It's a crutch I'd rather not depend on either. Keep it up.

Aside from the occasional iced tea, I've been caffeine-free since 2008. I went cold turkey. Felt like crap the first few days, but I've never regretted it. I substitute hot chocolate and/or caffeine-free herbal teas for coffee. I quit because I had sudden-onset migraines that kept me in bed for two-three days. I didn't like taking Topamax, so I read a book that said caffeine is the biggest dietary factor. I still occasionally get headaches, but I have not had a migraine since.

I drank about a pot of coffee every day for 30 years up until about 8 months ago

Quit cold turkey

Thought I was going to die for about 2 weeks, just like when I quit Copenhagen cold turkey 25 years ago

Now, I don't touch caffeine, pr tobacco, and don't miss it at all. I've never looked back

Bump

I am just wondering here, WHY did you guys decide to quit? I think I would like to do it because I know I am somewhat addicted. But, I thought studies show that it is actually good for you.

I would like to know why you quit and what BENEFITS you have seen from quitting.

Thanks!

RG20 said:

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Bump

I am just wondering here, WHY did you guys decide to quit? I think I would like to do it because I know I am somewhat addicted. But, I thought studies show that it is actually good for you.

I would like to know why you quit and what BENEFITS you have seen from quitting.

Thanks!

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I don't buy that caffeine is "good" for you, especially in large-ish amounts

I quit because I was HIGHLY addicted to it, and drank too much

I was jittery, shaky, concentration wasn't optimal, and it tended to be an inflammatory agent for some of my aches and pains, energy crash, drowsiness, dips in mood, agitated

I quit.

Now, not jittery, not shaky, BP down, sleep better, more energy, better concentration, not agitated....just feel MUCH better

One day recently I just neglected to make my coffee, and that night I got a headache. I decided I don't want to be physically addicted to anything, so I stopped drinking coffee (for now). It took about 5 days before the headaches went away.

I don't know how long I'll go without caffeine, but I don't want to get back to where I drink 16+ ounces every dat.

GIGEMeh said:

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One day recently I just neglected to make my coffee, and that night I got a headache. I decided I don't want to be physically addicted to anything, so I stopped drinking coffee (for now). It took about 5 days before the headaches went away.

I don't know how long I'll go without caffeine, but I don't want to get back to where I drink 16+ ounces every dat.

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I was at 32oz minimum per day, more if I drank afternoon coffee

That's why I quit

Caffeine is like everything else, enjoy in moderation and you are okay. Bottom line is it is a drug that has pros and cons. But with the huge amounts of energy drinks being consumed, companies like Starbucks making their coffee almost twice as strong as off the shelf kinds, and all the coke people drink it really adds up. Compare that to the ancient Japanese culture where their main beverage was green and white tea that has 30-40mg.

Get off caffeine for 2 weeks and see how you feel/see how addicted you are. I have always told myself I would never have to rely on something to operate how I want. I say that but allergy medicine makes my life a whole lot easier...multiple sinus infections a year was getting old.

P.U.T.U said:

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Caffeine is like everything else, enjoy in moderation and you are okay. Bottom line is it is a drug that has pros and cons. But with the huge amounts of energy drinks being consumed, companies like Starbucks making their coffee almost twice as strong as off the shelf kinds, and all the coke people drink it really adds up. Compare that to the ancient Japanese culture where their main beverage was green and white tea that has 30-40mg.

Get off caffeine for 2 weeks and see how you feel/see how addicted you are. I have always told myself I would never have to rely on something to operate how I want. I say that but allergy medicine makes my life a whole lot easier...multiple sinus infections a year was getting old.

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All very true. And if you can limit yourself to 100 milligrams of caffeine a day, then you don't have a problem

Unfortunately, I was consuming several hundred milligrams of caffeine a day

For me, it was best to stop all together. And I have not regretted it at all. I feel so much better

Not saying you don't need allergy medicine, but as far as sinus infections go, a good sinus wash will take care of that

I used to head to the doctor's office for an antibiotic all the time for those things

Now I can knock them out with a mixture of distilled water, sodium chloride, and sodium bicarbonate

Don't use a Neti Pot. Use one of those squeeze bottles that you can actually Force water into your sinus cavity. The salt packets come pre-mixed

Yeah the sinus rinse only works for a short time with me. I never really had a problem until moving to DFW.

P.U.T.U said:

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Yeah the sinus rinse only works for a short time with me. I never really had a problem until moving to DFW.

