Thirty Day Caffeine withdrawal

Neill Morgan

After reading Rich's caffeine article, http://zentofitness.com/a-story-abo...ee-living/ I made the decision to give it thirty days and see if I get similar benefits.  In particular, I'd like to sleep through the night again.  So, I had my last cup this morning.  If anyone wants to join me, share a little misery through the headache and the foggy-minded morning confusion, maybe we'll share some encouraging results as well.

Coach Patrick

NM, I posted to the dashboard...you can do it. First few days are the worst-est! You can do it!!!

Neill Morgan

Thanks, Patrick. 36 hours and 22 minutes since my last cup of Joe. Two Tylenol and two pots of herbal tea this morning and a 20 minute nap this afternoon, and I'm not thinking about it all the time. Just most of the time.

gmc219

 I will have to think about this one.

mgraffeo

Wow, timely. I'm in the process of re-thinking my relationship with caffeine pretty seriously. Don't know if I'm ready to drop it entirely, but I'm starting by cutting back to a single cup in the morning, none after noon (regardless of whether I had one in the morning). Good luck!

Steve West

I dont think I want to do this....

in '92 I quit drinking... I had a bad habit of consuming a minimum of 12 but usually 18 beers on a work night. Weekends I would loose count after the first case. Havent had a real beer or any other alcohol since.

In '96 I quit smoking cigarettes ending a 22 year, pack-and-a-half per day effort to wreck my lungs and make the tobacco people wealty.

So, for me, caffeine is my last 'real' vice. You cant take that from me too.....

patachin

I used to have a habit of rolling out of bed and heading straight for the coffee maker.  Over time (like a couple years) I noticed that I was getting up earlier and earlier every morning.  My theory was that I was on some kind of caffeine cascade where my body was waking me up every morning for my fix.  I haven't given it up, but I have pushed my first cup back to no earlier than 8am, as opposed to 5am.  Seems to have helped with the sleeping quite a bit.

Steven Ford

Good luck with it, like coach P said first few days are hard.

 

 

Nemo Brauch

Steve W- I understand that connection to caffeine in a similar personal way.

I cut my caffeine intake down from several cups of coffee in the morning and several cans of diet coke in the afternoon to just 2 cups of coffee in the morning several years ago. That alone gave me the withdrawal headaches and irritability (I was not pleasant at work!). I'm careful now to try and keep it at 2 (sometimes 3 I admit) cups in the morning a day. It's tempting to get another hit in the afternoon- but I reach for decaf tea instead and that usually does the trick.

Steve West

@ Nemo - Thanks, and I hope your personal experience wasn't a dark and gloomy place.



I used to drink more coffee than I do now. A typical day starts with a 16 oz mug before my smoothie. Then I bring a 16 oz travel mug to work that sometimes still has coffee when I leave the office. So, in reality, I'm not that bad at a quart or less per day.......

mattsull

I'm actually planning a caffeine fast for a couple weeks prior to IMWI. Then I'm going to get jacked on race day. Gonna test it out at High Cliff first though. I have a friend who did this at Kona this year and it went well for him.

michaelpd101

Good luck Neill. I took the leap when I first read P's article. I was drinking 12-16 cups per day when I read it and have been mostly caffeine free since (sorry but race morning is just too difficult without at least 1 cup). Took me about 2 weeks before the headaches went away but it is amazing how much better I sleep now.

rah2774

thanks for re-posting the article (and thanks for the honesty, coach P).

I'm in... I can remember not all that long ago when I didn't drink any coffee at all... then I moved to DC, started working out at o'dark thirty... at first it was a once in a while trip to Starbucks for a "girlie coffee drink" bc I hated the taste of coffee... now it's one in the morning with breakfast, one in the midmorning at work just to get up and move (ritual drink) and sometimes in the afternoon in I'm dragging... Often decaf, though... and I switched to Stevia to avoid sugar...Weekends are totally different... might make a pot and start the day with 2 cups... then have another post workout with breakfast... anyway...

I'm traveling this afternoon and I know the house we're staying in does not have a coffee maker... and I know it will be FREEZING (literally... highs in the teens lows in the below zeros), so walking to the one coffee shop in town is probably not gonna happen... so, no time like the present to give this a try.  (as I type this I'm drinking my mid morning cup).  Starting tomorrow I'm in.  I need to get back to more primal eating anyway... after my 2 weeks of fun post IMFL... so this is a good way to start the detox off on the right foot.

