any extreme caffeine consumers here ever give up their addiction?

tmoneyag99
tmoneyag99 Posts: 480 Member
edited November 22 in Health and Weight Loss
I typically keep a cup of coffee at my desk. So I'm pretty sure I fall into the extreme category.

Anyone ever successfully quit their habit?
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Replies

  • awellsted
    awellsted Posts: 1 Member
    I seriously was a caffeine junkie I drank 2 monsters a day plus coffee in the morning and at night . I was getting fat and was not happy with the shakey zipping around like a crack rabbit lol I just was so hyped up I made a lot of mistakes so i cut it down to one monster a day then just coffee which was still all day long. Then slowly cut my coffee back to one cup in the morning . I sleep better and way more proficient even if I am not amped I am better focused. So ya it's great to consider for me it was
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,464 Member
    Yes, took a while, tapered off rather than quit.
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    I cut back substantially, from an all day coffee drinker to drinking tea - one cup of black tea, one of green then herbal most of the day. So less caffeine than one cup of coffee. Black tea has 40% of the caffeine that coffee has. I had to taper because of the headaches I would get if I went without coffee. A cup of coffee then a couple of black tea, then just a couple of black tea followed by a couple of green and finally one black and one green. I don't think I will stop drinking tea so I don't know that I have really given it up.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    No. I love coffee. and it's around. When the Great Coffee Famine comes crashing down on us one day and I'm forced to quit, I'll deal with some jitters and a few headaches then. Until then, for the love of God give me this much. :D
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  • nickssweetheart
    nickssweetheart Posts: 874 Member
    I don't know that I've quit my Coke Zero habit, but I'm down to about 100 oz per week instead of 50 oz per day. I also used to drink iced tea in addition to the 50 oz, and I've mostly switched to herbal iced tea there too. So I haven't quit, but I'd say I'm in remission.
  • Vtdawn1981
    Vtdawn1981 Posts: 2 Member
    No. I haven't. It's better off for the people around me that I keep drinking it. I did cut out soda and energy drinks though, just because I know how horribly bad it is for you
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    No, I haven't and never intend to. I love my black coffee and unsweetened tea, see no reason to cut it. I drink 2 large cups as a baseline. Sometimes add another plus tea, diet coke if going out late as well. Soylent also has caffeine, which I've been having lately.
  • Niki_Fitz
    Niki_Fitz Posts: 951 Member
    I did quit caffeine once for about a year, motivated by pregnancy. I haven’t managed to quit again since. I would like to try someday but I feel like the withdrawals will be horrible. So I just constantly try to cut back, switch to tea at noon, choose decaf, etc.
  • klowieislyfe1
    klowieislyfe1 Posts: 46 Member
    I've been gradually transitioning to tea and having just 1 coffee a day. If you do it slowly it's not so bad. I used to drink probably 60-75 oz of coffee on days I worked.
  • Westschmeis
    Westschmeis Posts: 350 Member
    I only drink black coffee and espresso shots.

    Not even thinking about stopping.

    Just cutting way back on the wine and whiskey will be enough. I hope!
  • ptrcmcc6
    ptrcmcc6 Posts: 103 Member
    I drink 1/2 caff now and usually only 1 cup in the morning before work. When I don't have to go to work, I'll sometimes have 2 cups in the morning and, if I feel like having coffee later in the day, I'll drink a cup of decaf only because the 1/2 caff keeps me up for hours and I would like to be able to sleep (I think this is a mind over matter thing because I can drink it in the morning and have no problem going back to bed if I'm able to.....lol). I never drank energy drinks so I have no problem there.
  • BecomingMoreAwesome
    BecomingMoreAwesome Posts: 151 Member
    I’m pretty sure I was never extreme, but I’m cutting back right now and trying to find my caffeine happy place. Too much caffeine in the morning makes me crash in the afternoon, and any after about 1p makes me sleep poorly. Right now I have an espresso when I wake up and a bottle or can of Coke Zero with lunch. I was up to two of each from 6a-2p.
  • DebLaBounty
    DebLaBounty Posts: 1,169 Member
    I'll never give up coffee. I start with two 8 ounce mugs in the morning to get my day started. I drink ice water until about 2:00 pm, when that afternoon slump in energy happens. I've convinced or fooled myself into believing that not being dehydrated helps me power through without constant caffeine intake until the afternoon. Twelve ounce cappuccino or iced latte then. If I crave the taste of coffee later, I switch to half caff or decaf. I love the ritual of treating myself to coffee. Without shame.
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    Meh, you'll never get me to quit coffee. I drink it from morning til bed time, approximately 9 a day. No problems sleeping either. Still get my 7-8hrs a night.
  • brittneyalley
    brittneyalley Posts: 274 Member
    Coffee is a treat to me. If I drink it every day for a couple days, I start to get headaches. Then I know it’s time to lay off the caffeine. I refuse to become dependent on something like that.
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
    I developed atrial fibrillation seventeen years ago, and had to cut back on what I'd call moderately heavy caffeine consumption. Now that I'm 70, my melatonin levels are down and caffeine after about 3pm keeps me up half the night. Currently, I have about 16 oz of coffee or tea per day (2.5 6 oz cups) - double that, and I'm likely to have problems with atrial flutter and sleep disruption.

