Hey everyone, I had a really interesting experience with quitting caffeine about two years ago.

Back then, I went through boot camp, where we were deprived of all forms of caffeine and other substances while dealing with extreme physical stress. I should also mention that I had been using kratom before boot camp.

I was mentally tough enough to get through all of it, but quitting caffeine turned out to be the hardest part. Even after five weeks, I still didn’t feel like I’d broken the habit. In fact, quitting kratom was easier for me.

On some weekends, we were allowed to have cola as a reward for good discipline. Once, we were promised cola, but the commanders changed their minds, and we ended up getting none. That was the only time during the entire course when I felt genuinely mentally unstable.

The whole experience really made me wonder just how powerful caffeine actually is, at least for people like me

4 shots a day for 10 years and 2 cups a day for 10 years before that. Never really thought much about it, but it came to a head 4 weeks ago on a trip to Phoenix. Had a Nespresso shot, a cup of regular coffee and a cold brew all before 12 PM and boarding a flight. On the plane, I honestly thought I was stroking out a mile above ground. Made it to the hotel and just could not get my wits about me, called an ambulance. They took my vitals and said there was nothing abnormal. Suffered through the rest of the trip, but inadvertently quit caffeine as I didn't have the stomach for it. When I finally put 2 and 2 together, I was 5 days out and wasn't going back. First 2 weeks, lots of brain fog, physical and mental instability. Existential dread, oversensitivity to physical changes and rumination. Previously no history of mental health problems. Last two weeks have been better, but I am still exhausted by 7 PM and bouts of brain fog. If I miss my 7.5 hrs of sleep, I am wrecked for the day. I sleep like a rock, but my sleep is mostly REM and mental recovery over deep sleep and physical recovery.

Hopeful as I feel somewhat better physically than I have in a while, but want to know if my experience maps onto someone else's. Thanks all.

For the ladies I guess or men who have been with women who did this too! My main reason for quitting caffeine (daily 1 to 4 cups of coffee) was because I had a list of 31 symptoms due to hormonal issues. My doctors offered me hormones or psych meds, I am not really ready for either although was willing to try a little progesterone (which I hated).

So just wondering, how did quittinf effect your hormones? Peri symptoms? Menopausal symptoms? I am almost 43 for reference and have had a build up of symptoms for about 5 years, this year they became really bad and sometimes debilitating. Mainly the anxiety linked to histamine and estrogen, and the migranes ar several intervals during my cycle.

I have been a clean eater, workout person, yoga teacher, circadian biology observer, etc for decades. My only thing was coffee! Please tell me this can move the needle for my health!

I have been off it since october 1st. Noticed lower anxiety so far (huge win) way more headaches and my cycle was kind of better last time but also kind of messed up.

Anyone have some good anecdotal encouragement for me? ❤️

When heavily caffeinated I almost become a people pleaser and struggle to hold my ground, it’s pretty odd

Hello 76 veteran male Jim here vietnam 👋🥹. I am getting into all kinds of things to just check out with the rest of my life that i have... heh. Ok. Anyways i first used the "lazy Keirig" strat" for making coffee in my garage where i had been sleeping on my leather couch every day since i could just not get up and if coffee truggerss a movement in my "movement area" welp thats what the couch is for anyhow. Anyhow, since getting upgraded i guess to the shed following marriage to my wife Phillipina, i have no electric in the shed as of yet (still waiting on the guy to electric it for me from Reddit). Anyhow, I've been using a french press instead. And let me say, i did not get all the hullabaloo about switching of Keirig lazy, or about coffee and digestion either, until i had a gulp and cup of a french pressed coffee and lets just say now i see why it is called the french "press." Because it really pressed a hot movement out of my area and into the couch for my wife to just deal with and wipe later. Thank you for your all discuossion of coffee and it learned so much for me to get to this point you are all very wise.

Getting easier. Tired but manageable. Plan is to do 1 coffee a day this week, next week will be 1/2 a coffee and then decaf after that. Looking forward to rewiring my brain and quitting this shit!

Well.. going back was a nightmare. After 4 months off caffeine, I went back for 2.5 weeks. I was extremely anxious and paranoid even. wrecked my sleep. physically overran myself without realizing. got much less done. just a chaotic mess.

I can’t imagine adapting to that feeling again.. and then it was hell coming back off it.

the thought of caffeine now horrifies me. I’ve been back off of it for 3 days now.

I recently had a talk with my boss and he said that sometimes he feels im quite strong in my communication to co workers. I started watching it and i think sometimes im so hyped up/anxious because of coffee that im quite forward towards co workers. Anyone else had this experience?

Hit 90 days of being caffeine-free today, so here's my post :)

As a programmer, I bought into the classic trope that code literally runs on coffee. Every time I hit a wall with a bug or sat down to work, brewing a fresh cup was my automatic reflex.

What made it stick this time was realizing I wasn't actually addicted to the stimulant. I was addicted to the ritual. Grabbing that mug was just my brain's cue to start focus mode. To break the cycle, I simply swapped the physical habit:

• Replaced the desk coffee mug with a large glass of cold water while coding.
• Swapped the morning espresso for drinking 300–500ml of water right after waking up.

The first couple of weeks were rough with brain fog and afternoon fatigue, but pushing past that initial dip changed everything. What helped keep me honest was making a conscious commitment every morning and checking it off in a tracker instead of relying on sheer willpower. Watching the calendar fill up and setting a new personal-best streak made it way easier to keep going when motivation dropped.

