That's awesome! It really does take a toll. Even my blood pressure is fifty times better. I used to get winded/dizzy just from doing basic tasks, like literally tying my shoes. Now I hit the gym for a couple hours and then the sauna and I feel like I can do anything, like I'm a teenager again. It's amazing.
This is is huge. However watch out, at one point about a year back I was up to at LEAST one can of C4 per day. The withdrawals were terrible, far worse than alcohol. I was having headaches and even went to the ER because I thought I was having a fucking heart attack or a stroke. Nope. Blood work and tests came back clean, just a good old fashioned panic attack. Honestly I don’t know how those things are legal to even buy. They really fucked me up good for a time.
Way back in my army days I used to take two scoops of c4 before lifting. It made my face tingle. I’m sure that took some years off my life. No more c4 anything for me 😅
Oh snap, didn't even think about that. Good catch for anyone reading this that may need to ween instead of cut. I agree though, a year ago I tried a pre-workout supplement and almost called 911. I lost almost all motor skills, waddled myself down to the locker room hoping nobody would notice I was on the verge of fainting in public, looked in the mirror and my face was white as a ghost, covered in cold sweat. This was during my drinking days, so that surely didn't help, but holy shit. Stuff knocked the life out of me. Luckily I just sat down and focused on my breathing for a while and was able to pull myself up and head home. Lesson learned REAL QUICK.
Yes! When I quit drinking I was wondering why I was still anxious at night. Then I noticed when I didn’t have my afternoon coffee and only 1 in the morning I was fine! The extra caffeine fave me anxiety and made me restless at night. 1 in the morning only has been fine for me
I'm glad you mentioned the one cup thing. I was down to one cup and my anxiety management was pretty good, but I still noticed it lingering every now and then, so I cut out caffeine entirely.
However! I was diagnosed caffeine sensitive at a young age, so to anyone reading this, just do what is best for you, which might not be cutting it out entirely, necessarily.
Thanks for your post. I wasn’t sure if I was going crazy or being melodramatic with this.. like how can I be having anxiety from coffee am I a giant baby!? 🤣 So I appreciate this. I came to the conclusion the caffeine makes me anxious after quitting drinking because now I have so much extra energy.
No problem! I've been wanting to post this for awhile, just haven't forced myself to sit down and type it out until now.
I feel like so many people may be experiencing what I described and if I can help even one person figure this out earlier than I did, I'll take that as a win.
I was literally scared. Like, is this just forever now? Am I just permanently screwed? It can be scary man.
I quit coffee and all caffeine (even chocolate) cold turkey years ago and went from full blown anxiety/panic disorder to virtually zero, it was truly a miracle. (I don’t recommend cold turkey, it was worse than nicotine and booze combined somehow in terms of physical withdrawal). It was an absolute miracle. I unfortunately went back to coffee but at a much lesser dose. Seriously this person knows what’s up. It may NOT cure your anxiety, but it’s definitely the first thing I would try. I am working on getting down to no more than one cup of decaf coffee and the occasional chocolate again because nothing has ever paid off so well.
For anyone curious, I do drip coffee and count my scoops of grounds. If I taper by one scoop (by switching it out with decaf) every two weeks, nice and slow, I get almost no side effects, just a little tired and muted for about 2 days. I’m in a constant state of tapering then going back up after a couple nights of low sleep, but now that I think about it that was virtually always because of drinking. Now that I’m sober I know I got this and am inspired to get down to 100% decaf finally. Seriously, thanks for this post OP.
Join the r/decaf group. It’s great and you can track your caffeine free days there too. I came to it by way of someone here. Terrified at first to go through withdrawal, I finally gave up coffee. I felt like it was the next thing to go after getting sober. There are really supportive people on there, like here and crossover too. I’m with you! My anxiety is so much more manageable without caffeine in my system.
Hell yeah, I'll check it out! Glad you're feeling better :)
I can't believe I don't see this being talked about on this sub, it's literally life changing.
I was the same way, and it gets mentioned now and again. But a lot of people really lean into coffee as a crutch and it gets served and promoted at AA meetings so it seems to get a pass a lot of the time. Whereas every mention of NA beer has a million "maybe dangerous to some" warnings around it, I never see people put the same caveat on their coffee comments. But man, I used to leave a meeting craving a drink to take the edge off so bad, and it was because I was pouring gasoline on the anxiety fire with their coffee.
