r/decaf

Hello all!

I recently quit caffeine, and became incredibly anxious- with no apparent cause. I have nothing to be anxious about, but my adrenal glands are active. This has happened before, the last time I tried to quit. I made the mistake of drinking some soda yesterday, which helped for like 6 hours, and then it came back worse. Does anyone else have any experience with this? I know nothing is wrong with my heart, my body, it's just anxiety. It's really horrible, I hate it, and it's the worst thing ever. Panic attacks on really bad days like yesterday, general anxiety on others. For reference, I used to drink coffee extract.

This has been quite the ordeal so far, way more than I expected for a “benign” drug. I had lots of physical symptoms for the first week: headaches, nausea, random extreme fatigue, one day of diarrhea. Now it’s switched to mental—I feel super flat and kind of like a passenger on my life. The reason I went off was the exhaustion of the caffeine rollercoaster paired with a lesser version of the same mental feelings I have now. Kind of disappointed that he mental aspect has gotten even worse. I hope it’s my dopamine system rebalancing. Interestingly, before on caffeine my sex drive was subdued but the parts still worked fine. Post-caffeine it’s at 5% of what it should be. Again, I hope my system is simply adjusting.

Tell me there is a light at the end of the tunnel? How long?

Having bad time with anxiety at moment and starting back on wagon tomorrow. Seeing people's stories of severe withdrawal and the issues caffeine has caused them gives me comfort that im not alone . I'm going half caff once a day for a week and then I will do 2 cups decaf all tea not coffee as my first attempt at 10 days cold turkey was a disaster . Does any one have any advice how does it sound what I'm planning or a better way of going at this again

I've been going to therapy for a while now, and realized my mom is an emotionally immature, narcissistic parent, and it's brought up a lot of memories and things I have to work through.

When I used to live with just my mom (for about 3 years), she went on a health craze at one point and cut out caffeine for 6 months. She has drank coffee my whole life, and said she would never ever quit, so this was a shock.

Now when I think back on that time, I remember how she became a completely different person. She was relaxed, calm, stopped being so judgemental and critical, actually listened to me and stopped making everything about her. I stopped having to worry about her moods controlling everything, about saying the wrong thing that would set her off. I started to genuinely enjoy being around her, and felt our relationship get better.

Then I came downstairs one morning and noticed she was drinking a coffee. I asked why, as she had said that she was never going back to coffee again. Said she had a small coffee at lunch with a friend, and realized how much she missed it. I didn't really pay attention to my feelings at the time, but this crushed me. Because I knew what she was like on caffeine, and that I was never going to get that version of my mom back.

Years later, our relationship is worse than ever. She drinks so much coffee now, and drinks it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach (the worst). She cannot control her emotions at all, is extremely anxious, and if I dare to bring up lowering her caffeine intake I'm met with hostility.

I know what caffeine does to me, and how it changes me and makes me feel. But it's a whole different experience when you see how it affects a loved one. I wish it wasn't so normalized :(

i am speaking from personal experience. i have been addicted to caffeine, nicotine, weed, and opiates and tried pretty much every other drug. i love drugs and hate life so i don't plan on quitting but i have had to stop all of these cold turkey at one point or another, and use the more harmful ones more moderately now. here is my experience:

weed is considered the least severe, i love smoking weed but the worst that would happen is my appetite being reduced, feeling depressed and having a hard time sleeping for a few days, and it makes me want to get absolutely sloshed on something else which i usually have no desire to do while high.

opioids are hell to get over, you will have all of the above symptoms along with diarrhea and much more intense mood swings. also a lot of physical symptoms like shivers, feeling like you have a cold and minor headaches (not as bad as caffeine withdrawal). they also tend to fuck with your thoughts a lot, like thinking about every time you've been wronged or people you don't talk to anymore

nicotine is nothing compared to the other two, and i know some dumbass in the comments is going to say "but weed is not addictive like nicotine is" but you'll feel a bit irritable for a day or two and that's it. the cravings get pretty bad but if you have no access to it you'll manage just fine. i'm on a vacation now with no access to it but i'm looking forward to smoking some when i get back. it helps tremendously with my regimen and my body doesn't tolerate alcohol so it's a good social lubricant. i will quit when i have children because i want to set a good example

now for what you've all been waiting for, caffeine. i've been doing this one the longest so that's probably why i have the worst withdrawal symptoms. i drank caffeine this morning but didn't this afternoon and i have the worst migraine, it actually makes me want to die. loud noises feel like someone is hitting my head with a hammer and i'm extremely sensitive to light. it feels like i can't think and i get absolutely nothing done. on all the other drug withdrawals i could at least be social and cordial but missing a caffeine dosage makes me need to lock myself in a dark room and pray to god. i already had a bit of a migraine this morning so it could be something else but this feeling is all too familiar. i don't usually get headaches if i don't consume caffeine in the afternoon, but if i don't drink any in the morning it is practically guaranteed. the longest i've been able to make it is 3 days before i throw in the towel because i'm miserable to be around and my head feels like it is imploding.

anyways those are my thoughts on addiction. i've tried quitting caffeine on numerous occasions or at least tried to lower my tolerance (i usually drink around 200-400mg a day) but had no luck. kudos to all of you persevering through this but personally, i don't know if i ever will.