    By the way, caffeine is used to treat headaches not cause them. That's why it's added to over the counter pain killers. The biggest reason for a caffeine-related headache is withdrawal.
  • actualbears
    actualbears Posts: 23 Member
    My partner and I both were huge caffeine addicts about two years ago, and I've been making a conscious effort to cut down on the coffee and energy drinks. I think it's had a pretty good affect on them, because when I made the switch from coffee to tea, they also did, and we're now down to one cup of tea before work, and one when we get home, which I think is a major improvement!
  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
    I have done away with soda (was never into energy drinks) pretty much 100% but still drink my coffee every day. I am in the process of reducing my intake. I did give it up about four years ago and had HORRIBLE headaches. The worst I have ever had. Just my body telling me "Feed me!". And in this case it was coffee. I have tried the decaf, which I enjoy drinking, but those headaches come back. Go figure! As the gentleman stated, the reason for the headaches - withdrawal. No surprise there. If that is my biggest vice, I am doing something right! :wink:
  • grinning_chick
    grinning_chick Posts: 765 Member
    edited November 2017
    tmoneyag99 wrote: »
    I typically keep a cup of coffee at my desk. So I'm pretty sure I fall into the extreme category.

    Anyone ever successfully quit their habit?

    Sorta.

    I still drink 1-3 11 oz mugs of green tea a day. Allegedly, three cups is equivalent to one cup of coffee caffeine-wise.

    But I spent over eight years drinking the coffee stuff by the 10-cup carafe full, all day long. Light, medium, dark roasted, espresso, etc. - all of it. I still have a yuge collection of 32+ oz insulated travel mugs to prove it.

    I traded drinking my caffeine to popping it in pill form (caffeine tablets) about seven years ago and have never looked back. On a good day I only need the one in the morning to help wake up/balance another Rx I take that predictably causes drowsiness. On a bad day, I probably take 4-5 (one every three hours).

    Well, except for a bag of specialty coffee from my home state around the holidays when I can afford it and remember to order it.

    But ultimately my wallet, and my teeth, thank me for the switch. :)

    Can't stand energy drinks. To me, they uniformly taste like what I imagine baboon butt does.
  • brittneyalley
    brittneyalley Posts: 274 Member
    vingogly wrote: »
    By the way, caffeine is used to treat headaches not cause them. That's why it's added to over the counter pain killers. The biggest reason for a caffeine-related headache is withdrawal.

    That’s what I meant by after a couple days of drinking coffee, I get headaches (without the coffee). That’s why I lay off it :smile:
  • MichelleLaree13
    MichelleLaree13 Posts: 865 Member
    HAHAHA no. I do try to switch to tea later in the day if i want a warm beverage but it too often has caffeine
  • Pupslice
    Pupslice Posts: 213 Member
    I cut back after being diagnosed with breast cysts and the docs telling me excessive caffeine consumption was thought to be a contributing factor in causing them (nothing scarier than finding a lump, haha, but what a relief when it's just a cyst!). However, I still have caffeine, I have a Diet Pepsi in the mornings instead of the pot or two of coffee I used to down, and a latte in the afternoon a couple of times a week rather than the two or three per day I was drinking. I've been on lower caffeine for years now, and aside from a week of headaches when I first cut back, I haven't had any negative effects.
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  • jennyhart200
    jennyhart200 Posts: 778 Member
    I quit drinking coffee a few years ago under the advisement of my doctor as I was struggling with stomach issues. It was really hard and it never really got easy. I felt like a drug addict craving caffeine. I went back to it after about 2 months when my stomach had healed.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    Anyone that tries to pry my caffeine (in other words my coffee) from hands may lose and arm or two. Just sayin.
  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
    ^^^^ That sounds like a challenge! LOL!
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