I'm trying to quit nicotine again after a semi-successful attempt a couple of months ago, and I thought, if I'm going to go through withdrawals for this, maybe it would be worth it to quit caffeine while I'm at it?
Is it worth it though? Do the cons of a caffeine addiction outweigh the pros?
caffeine withdrawal isn't very nasty so go for it if you want
the main con people apply to cafeine is literally just the fact of dependence and thats like a moral failing? if its giving you negative symptoms, yeah, quit. if it dont its not a health risk of any kind and affordable :shrug-outta-hecks:
The nice thing about only having coffee a couple times a week is that it remains a very effective stimulant that I can enjoy the effects of at a low dose.
Exactly!
I also only drink a caffeinated beverage like once or twice a week and yeah being able to jack my brain up on that drug is pretty useful
For me: yes. I used to drink too much coffee, and it was wreaking havoc on my stomach and nerves. I just stopped one day, and drank tea instead. I got my caffeine and less stomach issues. Then I just stopped drinking caffeinated teas, and no real withdrawal that I can remember. Maybe a bit crankier in the morning for a week or so, but my herbal tea in the morning seems to be enough for me now.
I do miss the coffee + cannabis combo though lol
It is the perfect focused but chill and cool with repetitious or annoying tasks/people combo
I never really drink sodas or energy drinks, but I regularly have a lot more coffee than anyone else I know. I try to go a month without any caffeine at least once a year to prove to myself that I'm not too dependent on it.
Withdrawal in my experience isn't so bad but you might want to have some downtime like a long weekend. I usually have about two days of a mild migraine and then a week of being really drowsy. But after that I feel pretty good.
In my experience caffine can make you more anxious, less focused, and quick to upset. Also one of the weirder side effects of caffeine that I noticed is that I am more emotionally shallow while caffeinated. So you can judge the benefits for yourself.
For me, I avoided caffeine for forever, and found that it improved my life quite a bit when I did start drinking it. Always struggled with sleeping well, and while a morning cup of coffee didn't directly help the sleep part, it helps get me out of bed on time in the morning, in turn helping me actually stick to a sleeping schedule, which in turn does help my sleep. Before, I was super awake at night and utterly exhausted when I woke up, but now I have schedule to help me wake up at the same time, even if I still struggle with the 'falling asleep' part.
Also to be fair, I stick to one cup of black coffee, so its not like I'm overloading on caffeine, or getting extra sugar, and I do get crippling migraines if I skip the cup, which I find a little weird cause its not that much caffeine, but w/e. Prefer if it wasn't the case, but it does give me extra motivation to not stay in bed all day on the weekends.
Yeah, I feel like both caffeine and nicotine have both helped me with productivity and stuff, but I've been using them for years and years. I don't know for sure that that's not something I'm just telling myself.
I mean, if you lack a reference frame, and feel emotionally up to trying it, quitting caffeine can be a good idea to see how you function without it.
And, if it works, stay without it, or if you think you're functioning worse without it, you can start it up again, with the extra upside of needing less to get the benefits, which should help the downsides. Drinking more and more caffeine to get the same mental boosts will mean that any side effects it gives you, like anxiety, sleep issues, or heart/BP issues, will be worse. So stopping, or at least cutting down, your caffeine consumption for a bit should help you need less to get any boost.
I would say it depends on how you are getting your caffeine and how much of it you are getting. I used to drink like 8 cups of coffee a day and last year managed to switch to just having one cup in the morning and then just having tea. As far as I understand it tea also contains caffeine, so I haven't really gotten rid of my addiction, but my stomach would like to point out that this has actually made a huge positive difference in my life. I don't know that it is specifically the caffeine, but if you are drinking a lot of coffee it is worth it to try to change your ways, even if you just switch the method of delivery.
I drink 2-4 cups of coffee in the morning to afternoon, and way too many diet colas. I just want to break the habit all together, then depending on how I feel after, I may go back to one cup of tea or coffee in the morning.
I don't think caffeine is your main problem here. Coffee does weird stuff to your stomach and the colas - diet or not - contain a lot of sugar. If you manage to quit this habit you will probably feel a big difference and it will be really healthy, but I think you would feel the same benefit if you switched to taking caffeine pills with water. (Don't do that, the pill form will make you use a lot more caffeine)
I can't speak for completely quitting caffeine, I've never even tried. But I can recommend trying to replace as much of your intake as possible with tea. You will very quickly be able to feel the difference, and that is so worth it.