I like tea... I can go to herbal teas... most of the gels I use don't have caffeine.  I'll have to check my infinit mixes, I'm thinking not... but am not sure...

Neill Morgan

Thanks for the encouragement, all. Day 2, so far, so good. Didn't sleep much last night, but enough to get by. Just finished my brick (Tuesday Nov OS) and hit all my numbers and then some, so I must not be too sleep deprived today. No headache, no Tylenol so far, just a little fuzzy, don't have that clarity that comes with the first cup of coffee. I'm on vacation this week, so I don't have to concentrate as much as usual, just going to get the truck inspected so my daughters will have something to drive when they're home for Thanksgiving.

rah2774

this is my day 1... no coffee maker (and 1 degree outside) is good...
point of clarification: does decaf count? i suspect I know the answer but thought i'd ask... and I realize chocolate has caffeine, but now way am I giving up chocolate/hot cocoa at this time of the year when i have a month til OS!

Neill Morgan

Welcome aboard, Becky. I don't really know how much caffeine, if any, decaf contains. For me, I'm going without anything for the thirty days, then I'll try a bit of decaf if I want it and see if my body responds with the old sleep disturbance or anything like that. Same with chocolate. I think we might have to make an exception for chocolate since it is a sacrament.

I'm on day 3 and last night had the first complete night of sleep (10:30 to 5:30) I can remember in years. Still a little sleepy now, but about to go do my 2 X 1 mile Z4 run, so I expect that will wake me up.

rah2774

thanks, Neli!  so far so good... this is my day 3.  Day 1 was rough - definitely achy, but it was hard for me to know if that was because the long day of travel on Monday on top of heading to the mountains and the elevation change.  I had a dull headache pretty much all day except when I took a very, very brisk walk (maybe 20 out).  Day 2 not so bad with the headaches, but I did nap yesterday... so far so good today!  Have had herbal tea with breakfast and a cup of hot cocoa post super cold afternoon walks (yesterday was maybe 6 out and without the sun it was miserable)! 

I suspect tomorrow will be my first real test because we'll be traveling and coffee shops will be plentiful... unlike where I am now in a town of 300 people in a house that doesn't have a coffee pot.  When I'm home tomorrow afternoon the process of reworking my routine and breaking habits will be the hard part... and it just occurred tome that i just reloaded my starbucks card and just bought a new canister of beans from Trader joes.  ha ha... funny how things work out like that!

 

Neill Morgan

Hope it goes well, Becky. You are right about the routines -- my morning coffee making and drinking has become ritualized over the years, but I'm just transferring it to the herbal tea for now. Hope you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Christian Rabbat

I'm in. 24 hrs in - last caffeine with evening meal yesterday. I can't wait for the "race execution" part of my EN training. I decided to do this with a respiratory virus and on a weekend that I am on call. I guess I really like a challenge. Did I mention a birthday party with 25 six year olds?

Neill Morgan

Welcome aboard, Christian. Hope that virus clears up and your on-call weekend is not too busy. So far, the best advice I can give is to launch a preemptive strike with your favorite headache remedy before it takes hold. 25 six year olds? Sounds like a blast.

I'm on day seven, feeling fine. Sleeping much better now.

michaelgasser17

I did this on my own a couple years back. I was drinking about 2-4 cups of coffee and 5-6 sodas a day. I was spurred by a crossfitting friend to stop drinking the sodas, and decided to adjust my caffeine intake as a whole. It has been just under 3 years since I've had any carbonated beverage other than beer. I stopped drinking coffee completely for about 6 months to completely beat any dependence on caffeine and then went back with decaf at first. I never drink more than 2 cups a day with none after noon. I live in Italy so completely avoiding the delicious coffee here is not happening. The fitness benefits from cutting out the sodas and slowing the caffeine intake have definitely been noticeable, and my sleep is much more regular.

Good luck to everyone.

Neill Morgan

Glad to hear you could go back and limit your caffeine intake. I love the taste of good coffee, so I hope, after my 30 days, I can go back and drink it every now and then without redeveloping my physical dependence on it. I gave it up a few years ago for Lent. Drank two pots before the Easter sunrise service. Moderation just does not come naturally to me, it's a discipline.

