I quit caffeine and didn’t die. — Here’s how I did it.
It all started with a simple self-imposed challenge.
Coffee has always been a part of my life. I drink a cup or more a day almost every day. It’s part of my culture, my habits, my routine. A cup of coffee is never missing at breakfast. Afternoons are not complete without one either.
Personally, I don’t feel like coffee affects me negatively, but I was starting to suspect that I was becoming dependent on it.
For many months I had been toying with the idea of lowering my caffeine intake. I’ve always liked to experiment on myself and after I heard Michael Pollan telling Joe Rogan about how he quit caffeine for three months, I knew I had to try it.
*tip*
Scroll down for 5 things you can do to make quitting coffee a breeze.
Why quit caffeine?
I didn’t have a “real” reason to do it; I don’t over-consume caffeine or have a bad reaction to it, but I do consume it every single day. A cup a day doesn’t seem so bad until you realize you have kept this habit for almost 10 years. That is 3,650 days of continuous drug use!
Yes, your morning cup of joe is technically a drug; a psychoactive one in fact. This means that caffeine has the power to alter how you think and how you feel. If this is true, then I haven’t been sober in years! I found the idea of getting back to a baseline state very interesting.
Caffeine’s Psychoactive Effects.
I am one of these people who can drink coffee after 5 pm and still sleep like a baby. I don’t think I have ever felt buzzed or caffeinated. To be honest, I rarely drink coffee for energy, I do it because I genuinely love the taste.
Event though I drank coffee daily, I wasn’t addicted. Coffee to me was more a habit than a necessity… or so I thought.
What happens when you stop drinking coffee?
According to the internet, within 24 hours you start to go into caffeine withdrawal. This consists of headaches, drowsiness, irritability, fatigue and even tremors. For some people the effects can be very intense, so it is generally recommended that you wean yourself off slowly rather than quitting cold turkey.
This might have worked for patient people, but not for me. I had to start right away.
The first day without caffeine.
As a migraine victim, I was a little apprehensive at first. In my experience, migraines always start as simple headaches. Unfortunately, headaches are the most common side effect of caffeine withdrawals.
I was pretty nervous the first day without caffeine. I kept looking for that headache, but luckily it never came. However, my energy levels were considerably lower than usual. I fell asleep after lunch unintentionally, something I never do.
Overall my day wasn’t too bad, I just felt like a little sleepy.
Day two without caffeine.
Once again I was headache free, but I could not keep my eyes open. I couldn’t stay awake, much less concentrate on anything. I fell asleep three times during the day and I would have slept more if it wasn’t for work and other responsibilities.
Cognitively speaking, I was suffering. Reading was unbelievably difficult. Writing an email was next to impossible. Even absent-mindedly scrolling through social media felt like too much work.
I regretted quitting coffee on a Monday. It was barely Tuesday and I was suffering. At this pace, I wasn’t going to be able to get through the week.
Day three…and four, five, six, etc.
Wednesday was a new day. I woke up feeling refreshed and back to normal. I was still a little concerned though — was I going to hit a wall during my morning meetings? Wednesdays are usually my busiest days and I couldn’t afford to lose another day.
Perhaps it was the adrenaline of a busy day, but I had energy to last me all day. I felt great. I was able to focus during meetings, complete mundane tasks, cook, clean and still had enough energy left over to workout at the end of the day. Was I over the hump?
To make the story short, yes, I was over the hump. Every day after that was great. I wasn’t expecting it to be so easy. I have read countless blogs that describe quitting coffee as excruciating and next to impossible, but that wasn’t the case for me.
That is why I decided to write this article. Don’t let others fool you; quitting coffee is easy (if you plan accordingly).
How to quit caffeine for good: my top tips
My experience will be different than yours. You might have a harder (or easier) time quitting caffeine, but here are the 5 things that will make your journey more effective:
- Go cold turkey.
If you drink 3+ cups of coffee a day, then consider weaning yourself off first. However, if you’re a 1–2 cup a day kind of person, just stop. The first few days might be tough, but this will make the process easier and faster. - Find a substitute (for your empty hand).
One of the hardest parts of not drinking coffee was breaking the habit of holding something in my hand. A cup of herbal tea or even just hot water will ease this transition. - For the love of God do not start on a Monday.
This was my worst mistake. The first couple of days are the toughest. Make sure to give yourself ample time to get over withdrawal symptoms. Start on a Friday or on a day when you won’t be swamped with work and responsibilities. A good tip is to do it while on vacation, your schedule will already be different so it will be easier to change things up. - Write it down.
Every day write down your symptoms/feelings/experiences. This will allow you to realize how much caffeine truly affects you and give you something to look back on. I journaled about my experience every night and it made everything feel more official, plus I was able to notice small positive changes that I wouldn’t have otherwise. - Focus on the positives.
This goes hand-in-hand with journaling. Yes, you might feel like crap for the first few days, but soon enough you’ll experience really great things. Personally, I noticed my anxiety levels lowered considerably. My mood also improved, my energy levels were higher and I even lost some fat (probably due to lower cortisol levels). Focusing on the benefits not only made it easier, it made me want to keep on going. - *BONUS* Make caffeine work again.
Although I no longer consume caffeine on a daily basis, I don’t plan on completely removing it from my life. The great thing about not drinking coffee is that when you do drink it, it actually works (almost too well). So next time I have a sleepless night or need an energy boost, I know I can drink a little coffee and power through the day.
I started this experiment out of curiosity. I wanted to know how caffeine affected me and I was definitely surprised with my findings. By no means do I think caffeine is bad; caffeine is proven to be very healthy and even helps you prevent cognitive decline.