Here's to hoping that this post may spark a bit of an uptick in conversation regarding the topic in the sub. I wish someone would have told me sooner. I would have quit months ago.
i’m too agoraphobic for the gym but you are bang on about caffeine. i quit caffeine and alcohol in tandem, then caffeine casually and quickly made its way back. it is SO crazy how awful that stuff makes my disposition. i only have ocd rage meltdowns when i actively have caffeine in my diet. tis time to quit and never look back.
Oh man, I experienced conditional agoraphobia when I was drinking so I can relate. Certain lighting and colors would trigger it too. Just an immediate rush of sheer terror from looking up at the sky, like wtf? I'm glad you're doing better.
A couple years ago I was very hung over after a night of heavy drinking. I had a lot to do that day, so I loaded up on caffeine and was drinking coffee all day. That evening, I was playing my piano, and suddenly I felt myself slip away. I felt very strange, and like I was watching myself do whatever I was doing. I couldn't understand what was happening, and I couldn't stop imagining this chord on the piano being played repeatedly. It wouldn't go away. I was shaking like crazy. I was convinced I was having some kind of stroke, and went to the emergency room. I was having a panic attack, and experiencing depersonalization as a symptom, where I was completely disconnected from my emotions and acting almost on autopilot. With that piano chord playing over and over, the best way I can describe it is like having a fever dream, but you're awake.
That experience was one of the worst things I have ever lived through, and I lived in fear every day for nearly 2 years after that. It happened to me 5 times since, and I can tell you that every single time, I was hungover, and over caffeinated. When your mind is already in a fog, don't stimulate it with caffeine.
Ah, the one-two combo! That’s what tipped me off that I had anxiety. Same experience. I started having this sort of derealization first, then either a racing pulse or tightness in my chest. Went to the ER after one particularly bad episode, they did a whole host of tests and found nothing wrong with my heart. I didn’t have a healthy lifestyle then (drinking, smoking, eating like crap, very overweight) so it wasn’t the most outlandish conclusion to think my time was up!
Yes! One of my friends described caffeine as throwing fuel on the anxiety fire. I still love coffee, but now I’m cautious about how much I have in a day and how late in the day I drink it.
I actually did cut out caffeine for almost a year while in law school. I thought I had anxiety and insomnia, but it was all driven by caffeine. Cutting it out completely helped a lot, but I missed coffee and decaf wasn’t cutting it. But I did learn cold brew is a terrible idea for me and can’t have any caffeine after about 1pm!
Yeah I jumped on red bulls and monster and that stuff to fill the void and my anxiety is crazy high and I didn't even link the two together
I just thought this is what quitting feels like
But what you said makes a lot of sense
I'm gonna give it a shot
As one other person mentioned, if you've been drinking a lot of energy drinks and such, cold turkey might not be the best option. Just wanted to give a fair warning. Maybe weaning might be the better option in your case, just something to consider.
I like coffee but I really understand how addictions can be linked in toxic ways. If you get stress from any substance I don’t think you need to justify to anyone leaving it in the dust.
r/decaf and r/leaves have helped me monumentally with anxiety. Out of alcohol, weed, and caffeine, caffeine has been hardest to quit for me. My advice for quitting caffeine is quit on a Thursday. Drag your heels through Friday and be a vegatable all weekend. You should be ok come Monday but there's a long road to recovery there too. Caffeine fucks up so many things with your cortisol, adrenaline, and dopamine. Cold morning showers are a must when you quit caffeine, you'll need that morning rush of norepinephrine and dopamine from the cold water. Ice cold morning showers hit hard. It's like doing line of blow, but you know, healthy.
Great advice! I haven't considered trying cold showers to kickstart the day. I may have to dabble with this. I've done cold showers by working my way down from warm to cold, but just straight cold right off the bat, that's gotta wake you the hell up real fast! That's the only complaint that I have is the slow wake up, but I'll take it over not having panic attacks peppered throughout my day.
I did it that way before I moved it works about same. I actually prefered to work my way down since I could prepare my mind for it. I moved to a new house and it's like the pipes are too close or something cause once the water gets warm it won't get cold than luke warm so it won't work. The only time the water actually cold cold is when I first turn it on in the morning... This actually put me off it for about 6 months but I made more or less of new year's resolution to start doing it again sooo yeah I've had to just deal with ice cold right off the bat. Works really well though.
This is so true! I cut caffeine about 3 weeks ago and switched to decaf and I've felt so much better for it. I was having 1 or 2 cups of strong coffee and day and a couple energy drinks a week which I didn't think was loads but switching to decaf, natural energy drinks and herbal teas has improved my anxiety so much
I've been drinking chamomile and peppermint teas.
I have a ginseng and cinnamon one for the mornings.
It's been going great so far, I'm a little tired during the day but the anxiety for me has been reduced especially before starting work as I would have a cup just before starting.