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I'm not sure what kind of sinus rinse you are using, but let me suggest this - - try one of those that actually comes with a bottle that you squeeze that forces water up into the sinus cavity, rather than a Neti Pot that you pour

Those Neti Pots were pretty worthless for me as well. Would work for a couple of hours, and then everything would be right back

I now use NeilMed Sinus Rinse, and use 2 or 3 packets of salt at a time

4 times a day if I have a sinus infection

Finish with a colloidal silver nasal spray, and I'm good to go

I used to have frequent sinus infections, but since I have been doing this, I go months with no problems, no antibiotics, no decongestant, and only rare antihistamines

I'm not saying this works for everybody, but it works for me

https://www.walmart.com/ip/10324362?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222228001207984&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=40753293992&wl4=pla-54664080816&wl5=9027404&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=10324362&wl13=&veh=sem

Sorry that was off-topic, but I rarely visit this board, and if I see somebody that has a problem that I have had to address in the past, and I know something that might help, I will just blurt it out.

half-life of caffeine is about 4 days. that's all you need to purge it from your system. just an fyi.

AggieOO said:

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half-life of caffeine is about 4 days. that's all you need to purge it from your system. just an fyi.

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The half life of caffeine varies with the individual, but for the average adult, it's about 5 hours

And caffeine addiction and withdrawals are not about what's in your system, its about how your body reacts when it's OUT of your system

If you have a bad caffeine addiction, I have seen some suggest tapering off rather than going cold turkey

One method that I have seen is cutting your daily intake in half every 7 days

Eg - daily of 32 oz, then 16, then 8, then 4, etc

That might cut down on the misery Factor, but it will prolong the process

I quit cold turkey and thought I was going to die for a week or so

I had a very hard time staying awake during the day

Then it got better

Captain Pablo said:

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AggieOO said:

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half-life of caffeine is about 4 days. that's all you need to purge it from your system. just an fyi.

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The half life of caffeine varies with the individual, but for the average adult, it's about 5 hours

And caffeine addiction and withdrawals are not about what's in your system, its about how your body reacts when it's OUT of your system

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i worded that incorrectly, should not have used 'half life'.

half-life varies a bit and can be up to 10 hours. anyway, people on here know more than me, so i'll be quiet now.

Like others have said, I just didn't want to be dependent on anything to function. I've seen people that drink near a half gallon a day just to function at baseline. I knew I'd develop a tolerance if I drank any amount on a regular basis and didn't want to keep needing more. Plus this way, being caffeine free for essentially 4 years (not counting chocolate), if I ever need to just keep going in an emergency, a couple Monsters and I bet I could stay awake for over 24 hours without too much difficulty.

Also, 4-5 half-lives and a drug is considered to be cleared from the body.

jake2011 said:

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Caffeine and it's effects stay in my system way longer than 5 hours. Caffeine cravings and headaches can take several weeks to subside after quitting. I quit because I didn't like relying on a drug to jolt me with energy or getting a headache because I didn't want it. Coffee and tea are available in decaf so I can still enjoy the taste sometimes without the negative effects of caffeine.

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Of course caffeine stays in your system more than 5 hours

5 hours is the average half life, not the time it takes for it to be totally eliminated

I've gotten off it in the past, but ended up back on the train and I want off. I always end up caving when I start feeling trashy at the end of a workday when I've tried to stop (I'll get a headache and just feel junky - almost like low blood sugar junky)....I will say I think my problem is that I tend to stop drinking caffeine and just not replace it with anything else. I think if I really upped my water intake it would help.

Going to try to start again soon. Right now I typically have 2-3 cups of coffee and probably 2-3 cans of diet dp. Not good.

chinmusic44 said:

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Definitely recommend giving it a try.

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I quit caffeine the first week of January. Man it was a long week.

How much straight water are you drinking? Maybe keep that around.

I quit cold turkey the summer before college. I was drinking up to 12 cans of soda per day. I was very jittery, mood swings, restless, very tired feeling. Once I quit, I had withdrawals for about a week and a half. I had terrible headaches, I couldn't concentrate.

I have had sips of soda about 4 times since then (2002) and I will never drink that stuff again. High fructose corn syrup, aspartame, and plain sugar sodas are terrible for your body. I feel great, I don't drink caffeine and I have tons of energy. My concentration and focus has greatly improved as well.

I quit all sodas at the end of last year and am feeling great so far in 2017. I do still drink 1 cup of regular coffee each morning, but have cut it way back as I was drinking 3 or 4 cups every morning. Feeling tons better and really believe all carbonated beverages are poison to the body, much more so than coffee and tea.

I was recently back up to 4-5 cups of coffee a day. Quit cold turkey on Monday and its been brutal. Wednesday was the worst, and I've been so sleepy.

I love coffee so I didn't give it up completely, but I've scaled back to one cup a day. I was at 2-4 cups a day, and that was just getting me to level. Didn't like feeling like I had to have it in order to function. Had a few headaches the first few days, but did it while on Christmas vacation so I wouldn't be miserable at work.

Has anybody experienced any irregular heart beats or "flutters" along with consuming lots of caffeine?

Ag12thman said:

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Has anybody experienced any irregular heart beats or "flutters" along with consuming lots of caffeine?

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http://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-ok-for-those-with-heart-arrhythmias

http://m.ajcn.nutrition.org/content/81/3/539.full

I joined the club today. I've had a dull to moderate headache since about 11a.