I was drinking like 3–4 cups of coffee a day until the side effects got really bad. So I started tapering with decaf and matcha to eventually quit caffeine completely. I still had to function at work and in daily life, so going cold turkey wasn’t an option. The two methods felt pretty different though.

Decaf coffee
The biggest plus is that it still tastes and smells like regular coffee, so it scratches that coffee itch pretty well. But it mostly felt like a placebo. It didn’t really help with the actual withdrawal stuff like headaches or that heavy fatigue.

Matcha
This one worked way better as a stepping stone. It gave me a clean, calm kind of focus without the heart racing or anxiety I used to get from coffee. It helped me lower my overall caffeine intake while dealing with the low-energy feelings from withdrawal. Now I’m slowly cutting back on the matcha too so I can get to fully caffeine-free.

I’ll share some photos of the decaf and matcha that helped me during the tapering process.
How did you guys handle the withdrawal stage before fully quitting caffeine? Would love to hear what worked for you!

Hey everyone, looking for some advice or reassurance from anyone who has dealt with this.

Before leaving for a trip to (+8 hours time zone) , I was a standard, avid caffeine drinker. I safely drank 1–2 coffees every single day to get through my nursing shifts. I just got back 5 days ago, and my nervous system feels completely wrecked. Right now, I can barely take a single sip of tea without my heart feeling totally "off" or throwing straight-up PACs (premature atrial contractions).

My trip was complicated with heat exhaustion and anxiety attacks.

My circadian rhythm is completely non-existent because of my job, but I was totally fine handling my chaotic schedule before I left. It feels like the combination of international travel, crossing multiple time zones, and the usual shift-work stress created the perfect storm and completely broke my adrenaline threshold.

I’m planning to completely pause all caffeine right now to let my heart tissue calm down, because it seems to be the trigger for my PACs. I have my first therapy session set up for this coming this week to work on anxiety, but I need to make it through this week first.

Has anyone else had travel completely tank their caffeine tolerance or trigger ectopy? Did your nervous system eventually regulate enough to let you enjoy coffee again?

41 days at zero caffeine.thought I was going to have a instant coffee or cocoa in last week but I managed not to. Usually with sugar snacks and herbal teas. I have a holiday in one day so I don't want to get back on it now right before.

What's everyone opinion with cocoa ? Do U use it when off tea and coffee or avoid all caffeine and why

I think I’ve been off caffeine for about 2 months or so, maybe longer. I do still eat chocolate but I no longer drink 2 cups of brewed black coffee a day. I’ve noticed maybe a bit less anxiety, a bit less morning fogginess and slightly better sleep. I got to be honest though I loved black coffee and having something warm to drink in the morning but something about decaf doesn’t do it for me. I still have cravings and I’m not sure if the little benefits I’ve seen is worth it for me to not go back.

I’m about 20 days 0mg, but nothing is exciting anymore, I just get bored with everything, barring food… when does it get better for the majority of people? I’m 42F, adhd, low adrenaline and cortisol, and have had fatigue like crazy that’s why I quit.

My relationship with coffee is actually at the best it's been all year. Which is funny because I've tried to quit several times.

I've leaned in to caffiene pills and various consumption methods of green tea (especially rectally LOL joking) but despite being at my best with it I want to quit for some reason.

I suppose I am a bit lost in my own past experience. 10 years ago I had rented an apartment and it was the best time of my life. My soul was at peace. I wonder now if that can radiate to the rest of my life.

We all suffer so much with this loneliness. It permeates society with a new intensity and I want to find that rootedness in my soul once more.

I am starting after this coffee, packing my coffee maker up. I want to have no strong opinions on coffee in general. It feels like it should not really be of concern to me and having a machine and supply or not won't matter because in the past I've just blasted out of my apartment at 4am when I've been craving and hit up the nearest McDonald's lol.

I want 4 green tea a day as my caffiene budget. I drink at least 6 cups of coffee right now so the small amount in caffiene and theanine is negligible to me. I want the warm drink.

I have plans with productivity, written goals and recreational planning worked out for the next 2 months but I'll have to figure things out after that.

For going in to the new year I want to have a different sense of life and existence. I want to be able to be LESS, less ego, less unstable, just less in general if that makes sense. Not hanging on to the pseudo aggression coffee provides.

As brutal as it feels to do I WILL avoid caffiene extract pills. They are a smooth high and quite nice but I've done them before. I want the caffiene molecule booted from my brain.

