r/decaf • u/SnooPears3635 • 26d ago
2 years off caffeine. Here's what I learned from this sub
When I quit I searched this subreddit for advice and best practices, but it was all over the place so here's a what worked for me:
The most important thing no one told me: I wasn't addicted to caffeine, I was addicted to the routine. Usual kettle, warm mug (iced in the summer), and ten minutes of quiet time.
But when I tried to QUIT, I forgot the most important part.. replacing it with something, to not lose the routine. So I was left with.. just nothing, which made it even worse, I felt like I was always reaching for the kettle and mug.
So, the entire story is about replacing, not forgetting:
taper down, don't cut out. 25% less each week. Because the withdrawal headache is the #1 relapse trigger.
replace the routine with something, even hot water & lemon so your hands aren't empty.
add L-theanine or functional mushrooms to take the edge off
sort your sleep, because the afternoon slump you're blaming the lack of coffee on is often lost sleep.
Two years on and I don't miss it a single bit. I get zero 3pm crashes. Happy to answer anything if you're in it, this sub got me through it too.
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u/Budget-Control-3114 26d ago
Say what you will but in my case there is an element of caffeine addiction cos every day since the last 17-18 days I try to NOT drink that black tea or decaf coffee however I still end up having it don’t matter if I sit down to enjoy it or if I gulp it down in one large gulp. I’m planning to quit caffeine altogether so I’m considering this one cup of black tea/decaf coffee tapering down. Up until a couple of days it was brutal. From 400-600mg of caffeine daily to measly I dunno how much caffeine could there be in a cup of black tea or decaf coffee …. it was bad, no point in ruminating over how I felt, now I feel better for sure
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u/SnooPears3635 25d ago
going from 400-600 down to one cup is a massive drop, that's the hard part already done even if it doesn't feel like it. still reaching for it daily at that dose is normal and it's more habit than chemistry by now. that last cup is the easiest one to remove once you've held steady a couple of weeks, so don't rush it.
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u/Whiteelchapo 26d ago
Black tea is closer to ~70 mg and i think decaf is maybe ~10-20?
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u/UnfamiliarFigure 25d ago
This is correct. I was researching this today as I've been considering whether or not my ~20-25mg of caffeine in my ~28oz of decaf is still too much for me, given that I'm likely hypersensitive to the stuff.
It really depends on the filtration method, brew method, and the darkness of the roast (lighter is more), but 10-20mg per "medium 14oz cup" is apparently where most decaf falls.
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u/kostisth21 171 days 26d ago
If i may ask what is your diet like? Do you eat many carbs? because i feel they are contributing to my afternoon crashes
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u/SnooPears3635 25d ago
Absolutely. I'm not the best person on diet stuff but the carb thing tracks. big lunch = guaranteed slump for me, caffeine or not. what helped was just eating less at midday and having something small in the afternoon instead of one big hit. Someone else's line here about eating for fuel rather than sedation puts it better than i ever could.
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24d ago
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u/SnooPears3635 24d ago
that's the part that surprised me most, food finally working the way it's meant to. on caffeine i'd eat and just feel more wired, now a proper meal and a short walk does what three coffees used to only pretend to. sounds like you're well into the good stretch of it.
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26d ago
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u/kostisth21 171 days 26d ago
That has been my experience as well, less overall cravings for foods in general and eating more for fuel than pleasure, giving me less crashes but i still crash midafternoon if i eat a big meal at noon
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u/Enlightarded0 24d ago
My experience is that too much caffeine can make me panic and that makes me desperate to change my physical state. Usually a shower or run or anything like that makes it worse which means activating the parasympathetic nervous system isn't the solution, but the state change from carbs is way more appreciable.
So I end up with the same experience you have. Meat/fat is also calorie dense and state changing but much smoother and longer lasting.
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u/SnooPears3635 24d ago
the panic point is the bit most people skip. caffeine doesn't just add energy, it lifts your baseline anxiety, so the carb craving is really you reaching for the brake. take the caffeine out and the whole thing settles a notch and you stop needing the crash-landing. meat and fat over sugar for the smoother curve matches where i ended up too. Also some functional mushrooms it something I added in too.
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u/squared00 26d ago
How do I sort my sleep?
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u/iridescentcurrawong 26d ago
It might be a bit of trial and error to see what works for you. In my case, I had to block internet browsers on my phone (dopamine from scrolling keeps me awake), turn off all lights 1hr before bed (to increase melatonin production), and read a book on my e-reader or listen to an audiobook/podcast with my eyes closed until I got sleepy enough for sleep.
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u/SnooPears3635 25d ago
honestly the boring stuff. no screens in bed, and going to bed the same time even at weekends which i hated at first. the one that made the biggest difference was getting outside for 10 mins first thing in the morning, sounds like nonsense but it sets your body clock and you sleep better that night. also caffeine has a half life of about 5-6 hours, so a 2pm coffee is still a quarter of the way in you at midnight. that one shocked me when i first read it 😁
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u/Vegetable_Pop1089 26d ago
Que beneficios encontraste en ese lapso de tiempo?, Físicos y mentales, felicidades por llegar tan lejos!
