 times over the course of 6 months. I did not have any withdrawal. I did discover Yerba Mate. Which is from South America, and supposedly it gives you a more mellow and longer lasting “high” so to speak. I have not crashed like I used to after drinking coffee. I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure it’s not going to stain my teeth as badly as coffee.
I can’t believe I get so much valuable information from here, I’m coffee addicted until I drink 2-3 times per day. I even lost my control sometimes and drink it before I sleep. What a nightmare, you’ll have a BADDD time sleeping.
After reading this post, I decided to quit caffine entirely but it seems to be so hard. I’m still wondering how it’s feel not drinking it by tomorrow morning.
Anyway, i’ll give my best try and I should be posting this to my blog. Great stuff!
Thank you all for your comments and for sharing your experiences with coffee.
Kevin: What kind of difference were you thinking about?
Stephen: I’ve become a little curious about Yerba Mate since I’ve read Tim Ferriss praising it so I’ll probably give it a try sometime. Thanks for sharing your experience.
And good luck with giving up coffee, Kenneth.
I am two weeks coffee free and found this article very interesting. I decided to quit because I didn’t like how dependant I was on coffee and also because I’m doing yoga and trying to eat healthy. I had no idea that the heart palpitations I was experiencing were because of coffee! I thought about it after reading this article and realized I haven’t had any in two weeks! Interesting. I’m more determined than ever to stay off coffee. My wallet is a little heavier now that I’m not going to Starbucks several times a week, too.
I quit cold turkey like you. Three days of major headaches, but that is all gone now and I feel great. I also realized I’ve been concentrating better at work. Who would have thought? Thanks for filling in the blanks for me.
I used to drink coffee and diet Pepsi all the time, after work I wouldn’t drink any caffeinated drinks. I would sleep OK. When I woke up in the morning I didn’t feel tired as such, but my head definitively felt very fuzzy, I didn’t put this down to what I was drinking at the time….
I’ve read a lot of bad stories over the last year about the additives in Pepsi (and Coke), so one day I decided to cut out diet Pepsi. Now I drink fizzy water with a splash of fruit juice added. I still drink a cup of strong coffee (black no sugar) in the morning and sometimes in the early afternoon.
One day I ran out of coffee, but had some Pepsi Max in the house that I keep when friends come over, so I drank the Pepsi Max instead. Yuck - All I could taste was the sweeteners, it tasted far, far too sweet. The next morning I had that same ‘not tired, but fuzzy’ feeling again!
I have no idea what caused my bad feeling in the morning, but I do feel a lot better for cutting out ALL drinks that contain anything man-made and reducing my caffeine intake dramatically. Also getting up in the morning is a lot easier now.
For me, I found quiting diet Pepsi very difficult because water was just too boring, and I’ve never liked drinking too much fruit juice as it contains too much sugar. The real break through was drinking fizzy water with a splash of orange juice. (1 part OJ, 10 parts fizzy water). Initially I did miss Pepsi, until my taste buds adjusted. I really enjoy my replacement drink.
I’ve found a few cordials in the UK that don’t have any junk in them, except they contain a TONNE of sugar - but its nice to have a treat now and again (Elderflower is my favorite). The only additive I do allow is Citric Acid, which is found naturally in lemon juice.
Nice post and thoughtful comments. I became very coffee sensitive a while ago, and have quit for the past 7 years or so. I actually found that when I got my mind quiet enough I found a background of tension, anxiety and restlessness. It was definitely the coffee. It gives you energy but it’s not exactly a productive energy. Also, notice how sometimes you have a coffee and it does the opposite. You feel even more tired than before! Then there’s the addiction symptoms in the morning, with that tired brain until you get the next hit. Many people are making themselves sick, poor and, worst of all, ugly with this stinking bean. I’ve recently been converted to Yerba Mate: the South American drink. It has some amazing healthful properties. You get the lift of coffee, but no crash. It’s a calmer, clearer energy. It’s green, and can taste a little bitter. There’s many ways of preparing it, but I prefer the traditional gourd technique. You can find instructions on how to do it on youtube. The strange thing about Mate is that I find I have more energy, wake up less tired, need less sleep, and don’t suffer the side effects of coffee, including the irrationality, jitters, unfocused energy, bad breath, lineups at Starbucks, and that high coffee tax. Let’s face it, this stuff is a serious drug. It’s making many of us crazy and we line up for it!
It been about 6 1/2 years for me. When my son was born my wife was in labor for 36 hours and I had the worst headaches, but didn’t want to leave the room. After that I just kept going. It took a long time before I didn’t feel like I needed the coffee (more like 6 months). I agree with the benefits that have been expressed and have also experienced a significant decrease in blood pressure. It was never quite in the high range, but the doc always commented on it. Now I just get told it’s perfect. All I’ve needed to keep decaffeinated.
Want a drug that could lower your risk of diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and colon cancer? That could lift your mood and treat headaches? That could lower your risk of cavities?
If it sounds too good to be true, think again.
Coffee, the much maligned but undoubtedly beloved beverage, just made headlines for possibly cutting the risk of the latest disease epidemic, type 2 diabetes. And the real news seems to be that the more you drink, the better.
Read the whole article: http://men.webmd.com/features/coffee-new-health-food
Sigh. It’s discouraging to read of more people who cannot handle themselves enough to do things in moderation — to where their only answer is to go cold turkey.
It’s as if we are a society of people incapable of moderation anymore. It’s either gorge ourselves to obscene gluttony or define our identity in the negative — by the things we don’t do, don’t eat, or give up.
And the problem is never the item people obsessively consume — it’s the inability to moderate ourselves. Making the cold turkey “solution” much like the gay man who becomes a priest, thinking that will cure him of his homosexuality. It just avoids the problem rather than face it head-on.
We so sorely and sadly lack the willpower to moderate ourselves at much of anything these days it seems.
This is great, everyone should quit drinking coffee, it’s obviously bad for you.
I quit drinking coffee also about 2 months ago. I am 17 and started drinking coffee around age 15 3/4. I went into a mild depression and started getting angry all the time when I was 16, not knowing the problem and just thinking that this was a stage. So I sat down and thought about it. Why is my mind flying around like cotton in the air? Well… I did start drinking coffee.. and KABAM. I got off coffee in the morning and had switched to just an apple, yes an apple. It has been proved to wake you up just like a cup of coffee would. After that day it took about a week to get back to my natural energy which was around age 15. Right now I feel terrific, not depressed, no mood swings, not angry, I feel smarter and can also concentrate more, I am also getting better grades in school and can do my homework… So what makes coffee so good???? nothing at all. Hey, I can even fall asleep faster!! I am just right now a very happy person… YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
I agree with Swag regarding our seeming inability to do much of anything these days in moderation. It does seem that in this day and age most of us have become extremists in many of the things that we do. It is either all or none - we either overindulge or we deny ourselves altogether.
I drink coffee rather heavily at times. I find the positive effects it has on me outweigh any negative ones. Despite the article link that Todd provided regarding the negative effects of caffeine, there have indeed been scientific studies showing positive health effects of caffeine and coffee. I am not saying that there are not also studies showing a negative health effect also, because there are. In to addition coffee being rich in antioxidants, there have been studies showing a positive effect on athletic performance as well as on improvements in memory recall. There are quite a few other studies showing other health benefits of coffee.
That being said, it is probably best to drink coffee in moderation.
Thanks for the thought provoking post.
I have been drinking coffee for 8 years now and ca n’t do anything until i’ve had that first strong morning cup. My workouts are twice as good at the gym and it gets the system moving and my mind is much sharper. Recently i did a 1 day detox and part of the instructions were, no coffee. I thought yep i can do this for a day. I had a migrane headache and was nauseous for hours. The withdrawal symptoms were that bad that i thought, now lets be honest with myself this stuff really can’t be good for you. Today I am on my 12th day without coffee. I miss the confidence that i feel and the get up and go that i have after my first cup and i must admit my mind is still a bit fuzzy in the morning, normally a cup of coffee would clear that, this has been a difficult thing for me to give-up but i wanted to lose the dependency that i had developed for this. I was once told by a health practitioner that a cup of coffee was actually beneficial for my body type and chose to cling to this belief for a long time. However after experiencing the withrdrawal symtoms that i mentioned i really needed to question this for myself. I am proud of myself for having the will power to push through this addiction and look forward to continuing to see how the benefits of not having coffee effect my health in the long term and to find out for myself whether 1 cup a day is beneficial for my body type or whether this is just rubbish!!
This is day 24 without coffee for me. For two weeks, I take a motrin in the morning when Im not drinking coffee - its the only way I can get through the caffeine headache. Then I’m alright. Ive kicked coffee twice before, when I was pregnant. I go back saying only one cup a day, but it climbs up…and then Im back to the headaches and nausea when I dont have caffeine by 10am. Im definitely more calm. To the point where I keep napping. Maybe I’ll exercise more and see if that helps. Otherwise, I may just go back…
I want to quit coffe, I’m going to quit coffee, in the past five years I’ve quit my other more harmful addictions and this is my last one and it’s been the toughest so far. I’ve almost quit before but started drinking cola and was worse, so I went back to coffee…
Caffeine has scarred my flawless skin with beakouts and I still can’t stop… It causes me 3 morning trips to the pooper, and it doesn’t even get me perky most of the time,it almost has the opposite effect, I get really tired.
I’ve searched for the cons of coffee online before and didn’t find much bad press for coffee, but today I searched for how to quit and found this great site.
I’m going to quit, I can do it, wish me luck and send me your prayers!
Me again… I set a quit date which was this past Saturday, and I’ve had a headache and all I want to do is sleep. I drag myself from the bed to the couch and back and when I had to go out to lunch, I was so groggy… Hopefully this will pass soon and I’ll be free.
Thanks again, your site inspired me.
Thank you for your story. I’m in the process of quitting and it’s nice to read about others experiences. I have weaned myself down on my coffee intake over the last five days now; had one cup today, and tomorrow I’m debating on black tea or just cold-turkey the rest of the way. My withdrawal symptoms haven’t been too bad. I’m in my mid 30’s and have drank coffee for over 10 years; usually 2-4 cups per day. I started my reduced intake at 2 cups five days ago. Last night and tonight my stomach feels upset and have felt mild -mod. headache. Throughout this week I have had less energy, but in a strange way have felt better. I’m off work for 2 weeks so I thought this would be a great time to quit. I’ve always had problems sleeping so I hope this will help, and I want to just feel calmer and more even throughout the day. I think the withdrawal hasn’t been to bad so far, because I’m a pretty healthy eater and try to limit sugar. Coffee became less appealing to me a few months ago when I quit eating dairy products. Coffee just isn’t the same to me drinking it black, and it’s been irritating my stomach more. I’m excited about being caffeine free. I bought this product called Teeccino sampler pack- (herbal coffee-type drink) that you make in your coffee maker; so far the flavors are decent; it’s nice to have the morning ritual of something hot to drink- but I might not even continue with that. Good luck to every one!
Thanks to all you quitters. I am joining your ranks as of today and wow–what a headache! I passed my first kidney stone yesterday and did some research on to what might be contributing to this in my diet. One thing I discovered was that my Silk soy milk guzzling habit (3 times and more a day in coffee mostly but also alone or on cereal–love the stuff) might not be helping matters, so I am sadly giving up soy milk and tofu (diet staples of mine if you can believe it). I don’t know if coffee is high in oxalates or whether it played a part in my kidney stone formation, but if I have to give up soy milk, then I figure I’ll take advantage of the situation and cut out coffee too. Main reasons are some insomnia troubles and just grog-city in the mornings. Been too long dependent. I understand tea is high in oxalates (what sometimes contributes to stones) so I’m going cold turkey. I really look forward to experiencing my body and mind without caffiene/coffee. So thanks for the inspiration and for sharing your experiences. I guess I have a few more days of headaches to go–
I quit alcohol for 2008 and felt better but realised that beneath that I was still short-changing myself because I consumed caffeine.
I’ve drunk green/white tea for the last few years and suspected, it’s only obvious in retrospect, that caffeine, even in the smallest quantities really screws me up.
I went cold turkey about 10 days ago. For the first 2 days I had a terrible headache. 3 and 4 I felt depressed. It wasn’t until day 8 that I began to feel great.
For anyone considering quitting caffeine, I highly recommend it.
You will get the natural high of being alive and not having your perceptions altered artificially.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
I quit caffeine last september. Since then, I have been very unmotivated and depressed. Many people have reported these symptoms, but typically for only a few months. I started counseling, but the counselor doesn’t have any suggestions except to put me on anti-depressants. But how is getting on anti-depressants any better than being on caffeine?
So here’s my question to you: How many of you have had these symptoms? How long did it take for them to go away? What did you do, if anything, to make them go away faster? Thanks.
I am your classic coffee addict- here I am online looking for methods of quitting yet I addicted to the negative and positive experiences it gives me.
I have suffered from clinical anxiety yet I still drink the stuff. Its almost a part of my identity- such is my sensitivity and degree of familiarity with it. Unfortunately so to is some degree of anxiousness.
is there some substance you can ingest that makes coffee
taste so foul you would prefer not to drink it?
If so, let me know.
quitting coffee definetely has been well worth it. i am on my 46th day without caffeine, and yes, ive been keeping count, and im finally starting to feel its affects! Finally the confusion and the brain fog are BEGINNING to lift. Gradually, but nonetheless, they are lifting. ive noticed i am paying more attention to life now. For example, every morning i ride my bike 2.5 miles to work, and rather than bitch and moan like i used too, i instead check out all of my surroundings and truly appreciate what has been so freely given to me. yeah….. its neat. im beginning to appreciate life again. the only con that i have with this whole ordeal is that it seems as if since i quit that my memory is toast!!! i can read something, a paragraph or two, and all of a sudden completely draw a blank on what i just read!!! it blows.lol but hey, im actually finding humor in it rather than allowing it to agitate me, which is a miracle in itself. i know that the good times are finally beginning to outweigh the bad, and that my friends is what makes it all worthwhile. (life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we deal with it)Attitude is key to this whole journey. good luck and god bless to all of you. thanks a million.
Hello my name is Coffeeless for 5 days now. I have been drinking coffee since I was 17. I use to drink anywhere between 2-8 cups a day before I was 24 and then cut it back to 2-4 cups a day after a 3-wk headache episode that almost had my aunt drive me to an accupuncurist.
I’m really glad to find this forum because I wanted to know there were other people like myself going through something similar no matter how funny that sounds. My worst symptom was yesterday’s headache that put me to bed at 7:30 to 7am today, but other than that, I’m starting to come out of the fog and into life. I know it sounds corny, but I really do feel a lot less crabby and the concentration has been amazing. I’m sure the results varies for everybody, but I definitely can say quitting coffee has been a positive change for me.
I hope I can stay coffee free because it’s always so tempting when it’s everywhere and so accessible. Hahaha…yes, the words of an ex-coffee drinker coming “alive”.
Randy lee,
How long had you been drinking coffee?
You mentioned that you draw a blank while reading…I find that too while being ON coffee. But yet I find it off as well, it’s odd. It is as if some thoughts operate better on caffeine, and some thoughts worse, and likewise with abstinence.
I think this could shed some light on caffeine’s effects: heart palpitations cause thoughts to occur more frequently, and so drinking caffeine/coffee chronically and especially at certain times of the day, we have a tendency to think certain thoughts. Since caffeine affects the rate of our thoughts, we become accustomed to thinking certain thoughts at a faster rate, and therefore when we’re off caffeine we can’t think the same thought paths at the same rate, for the thoughts we could leisurely have before at a fast pace, we find ourselves running into a brick wall of thought, and having to step back and recollect, which requires actual thinking for thoughts that we normally would have instantly.
I think this is a serious problem, and since I personally am caffeinated 50% of the day and have been for the past 3 or 4 years, I find half the time I can’t think thoughts that I could easily think caffeinated, and when I try to bring myself up to speed,…wait it just happened again. See what I mean? Lol.
I’ve become a bit of a scatterbrain. It’s sad because I hold intelligence in such high regard and I don’t think caffeine has really effected my knowledge base, just the way I deliver it, which makes me look like I don’t know what I’m talking about when in reality I have gotten used to thinking too slow or too fast and I can’t keep up with the rate of thought that I’m discussing.
Anyone else find this?
Please read the benefits of coffee.
Thanks for the post! I didn’t really start drinking coffee on a regular basis until I was around 45(5 years ago)because prior to that I used to drink 1 cup and have trouble sleeping. I usually drink around 2-3 cups a day and didn’t notice any problems until I had a job change which required meeting lots of deadlines. I thought this constant background anxiety, nervousness, short temper, and poor sleep was just due to the job but I noticed even on vacations and weekends I just couldn’t relax and enjoy things like I used to. I also noticed I could get lots of little things done but for projects which require alot of focused attention I would become very uncomfortable because too many outside thoughts would come racing in. Last month I just gave up all caffeine and I’m amazed at how calm and focused I am. I didn’t get the headaches like others here have mentioned. Maybe I just got lucky and stopped it before I became addicted. Anyway, for anyone who is having trouble with emotional/focus issues, maybe you have this same caffeine sensitivity that I do. Isn’t worth at least quitting for awhile to see if there is a change?
i used to drink 1-2 cups of coffee a day depending on the strength of the brew and then add in a coke in the afternoon to get me through the crash.
then i switched to one coke per day, which was very hard as i was being hit with withdrawals that one coke didn’t seem to fully cure.
but i kept going through it, then i ran out of coke, and just went without it for about 5 days, now i feel like i don’t need it, but i still want coffee.
the benefits are that if i somehow cannot have my caffeine, i can still function normally. and I feel much more relaxed. also i can empathize with others better because i am not so wired on caffeine all the time now.
I agree with the writer Henrik - there are benefits to quitting coffee. I am trying to quit coffee right now. It’s hard. The extra kick in the morning gets me going. But it is short-term. I know it effects the quality of my sleep and contributes to mood swings.
Weaning off coffee is just a tease and has never worked for me. Any suggestions on quitting cold turkey?????
I quit coffee a week ago after years of 2 big cups a day. Second time quitting.
First I quit the sugar - just drank it black. I initially did this for my teeth, but this made the drug nature inescapable since I don’t particularly enjoy the taste w/o the sugar. I no longer looked forward to the coffee in the AM, but I still needed it. It became a chore- medicating myself with this black, bitter stuff.
When I did quit the black coffee after having no sugar or milk for a month, for some reason my headache symptoms were very mild compared to the time I went cold turkey from sugar coffee. I had a hot chocolate in the am to wean me off for a few days. Then I just didn’t buy it anymore.
It’s been about a week w/ no caffeine at all and I’m am SLEEPING TONS. All the time. I had only been able to sleep about 5-6 hours a night unless I took an Advil PM. Now I’m sleeping 8-9 easy and maybe a nap later. And I feel as if I did take an Advil PM in the morning - though it’s just the lack of caffeine.
It’s a little unnerving. It’s the reason I found your blog - I was searching to see if this was normal. I want the alert energy back but I AM enjoying the sleep. It’ll probably even out in a few weeks. I did have a lot of catching up to do. Also mindless repetitive internet interaction that was tons of fun on coffee, just isn’t anymore. That’s good in the long run.
I found out that I was addicted to caffine when I had to have a mamogram! I was told not to have any caffine for 3 days prior to the exam, and that’s when the headaches began. Horrible. Sadly, I didn’t make the connection and began drinking it again.
Now, I have a new situation. I was diagnosed with ADD as an adult and have recently began taking a mild dosage of Ritalin. Without thinking, I took a pill and had my morning coffee. Well, if I tell you I was bouncing off the walls….
So now I’m trying to kick the habit. I’ve been told that I can have a coffee later in the day after the medication has worn off, which is what I’m doing today ONLY because of this MAJOR headache.
How long do these headaches last? I’m sure it’s different for everyone, but I’m interested to see what other people have gone through.