So I've been drinking energy drinks daily since maybe 13-14 years old. I just always loved the taste it was better than any drink for me. I didn't take people seriously when they said it was dangerous for my body. So I drank at least 1 a day, either Hell energy or Monster or Redbull, sometimes even Golden Eagle. Now I am 23 and it was still my daily routine to drink at least one a day because if I didn't I would feel groggy. Couple of days ago after two redbulls during lunch I felt my heart was pounding really weird and hard and also I had shortness of breath, I had to take such deep breathes because I felt like I couldn't breathe. Took that seriously since now I guess I'm at more serious age and stopped drinking energy drinks. Now I'm feeling dead, sleeping 2-3 times a day despite sleeping 8 hours(good thing I don't have a job currently) because I just can't take it I get blurry vision, my body falls asleep even if I'm awake, get irritated at anything and can't even do my regular house tasks. All I do is sleep, no energy what so ever and I'm having headaches. Did anyone else experience this and how long did it take for these symptoms to pass?

I’ve been on this sub for a while now so please just talk about honest opinions and don’t try the fear mongering thing that a lot of users here do to people new on the sub

Why should I stop drinking the decaf tea? I’m asking because I don’t get joy from it, it’s around 2-5mg, and it makes me toast and butter taste nicer that’s the only reason why I drink it

When I wake up in the morning I’m not looking for it nor do I have agonising headache. I feel just fine. But health wise I don’t know if this tea (Yorkshire decaf) is worth continuing..

Let me know your thoughts or/and personal experience thanks :)

Really need help I relapsed and my anxiety is thought the roof right now . I have been down too 2/3 cups of black tea a day and the odd coke . But I went cold turkey for 10 days and surprisingly I had no withdrawal for the first week but day 8. 9. And 10 wore unbearable I felt like I wasn't the pilot of my body speech was dumb brain fog every thing body was super weak also . Why did they only start a week in . I'm currently on 2 cups now I want too quit so I can rid myself of this anxiety and reach a body that's is calm but that was rough ?? Any help

I'm so glad to have found this community, because I feel like a crazy person when I talk about wanting to stop or even reduce caffeine intake, even by my own family sometimes. I finally feel vindicated to hear of others' similar experiences.

Anyway, here is my story so far:

I've tried for the last 12 months to quit caffeine. I came to realise that both my short term and long term memory are better OFF caffeine. Side note, these 'studies' that claim caffeine increases memory seriously have to be shonky. As someone having meddled with statistics research, I know how easy it is to incorporate bias into these studies, but I digress...

Last year, I needed to memorise word-for-word a whole bunch of rules and applications for my job. It's boring stuff but it was important for the job itself. I noticed I felt so dumb and slow on caffeine. I couldn't speak clearly, I'd forget names and places, it sucks. This has always been the case on caffeine, I just denied that it was the case. I decided I needed to knuckle down and had a few days off caffeine (with insane headaches) and my recall rate was noticably better off caffeine, so I finally (for the first time in 10 years) went 21 days off caffeine and nailed my exams. After that, sure enough, I fell back into addiction.

It's actually incredible the tricks our mind play when we are in caffeine withdrawals, I can be so motivated to quit then come day 2 or 3 it makes absolute perfect sense to just have coffee that day, which turns into everyday.

After that, my daughter was born and I told myself I'd stop so that I can be a better father. Feel less anxiety towards our newborn, react better in stressful situations, and have better memory recall. All things that happen when I'm off caffeine. But I just can't do it.

Somehow I keep convincing myself that I need it again, when I actually just want that temporarily elevated mood and increased physical energy, even though it dimishes with every subsequent day.

This month, I've made some progress (albeit small progress). I've had 10 caffeine-free days in 4 weeks. It's embarrassing to say I'm proud of that, but it's something.

Incredibly, I no longer get crazy headaches on my days off. I used to get insane headaches and nothing worked to fix them. Now I just feel tired, low mood and in a constant state of convincing myself to drink coffee.

My question is, does anyone have any advice?

I'm sorry for the ramble, I've followed this sub for so long and have so many thoughts on the topic.

Thanks everyone!

As the title states, I woke up this morning and realized I've been without coffee for about 1 year. Surprisingly I don't remember the exact date I stopped.

The reason I stopped is that I was just way over caffeinated all the time. It was my means to stay awake. Without coffee I had no energy. This was compounded by the fact that I have a heart murmur which may have been the cause of some palpitation issues I had started having.

For perspective, coffee is/was a passion of mine. I roasted my own beans. I also bought single origin beans from microlots and had many conversations about coffee farming to people. I advocated for fair prices to these coffee farmers. My favorite coffees were naturally processed, funky beans. I had multiple subscription services. Owned a v60, a fancy grinder, a moccamaster, aeropress, French press, etc. I even read coffee science books.

