Have You Decided To Give Up Coffee?

Maybe you’ve enjoyed coffee for so long, it seems like forever. The smell, pouring in the creamer. Sometimes adding ice. Why would you give it up?

I hadn’t intended to give up coffee. Nor did I ever expect to go caffeine free, but that’s where I ended up.

After drinking coffee daily for almost 14 years straight and sporadically prior to that, a book, “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker, prompted me to stop.

An experiment in life without coffee

Thinking about drinking coffee made my mouth water. Then I read a paragraph which shifted my thinking. After reading the following paragraph in Walker’s book, I decided to forgo my daily cup of coffee. At first as an experiment. Then as a lifestyle.

“For the entire time that caffeine is in your system, the sleepiness chemical it blocks (adenosine) nevertheless continues to build up. Your brain is not aware of this rising tide of sleep-encouraging adenosine, however, because the wall of caffeine you’ve created is holding it back from your perception. But once your liver dismantles that barricade of caffeine, you feel a vicious backlash: you are hit with the sleepiness you had experienced two or three hours ago before you drank that cup of coffee plus all the extra adenosine that has accumulated in the hours in between, impatiently waiting for caffeine to leave. When the receptors become vacant by way of caffeine decomposition, adenosine rushes back in and smothers the receptors. When this happens you are assaulted with a most forceful adenosine-trigger urge to sleep — the aforementioned caffeine crash. Unless you consume even more caffeine to push back against the weight of adenosine, which would start a dependency cycle, you’re going to find it very, very difficult to remain awake.”

According to the book, your body produces the chemical adenosine. It builds slowly throughout the day and creates what is known as “sleep pressure,” or the desire to sleep. It’s one of the ways we know it’s time to sleep. Your adenosine level is high and you feel an overwhelming desire to sleep.

If you drink or eat anything with caffeine in it, that caffeine blocks the receptors normally occupied by adenosine. The adenosine continues to build and floats around your body the entire time, waiting to fill the receptors occupied by the caffeine. Once the caffeine is released, adenosine floods the receptors. You’ve now created the perfect situation for a caffeine crash. You want to sleep.

After reading this part of the book, I decided I wanted to know if my afternoon lull was caused by coffee. My main source of caffeine. So, I quit.

This would be easy

I only drank one cup of coffee in the morning and a very rare cup in the afternoon. I never had coffee in the evening. I only drank one cup all day, most days of the year. The decision was made.

The next day it was on. No coffee. Going cold turkey would be easy.

The headaches started immediately after missing my normal cup. At first, it was a slight ache. It slowly moved to a more intense headache.

At first I didn’t connect the two. It wasn’t bad, just annoying. I’m not much of a medicine taker, so the dull ache was manageable enough. I just had a headache.

The next morning, I woke up with a headache and this time; it was heading in the explosion category. I decided it was time to take some headache medicine to stave off the pain. A couple of hours later, it was still with me. Two headache meds were not going to cut it. I held off a little longer and eventually took 3 more.

This cut into the pain a little more. Now my head felt better, but I was wiped out. A headache for two days was not normal for me. It clicked. The coffee.

Two days of pain for not drinking coffee

How is that even possible? I cut out one cup of coffee a day and I was suffering. Fortunately, I was still determined. It couldn’t be much longer. How wrong I was.

I continued the journey only because I was mad the coffee withdrawal was so miserable. I decided if I could get through it, I’d never drink coffee again. I’d stopped drinking sodas (or pop, if you’re from the East coast) and had caffeine withdrawal headaches, but this was much more intense and lasted longer.

I was worn out. Rethinking my position. Trying to decide if it was really worth giving it up.

In the end, it was eight straight days of headaches.

On the ninth day, I woke up headache free, feeling a bit like I was hung over. Tired. The struggle was worth it. My body was officially off coffee.

During the entire process, I never craved coffee

I didn’t care if I drank it at all. I only wanted a cup to stop the throbbing in my head.

