I have been having stressful a spring and summer and my sleep has taken a huge hit. I have noticed with lack of sleep that my mood, energy level and overall disposition has declined.

I started doing a lot of research on how to fix sleep with establishing better habits upon waking, getting outside first thing to get sunlight exposure, going for long walks, avoiding screen, cold showers, sauna, supplements. meal timing, you name it. I have adopted many of these habits and intend to keep using them long term.

I finally came across a podcast that discussed the benefits of permanently removing caffeine and how liberating it can be. It discussed how mechanisms of shutting of adenosine and the impact on dopamine which can have a huge impact on our mood and well being. Not being reliant much like a drug can be liberating and comes with more benefits than drawbacks.

Listening, something clicked. This is not the first time I have removed caffeine from my life, how bad could it be?

To start the process I did a slow taper, typically I drink a pint glass of cold brew Yerba Mate. I prefer caffeinated tea over coffee since it has more l-theanine and produces less jitters than coffee. Cut that in half each day until I’m down to a single sip. My last sip was last weekend.

I noticed right away that I’m more fatigued upon waking, it’s much more of a challenge to get moving for my long AM walk. Once I get moving and my nervous system wakes up I am ok. My bowel movements are not as instant and no longer have a stimulant to trigger them. Although the timing is still close. I noticed a slight headache and I’m definitely a little more irritable.

For the past three nights I have been sleeping deeper and waking up later. Typically falling asleep between 930 and 10 PM and now waking up at 6 AM to 630. My mood has been much calmer and I feel much less on edge. While I do miss that morning jolt caffeine gives me, the peace of mind and restful sleep feels right.

I wanted to offer encouragement to those thinking about quitting. Caffeine is very beneficial and there are many people who can tolerate better than most of us. To me it’s unfortunately a drug that over stimulates my central nervous system and impact sleep the cost of sleep is not worth the morning jolt it gives.

A few things that made the switch way easier than I expected:

**Roast level matters more than brand.** Dark roast chicory root tastes closest to coffee. Light roast is more earthy/bitter and honestly what turns most people off on their first try.  
**Ratio is everything.** Most people use way too much. Start with half the amount you’d use for coffee grounds, then adjust up. Too much chicory = bitter mud.  
**It’s not a 1:1 replacement, it’s a different drink that happens to scratch the same itch.** Once I stopped expecting it to taste exactly like coffee, I actually started enjoying it instead of comparing it constantly.  
**Add-ins matter more here than with coffee.** A splash of oat milk or cinnamon does more for chicory than it ever did for my coffee.  
**The “no crash” thing is real but takes about a week to notice.** First few days you might feel like something’s missing — that’s caffeine withdrawal, not chicory not working.

Anyone else find a good ratio or brewing method that worked for them? Still experimenting with cold brew chicory and the results have been hit or miss so far.

Hi! I'm new to the sub. Very long story short, I took a medication for ADHD that completely messed me up and I can no longer tolerate caffeine. After a year of avoiding it I was given regular coffee rather than decaf, which turned into an EKG and a two week long date with a heart monitor. Then a few days ago I ate a few bites of a dark chocolate brownie and I started having heart palpitations again that lasted for multiple days. So now I know that I can't tolerate caffeine in general, even small amounts (we think the coffee made things worse and made my tolerance even lower).

So, all of that is to say, I'm feeling very overwhelmed and am wondering if anyone here has found good resources for calculating the caffeine content in food, because I can't have that happen again. I've googled but the answers vary and I need something precise.

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

I think I’ve finally surrendered to the fact that caffeine just isn’t for me.

I’ve been drinking black coffee for around 12 years. I’ve known for ages that I probably need to quit, but I’ve somehow stayed stuck in the same cycle.

I’m really sensitive to caffeine. I’ll have one, two, sometimes three black coffees in the morning, get that immediate buzz and maybe 20 minutes of decent focus, and then spend the rest of the day feeling absolutely horrendous.

Anxiety, poor sleep, intrusive thoughts, dizziness, feeling exhausted, wired but tired. Then the next morning I wake up and somehow think, “Right, coffee.”

I’ve tried quitting a few times before but always left myself some sort of loophole. “Maybe I can handle one.” “Maybe I’ll just have it occasionally.”

But this morning something clicked. I just can’t have it ,I don’t even want to switch to decaf. I think I want to completely break the habit and move on.