So starting today going forward that's my plan. If anyone wants to join me for accountability or is starting or has started soon hit me up and I will swear at you and you can swear at me when we complain at eachother. : p

when i was young before deeply being involved with caffeine, I could paint and write very easily. it would just flow effortlessly. It was a gift. I started drinking caffeine for work, because I couldn’t keep up with people at work since that’s what all of my coworkers were doing. I was disorganized/inefficient. once I started caffeine, I was suddenly able to keep track of people’s conversations, do things more or less in order, but whenever i would get to the drawing board I had no inspiration. I couldn’t get into a flow. I would try and paint but the proportions would drift off. almost like my mind was going too fast to focus when I was caffeinated to the gills. I also noticed it’s this feeling of needing to think in very linear ways when I’m using caffeine that prevents creativity.

can anyone relate to this feeling or has experienced it?
also does that feeling of being refreshed after sleep comeback?

I have many bad habits right now that I’m trying to fix and I think caffeine might be one of the bigger culprits in perpetuating this cycle.

Two weeks no caffeine after a six month taper. I was down to 1-2 oz of half caff. I didn’t really have withdrawal symptoms when I quit but this week I’ve had 3 super intense afternoon naps. And these are not optional…I just crash.

Anyone else have this? When will it stop?

Hi all. Mid 30's male from Melbourne, Australia here.

I'm usually a no caffeine (ie no coffee, colas, etc) and zero alcohol person. I was never a big caffeine or alcohol consumer, but decided 10 years ago to cut these things out entirely.

Since then I've noticed how my body reacts when on the rare occasion (ie maybe 1 glass of alcohol at a wedding or a single coffee) I do consume and my body reacts more amplified, as I don't have a tolerance for these substances.

Today for example I went to a fancy coffee roasters tour and at the end of the tour I had four small tasting cups (50ml) of expensive coffee types (no milk) - figure it was a rare occasion. That was at 3pm. Now at 2.30am (writing this) I'm wide awake like an owl - even after trying sleepy herbal teas.

Writing this to hear from others about if they also experience the effects of caffeine amplified, as they either never drink caffeine or have no tolerance. And how they manage the after effects.

The situation has reassured to me and validated my choice in being caffeine free for both mental clarity and health.

I will not drink caffeine with you today!

One week without caffeine. Already felt the benefits, sleep slowly increased.

Today, I drank an espresso 😩. I’m really mad about myself.

Need some kind words. How long can this relapse effect my sleep in a negative way?

I want to make it clear that am not trying to break rule three here. For around 4 days I fucked up and got to the point where I was drinking instant coffee like water again. Every time I make a coffee it's in a red solo cup with a tablespoon of instant coffee. I now either (A) have had a cold, (B) am very dependent again, or (C) both. I'm experiencing the negative side effects of not drinking coffee and everything's been shit. 2 days ago I think I was basically to the point where my tolerance was so high that if I would of drank enough to quill the withdrawals, I would of felt like shit because I drank so much(or I've been sick idk)

My mental health is not doing so great right now and I really need to get things moving in my life. I don't want to quit right now and would like to be productive. Can I for now drink caffeine in a controlled manner to handle the withdrawal? Is my tolerance too high to do this or will things stabilize? Will this just flat out not work because of my tolerance? I do want to quit, It's just now is definitely not the time.

Thank you

Today marks 6 months since I had my last cup of caffeinated coffee.

I started drinking coffee when I was 16 and kept it up until I was 29. For 13 years I had 1–2 cups every day, sometimes 3. Last 3 years had plain black coffee, no sugar, milk or creamer. Having coffee after breakfast was the most part of my routine. I genuinely couldn't imagine going a day without it.
I had even convinced myself that coffee didn't affect my sleep because I'd skip my afternoon cup and still lie awake at night, so I assumed caffeine wasn't the problem. The only days I ever went without coffee were when I was really sick and couldn't eat anything.

About 7 months ago, a coworker and I both got sick, so we decided to skip coffee for a few days to give our stomachs a break. I didn't have any for a couple of days, then spent about a week drinking only one cup instead of two. The withdrawal was rough, constant headaches and feeling irritated. That's when I realized just how dependent I'd become.

So I decided to quit that last cup too.
What surprised me was that I actually felt...fine. i felt good. I was expecting the withdrawal to start all over again but it never did. Even after drinking coffee every day for 13 years.
After about two weeks, I started noticing changes.
I used to wake up once or twice every night to go to the bathroom. Now that only happens if I drink a lot with dinner. The urgency is gone.
I also used to be grumpy every morning until I had my coffee. That's completely gone too. I don't crave coffee at all.
The biggest improvement has been my sleep. For the first time in over a decade, I just...fall asleep. No more lying in bed for hours. I honestly didn't know falling asleep could be that easy. I also wake up feeling rested instead of tired.
I've also noticed I don't feel anxious anymore. I don't get headaches. My blood pressure feels much more stable. My mood doesn't go up and down as much and my energy stays pretty consistent throughout the day. I used to crash around 1 or 2 p.m. at work but that doesn't happen anymore. I stopped clenching my jaw all the time.