When I initially quit coffee, I was very dehydrated and didn't even realize it. It was last July, it was a heat wave, and it was miserable. I remember the first days after I quit were miserable. I was making mistakes at work that I would normally not make. I was low energy. I could hardly hold a conversation.

The next couple of weeks I was having heart palpitations. Over the course of a month they decreased. Some palpitations are due to my heart condition (MVP) but mostly they had to be from the caffeine withdrawal. Don't worry, I see a cardiologist and did the whole thing and continue to follow up.

Things I've learned: caffeine has a grip on you. Your body gets dependent on it. You will have physical and mental withdrawal when you quit. After some time, you stop craving it. It is no longer a leash around your neck. Every now and again, on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I do still crave a cup. I don't do it, but I also feel like I could safely have a cup of decaf if I choose. I could even roast my own decaf beans eventually. Right now I rather not.

Coffee is a drug. It's not thought of as a bad drug. It helps society be productive. Yet like any drug, it can trap you. You can become a slave to it. For me, it was part of my routine. I would literally bring extra to work for extra long shifts, in fear of running out.

Now I am free from all of that. I don't even think twice.

Another side benefit, is that caffeine from my understanding interferes with your blood vessels expanding the way they should during a workout. Before I quit my resting pulse was always higher. I workout a lot and always have. Now my resting pulse is much lower and seems to have more range in general, which isn't talked about a lot here. Can't help but think it's related.

Anyways, I hope that helps someone out there. Thank you for reading!

This week marks 6 months with no caffeine.

Energy - my energy is pretty good, I am more connected to my bodies real and true energy.

Anxiety - is better, ocd also much better. I still deal with some anxiety and depression so I’m not where I want to be yet with that..

Mood - my mood feels low, for that reason I still have days where I crave a mood boost from the caffeine, but I also realise it’s only ever a temporary boost. I’m also not relying on quitting caffeine to cure all of my mental health issues.

Focus & motivation - still struggle with not feeling motivated or focused without caffeine or a stimulant. We will see how that goes.. and I am looking into other solutions also for this.

I’m happy I am exploring this, my nervous system from a health place feels much better without caffeine and stimulants.

I wonder how I will feel in another 6 months ?

I managed to get through 7 days of no caffeine but tonight the baby was waking up every hour and so did I. Any tips from baby parents who managed to pull this off while also getting 4 hours of broken sleep?

Anxiety, depression, skin problems, digestion problems, or other health issues, was caffeine the culprit for you?

Went cold turkey almost 2 months ago from a pretty out of hand coffee addiction. Just in the last week I've been feeling a bit better! Not waking up in a feeling of complete doom, and I'm getting feelings of joy from simple things like just hanging out with my dog. I still get down but that's just how I am, and it's less of a devastating feeling and more witnessing those moments calmly and working through them. I'm looking forward to seeing continued improvements and I'm prepared for things to potentially cycle and become harder again. But I'm hopeful that things will keep getting better from here. Also I had a bit of cocoa yesterday and it made me feel worse in every way. So now I have really no desire for any amount of caffeine because I'm definitely past the point of it making me feel good. It just feels like shit now. I miss the taste of chocolate but mostly I crave protein and healthy carbs.

Today I was at the barbershop and I was just so relaxed. No swallowing constantly, tight chest, nervousness, red face. In fact I was just sitting relaxed as can be. Found myself even smiling more and when I went to give the barber a handshake after my haircut it just felt so natural and genuine. I was never this way. I used to be a nervous shaky mess. Id overthink everything, I had all the symptoms of bad social anxiety. Now, wether im at the barbershop, grocery store, gym.. I just feel relaxed. I like this version of myself without caffeine, over 4 months and counting.

I'd like to know people who had positive results due decaf, who did not consume coffee, because I think it also contains mold? how can we differentiate which one caused anxiety toxins/mold in coffee or caffeine itself? is there anyone who consumed only tea, cola energy drinks and no coffee and had drastic improvements in sense of, less anxiety, better sleep, so on.

Used to drink 4 cups a day, always felt anxious and had horrible sleep.

Completely cut out caffeine for a while, but never ever felt as productive and happy compared to when I was on coffee.

Now for the past few weeks, I've been doing one cup a day and find it's a nice middle ground. The caffeine seems to be enough to keep me extremely productive and in a great mood, but not enough to make me anxious or have sleep issues. I also get that morning ritual again which is nice.

Did anyone else reduce their intake to just one cup with success?

Hey all,

I recently had my last bit of caffeine last Saturday and have been off of it since. I wasn't really fatigued at all the first 1-4 days. I mostly felt the same just with some joint pain and headaches. But on day 5, yesterday, I felt this incredible crash and fatigue that forced me to nap in the middle of the day, something I haven't done in years. Was this something any of you also experienced, where the sleepiness wasn't really an issue until nearly a week in. It's just a little confusing to me and has me wondering if something else may be causing it.

Thank you!