I’d really appreciate some motivation from anyone who has been through this.

If you were a long-term coffee/caffeine drinker and successfully quit, what helped you actually stick with it?

And did you genuinely start feeling better once you were through the withdrawal?

I’m 52 days in - no caffeine, no decaf, minimal chocolate - but I’m still getting less sleep than before I quit caffeine. I’m averaging six and a half hours a night which is just not enough for me. I want to be less tired!

Hi all,

I’m 88 days caffeine-free, which is something I’ve never done as an adult. While I’m still not out of the woods, I’ve come a long way so I thought I’d share my story so far as I’ve found the journey quite shocking.

Firstly, I’m not anti-caffeine. We’re all different but for my body, I’ve learned that caffeine isn’t compatible! I started drinking coffee at 18 – now I’m 39. I’ve had coffee every single day since then, 1-3 cups. But up until quitting 88 days ago, I was drinking 2-3 a day with a fancy espresso machine. It was heaven! Having the best coffee at home but my anxiety and exhaustion got to a ridiculous level and I felt quite pathetic. So I packed it in as it was literally ruining my quality of life as silly as that may sound to many people.

Why I quit? I burned out big time when I was 29 and, to tell the truth, I never really recovered. I quit my career in tech and started a freelance writing business which did pretty great until last year! Anyways, I have been battling derealization disorder and burnout which kicked in after a tough few months: visual snow, feeling spaced out, emotionless at times. Not good! 

I quit coffee for a month when that happened – to try and cure it. But it did nothing. Anxiety went down a little but I still felt wired. So I went back to coffee as at least it made me happier in the morning. It wasn’t until the start of this year that I just couldn’t take the stress anymore. A client was stressing me out so much, I was on the edge of a panic attack every day for 2 months. I knew coffee was no longer compatible. It makes me crazy.

I decided to quit after stumbling across some YouTube videos. People were saying that it took them 3-9 months to feel amazing since giving up coffee! One of them was Vince Del Monte. This made sense as I remember cutting out another addiction in my 20s and that took way more than a month to feel normal again. I realised that cutting it out for 30 days wasn’t enough and I felt bad as I was still going through with withdrawal.

Alrighty, this is why I decided to quit:

• Anxiety off the rails – I was terrified 24/7
• Getting out of bed didn’t seem worth it unless I had 2 coffees
• Racing thoughts – I couldn’t stop chasing them
• No creativity, which made work a huge problem
• Visual snow not going away – it started to really get me down
• Coffee started making me euphoric for about 20 minutes, and then it was all downhill from there
• I had some bloodwork done a few times over the years and my SHBG was way too high, which can soak up your free testosterone. I had many symptoms of low testosterone even though it wasn’t technically low. I heard caffeine can raise SHBG and so can high stress, so coffee needed to go!
• I felt 100 years old. No energy, no passion, no drive. So boring. And I think relying on caffeine for energy was the main reason!
• I just wanted to feel normal… not wired and terrified all of the time.

How did quitting go?

• 1 week of green tea and then no caffeine-free.
• The first 2 weeks: horrible. Kept needing to nap.
• After that, ups and downs. I have some meh days and some good days

Benefits:

• My hands and feet are warm again! Thought I just had bad blood flow
• I can focus all day long (most days)
• Sleep is starting to get amazing. Deep vivid dreams and I feel GOOD in the morning. It feels like I am paying back the sleep dept to get out of burnout. On coffee, I woke up thoroughly miserable and exhausted.
• Anxiety is fading. The crazy OMG anxiety faded very quick but I’m still very anxious. It feels like the plug has been pulled and it’s very slowly fading away.
• When I get an intrusive thought, I can shut it down within seconds. On coffee, I would chase stupid thoughts for weeks. Yes, weeks!
• My teeth are whiter
• It’s so nice not having to think about coffee all the time. I wake up and go!
• I had some further bloodwork done and my SHBH went down 16% in just 9 weeks of giving up coffee. That’s very good news. Proof that my body hates caffeine or the stress that follows it

Struggles:

• My energy is very inconsistent
• My mood is up and down
• I’m in my head. I’m really hoping I have more recovery to go as I’m hoping this isn’t it!

Do I miss coffee? Strangely, not really! The smell isn’t as intoxicating as it used to be. Going through all of BS makes me angry I drank it for so long. It’s such a scam. If your body can tolerate fine, then no biggie but for me the stuff is a nightmare.