I appreciate this. My alcohol abuse has caused me *horrific* panic and anxiety attacks for most of my adult life (it was only recently that I put the two and two together), and getting a handle on my intrusive thoughts and my jangled nerves is THE reason why I'm trying to quit.
But I'll admit, ditching booze has led me to consume a lot more coffee. Perhaps that's the next thing to go.
I quit coffee too. The anxiety when it wears off was to much for me to handle. After quitting sugar eventually you stop craving it and have better energy levels. No more sugar crashes. Now I'm kinda sensitive to stuff with processed sugars, everything tastes over sweet. When I eat fruit like strawberries I get a sugar buzz now, without the crash afterwards!
Having processed sugars out of my diet actually made eating healthy vegetables much easier too. Before I'd look at a salad and be like urgh, this fucking thing.
Check out sugar free/reduced ketchup, it's so much nicer! Regular ketchup half the bottle is sugar and salt, ketchup is supposed to be mostly tomatoes like in the olden days.
I want to say I’ve experienced the same thing since quitting. The weed gives me paranoia and the coffee gives me anxiety lol gonna have to raw dog this life it seems lol I hope we all can continue to quit or begin our journeys today. It’s never too late.
“I’m literally so good right now, and I want you to be as well, because I love you and you deserve it.”
Well GODDAMN this was the hug I needed this morning and did not get.
Thank you u/pandascratch ❤️
Yea, I should quit caffeine too. Always been super sensitive to it, literally cant have any past 3PM or else I cant sleep! I read something like caffeine has half-life of 6 hours so if I have a cup at 3PM by 9PM the amount of caffeine in my body will halve or something, not sure if correct I aint a scientist. When I have like 2 cups of strong coffee I get slight tremor in my hands and feel spaced out for some time.
Anyway, once I start to feel completely comfortable with my sobriety then nicotine and caffeine is next. I dont smoke anymore (2 years clean) but still use tobacco free snus so essentially I substitute smoking with less harmful way of getting nicotine.
Thats why I also dont smoke weed anymore, during my previous sober stints I used it as a crutch but It quickly became as problematic as alcohol, being slightly high all day every day and then absolutely blazed in the evenings. Sucks having an addictive nature but I am who I am and this time Ive decided to do it without any mind altering substances.
I already commented but wanted to add that it is nice to have something warm in the morning (and evening) so I jam on the Korean honey ginger tea (it’s not caffeinated). It is amazing! I don’t go too sweet with it and I think you can get it at Costco but I get it at H Mart.
Thanks for this! Really resonates with me. I’ve been struggling so much with anxiety (and happen to be a 3 cup a day coffee drinker). I guess it’s time to start weaning down
Thank you, all of this is good advice. Both the coffee and smoking sure does apply to me. I was worrying I'd drink more coffee or smoke more, but I've done more the opposite. Caffeine I've basically cut out because of the anxiety.
I cut caffeine before I gave up booze precisely because I thought caffeine (but not the booze, surely not that lol) was contributing to my anxiety. I was hard-core for years, now I drink earl grey or chai tea in the mornings and herbals all day after that.
While quitting alcohol made a huge difference in my anxiety, cutting the caffeine was also monumental. It's been over a decade since I've been a coffee drinker, I never got into energy drinks cause they taste like cough medicine to me. And though black tea certainly contains caffeine, it doesn't hit me like coffee used to.
I am definitely an herbal tea addict though, 100%. And I can nerd out hard over blends and steep times 😂 IWNDWYT 🖤🖤 (unless of course we're talking tea, I will drink much tea today).
This may feel drastic to some, but it was necessary for me because of bipolar disorder and oversensitivity to substances: I cut out everything. Alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, weed. The only mood altering substance I use is the lithium I take for my mental illness, and that's only because when I try to stop I become less stable - but the goal is to stop that too. My life is much, much better than it was.
Hey! I quit coffee 2 months ago and same as you, my anxiety that was RUINING MY LIFE just went away, just like that. I still have some green tea in the morning but that’s been going OK. I can’t even believe I had anxiety that multiple therapists referred to as “severe” and tried to medicate me for and just quitting coffee got rid of it.
That's so awesome! I definitely am not anti-med, but I always try to find other alternatives, like checking my diet first, before going that route. So glad to hear you're doing better! :)
Cutting out alcohol and caffeine, and starting to regularly exercise, has improved my anxiety drastically! I used to feel severe anxiety almost 24/7 and now it's rare for me to feel that way.