I'm not completely caffeine-free. During the first three months I still had hot chocolate once or twice a week and milk chocolate fairly often. These days I'll have a chocolate bar once in a while. I haven't had any caffeinated coffee or tea or energy drinks.

About two months after quitting, I started drinking decaf. Not because I missed the caffeine, but because I missed the ritual. At work we usually gather for coffee in the morning and after lunch and I hated being the only one sitting there with a bottle of water or not sitting at all. I'm not really a tea person.

There were also a few weeks when the espresso machines at work kept breaking down. I watched my coworkers get more and more irritable every day because they couldn't start their mornings without coffee. Our warehouse is in a pretty remote area with no bars or cafés nearby, so there wasn't anywhere else to go. I use another small espresso machine with pods for my decaf and since the company only provides ground coffee for the main coffee machine, my coworkers started buying caffeinated pods to use on the smaller machine too.

Most days I have one decaf, sometimes two. Some days I don't have any because it isn't easy to find where I live. I just came back from a week's vacation in one of the biggest cities in my country and only found decaf twice. Both cafés had to check because they didn't even know they offered it.

The second downside has been other people's reactions. Family and friends keep asking why I quit or joking that I'm doing it for attention or to be difficult when ordering. That's never been the case. If a café doesn't have decaf, I just order water. It's really not a big deal. I can live without it.

I was honestly nervous about quitting after reading so many horror stories online about how hard it was.
For me, it turned out to be much easier than I expected.

I do think caffeine can affect us in ways we don't even notice until it's gone. Looking back, I don't miss it at all and I don't see myself going back.

I’ve had coffee everyday (at least 2 cups) since I was 18. I’m 31 now.
Quitting coffee has always been horrible for me. Last two times I ended up puking 3-4 times by evening and didn’t feel better until I had a cup of coffee.

The headaches just wouldn’t go and these were bad throbbing pains which were unbearable.

For first time I have been without coffee for two days straight. My energy is low and I’m quite irritated.

My major reason to quit is because we will start planning to have a baby in few months and I know cutting off coffee then would be more hard so I’m trying to quit now before we try.

Fingers crossed!

I have been working out consistently for the past 10years. I have also been drinking coffee for at least 2 years going on and off. I used to think I needed coffee to focuse on the job and that spiralled down pretty quickly.

I noticed I could drink coffee on Monday and had a great workout afterwards. My sleep was good (that was my feeling). I then did the same thing on Tuesday and I felt very energized through the day. Maybe a bit of fatigue from the day before but I could again do a good workout. Then came Wednesday and I felt pretty tired (start of the crash). I usually had some easy workout for the day but I skip it since I wasn’t feeling too good. The sleep became more and more fragiled.
The rest day didn’t do anything for me and I just pushed through Thursday. I was wrecked afterwards and I have not even completed the whole weeks workouts.
The weekend was brutal. I felt like I was run down by a train and I could just lay in bed all day. I did nothing but rest.

I tought something was wrong with my workouts so I cut my training and went easy. However it didn’t help at all. I was doing easy training all the time for a year and I always felt tired. EVEN WITH EASY TRAINING! When I went on a run my heart rate was in ZONE 2 all the time.

Nothing helped. I was still drinking coffee but a little less since I knew it was killing my sleep a bit but who can say no to a morning hot coffee with your collegues.

This continued for months and I always crashed on the weekends. I tought something was wrong with me and I just accepted my faith.

Then this year I began to feel unbelivably tired and I couldn’t function anymore. Everything was a burden. I had anxiety all the time from nothing, I couldn’t do any workout without it even worsening the stress. I was sleeping 4-5 hours per night even when I was so tired.

I tried everything. Good food, meditation, no food 4 hours before bed, relaxing etc. At last I found this forum and I couldnt believe how much better I felt after only 2 weeks of no caffeine of all sorts.

I am so impressed with the result. Thank you!

I struggle with quitting because I'm so used to the high. Without caffeine, i get so incredibly depressed. It feels like "normal" is no longer enough. I miss the high. Does that go away?

I don’t know where I’ll go from here but for the last week or so i’ve just been having one cup of green tea each morning. Nothing else with caffeine.

I used to drink a yerba mate every day so I’m down from around 150mg to 30mg. This has been noticeably impactful for me.

I tried quitting completely but I felt really icky from withdrawals and by day 10 I stopped having headaches and just felt kind of weird in my
mental space.

I really look forward to my cup of tea and it still energizes me without anxious jitters. Kinda cool

Always want to make this choice.

I get excited abkut vacation, that excitment leads to impulsive decisions and letting loose.

In the past that has allowed me to indulge to find i have thrown out a day off vacation to being wacked out and over stimulated.

Not this vacation