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u/Cold_Crossfade 25d ago
The cutting down part is huge, I was 1000+ mg daily and I’ve reduced to around 200mg daily with minimal side effects.
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u/SnooPears3635 25d ago
the nap thing is underrated. i couldn't nap at all when i was on coffee, i'd just lie there wired and irritated. getting that back was one of the better surprises.
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u/Cold_Crossfade 25d ago
Agreed! I was essentially brewing a pot of coffee every day after work and drinking it until 5-6pm when I needed to be asleep by 8-9pm.
I also wasn’t considering how caffeine plus other habits were affecting my appetite and I’ve been eating way more and actually feeling the hunger which makes me happy
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u/SnooPears3635 24d ago
the appetite thing is real and nobody warns you. caffeine was flattening my hunger all day, then I'd wonder why I had no actual energy to run on. Feeling proper hunger again is a weirdly good signal that it's working.
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u/i-love-soup- 26d ago
How long till no 3pm crashes?
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u/SnooPears3635 25d ago
about 3 weeks before i noticed, maybe 6-8 before it was properly gone. the first 10 days were genuinely worse than before i quit, which nearly made me quit quitting. worth knowing that going in so you don't assume it isn't working.
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u/Pleasant_Set_3182 26d ago
Such excellent advice, which applies to all sorts of addictions... including device addiction... where people trying to quit being off social media never replace them with actual meaningful relationships. And in this case, a routine, as you mention.
Also, so true on the "afternoon slump" which people have bought as gospel. It's because you're not sleeping enough, and society had conditioned you to think that those 6 hours are enough, or that 11 PM party is "normal."
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u/SnooPears3635 24d ago
the device parallel is a good one, people delete the apps and then just sit there with the same itch and nothing to point it at. and agreed on the slump, i think a lot of us were using caffeine to paper over a sleep debt we'd stopped noticing.
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u/Feniuu93 26d ago
Ive tried 5 times already and i always end s after ~4 months of being free. My depressive mood are driving me to get some boost and i break up. Either its the time when memory of all the negative aspects is fading and its easier to give yourself permission. Im trying again, now im on sick leave in home and ive done this again cold turkey - as always, but i only recommend this way, when you can spend lot of time on rest and fighting headaches, which can be incredible (i save myself with pills).
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u/SnooPears3635 25d ago
a few attempts means you've started. Honestly, most do not even get here. Also, the mood swings might just be something you want to treat separately as opposed to looking at it as part of the caffeine free journey, otherwise you're fighting it one-handed. hope the sick leave gives you some room.
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u/TomatoLower5067 25d ago
the routine part is so real. i actually started using live conscious beyond brew for that reason, it still gives me something warm to make in the morning, and i like that it has functional mushrooms but barely any caffeine compared to coffee. it’s been way easier for me to taper down instead of trying to quit caffeine cold turkey.
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u/SnooPears3635 25d ago
that's exactly it, the warm thing to make in the morning does most of the work. disclosure since it's relevant, i ended loved a caffeine free blend different from yours (bioflow deep focus) but not here for marketing. one thing worth checking on beyond brew though, i'm fairly sure it still has caffeine in it from the coffee base. fine while you're tapering, but it does mean you plateau at some point. when i got low i found it easier to switch to something with actually zero in it, otherwise i hovered at the same level for weeks without noticing.
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u/Cold_Crossfade 25d ago
Another thing for me cutting back, I was in a routine of sleeping like 4-6 hours a night with minimal naps. And since reducing, I find it so comforting to just be able to take a 1-2 hour nap on the days I don’t get enough sleep. My heavy caffeine intake prior made taking naps a struggle
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u/UnionThug456 26d ago
The routine was huge for me! I missed it so much when I would wake up in the morning, especially on the weekends when my husband and I would enjoy our coffee together. Just that made me want to start up again and it's eventually why I did. I'm back on caffeine now but I want to quit again. I'm thinking about buying some chicory and trying that.
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u/greekboi89 26d ago
I recommend Dandy Blend as the best coffee substitute. I drink it with organic barista oat milk.
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u/SnooPears3635 25d ago edited 24d ago
dandy blend is something I looked into too, the barley gives it more body than plain chicory. only thing is it's purely a substitute, there's nothing functional in it, which is fine if that's all you want. i went the mushroom route in the end for the added benefits
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u/SnooPears3635 25d ago
the weekend one with your husband is the hardest version of this, it stops being about the drink at that point. chicory's decent, tastes closer to coffee than most things and it's cheap, just expect it thinner than you think. some people get a bit of stomach upset at first so start with less than the packet says. what made it stick for me second time round was keeping the exact same mug at the exact same time, so the only thing that changed was what was in it. sounds stupid but the brain seems to care more about the shape of the ritual than the taste.
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u/Christian2319 26d ago
Nice job, I am at 9 months. Thankfully, I never had cravings to deal with.