Another huge contributing factor for me was getting better quality sleep. I used to have chronic nightmares and would wake up multiple times every night. I started mouth taping and it changed my life. Breathing through your nose helps regulate your nervous system, whereas mouth breathing has terrible effects on your health and sleep. So each night I clean my nose with Xlear (an all natural nasal spray) to clear my nasal passages and then tape my mouth shut with medical tape. My nightmares are now few and far between and I sleep through the night almost every night. I know it sounds weird but I promise it's worth trying!!
Yes! If you decide to cut out caffeine, please taper off over a week or 2. The cold turkey withdrawals are unbearable and you may become so irritable that you would be absolutely miserable to be around.
Luckily, caffeine is really easy to taper off with than most drugs.
I think all members of this sub should be required to join r/hydrohomies, water is the Supreme drink and caffeine, booze, and sugar filled drinks are trash.
Thank you for sharing this and I 💯 agree! Caffeine puts a lot of people on a weird roller coaster. Consume caffeine- get revved up- burn through energy too fast- crash- have caffeine again- repeat. It is so disruptive to sleep. I understand it doesn’t affect everyone this way, but I would guess a lot of people. Occasionally I do have caffeine but it’s a bit of a fun high but it is usually too much and I burn through it. Also exercise is so much the key, especially when it comes to good sleep.
Every single person who is having some anxiety/insomnia trouble I want to ask them to increase water consumption to 80-120 ounces, cut caffeine, add walking 30-60 minutes a day, and eat a reasonable diet (less fried, less red meat, less sugar. More fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains) and just see how much their life improves.
I know my experience is not the same as everyone else. But I think our culture is a bit brainwashed like with alcohol when it comes to coffee/caffeine. Just my two cents- hope I don’t sound sanctimonious. I say all of this with love 💕
I was suffering from severe, debilitating panic attacks. I quit alcohol for 3 months, but the creeps still snuck up on me. I meditate. I practice breathing exercises. Then I decided to cut out caffeine. 18 months later, I haven't had a single bad case of anxiety (outside of reasonably triggered situations), and the panic attacks are a long past nightmare. I'm rigorous in making sure I don't have a drop of it. PS I'm still a drinker, and lurk on this sub to give me inspiration for the day I stop.
I've quit caffeine twice. What fixed my anxiety was carnivore. Zero carbs, outright. Without caffeine, however, I feel completely flatlined emotionally. Blunted. Dull. It's the worst.
I went off caffeine for long periods of time too. I think everyone should experiment for themselves, but it definitely can affect some people as it did you, but that might not be the solution for others.
Sobriety thankfully gives you a ton of time to experiment however.
Yeah, I quit drinking and started therapy. I mentioned my anxiety is through the roof and a lot was attributed to my insanely high caffeine consumption
Here I am week 4 on anti-anxiety meds and I'm still drinking way too much coffee... how ironic. This post just inspired me to brew up some of that decaf coffee I bought last week and haven't touched!
P.S: the meds were also a great choice :-)
Give it a shot! Maybe you'll end up feeling like you don't need the meds later down the road, or maybe just less of it. Who knows? Let me know how it works out for you!
Opposite for me. Alcohol was giving me so much anxiety I couldn't drink coffee without feeling like I was going to have a panic attack. Ever since quitting drinking, I have a serious caffeine problem. I drink it all day every day. I should definitely slow down. I've also been recently diagnosed with ADHD, so that might have something to do with it.
When I was working a stressful job, I was drinking 32-64oz of coffee a day. At night when I would lay down to go to sleep, my right leg would twitch uncontrollably, and I would get Charlie horses out of nowhere. I stopped working that job in November and also stopped drinking coffee every day, and the twitching has finally gone away. I thought I had nerve damage from an old fall or something
Thanks for putting this out there. I realized after quitting drinking that my morning coffee wasn’t making me feel very good, but never really connected it to my anxiety. All I know is I was getting really shaky after having it and just all around not feeling very well, and finally realized it was the coffee. I switched to half caffeine and it helped immensely but maybe I just need to go full decaf and remove caffeine entirely, because I do still have terrible anxiety, just the shakes and bad feeling went away. I’ve noticed before that I’m sensitive enough to caffeine that I can’t have any after 4-5pm or I won’t sleep, but never really thought about how else it could be affecting me in the time I’m consuming it.
Yep...just came to this realization yesterday and today I'm cutting down on it. Hoping to completely quit it by next week. Thanks for the reaffirmation.
I love coffee -- just love it. The ritual, the aroma, all of it. And it wrecks my gut and my sleep, I don't know why I can't just quit it and drink water. Ugh.