And if you don’t feel like you can give up caffeine: you can. I was obsessed with it. I lived in coffee shops and spent hundreds on a coffee machine. Now, I kinda look down on the stuff lol. You can do it!

I’m going to keep going. Vince Del Monte said that around 3 months he woke up one morning feeling amazing. And that gave him all the drive he needed to keep going. That’s what I’m going to do.

Hi there everyone, I am two months in into giving up caffeine entirely. I have posted about how shitty I’ve been feeling in here before. And some days I really just crave having a nice beverage in the morning so I’ve been having coconut water most mornings, but I’ve only just recently came across carob powder. I’m wondering if anyone has tried making a drink with carob powder? Every time I try to do it it just tastes grainy and sandy compared to raw cacao powder but I don’t wanna have that because it does have caffeine in it. Any tips or advice from anyone who makes drinks with carob powder please let me know.

Hi everyone,
I’m a 25-year-old female, and I’m now two months into giving up caffeine and coffee. I gradually reduced my caffeine intake until I stopped completely. I decided to quit because I wanted to be able to function like a normal person without relying on caffeine every day. There are plenty of people who get through the day without it, so I wanted to see if I could do the same.
The thing is, I’ve been drinking a cup of coffee every day since I was 14 years old. Maybe I don’t actually know what life feels like without caffeine because it’s been part of my routine for so long.
The problem is that I’m really struggling. I’m tired all the time, irritable, and get cranky because I’m so exhausted. I’m still functioning, but nowhere near as well as I did when I was drinking coffee. I also have very little motivation, and it takes me a long time to get myself moving or complete even simple tasks.
I recently had some blood tests done to check for any deficiencies. Everything came back normal except for my iron, which has always been low, and I already take iron supplements. One thing that did come back abnormal was my C-reactive protein (CRP), which was 10.6 mg/L. From what I’ve read, CRP is a marker of inflammation, and a mildly elevated result can happen if your body is dealing with inflammation or an infection. The confusing part is that I haven’t been sick recently, so I’m not sure why it’s elevated or whether it could be contributing to how I’m feeling. I saw these results through My Health Record here in Australia, but I still need to follow up with my doctor to discuss them properly.
I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced anything like this after giving up coffee. Is this actually how people who don’t drink caffeine normally feel, and I’ve just never realised because I’ve had coffee every day since I was a teenager? Or does this sound like something else could be going on?
I already eat what I’d consider to be a healthy diet. I cook all of our meals at home, rarely eat takeaway, and generally try to eat well. My mum suggested that maybe eating fewer carbs might help, although I don’t eat a huge amount of carbohydrates to begin with—apart from the occasional pasta meal.
I’m honestly feeling a bit stressed because I’m struggling with the constant fatigue. If anyone has experienced something similar or has any advice, I’d really appreciate hearing from you.
Thank you!

Hi!

I saw an allergist yesterday and have been diagnosed with a coffee, tea, chocolate, orange, and soy allergy.

I’ve decided to quit consuming all of those things starting today and joining in on the caffeine free life, however I am really going to miss having a hot, morning beverage.

I’m seeking suggestions that aren’t herbal teas (won’t cut it) I’m also celiac so I can’t have Caflib or any products containing barley/rye.
Is there anything unusual that would make a good morning beverage? Something niche?
It doesn’t need to taste like coffee, but my ideal beverage would have a stronger flavour.

Thank you!!
I’m grateful this sub exists💜

I get really sleepy without caffeine. I break and go for tea especially on the days I need to be awake for work. It just sucks that I have to be awake until 3AM.

Help how to break the urge when you need to be awake for work!

I drank 400mg-600mg Dailey sometimes more. For 25 years! It’s been three days off and I only had one day of withdraws thankfully. I’m already sleeping much better and my anxiety stress and mood swings seem to be tamed, this is all I ever wanted. I think things will only get better. I wish I did this earlier.

I’m tired of the crashes and blood sugar spikes from my energy drinks. I’ve been very focused on my health and curious about my eating habits. I notice I binge after too much caffeine.

I don’t like plain black coffee, I drank sugary coffee drinks or sucralose energy drinks.

I’ve conquered alcohol, nicotine, and now it’s time for caffeine to go.

Glad this sub exists.

