Self
I’ve Gone Six Months Without Caffeine. Here’s How It’s Going.
How my journey has changed my perception of rest, energy, and my body.
I did the unthinkable six months ago. I quit coffee, tea, diet soda — anything with caffeine. I’ll never forget what a friend said after I told him I was doing this: “Eh. You’ll be back on the sauce in a month or two.”
It was exactly what I needed to hear. When someone tells me I can’t do something, that’s all the motivation I need to stick with it. I had it bad too. I averaged four to five cups of coffee a day for more than a decade — everyday with no exception. I’m completely off the sauce now. Here’s what I’ve learned.
Why I took this step
My breaking point came after a dream, where I saw myself on my deathbed with cancer — because of all the diet soda and candy I was consuming. I’d been thinking about getting off of caffeine for a while, in part because I hated having a crutch, and because I knew it wasn’t healthy in high doses.
I was turning 40 that month so I figured I’d go for it. Years earlier, I’d quit smoking cigarettes after realizing there’d never be a day I’d look back and think, “You know, I wish I’d smoked cigarettes a little longer.”
Like so many of you, I’d allowed caffeine to infiltrate my life. The habit started one morning after being extra tired. On a whim, I drank a diet mountain dew, and before long it was a full on addiction (it’s by far the most commonly used drug in the world— and consumed by around 80% of adults worldwide).
Yet we all live in denial about its addictive properties. We wave it off as, “Oh coffee is healthy, who cares?”
On so many occasions, I’ve heard people say some version of, “Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my coffee.” Or, “I need my coffee before we keep talking. I’m not on your level right now.”
It reveals the diminished state coffee leaves you in in its absence. And I was totally in this boat. I often thought, “I’m only 80% of who I am without my first cup.”
Then, you get your first hit and are good for a couple hours, only until it’s time for your next round. I realized my life was being measured by when my next round of coffee or diet soda was. It sounded a lot like drug use to me. But we’ve celebrated caffeine as this trendy, cutesy thing we all need. Corporations dot the landscape with cafes and coffee shops. I’m telling you: we’ve been played.
The quitting experience
I deliberately started my detox at the start of a long weekend so that it wouldn’t impact my productivity. I strongly recommend you take this path. The first two days were by far the worst.
Caffeine causes adrenaline to release and perks you up. In its absence, those things dip down. I was so weak at the gym on my first day. It felt like gravity had gotten stronger. But I’ve since gotten back to 100%, and then some.
I had a slight and barely noticeable headache on day 1 and 2, but it wasn’t much. There was this wet blanket feeling hanging over me for 48 to 72 rough hours. But even at the start, I found myself falling asleep much easier and wakeups started to improve rapidly. My equilibrium began to normalize, so that I didn’t wake up feeling like I was in a coma (as my caffeinated self did).
Day 2 was 50% better than day 1. By day 3, the wakeup was already better than my caffeine days. It was quite surprising. Around 10 minutes after being awake, it was like I had natural caffeine being secreted into my blood.
There was also this strange lifestyle change component. The small embedded routines of a caffeine drinker were now disrupted. Typically, I would wake up, have caffeine and breakfast, go to the gym, run a quick errand, and have another hit when I got home. None of these “trips to the well” were happening, but I found my body thinking it was supposed to go to the fridge at various times.
On day 4, I realized, “Wow, I should have done this sooner.” I wasn’t 100% — but I could tell the trajectory was very, very good. I wasn’t caught in a cycle of feeling up and down throughout the day. The crashes were gone. My overall mood improved.
By the start of week 3, I was fully cured and feeling great. After more than a decade of having two to three energy crashes throughout the day, my body now says to me, “Let’s keep going. We’ve got this, buddy.” I have way more energy than before. No question.
I’m now six months out and it’s funny because I don’t even think about caffeine anymore. It’s a forgotten chapter of my life and I don’t even appreciate how heavy my caffeine use was at one point. I’ve saved enormous amounts of money, and don’t have another reason to go to the grocery store.
Do I miss having a mid-day pick-me-up? Rarely, but even in those moments, I remember how up and down I felt. I remember that drinking caffeine felt like borrowing energy from the future — with interest. Then I’d shake my head and think, “No way.”
One unexpected perk is that my recovery from workouts is markedly improved. I have less inflammation because I sleep better and consume less chemicals from diet soda and other caffeinated drinks. I’m also less stressed and anxious (which is a known side effect of heavy caffeine consumption). I feel more relaxed and even throughout the day.
There’s been some funny mishaps along the way too. I occasionally put flavor drops in water as a minor indulgence. After doing this one day, I was suddenly cracked out, feeling like I’d taken some stimulant. I looked at the flavor label and realized I’d bought the “energy” flavor, which translated to it containing caffeine— a half a cup of coffee worth per serving — and it had me walking on the ceiling.
It goes to show how powerful these drugs are and how accustomed we get to them. I’d have barely noticed this drink back as a heavy caffeine consumer.
The best aspects of this journey
My favorite part is just the normal but higher energy feeling I have throughout the day. Do I get tired still? Of course. That’s the human experience. But overall — it is way better. My partner says I don’t complain about being tired nearly as often as I did before.
Remember, caffeine might be low on the totem pole of drugs, but it’s still a drug. To the caffeine drinkers, know that you are dealing with a crutch and that you are paying an energy tax on the way in.
Quitting isn’t as bad as you’d think. But if you do, experts advise you taper down rather than quit cold turkey like I did as it will help you mitigate side effects. I’d tried moderation and failed several times, so I took the nuclear option.
I’m thrilled that I quit caffeine. Life is unequivocally better.