Coach Patrick

I am still on the caffeine free boat, but I do indulge when hanging with evil Coach Rich at races. As I've posted elsewhere the cumulative gains to no coffee are just so convincing to me that returning to consistent consumption just ain't gonna happen!!

Christian Rabbat

@ Neill - nice work. I am going "religious" about it too - no decaf, no chocolate - unless it is embedded in something like cake. The stabbing behind my eyes has gone, and I survived the party! Day 4 and I feel I may be able to do this.

rah2774

@Christian - glad you survived the party and that the stabbing behind your eyes is gone.Sounds like you're well on your way!

I didn't have that kind of pain - just mostly a dull headache for many days.  Interestingly, I saw the chiropractor yesterday because I woke up not being able to move my head/neck... as he was evaluating me he asked about the bed/pillow I was sleeping on when traveling (which were awful) then asked if I'd been having headaches... so, perhaps the headaches were related to my head/neck being way out of whack.  Hard to know because it all came at once - traveling, crappy bed, no coffee, elevation change and exercise...

In any event I'm one week in but haven't gone cold turkey.  I did have a cup of decaf at o'dark thirty in the airport at Cody, WY heading home on Fri.  I have also been having hot chocolate... maybe one a day... mostly because last week in WY was freezing... I know chocolate has caffeine, so I'll be sure to avoid that now that I'm home... so week 2 will include avoidance of chocolate (sigh... I love chocolate).

I think that when week 5 is up (I'm counting last week as a warm up), perhaps easing back in to an occasional cup of decaf or hot chocolate may be okay... we'll see... come Jan I'll be in OS and getting up super early to workout, that will be a real test...  

Christian Rabbat

One week in and I barely think about the stuff anymore. Thx Neil and Becky for the inspiration.

jetskr

 Hey guys, how's the caffeine free world?  Great thread and I hope you guys keep it up!

 

I did something like this about a year after Red Bull hit the market.  I would be out partying drinking RB & vodka all night Friday and Saturday nights, literally until 6 or 7am, and wouldn't sleep much the following day.  Then would rely on coffee all day into the evening to get me through the day and would repeat the following weekend.  Needless to say I was in a bad place with it and really not sleeping.  

 

Then I decided to quit the beginning of September and spent that first month almost unable to wake up.  My body was craving sleep and without the stimulant to say otherwise it was going to get all the sleep it could.  Then I started to realize that I was more awake after meals and remembered that our bodies are supposed to use food for fuel, not caffeine.  Eventually I started drinking coffee again as I just missed the taste and decaf tastes a little chemically.  Since then there have been periods where I've drank more but for the most part its about 2 cups a day and nothing caffeinated after noon.

Christian Rabbat

Thanks Jeff. Let's just say that I will miss my Red Bull and Vodkas. Solid drink. I've gotten over the chemical dependence and now am just starting to ponder the benefits. I feel less distractable and able to maintain focus. It's too early to tell if there is any effect on training, but we shall see...

Carrie Chavez

I have been off coffee/caffeine for 6 weeks. Best thing I have done in a long time. I was drinking strong Peet's coffee with yummy coffee- mate creamers like it was my job. I LOVED it too much.

Now off of it, I drink water with lemon, herbal tea with lemon and more water!! I am running and riding so strong and sleeping much better. Breaking this habit was supposed to last 4 weeks but I felt so good I have kept it going!!

Good job to all of you!

Coach Patrick

Great work to all...I am still on the no caffeine kick although I will have a cup of decaf 2-3x a week esp now the temps are below 30. But no coffee in the house at all!!!

rah2774

I'm doing okay... started just before Thanksgiving...with one cup of decaf the day after T'giving...I admit I've been having hot cocoa close to daily... but that's cuz it's so darn cold here... uncharacteristically so.  Since choco milk is my recovery drink of choice, I'm doing hot cocoa instead.  So far so good... I've noticed I'm sleeping really well, which is nice... I don't think I ever drank that much coffee... and think I'm over any withdrawal symtoms.  I had a cup of decaf at SB yesterday bc I stopped in to grab a yogurt for breakfast... and it tasted awful to me.  I guess that's a good sign as the decaf americano was my drink of choice there (the reg coffee is horrible imho).  I think bc of the season I'll keep up witn the hot chocolate recovery and a decaf every now and again when the mood strikes me.  I put away the french press, the bean grinder, and the can of beans... so they're not on my counter as a daily reminder of my old morning routine...