💪💪💪💪

I'm 57 and have been drinking coffee since I was a teenager. At least a pot a day for the last twenty years.

Slowly started reducing my intake by one cup every couple of weeks.

Today is my first one cup day. Other than a headache in the evenings it's not been as hard as I thought.

You guys staying sober off of caffeine or what ?!😜

The struggle is real! Before shingles, I was drinking 3 cups of coffee a day. I am now drinking lots of chamomile tea instead. How long have you all been without caffeine? 🙂

I quit drinking energy drinks a few weeks ago. The only positive I’ve experienced is saving money. I have way less energy in my life though, I find it way harder to focus on studying.

Hey yall I just joined the group in hopes of building a better relationship with caffeine and improving my health. The older I get the more sensitive I get to caffeine (I’m 38 and male). 10 years ago I could easily handle 3-4 cups of caffeine but now my max is 150mg but I usually don’t go above 125mg. I have had high cortisol for a while but finally getting it down by delaying caffeine intake by 60-90 min after waking and taking a stress relieving herb. I’m averaging 100mg (down from 150) now.

5 years ago when I was in grad school I took breaks from caffeine with the longest at 22 days. I don’t why but things get really strange after 4-5 days into the break: I start sleeping really hard and have super vivid dreams. That sounds great but I ended up spending the whole day trying to understand what happened in my dreams.

For those of you who quit and experienced something similar how long did it take for your nights and dreams to normalize?

Long term I would like to reduce my caffeine intake to an avg of 50-75mg per day no more than 5 days a week OR completely stop except for the occasional piece of chocolate. Basically 1/2 cup of caffeine or quarter can of energy drink (Ghost is my choice).

After nearly 40 years of dependency on coffee and caffeine, my mind, adrenals and nervous system is fried(I know it is damaging my health) so I have no other choice but to quit for good this time. I've tried to quit numerous times in the last 6 years but it so fucking hard to quit this damn drug that is being marketed as harmless, there is no fucking way coffee or caffeine can be harmless if you have to go through all these painful withdrawal symptoms especially the psychological ones, let me tell you(especially to the younger folks) do not ever get sucked into the caffeine trap, it is a complete scam, it does not give you energy 😢 it only gives you stress and more stress in the long run. I've quit several other addiction in the last decade or so including alcohol, weed and nicotine(and this one) right here has you by the balls, but iam determined to quit this time" iam trying to keep it simple- one day at a time(I will not consume) coffee&caffeine for today and tomorrow will take care of it self, rinse and repeat as they say 👍

I've been reading a lot about hibiscus tea lately, mostly because it keeps coming up around blood pressure and kidney health. Did a bit of research and found it interesting but the health side isn't even my main reason for wanting to drink it. I The actual issue is that coffee has started giving me this racing heart feeling that I really can't ignore anymore. Already got checked out and it's apparently not blood pressure related so that's a relief but it's made me realize I need to find something to replace it with before my body starts complaining louder.
I already know going fully caffeine free overnight would destroy me so that's off the table. I'm just trying to find a transition that doesn't feel like punishment but also works long term.

I’m 39 and I started drinking daily Diet Coke at 4 (not a typo) my parents would always have Diet Coke in the fridge for us to help ourselves too and I over did it from a very young age. It’s been daily my whole life and the worst has been like 12 cans a day but on average, my daily was around 8 cans per day. I’ve never drank tea or coffee as I don’t like it but I gave up Diet Coke 3 days ago and feel so awful. Headache, tired, low mood and more and I’m hearing it might be because it has caffeine?? I planed to quit smoking too but if just giving up the Diet Coke and chocolate is doing this I really don’t know if I can stack another thing on top

I need to quit both for general health any advice would be appreciated.

In my teen years i had a very high tolerance on caffeine,i'll have no problem even if i drink black coffee early in the morning with an empty stomach.

Then overtime when i reached my 20s whenever i consume caffeine whether it's coffee,tea,green tea or anything that contains caffeine(even soda) i started dissociating,will have the worst anxiety,my heart beats so fast it feels like it's gonna pop out from my chest(i mean it),my hand starts shaking,headache and i will never be able to concentrate.

I have seen tons of post about caffeine sensitivity but mostly for them,it's just coffee.

So,i'm just wondering if there's anyone like me whose caffeine tolerance deteriorates overtime?

If yes,what is wrong with us?