I think you're inspiring me, Arman. Though I read this while sipping a Keureg dark roast, I've been contemplating cutting back on caffeine because I have bad claustrophobia, something linked to the sympathetic nervous system, which is influenced by, yep, caffeine.
Would you say the mental clarity you now have is worth it? That may be enough of an incentive.
I'm sorry you struggle with that Bradley. My dad has really bad claustrophobia too and he drinks coffee all the time so maybe there's some link there?
I couldn't recommend this enough. Even if it's not a permanent change.
I've felt more peaceful, relaxed, and surprisingly energized this entire month and this was really the only major lifestyle change I made so it must have been a big reason.
Congrats on the success of your discipline. I have always loved coffee ice cream, but never drank or got into coffee. I'll grab a Starbucks Frappacino out of the cooler when I'm doing long drives and need to stay alert, but that's so infrequent that when I need to boost it really works.
Hah! Maybe you can drink it recreationally. It seems you have gained more benefits by not drinking it. Excellent experiment. It sucks you had the unpleasant symptoms the first week, but that's withdrawals.
Yes that is definitely the plan moving forward. I don't want to become reliant on it to function ever again. And then it'll still be a treat when I do decide to indulge.
Yeah I was surprised just how long it took to get back to normal again but I couldn't recommend it enough. Was absolutely worth it.
Yes, you'll feel more of these good vibes from it, when it's not everyday. People just need to get through the withdrawals. Fortunately they don't last long even if you were drinking coffee every day for many years.
Yep that was me. Id had coffee nearly every single day for at least 5 years. A week of withdrawals doesnt seem long in the grand scheme of things but in the moment it was painful haha
Super inspiring to hear this - and it's amazing what power such a common drug has, right?! I'm sure if we discovered caffeine today, our over-enthusiastic regulators would jump to make it prescription-only...
Your first week sounded rough to be fair - much longer than my day of reset. But February is only 2 days away - and if you return I'm sure you'll do it with a clearer perspective and more moderation!
so cool to find this, I stopped drinking coffee January 1st as well. I am at flight mechanic school and the coffee here on base is Folgers, plus I wanted to take a break since I was consuming a lot of caffeine. So till March 22nd I won't be drinking coffee, and one of the biggest wins has been sleep. I fall asleep almost instantly now which has not been the case since college. Looking forward to my americano, cortado and cafecitos though, I miss them a lot.
Good work. I started reducing my caffeine a few days ago, scaling back from 3-5 large mugs per day to 2 smaller cups. No withdrawal symptoms whatsoever. Just a background sensation that I'm in slightly better control of my head.
😆 Yes, my bladder has occasionally wanted to give my head a good talking to. I like to think I'll try the full-on ice-cold turkey approach you suggest, but at the moment I know I'd fail, and feel little motivation to try again. Perhaps it's something that should only be attempted when you're confident of success. Like training to dog to come to you – no point using commands you know the dog isn't going to follow because it learns nothing, only that sometimes you get cross and shouty for reasons it doesn't understand. Training = a series of little wins, progressively more challenging. Perhaps in some cases the same can be said for quitting habits/addictions. For now I'm just going to bank the little progress I've made!
i agree that progress is powerful but ill slightly push back because, at least in my experience, when it comes to breaking a habit its easier to just stop completely. but again, im happy to hear youve already cut back. let me know if you ever do decide to quit totally, i think youll be pleasantly surprised :)
The last two nights have been the best I've slept in months and have given me a massive anxiety drop, with the only side effect so far being nightly headaches.
I was probably slamming three to five cups of the bean water every day for many years and had no idea the effect it was having on me.
I wonder though... how much of our coffee addiction is actually ritual addiction... same thing with smoking, there is something magical and mind focusing with lighting up a cigar. Am I addicted to the thing? Or the ritual around the thing?
That's a great point. I think the addiction is to both the substance and the ritual. Although, I did try keeping the ritual by brewing a cup of (caffeine free) peppermint tea but it just wasn't the same as feeling the caffeine from coffee enter my body.
Cheers, Arman! Congratulations on making it through the month. I'm so glad you found some stable energy and mental clarity through your experiment. After my own 31 days off the juice, I'm sitting here in my favorite cafe, sipping a half-caf flat white and very much enjoying it :) My month off from coffee and tea definitely decreased my anxiety, but I also found myself feeling spacy and struggling to motivate myself and focus on work. Does that mean I've been using caffeine to self-medicate most of my adult life? Probably. I'll be sharing more notes in tomorrow's Mindful Mondays.