Coffee does weird stuff to your stomach and the colas - diet or not - contain a lot of sugar.
Diet colas regularly have 0 sugar, beeing sweetened with artificial sweeteners only. They're still bad for you, it's not due to sugar though
I'm thinking I want a full month long detox of caffeine at the least, maybe even longer. But when I do go back, it will definitely be tea or yerba mate, and only when I really need it.
If you're constantly consuming it there are some negative impacts on your life or mainly getting caffeine through energy drinks or soda the reduction in sugar alone is worth it. If you have a cup or two of regular coffee a day and get enjoyment from it I don't see it really being worth it.
I'm just super dependant on it, and I have terrible anxiety and sleep quality, which caffeine surely doesn't help with. I just want to break the daily dependence and habit.
Swap to tea. The rituals just as good, if not better, and it won't hit you in the anxiety button.
Green tea specifically even tends to help me a bit, plus you can get into herbals which can settle anxiety stomach troubles if you get that.
I've considered that. Maybe if I can't stand the withdrawals I'll try to ween myself off with tea.
The tea suggestions are good. I have trouble sleeping if I have coffee 12hr before going to bed. 8hr is the half life of caffeine but 12 is quarter I think and that is where it can still impact quality and ease of falling asleep
Wakefulness and concentration? Although I've heard that all improves after you quit. So maybe there is none, idk. I'm going to try it, see how much all the withdrawal at once demolishes me.
Oh I misread, I thought you were talking about the pros of quitting. Yeah I mean what are the benefits? Coffee is a cheap smart drug, tastes great, and is a nice ritual. What's the supposed benefit of quitting?
I've read improved sleep, less anxiety, mental stress, stress on your body, etc. Plus I drink so much coffee and I still feel tired all day, so whats the fucking point?
I don't know how true those "pros" are, but I'm gonna try to see
Yeah if you're struggling with anxiety that makes sense, when I was doing the same I stopped drinking caffeine. Hope it works.
Plus I drink so much coffee and I still feel tired all day, so whats the fucking point?
There isn't. In my experience you cannot have caffeine routinely because you will inevitably build up a tolerance and you will feel awful if you don't increase your intake. I've been having around 40mg a day for a week to improve my wake up time and I'm already starting to feel depressed and tired once it wears off. After like three days you aren't getting a boost from it, you're just staving off the withdrawal effects. The only thing that has helped my tiredness is a nap at noon.
Caffeine can be good for you. If you use it wisely, it can help regulate your sleep better, and otherwise it doesn't seem to have any harmful effects to speak of. So as long as you don't have a serious problem with caffeine in some way, I don't think it's worth it.
Just reducing the amount of caffeine you consume can make a difference. In my life right now I make a choice each day: if I drink my third cup of coffee in the afternoon, I’ll actually be able to do stuff, but I’ll probably have trouble sleeping. If I don’t drink that third cup, I won’t be able to do anything, but I’ll sleep a solid eight hours. I go back and forth on this day by day.
I once went without coffee for a week or so because none was available (I was traveling). After a couple days of mild headaches I didn’t really notice much of a difference and I went back to drinking coffee once I returned to CoffeeLand.
If you’re consuming a lot of caffeine and feeling anxious and depressed all the time it seems like you should definitely consider at least reducing your intake.
I had really bad fatigue and anxiety issues before my depression was diagnosed and treated. Might not be you, like at all, but if it sounds like it might be, food for thought…
Yeah unfortunately the depression and anxiety kind of gets in the way of me getting help for my depression and anxiety...
This is only tangentially related but coca leaf tea has helped me kick my caffeine addiction.
I was listening to a podcast interview a drug addiction specialist who said caffeine is one of the most benign chemicals you can put in your body.
Caffeine is awesome if you aren't addicted to it. Eq. of a cup of coffee can settle my mood for a whole afternoon, and make midmornings a lot less miserable when they are unusually bad. A single energy drink can keep me going almost all night if I need it. I just avoid using it more than three times a week.
As someone who is very seriously addicted to caffeine, yes it is. Maybe someday I will. :sadness:
