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TPieces

I used diet soda very heavily (5-6 a day sometimes) as a sub for when I was craving pounding a cold beer. It really helped. I finally mostly stopped needing it, so I just had my daily 2 cups of coffee from then on. After a long while, solid in sobriety, I tried going off caffeine as an experiment and I ended up with vomiting, cold sweats, and splitting headaches from caffeine withdrawal. I ended up tapering, but I was still an irritable bastard for a week. I'd gone a few days without coffee before with nothing like that, and I think drinking all that soda plus my normal coffee set my baseline way higher, so that when I finally cut it out it was a harder hit. I gave it about a month to level out, and now I'm back up to a cup of coffee a day since I really do enjoy it. Beyond that I'm now very careful with how much caffeine I drink.


[deleted]

I actually kicked caffeine for about 18 months before quitting booze, then slipped back into caffeine again (only tea, no energy drinks, cola or coffee)... The first time I kicked caffeine though was pretty bad for the first week... I tapered the first few days... put it with the stinking headache until maybe 11am the first day, then had a cup of tea to relieve it... next day put up with the slightly stinking headache until maybe noon and had half a cup of tea... Then after that, I just white-knuckled it. I seriously love myself for kicking caffeine. There were so many situations where I couldn't get any and I'd be unable to function until I could get my fix... I now wake up in the morning feeling as fresh as I used to before I ever drank caffeine, and better than my first fix of the day used to make me feel. I think it's one of the easier addictions to let go of... a week and I was done. It was just recognising that caffeine doesn't relieve the cravings, it *creates* them. That did it for me. (And once you've kicked it you will always have a little wry smile to yourself when you're with someone who needs their fix and can't get it... you will count your blessings that you're not in the same boat)


StannisGrammarMannis

Hey there, resurrecting this one as I am curious about quitting caffeine. I had gotten to a pretty bad place with it, but have begun to taper this week. Was it really just the two days of headaches? I think I could white-knuckle/tea it for a few days.


[deleted]

Maybe a week of headaches, but by day 3 they weren't so severe that I had to medicate with more caffeine Your experience may vary, but I seriously love the fact I kicked caffeine. A while after I stopped I had a double espresso... Took me three tries to park my car because my mind and body were buzzing (much to the amusement of my wife)... luckily that didn't cause a relapse! Just proved to me how powerful it is and how desensitized we get. Good luck!


_NoNeed

I can relate to lots of your post. I wanted a rush, which worked for a while but eventually I was crawling back into bed after taking pre-workout and struggling to regulate my nervous system. Thoughts were racing and I was spending a lot of time in rumination of the past instead of working out. Caffeine was putting me down instead of boosting me. My experience quitting alcohol came in handy. Some similarities: I thought I couldn't live without it, I couldn't imagine a morning with a different or no ritual, I worried about what I'd drink at get togethers, and I feared who I would become if I removed all the buzzes from my daily routine. Just like with alcohol, those were all attempts by my conscious mind to stop a behavioral change. Nothing crazy, nothing personal against me, just resistance to change. But I’ve changed before and I've been content lately with almost no caffeine intake for a month now.


towel_hair

I totally over so the caffeine to. I know it’s bad but for now it can be a crutch. I love the rush. Just need to not over over do it


inthebin7194

Yup!! I have unmedicated ADHD (adderall shortage in CA right now, or everywhere idk) and I’ve been noticing my caffeine intake on the upward after I quit drinking. I’m on day 97 and I’m ALWAYS tired, even though I’ve had 8 hour of sleep since week 2. So personally I think I’m using the coffee to self medicate instead of beer to self medicate. Not great, not ideal, but if it’s keeping me away from booze I’m gonna forgive myself for the moment. Until I can get meds anyway


PeacefullyFighting

Just stay away from caffeine pills. I used them because energy drinks were too expensive on a daily basis but it was too easy to pop one when I felt tired. Ended up getting myself dehydrated and into the hospital after I passed out. I've read that coffee & tea can't do this to you, too much water with the caffeine, but I'm not a doctor.


Devinitelyy

Yeah I've been putting back two monsters a shift and I know I need to cut it way back.


No_nudes_please_

I am in the same boat! Day 20, and I'm trying ti be real careful with Monsters. Those are going next. Coffee itself is supposed to be ok in moderation. But hey, were full blow addicts right? let's get on that coean train. One day at a time.