I’m detoxing from caffeine

Caffeine doesn’t do that to me. I’m reducing it to see if it lowers my BP.

I must be weird, bc I never have trouble falling asleep except on the rare occasion I’m dumb enough to drink caffeine in the evening.

My sleep problems involve either waking up in the middle of the night for an hour or more, getting inadequate deep sleep or REM, or sometimes a combination of the above.

My guess is the caffeine I drank earlier in the day is dorking up my circadian homeostasis, even if it isn’t directly interfering or at significant concentration at bedtime.

Yeah, I used to have that but I discovered that after I retired, it doesn’t matter. I can get up and stay up however long before going back to sleep since I don’t have to be anywhere in the morning (usually). Although there have been times I haven’t slept much but I’ll still ride with the group. I’m pretty tired afterwards though

I’ve been reading that broken sleep is actually pretty natural, and that paleo man slept in shifts due to frequently having more than 8 hrs of darkness.

Doesn’t help me feel rested when my alarm is going off an hour after I fell back asleep, but it’s nice to know it’s somewhat biologically normal.

Still looking for that deep sleep, though. People should feel rested, recharged, and energized when they wake up, and I usually feel tired, like I need coffee to get moving.

GF (a historian) was telling me about that a while back. First sleep, second sleep. Capitalism and technology seem to have taken us out of that pattern.

Having household lights means we never have to be in the dark.

They’re getting brighter and bluer as time progresses (TV & phone screens). I just got some blue blocker glasses in the mail tonight, wearing them now as I wind down for bed.

I wake up about 3-4 times a night to go to the restroom, then I’m awake for another hour or so. I’ve decided it wasn’t a sleep problem, but an overactive bladder problem. I do drink water to take a pill a bedtime (Drs orders), I’m sure that’s probably my problem. Just a thought.

@Sister - I find that if I put a light on when I go to the bathroom during the night I have trouble falling back asleep but I don’t have a problem falling back to sleep if I don’t put a light on.

At 98 hrs now…

Caved in and made some decaf this morning. Didn’t make me feel much better at all, so I might not bother from now on.

Definitely having mood swings and a major case of the munchies. I downed two brownies and two chocolate chip muffins earlier, all one after the other and between meals. I could have eaten more.

(Chocolate has caffeine, so I guess I need to pick a different sweet tooth vice.)

Still tempted now and then to give up. But what keeps me going is thinking about the fact that I would have to go through this again in the future. :face_with_spiral_eyes:

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I thought about you guys making the break this morning. For a full 11 seconds i thought about turning off the coffee maker but then that smell started and i thought ‘fuck that!’.

I’ve stumbled into discovering that if I take one extra strength Tylenol before going to bed, I sleep longer without waking up and when I do I can go back to sleep much faster. Your mileage may vary.

I’ll sometimes take a Tylenol PM before bed, but only if I have a bad headache. I don’t want it to be a habit.

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You’re probably not old enough to have prostate issues. I hate forming habits with any medication, I hate worse never getting a good nights sleep.

At 1:00 p.m. today it will have been a full week since I started cessation.

Been drinking 1-2 big cups of decaf the last few mornings. It probably helped to ease the transition psychologically, but I don’t feel like I need it. Isn’t appealing other than the taste.

Fatigue and lethargy have diminished drastically. I actually feel like I have more energy than I did before. Played golf yesterday at 3pm, over 100° outside, and I wasn’t bothered. Did 9 holes; could have done 9 more.

I did have a small cup of regular coffee at work yesterday morning around 11 to test how I would feel. We were in a long, boring training seminar, so it felt like a good time to experiment. I didn’t feel great afterwards. Kind of jittery. Definitely didn’t want more.

Have friends staying with us for a few days. Coffee pot is set to brew regular, but I have no interest in partaking. I’ll just make some herbal tea. :slightly_smiling_face:

The one thing that hasn’t smoothed out completely yet is sleep, but I have also interfered by drinking alcohol the past couple of days. I’ll be able to judge better after 48 hrs sober.

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How did you shoot?
I played18 yesterday, 42 on the front then fell apart on the back and shot 49.
My goal is to break 40 on 9 sometime this year.

49 would be a great score for me.

Let’s put it this way. We played a 4-man scramble and shot something like 45.

By myself I surely would have been well over 50.

This you brobbs?

Damn it. How did you get this picture??

Update:

I don’t remember if I made it the full month I was planning (OP almost a year ago), but eventually I found my way back into daily caffeine, roughly two cups a day.

A month ago I realized I was still unhappy with my sleep. I decided to quit for at least 60 days this time, and if it goes well, I’ll plan on extending that out to 6-12 months. I’ve heard it can take that long to reset all the body’s hormones.

I spent about 10 days weaning, and then went cold turkey. Not even decaf, tea, or soda (not caffeinated versions anyway). I’ve now been completely caffeine free for 13 days, minus the trace amounts in a tiny bit of chocolate a couple times (which I don’t count).

All the withdrawal symptoms are gone, and I don’t miss it. I really hope I stick with my plan.

Fair warning to coffee lovers, you’re not going to want to read the following.

I read a book called Caffeine Blues, which details how severely caffeine disrupts our bodies. The list is long and disturbing:

  • Disrupts sleep by blocking adenosine. Everyone knows this to some extent, but there’s good evidence that even a single cup of coffee first thing in the morning can still mess up your sleep.
  • Activates your adrenal & cortisol systems. This is the “alert” or “energetic” sensation. But what’s really happening is that your body is put into “fight or flight” mode. That is why a lot of people are nervous, anxious, and/or irritable on caffeine.
  • Activates your dopamine systems, which makes you want more and helps you develop dependency.
  • Wrecks your digestive system by stripping gut lining, weakening the valves/portals between sections of the GI (like between the stomach and small intestine, and between small and large intestines). This causes your body to absorb its own turds to a small extent, as well as cause constipation and/or diarrhea. There’s good reason to think both coffee and caffeine contribute to Crohn’s/colitis.
  • Exacerbates inflammation and contributes to cardiopulmonary disorder.
  • Accelerates aging.
  • Ultimately disrupts energy and causes chronic fatigue by destroying the body’s hormonal equilibrium.

You’ll rarely hear this from doctors or scientists, because the coffee industry pays for all the studies that demonstrate its “benefits” and obscures data accordingly, plus the fact that most people including doctors and scientists are addicted to coffee. They don’t want to see the connections.

After reading all that, I don’t want it anymore. I look at it as a low-grade poison.

Eventually I’d like to be able to enjoy an occasional espresso (just like occasional alcohol or tobacco), but certainly not every day or even every week.

Sleep hasn’t been stellar yet, but I will continue to monitor. I’m expecting to see significant improvement after 60 days.

I literally read this drinking my morning coffee.
I have cut down slightly.
I don’t drink an entire pot at work and have water with my lunch instead of a Diet Coke.
I am drinking almost no soda anymore.
But I still drink WAY too much caffeine
Hope it works for you.