Three months in, the results are night and day:

• Zero 3 PM crashes or post-lunch brain fog
• Waking up alert with stable, natural energy
• Deep, restorative sleep
• Much calmer baseline when dealing with stressful deadlines

I’m at a crossroads today though: Should I treat myself to one specialty cappuccino to celebrate 90 days, or is having even one cup playing with fire and risking momentum? 😁

I (22m) drank coffee daily since about 16. Lots of caffeine. A few weeks ago I decided to randomly quit to become healthier. The main symptoms I have experienced js anxiety and heart palpitations. Not often. But often enough I notice is. It seems counter productive that quitting would produce this so wondering if anyone experienced this.

Hi there,

I need some advice on quitting caffeine. Since everyone seems to have different timelines, here is some background on my past quitting attempts:

I first started using caffeine during my second university semester in 2022. I was drinking 2 cups a day and had an unhealthy cognitive lifestyle (studying all day with no breaks and high stress). As it was unsustainable, I ended up having quite a bad case of burnout and heightened anxiety that started almost immediately after a panic attack. It was after that panic attack (April 2022) that I completely stopped coffee cold turkey. I finished that semester with difficulty and got on antidepressants for the whole summer. It took me until November 2022 to feel great and productive again (7 months).

Forward to late 2023, I'm still at university and get tempted by coffee again. I got back on it partly because I was ignorant of how it affected me. From there on, I entered a vicious cycle, where my energy levels would gradually decrease across weeks and months until I would quit cold turkey for a week or two during my semester breaks to reset the tiredness.

Once I graduated in 2026, I quit cold turkey for a month, but couldn't get in a productive state for things like job hunting, so I got back on it out of fear. I'm still job hunting right now, but I imagine it would be better to be able to function without caffeine before I get employed.

I don't think cold turkey is viable given that I become too low performing for way too long. I'm currently tapering using matcha. This finally brings me to my question: Given that I need multiple cold turkey months to get back to the state I want, how would I go about the taper ? I can easily decrease by 20mg of caffeine using the matcha I have. However, would it mean i ll have to stay at those doses for 1 or more months to match the timeline of the cold turkey adaptation ?

To illustrate it clearly, let's say I'm on 100mg of caffeine. I could decrease by 20mg weekly to reach 0, but that would only take 5 weeks. Should I stay longer at some doses ? Or should I make smaller changes like 5mg per week ?

Any help is appreciated

Off caffeine for 3 or 4 weeks, save for one day of overconsuming coffee which I post about here.

My issue is: I’m already dealing with some fairly severe mental health issues. My depression has become unbearable since quitting caffeine. As in, I can barely get out of bed and have zero zest for life.

I see this is a common theme with others choosing to quit, but have any of you HAD to resume ingesting caffeine until life circumstances/mental health improved a bit?

It’s starting to feel counterproductive at this point. I think I’ve felt a slight amount of clarity & less anxiety from abstaining, but I need to be able to function.

(Side note: I’m starting to notice some ppl treat quitting and this sub the way folks use AA by using language like “quit dates” and “relapsing”. I just thought it might kind of help with my anxiety and sweating…)

Hello. Today’s my first day quitting caffeine. I had my last drink of soda last night (not a coffee drinker like most people here). I’ve been having bad anxiety for the past couple weeks (GAD, medicated with Lexapro. Also have ADHD). My reasoning for quitting is rooted in both oral health and mental health. Alongside quitting caffeine I’m looking to quit all forms of soda or really any kind of unhealthy beverages. I’m certainly craving a drink right now; I feel anxious without it. I wanted to know what you all do or consume to help make the journey easier. When can I expect things to start getting better?

Let's do this. At work so there will be lots of temptation but will stay strong

What do you think is missing from the decaf coffee world?

Better beans, more options at coffee shops, different caffeine levels, anything else?

Is there something you wish existed but just haven’t been able to find?

Curious to hear what everyone thinks!

Did they ever really go away?
I’m at 10 months, and although it’s better it’s still there. The depression only comes around every now and then and will hit hard for 2-3 days then goes away. Anyone with similar story?

For people who have succeeded in quitting after one or more failed attempts, what do you think were the factors that made your final attempt to quit successful?

I've reached a point where my reasons for quitting are clearer than ever, and I know it's the best decision for my long-term health. This gives me a strong sense of inner determination, however, I know from previous attempts how hard quitting can be, so am scared about relapsing once again.

Any tips, tricks, or mantras appreciated

I am weaning off from 2-3 cups a day over the past month. Yesterday I switched from 1 cup a day to .5 cups a day. I purposefully delayed the half a cup for an hour or two to feel the withdrawal start to kick in. It's amazing how even at 1 cup a day (though I did taper rather fast), you can still get such noticeable withdrawal. Thankfully that .5 cup prevented any bad withdrawal symptoms.

Last night I slept wonderfully despite not sleeping that long... I had some amazing dreams. A nightmare as well. SO lucid!!! And despite, according to my Garmin, only sleeping 7 proper hours, I feel like it was overall way more restful than before.

Just another week and I should be full decaf :D

For me it's about nature adventures.. Coffee gets me way too anxious in the adventure, sometimes panicky, and way too amped up when I need to stay calm and safe and focused in my movements. Also when going to super small towns in the middle of nowhere there isn't always decent coffee available, and it just feels awful having to plan a coffee stop (even if from a convenience store) into every morning not because I am truly enjoying the cafe, but because I need to stop withdrawal before getting into things, and then still getting anxious/panicky. Plus the dosage is always different from cafes at home vs. traveling, etc. so sometimes I'd drink too much of the cheap shit and get way too panicky/anxious.