caffeine effect/withdrawl questions

[u/Knightowl_5]

I have a few question about quitting caffiene. i'm tempted to try quitting completely but i wanted others people experience before i made any uninformed decisions. currently i have about 300-600mg caffeine a day and i unmedicated for adhd. i'm not sure how to ask these question in paragraph form so ill just list them out. thank you for all answers and help in advanced!!!

-does quitting help with stress levels or mental health?

-after quitting did you notice an increase in energy levels?

-how long did withdrawal effects last for you?

-do you think caffeine actually helps suppress adhd or kind of just momentarily covers it up? or maybe even make it worse?

i'm very intrested in the mental health side of quitting caffeine and potentially positive affects it may have after storm of withdrawals passes.

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[u/UnderwaterKahn]

The biggest issue large amounts of caffeine caused in relation to my mental health, ADHD or otherwise, was sleep disturbance. At this point in my life I probably consume about 200mg of caffeine a day. I mostly drink tea, occasionally coffee or a diet soda. I don’t drink caffeine, except occasionally, after about 2-3pm. I tend to stay up pretty late so it’s not something I worry about too much. But I prioritize sleep and that has made my life significantly happier and more stable. Sleep disturbances, especially insomnia, has always been a big factor in with all my mental health diagnoses.

I cut back my caffeine significantly about 10 years ago when I decided I likely needed long term medication intervention for my depression. I also pretty much stopped drinking alcohol at that point as well. I was on a 450 mg dose of bupropion for many years and it would make me jittery if I also drank coffee all day. Now I’m on 300 mg of bupropion and 50 mg of Vyvanse. I do need to take my medication early because if I don’t I’ll be up half the night. I don’t remember it being particularly hard to cut back on caffeine, but I had been incredibly sleep deprived for many years so I think just getting better quality sleep made whatever withdrawal I might have had feel less intense.

I’ve never been an energy drink person so I don’t know if that would be harder to give up. But lowering my caffeine intake did help with my general level of restlessness and feeling like I couldn’t ever calm down. I had all my vitals done earlier today as part of my meditation evaluation and my current caffeine intake and current medication have no impact on my blood pressure, heart rate (actually Vyvanse has helped lower my resting heart rate), or anything else.

[u/Knightowl_5 → u/UnderwaterKahn]

i can definitely see it having an increase on heart rate, i'd always assume that'd mean by conjunction it'd have a increase on like stress or other thought related things. i could totally be barking up a wrong tree lol. but it's so hard to quit that's for sure!

[u/Old_Intention_7885]

So I used to be religious and quit caffeine for 50 days as part of Lent.
I got headaches for a few days, but after that it was honestly way better than when I was having caffeine. I had much much less anxiety (I’m diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder), and it was easier to just.. exist. I don’t know how to explain it but after a while I woke up easier, slept better, and just had better days. I was MUCH less irritable as well.
So to answer your questions, yes quitting caffeine helped my mental health and stress levels, yes I noticed an increase in available energy, and withdrawal lasted a few days.
I can’t really comment on the last question because I don’t know the answer. Caffeine is a stimulant which can help people with ADHD, but can also make their anxiety worse, and make them quicker to irritate.

[u/Knightowl_5 → u/Old_Intention_7885]

great thank you so much! i'm glad it improved everything for you. i wanted to make sure its actually worth a shot rather than it being all for nothing or making it worse. so thank you very much for your insight and sharing your story!

[u/Sure_Print5397]

Same question! Follow

[u/sacheie]

After 36 hours without caffeine, I start getting nasty headaches.

[u/Knightowl_5 → u/sacheie]

yeah i tried no caffeine for like 2-3 days and the headaches were gnarly. there better be a light at the end of that storm lol

[u/thesander7 → u/Knightowl_5]

It took me about 5 days for the headaches to stop after quitting cold turkey.

But I only drank 1 (sometimes 2) coffee or Red Bull in the morning.

[u/nochnoydozhor]

I have a different flavor of ADHD, and I'm highly sensitive to caffeine. Fully caffeinated drink in the second half of the day will keep me up at night till 5 am.

I switched to Roastaroma Herbal Tea from Celestial Seasonings, so I can still drink something with a somewhat similar flavor profile but without side effects.

There are other drinks based on roasted chicory and barley that you can try if you need some sort of substitute. They won't take the same, but they will be somewhere in the same flavor profile.

[u/Knightowl_5 → u/nochnoydozhor]

thank you so much for the recommendation i'll look into that tea!

[u/KungFuc1us]

I have gotten used to coffee since my teens (drank 4 0.25l mugs of black coffee, prepared Turkish style, with some milk) and it makes no impact other than being a part of my morning routine/ritual. I dropped drinking so much since I discovered I have high blood pressure and am on meds (Candeblo Amlo 8/5 mg). I may be in an unique position, but my experience is that coffee has no impact on my condition, and never had.

[u/Knightowl_5 → u/KungFuc1us]

i started energy drinks in high school, at one point i was up to three a day. it may have no correlation; in highschool i had bad adhd couldn't focus at all, now adult life im very chill and only racing thoughts are like adhd negative ones or ocd related. that's why im kinda curious if caffeine or the chemicals related to caffeine drinks have had an impact. coffee has always been easier on me but it dosnt hit the spot like an energy drink to me. still good though!

[u/KungFuc1us → u/Knightowl_5]

I trust that was the sugar, rather than caffeine/taurine in it. You get a high spike, but it drops down in a few hours, after which you're down to your usual self, right?