Like A DuckWhat is an addiction many people don’t realize they have?
qooqieCaffeine, people think they aren’t addicted to caffeine and can stop any time but watch them be miserable and go right back when they try
It actually makes you feel like you have the flu for about 3 days to a week.
Personally I just had the worst headache for multiple weeks.
this_is_routerHeadaches?! Yes, the first evening, after that, nothing. No flu like symptoms, no nothing. It’s just a habit for me but doesn’t fuck me up if I don’t do it.
I’ll happiely drink 4-6 red bull a day and another 1-4 coffee on top, but I don’t care if there is none.
Weeks of headaches? Flu like symptoms? You guys sure you don’t just have a placebo effect when quitting?
I began to say that there is no way you drink 4 to 6 Red Bull energy drinks and then top it with 1 to 4 coffee drinks on top.
Doing the math at the smallest amount (4 8-oz cans of Red Bull @ 80 mg of caffeine each puts you at 320 mg of caffeine. That is only a bit more than 1 Rockstar (300 mg).
If you really take in that much caffeine, then I would believe that you likely haven’t abstained from caffeine for long enough.
Give it a try. Go caffeine-free for 1 weekend. I dare you. Stop taking in caffeine of any sort on Friday afternoon. You will likely call in sick to whatever you have planned on Monday.
I did it last year for a week. As I said, first day I git a headache in the evening but that was it.
Everyone’s body is different, but when the pandemic hit and my partner and I became NEETs, I went from 8-10 cups of coffee per day (and often a sugar free energy drink on top) to zero. Cold turkey.
I gave up soda about 15 years ago. We’d have chamomile tea but that definitely doesn’t have caffeine in it.
Zero effects on either of us. We would have been lethargic probably, if we had to do anything. But we just slept until noon every day and lazed around/played games/watched stuff/cleaned until bed.
No headaches, no fluey stuff, nothing. Could be my brain chemistry, but I have no idea. I had been drinking 8+ cups every day for a decade (as long as I was at my last job.)
I’m calling bullshit that you get minimal effects going from regular (the most important part is regular) over 400mg caffeine to zero.
Unless you’re just a natural freak who doesn’t become dependent on stimulants, you absolutely should feel like crap for at least a day or two.
Nope, no freak here, I got other substances that I can’t quit as easily but coffee wasn’t a problem at all.
Congratulations on your resistance to chemical addiction then. I still seriously doubt your claims though.
it sounds like you are angry at me for not getting side effects when stopping caffeine
Lol, why and how would it be a placebo effect if it’s an addiction that nobody realizes they have? You either don’t understand what thread you’re in or what a placebo effect is.
placebo effect works in both directions. i just wanted to share my experience, that i don’t suffer any side effects aside of some headaches. i wonder how many people feel bad because they believe they have too
SamiI’ve had to quit temporarily due to an injury and while it does suck at first, it’s not as hard as something like nicotine. Doable if you have the motivation to quit but I eventually went back to drinking a few cups a day because the pros outweigh the cons for me.
Do you mind sharing why you went back?
Well, I was still using nicotine at the time and coffee and smoking/vaping is just a powerful combination that made it harder to quit either. Despite quitting the former because nicotine addiction and putting stuff in your lungs is not good in general, I still like the buzz of coffee. Also, being able to power through a workday on very little sleep comes in handy a lot for me.
LazaroFilmI have adhd. Caffeine I definitely feel the symptoms when I stop. My adhd drug (Focalin, not aderall) I just feel the ADHD symptoms more but no headaches and such.
If I go 2 days without coffee, my head starts to kill me. Definitely an addiction.
I threw up on an international flight because I didn’t have caffeine
I legitimately thought I was coming down with a cold when I accidentally didn’t get any caffeine for a day, lol
I tried cutting it out for a while to see if it was causing some anxiety (it wasn’t, it was just the world and lockdowns) but went from 2-3 large cups of chemex a day to 0 for about 8 weeks and it was frankly…. fine? I didn’t even get headaches. I count myself lucky, esp so since I am back to drinking coffee haha
Same for me. Had to quit cold turkey because of gastritis and later an operation and it was fine. Headache for a day and obviously the ritual of morning coffee was gone, but that’s it.
The odd thing is I didn’t even have headache first day, though I have experienced that another time (like when travelling and not having coffee). But this time I was having no caffeine (no tea, soda, etc either) and I did t experience any change. It gave me quite a surprise
Uriel238 [all pronouns]Oh man. I get to experience all the addict tropes with caffeine. Slurping spilled coffee from the kitchen counter (less hygienic than vodka), panic-crying when were out of beans, snarling at my love ones until they take me to Peets or Starbucks.
Every once in a while (like every 18 months) I’ll taper back down to sobriety (16 oz a day for two days, then 8 ozs then 4 or zero) and wow there’s a level of giving zero fucks even below the iceberg. Maybe it’s negative fucks or microfractional fuck-giving. But when I’m drying out, no goth, no cynic, no edge lord can stand a chance matching the degree of fuck non-giving I manage.
HyggyldyI need to, ironically, pick up some caffeine pills so I can quit. Last time I quit I waited until I started feeling like shit then took part of a caffeine pill, since I couldn’t find smaller ones. Only had to take the one dose and I was good.
I drink several cups a day but even if I don’t I still feel the same. I’m not one of those “don’t talk to me before I’ve had my coffee” -guys. I just drink it out of habit and because I like the taste. I don’t feel like it effects me in almost any way. I can even drink a cup few hours before sleep. I guess you could say it’s an addiction since I do it every day and don’t want to stop but I’d still rather just consider it a habit in my case.
I had that as well. Didn’t feel any real benefits/effects from it and also no abstinence symptoms but drank coffee occasionally because of taste.
Then my high blood pressure was discovered, I was put on medication and since then I feel the rush of caffeine and unfortunately the headache after withdrawal as well.
@Thorny_Thicket @qooqie
I could be wrong but this sounds surprisingly like the "I don't actually need it, I can quit at any time, I just don't want to" trope.
Just put of curiosity if you switched to decaff for a month or something would you notice or feel any difference?
I'm not a coffee drinker so I don't really know what it's like. (I'll do tea every now and again but nothing daily or multiple times a day)
In my case I simply don’t see the need to quit. I don’t see it having a negative effect on my life and I don’t believe it to be particulary unhealthy either.
spittingimageI have the same coffee drinking habits, and someone challenged me to give it up for a week to prove I’m not addicted. I didn’t have any symptoms but I was surprised to find I genuinely craved a hot drink several times a day. Hot water with lemon filled the gap until the week was over.
I love coffee for the taste! I do often get decaf.