Caffeine just lets the words come out, can see why it helped with sales calls. :D As an introvert, I try to time my caffeine with social events. So I drink more during work days, less on days off. I've had success timing my caffeine one or two hours after waking up. I heard that this helps avoid the crash in the afternoon, and have found it to be true.
I think the longest I've gone without is 2 months and, indeed, that first week SUCKS! Great job sticking through it.
It really does. It's like a miracle drug for us introverts!
I like that and plan to do the same. I'll drink coffee during the weekdays before writing/work and then will refrain on the weekends so I actually feel the effects more so when each Monday morning comes back around.
Wow 2 months is a long time, good for you. This has got me itching to try new experiments like this of what I could experiment with not doing for a month.
Way to stick with it! I don’t think I’m ready for an experiment like this yet. Alcohol? Yes, I can probably give that up. Coffee? 😬
I think you're inspiring me, Arman. Though I read this while sipping a Keureg dark roast, I've been contemplating cutting back on caffeine because I have bad claustrophobia, something linked to the sympathetic nervous system, which is influenced by, yep, caffeine.
Would you say the mental clarity you now have is worth it? That may be enough of an incentive.
I'm sorry you struggle with that Bradley. My dad has really bad claustrophobia too and he drinks coffee all the time so maybe there's some link there?
I couldn't recommend this enough. Even if it's not a permanent change.
I've felt more peaceful, relaxed, and surprisingly energized this entire month and this was really the only major lifestyle change I made so it must have been a big reason.
Thanks for the inspiration, Arman. I might do a decaf February!
that could be a great way to start! although i think youll notice more benefits from cutting it out completely. but any small step could help :)
Thank you. And I feel for your father.
Congrats on the success of your discipline. I have always loved coffee ice cream, but never drank or got into coffee. I'll grab a Starbucks Frappacino out of the cooler when I'm doing long drives and need to stay alert, but that's so infrequent that when I need to boost it really works.
Thank you Rick it was harder than I expected at first but ended up being so worth it.
Hm that's surprising. I don't know anyone who enjoys coffee flavored food but not coffee itself.
That's so true. When you enjoy it sparingly then you actually get the full benefits instead of becoming totally reliant on it.
Hah! Maybe you can drink it recreationally. It seems you have gained more benefits by not drinking it. Excellent experiment. It sucks you had the unpleasant symptoms the first week, but that's withdrawals.
Yes that is definitely the plan moving forward. I don't want to become reliant on it to function ever again. And then it'll still be a treat when I do decide to indulge.
Yeah I was surprised just how long it took to get back to normal again but I couldn't recommend it enough. Was absolutely worth it.
Yes, you'll feel more of these good vibes from it, when it's not everyday. People just need to get through the withdrawals. Fortunately they don't last long even if you were drinking coffee every day for many years.
Yep that was me. Id had coffee nearly every single day for at least 5 years. A week of withdrawals doesnt seem long in the grand scheme of things but in the moment it was painful haha
Super inspiring to hear this - and it's amazing what power such a common drug has, right?! I'm sure if we discovered caffeine today, our over-enthusiastic regulators would jump to make it prescription-only...
Your first week sounded rough to be fair - much longer than my day of reset. But February is only 2 days away - and if you return I'm sure you'll do it with a clearer perspective and more moderation!
As an aside - really well written!
Haha that's a great point. Or the pharmaceutical companies would have patented it so they could sell it as a pill.
I was surprised at how long it took to start feeling normal again but it was so worth it.
Yes definitely, I'm not gonna fall into the trap of drinking it everyday even when I start back because then all the fun wears off!
Appreciate you my friend, your essay was a banger as well :)
I quit caffeine too and I got a lot of headaches and felt down for a while but now I feel more emotionally balanced. Was worth it, great article 😌
Thank you Patrick.
It's so cool to know I haven't been alone in this experiment.
Bravo to you for sticking through it long enough to enjoy the benefits.
so cool to find this, I stopped drinking coffee January 1st as well. I am at flight mechanic school and the coffee here on base is Folgers, plus I wanted to take a break since I was consuming a lot of caffeine. So till March 22nd I won't be drinking coffee, and one of the biggest wins has been sleep. I fall asleep almost instantly now which has not been the case since college. Looking forward to my americano, cortado and cafecitos though, I miss them a lot.
that's awesome Everett glad to know I'm not alone!
haha well if folgers is your only option that probably makes it a little easier to stay away from.
you're right on the sleep part, that alone seems to be worth the experiment.
ill be interested to hear how you feel after nearly 3 months of no caffeine.
this was fun to try out but i can hear that americano calling my name...