I wrote in here on Feb. when I was quitting coffee. I think I was caffeine free for about 10 days total, then a stressful event occurred and I had a cup of black tea since I was up very early and felt I needed energy. I then proceeded to one mug of brewed white tea per day for a month or two, then one mug of black tea last month, and two mugs black tea per day now. And I allowed myself to get a Starbucks coffee on the days I work (3 days a week). So coffee three days a week and black and white tea on days off. But I’m not happy about it, because the level of caffeine is steadily increasing. I am glad that I cut down from 4+ cups of coffee a day; I got rid of my coffee maker at home, so that has helped. When I drink the Starbucks coffee at work, it seriously tastes like the best thing in the world- the first sip and my mind is jumping for joy. But I can tell that on the coffee days, I am much more irritable, hyper and not as calm, and I don’t sleep as well. So,, I was searching the internet tonight again, to look at benefits of quitting caffeine, and I am off for three days this week, so I am just going to quit cold turkey, and hopefully the withdrawal won’t be as bad as in February. My sleep was better the 10 + days I was caffeine free, and I definitely felt mellower. I did feel a bit dazed, but I’m sure that would of improved if I would of stayed off of caffeine longer. Thanks for all your experiences.
Thanks for the blog! This information is great! I had quite caffeine for 7 years because anything that constricts the blood vessels in my brain and makes me believe that I have more energy, (but the truth is that coffee stimulates the secretion of adrenaline which makes a person believe they have more energy)can not possibly be healthy. If I need antioxidants I can have a tasty bowl of blueberries. Howver, I started drinking coffee again 3 years ago and it has definately been a self-imposed burden.
Who ever said that coffee is good for you? It’s has a chemical in it called caffeine which is a mood changing substance. A drug!
Caffeine, destroys my concentartion, makes me live like I have ADD, dehydrates me, stains my teeth, dries out my skin, gives me bad breath, gets me so unfocused and most of all it turns me into a grumpy, irritable person. My wife and my son have pratically begged me to quite coffee again because they see how unhealthy it is.I’m so encouraged to see all of these people quitting caffeine. HOORAY! I will quite RIGHT NOW and go cold turkey. When I do quite, I only get headaches for 1 day and then I’m fine. However, my ability to stay focused takes about 1 month to return to normal.
Thanks again everyone for your encouraging experiences.
Hello Everybody,
Ive been drinking Coffee for about 15 years, thats 2-4 cups a day. If i did not have coffee by 9:00Am I would have a very bad headache the rest of the day. Even when I would be sick with the flu or whatever I still had to have 2-4 cups a day. At times having to drink coffee would be such a burden. I always knew I was addicted to caffine but never did anything about it, until today! I did not drink coffee all day and I have a bad headache, the morning was tough and by noon I felt I was in a fog. Tonight I feel totally out of it, almost like being in a dream like state. Any ways, I am quiting and I am done with coffee. I’ll post more later this week. Wish me luck guys!
Todd
Hello again,
Its been 7 days clean of caffine, and i feel much better. the first 4 days were tough! bad headaches, sleepy, and my head was in a fog. its getting much easier now and my energy level feel good. ill post more when i hit my 30 day mark….
Todd
Hey guys, I have a senseo coffee maker which makes an amazing cup of coffee, just like you’d have from a coffee shop. I was drinking at least 6 mugs a day, I think I was addicted to the stuff because I would make a coffee even though I wasn’t really thirsty. Beacause I want to lose a few lbs I was searching the net looking for helpfull tips and came across how WATER can help towards shredding some lbs. I know Water is good for you but didn’t realise how GOOD. So the last 3 days I have been drinking nothing but water. water flushes out all the bad toxins in your body and I decided I’d give up on the caffine intake and so far so good. too early to say the benefits of going without coffee but I feel a lot better in myself from drinking just water. I am lucky I have not suffered from headaches maybe the water Im consuming is taking care of it!
I know I need to quit. I drink coffee all day long. Around noon I run out of gas and start feeling depressed. When I get home I lay around and don’t want to do anything. Just finishing my first cup now and am starting to feel better.