What surprised me was how much I missed the creamer. I wanted to recreate the feeling of enjoying the sweet flavors I added to the coffee. My body wanted the caffeine. I craved the additives which made it enjoyable to drink.

Having given up cold turkey, I had some creamer left over. To allow myself to continue with the routine, the comfort of making a hot beverage, I used my creamer in caffeine free tea. There are several which mix well with creamer!

According to Ted Kallmyer at caffeineinformer, there are quite a few symptoms from caffeine withdrawal. He notes, it’s better to wean yourself off rather than go cold turkey.

What effect would no coffee have?

I moved on to phase two. The first few days after the headaches stopped, the lull was still there. I figured it just hadn’t been long enough. I was still trying to recover from the headaches. My body felt a little battered.

As the weeks passed, I can honestly say I never noticed a difference in the afternoon lull. There are still days with a midday lull, but I believe it’s more tied to my diet and sleep routine and not my caffeine consumption.

After several weeks, and now months, of no coffee, I fall asleep when my head hits the pillow. I wake up easier, feel more refreshed, and my body feels better overall.

The withdrawal process started in October. I had one cup of coffee in December, after a horrible night’s sleep on my brother’s couch, and my head was spinning. I felt so much worse than I had from the night’s lack of sleep. That added to my resolve. No coffee.

Another six months passed without coffee. My body still felt great. I was more awake throughout the day, and never had a problem falling asleep at night.

There may be benefits associated with drinking coffee

As noted on the Mayo Clinic website, coffee drinking is associated with decreased mortality and some protection against heart attack and stroke.

Dr. Axe also summarized some of the research available on the benefits of coffee. This includes increased physical performance, cognitive health, additionally there are studies showing improved cognitive function and high antioxidants content.

After reading a little more on the possible benefits, I decided on a girl’s weekend to try decaf. I wondered if it would have any effect.

Most decaf contains about 15–30% of the caffeine of regular coffee. I’d had tea with caffeine off and on, so I wagered this would be fine. I was aware of the risks, but decided to try it. After all, I do like creamer.

Could it be just the amount of caffeine I was drinking with the full strength coffee?

The first cup had almost no effect. I felt fine. No head spinning, no rush of caffeine. The weekend was really four days. Each morning I drank the decaf. I stayed up a little later than normal, but had no problem falling asleep.

By the fourth day, I knew my caffeine days were completely over. I had my own room, no husband, kids, or dogs to bug me and an amazing mattress to sleep on. I should feel awesome when I woke, rejuvenated, and alive. No commitments except what I wanted to do. Eat, sleep, relax, and enjoy the company of friends.

I woke feeling tired. My body a little achy. The coffee.

The effects of the caffeine hit home even more. I didn’t realize this drawback until I tried the decaf.

Study after study in Walker’s book shows the negative effects bad sleep has on your memory, your stress level, and your ability to function. The more routine your sleep, the better your body feels, the more consistent your actions are, and the easier it is to function through your day.

The tiny bit of caffeine had taken a toll. Was it causing me to stay up a little later or just not allowing me to sleep as well? The answer to that is still out. No matter the answer, caffeine is out.

The end of caffeine in my life

Based on the withdrawal experience alone, I was willing to give up coffee forever. After doing more research and the grogginess I experienced after a few days of decaf, caffeine of all sorts are gone.

I’ve realized caffeine detracts more than it helps me. It was easier to notice the effects after I stopped drinking coffee. My sleep improved and I feel more “awake” during the day than I ever did when I drank coffee.

There were many nights when I struggled to fall asleep and stay asleep, partly due to family situations, but even on nights when everything was calm, I would wake for no reason.

You may find you need the caffeine or coffee for other benefits, or maybe you just enjoy the ritual of drinking coffee. Either way, you might consider stopping (slowly) for a period to notice what it wasn’t giving you, or even taking away.

Let me know what your experience is when if you decide to give up coffee, energy drinks, or any other caffeine drink. If you’ve already made the choice, what was your experience?

Is there a story about happiness, motivation, or change you’re interested in. Let me know in the comments or email me at: [email protected]