Accidentally quit caffeine. Continue?

Ca$hclay wrote:

Been unknowingly drinking decaf all week (this is day 5), just realized it and think this as good a time as any to quit. Still getting pretty solid headaches and am dealing with mid-day fatigue big time. Don't really feel like I'm sleeping any better, but I'm an awful sleeper anyway. My questions:

- How long will the headaches linger and day-time energy lows last?

- Those who have quit after 20+ years of daily moderate use - long term benefits, if any? I'm particularly interested in sleep and any noticeable + effects.

- Any other thoughts on the topic?

I've got some leaded beans ready to grind, but really don't feel the need. I might just ride this out for a month or so and decide.

There was a point in my life where I was gung-ho about giving stuff up. I did a ton of research and couldn't find a single reason to give up coffee. For me, there's a big difference in taste so I'm surprised you didn't notice.

Go ahead and fire up those leaded beans.

I think you’re looking at it backwards. The question isn’t “why quit?”, but rather “why pick it back up?”

If you didn’t even notice for 5 days, you must not be getting any benefit. In fact, regular use dulls your response to it (as with any drug), so with heavy use it just becomes a mild, non-dangerous addiction. Caffeine is most useful as a very occasional stimulant to improve performance. Save some money and give it up. You’ve probably heard claims that coffee has health benefits aside from caffeine-I’ve always figured that these were overstated in order to sell more coffee, but if you’re sold on it, just drink decaf once in a while.

qwertu wrote:

You’ve probably heard claims that coffee has health benefits aside from caffeine-I’ve always figured that these were overstated in order to sell more coffee, but if you’re sold on it, just drink decaf once in a while.

The main beneficial component people are referring to are the anti-oxidants. Its actually a pretty solid source. Decaf generally is about 90% as good of a source, so no need to drink caffeinated coffee.

The decaf process makes coffee lose some flavor. But it sounds like the OP didnt even notice a difference, so no issues there for him.

OP, the caffeine withdrawal headaches should end about now. A week or less is a good guess for caffeine withdrawal if you drank a lot of caffeine on a consistent basis for years.

The disrupted sleep (if it was caused by your caffeine intake) could take a lot longer to go back to normal. It could be a month or two to notice a difference.

Coffee is burnt food. Anything burnt is known to be carcinogenic.

You can make coffee with green coffee powder that hasn't been roasted or cooked.

And I don't suggest stopping using caffeine. You can buy 100 percent organic caffeine pills from green coffee beans from kagedmuscle on the preworkout section.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

There was a point in my life where I was gung-ho about giving stuff up. I did a ton of research and couldn't find a single reason to give up coffee. For me, there's a big difference in taste so I'm surprised you didn't notice.

Go ahead and fire up those leaded beans.

Ha. All valid points and I too have begun to practice very little, if any, self denial anymore. I did not notice the taste - same brand - but my body sure as hell noticed. Had major league headaches the 1st few days. I will continue to ponder.

qwertu wrote:

If you didn’t even notice for 5 days, you must not be getting any benefit. In fact, regular use dulls your response to it (as with any drug), so with heavy use it just becomes a mild, non-dangerous addiction.

My body noticed no doubt. Just now figured out the cause though. It is without question a mild addiction. Not hearing many benefits from quitting though. It has been part of my morning routine for many years now.

Deploy coffee to your advantage. A few times a week (or less) as you see fit. I never get headaches, and since I don’t have it all the time I get a good alertness boost out of it.

Coffee in moderation is healthy, though I see nothing wrong with getting off caffeine dependence once in a while. Although last time a barista accidentally served me decaf several days in a row, I switched coffee shops because I am pretty sure one of those times it was on purpose

Ca$hclay wrote:

Been unknowingly drinking decaf all week (this is day 5), just realized it and think this as good a time as any to quit. Still getting pretty solid headaches and am dealing with mid-day fatigue big time. Don't really feel like I'm sleeping any better, but I'm an awful sleeper anyway. My questions:

- How long will the headaches linger and day-time energy lows last?

- Those who have quit after 20+ years of daily moderate use - long term benefits, if any? I'm particularly interested in sleep and any noticeable + effects.

- Any other thoughts on the topic?

I've got some leaded beans ready to grind, but really don't feel the need. I might just ride this out for a month or so and decide.

Takes some folks up to 10-15 days. Some folks need to pee throughout the night if they drink coffee in the morning - some don't. Some people will feel almost as though they are on sleeping pills when getting off coffee. Your runs may be excruciatingly slow like you are running in sand. Some folks will experience random bone pain during withdrawl. Then one day you realize you are totally fine.

And some people can drink coffee and go to bed and then randomly quit one day and not think about it.

One interesting thing is that some folks will have a noticeable drop in HR on their easy runs. Some people won't see a HR change at all.

As a runner, you owe it to your self to experiment. Maybe going off it and then having a cup before a race is a huge advantage. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe coffee disrupts your sleep enough you can't train as hard. Maybe your will to live goes away without coffee.

Its as if drugs affect different people differently.

N of 1 trial.

Coffee tastes yummy.

Hardloper wrote:

Coffee in moderation is healthy, though I see nothing wrong with getting off caffeine dependence once in a while. Although last time a barista accidentally served me decaf several days in a row, I switched coffee shops because I am pretty sure one of those times it was on purpose

Haha! They slipped you a non- mickey.