Good work. I started reducing my caffeine a few days ago, scaling back from 3-5 large mugs per day to 2 smaller cups. No withdrawal symptoms whatsoever. Just a background sensation that I'm in slightly better control of my head.
Thanks Theo.
Wow if I drank multiple large mugs a day I'd be permanently stuck on the toilet!
Glad you're experimenting with cutting back.
I don't think the withdrawals will kick in unless you cut it out completely.
Maybe worth trying at some point to see if you gain even more control of your head!
😆 Yes, my bladder has occasionally wanted to give my head a good talking to. I like to think I'll try the full-on ice-cold turkey approach you suggest, but at the moment I know I'd fail, and feel little motivation to try again. Perhaps it's something that should only be attempted when you're confident of success. Like training to dog to come to you – no point using commands you know the dog isn't going to follow because it learns nothing, only that sometimes you get cross and shouty for reasons it doesn't understand. Training = a series of little wins, progressively more challenging. Perhaps in some cases the same can be said for quitting habits/addictions. For now I'm just going to bank the little progress I've made!
i agree that progress is powerful but ill slightly push back because, at least in my experience, when it comes to breaking a habit its easier to just stop completely. but again, im happy to hear youve already cut back. let me know if you ever do decide to quit totally, i think youll be pleasantly surprised :)
Thanks! I might get there... I expect we're all different when it comes to these things.
so true. there's no good or bad just find what works best for you. thats why i always love experimenting
I decided to hop on the no caffeine train two days ago after reading this post by Zan Tafakari:
https://open.substack.com/pub/zantafakari/p/the-case-against-caffeine?r=40xzc&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
The last two nights have been the best I've slept in months and have given me a massive anxiety drop, with the only side effect so far being nightly headaches.
I was probably slamming three to five cups of the bean water every day for many years and had no idea the effect it was having on me.
Best decision I've made thus far in 2024.
Great post, thank you for sharing!
Thank you Adam!
Zan is a tremendous writer.
Props to you for not only feeling inspired but actually taking action.
The sleep improvement alone is worth it even if nothing else changes.
Hope you keep it going long enough for the headaches to fade away then you'll really start to wish you'd done this sooner.
...i just got back into it...does wonders for anxiety...
thats the main reason im going back tomorrow. my anxiety levels plummeted and i cant stand it!
...who would i be if i couldn't chew my nails, tear out my hair, and worry endlessly about everything [pours a 6th espresso]...
if you arent worrying are you really living?
...someone needs to tell Bobby McFerrin this...
I wonder though... how much of our coffee addiction is actually ritual addiction... same thing with smoking, there is something magical and mind focusing with lighting up a cigar. Am I addicted to the thing? Or the ritual around the thing?
That's a great point. I think the addiction is to both the substance and the ritual. Although, I did try keeping the ritual by brewing a cup of (caffeine free) peppermint tea but it just wasn't the same as feeling the caffeine from coffee enter my body.
That's a good point, I suppose it may vary then from person to person
Cheers, Arman! Congratulations on making it through the month. I'm so glad you found some stable energy and mental clarity through your experiment. After my own 31 days off the juice, I'm sitting here in my favorite cafe, sipping a half-caf flat white and very much enjoying it :) My month off from coffee and tea definitely decreased my anxiety, but I also found myself feeling spacy and struggling to motivate myself and focus on work. Does that mean I've been using caffeine to self-medicate most of my adult life? Probably. I'll be sharing more notes in tomorrow's Mindful Mondays.
Great stuff Chris just read your take. Congrats to you too! it wasnt easy but it was definitely worth it.
im sorry you had some struggles without it but at least you know what youre like without it now.
maybe it is best for you to use caffeine mindfully. thats my plan moving forward.
gonna try to still go caffeine free on the weekends.
Caffeine just lets the words come out, can see why it helped with sales calls. :D As an introvert, I try to time my caffeine with social events. So I drink more during work days, less on days off. I've had success timing my caffeine one or two hours after waking up. I heard that this helps avoid the crash in the afternoon, and have found it to be true.
I think the longest I've gone without is 2 months and, indeed, that first week SUCKS! Great job sticking through it.
It really does. It's like a miracle drug for us introverts!
I like that and plan to do the same. I'll drink coffee during the weekdays before writing/work and then will refrain on the weekends so I actually feel the effects more so when each Monday morning comes back around.
Wow 2 months is a long time, good for you. This has got me itching to try new experiments like this of what I could experiment with not doing for a month.
Interesting article!
Thank you. What resonated most?
The struggle of the headaches and anxiety when trying to quit. I've done it multiple times but have yet to be successful!
hey even if you go one day without any caffeine thats still a win! and just the fact that youre giving it a try is something to be proud of :)