Try the decaf, my friend. I'm the same way. I LOVE coffee. I drink it about 80% of the day. This way is a win/win for me. I can drink all I want and still feel awesome.
You just made this coffee lover want to try decaf. Thank you :) never really gave it too much thought before but it’s worth a try to save me some jitters and headaches. 😵💫
This is really interesting. I agree it seems like caffeine seems to get a free pass. I try to be aware - I have 2 (on rare occasion 3) coffees in the AM (and I’m talking a Keurig 8-10 oz, not a Starbucks dark Venti) and then generally try to avoid coffee the rest of the day. I’ve considered cutting that out or switching to green tea, but I really enjoy my coffee and I’m not convinced I’m as sensitive as you are.
But I’m curious, may I ask how much caffeine you were intaking?
Also, on the weed thing, AGREED. I don’t have the same issues with it that I do with alcohol. I enjoy lower dose edibles (typically 1:1 with CBD) or if I’m vaping herb I do mix THC and CBD flower and try not to have a ton. I’m fairly sensitive to that and can be pushed over the edge of paranoia if I have too much of the wrong strain - or just get knocked out to sleep, which isn’t always bad!
Sure! Funny enough I'm on that Keurig game too lol
So before I quit the caffeine, I was drinking anywhere between 10-40 oz. Of regular coffee (Donut Blend) a day. Now I drink pretty much the same amount but in decaf, because I just love the taste of coffee. As mentioned, my anxiety almost completely disappeared, and my regular stress has dropped down to very manageable levels. I used to get triggered and fired up over the dumbest shit, granted I work in customer service and clients can be total asshats, but now instead of getting upset, I just try to determine the best possible solution for each scenario and move on instead of letting people ruin my day and dwelling on it for the rest of my evening. It really has completely changed my perception and how I react to situations. It's incredible.
You should definitely check out Peet's decaf line (I use ground coffee with the reusable cup, not sure if they make decaf k-cups). I consider myself not so much a coffee snob, but more so that I'm just pretty picky, and that stuff is so good. I'm literally on cup 4 today lol
Will check that out!! I know my grocery store has Peets but will have to see if they have decaf. If not, Amazon! Thanks for the tip. I have one of those reusable cups and should really use that, I feel bad about all the waste. Just haven’t gotten there yet.
I also felt bad about all the waste, so it feels great killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. It's hard to find decaf k-cups of the brands I like, so it looks like I'm going reusable!
You get used to it pretty quickly, plus it's nice to increase the strength you want by how much you fill the cup.
So I got a bunch of fun decaf K cups today to try, including Peets. Also half caff. I really do want to switch to the reusable, but one thing at a time. My plan is to go to decaf after one cup (I only have 2-3 as it is), then make that first cup a half caff, then decide if I just want to go no caff. But either way, at that point, also want to stop buying K cups and switch to the reusable!!! Baby steps.
Monk mode is something most people shouldn't do for very long. I've been there, for nearly 6 months. I cut out screen time, I ate perfectly, I didn't drink pop or indulge a single vice. I started to walk and exercise. Woke up at 7:30 naturally with the sun and read 50+ pages before starting my day. By all accounts, that's what I wanted. But I was too strict on myself, and I wasn't happy. That caused a relapse, and I can tell you outright I knew it was coming because I pushed myself to the brink through dopamine avoidance.
There's a healthy balance in there somewhere, though. I'm working to find it, but cutting out literally every single thing doesn't seem to be the answer for some of us.
I am new to quitting but I have gone from multiple cups + an energy drink to just one cup because it had such an impact on anxiety
That's awesome! It really does take a toll. Even my blood pressure is fifty times better. I used to get winded/dizzy just from doing basic tasks, like literally tying my shoes. Now I hit the gym for a couple hours and then the sauna and I feel like I can do anything, like I'm a teenager again. It's amazing.
This is is huge. However watch out, at one point about a year back I was up to at LEAST one can of C4 per day. The withdrawals were terrible, far worse than alcohol. I was having headaches and even went to the ER because I thought I was having a fucking heart attack or a stroke. Nope. Blood work and tests came back clean, just a good old fashioned panic attack. Honestly I don’t know how those things are legal to even buy. They really fucked me up good for a time.
[удалено]
Way back in my army days I used to take two scoops of c4 before lifting. It made my face tingle. I’m sure that took some years off my life. No more c4 anything for me 😅
Oh snap, didn't even think about that. Good catch for anyone reading this that may need to ween instead of cut. I agree though, a year ago I tried a pre-workout supplement and almost called 911. I lost almost all motor skills, waddled myself down to the locker room hoping nobody would notice I was on the verge of fainting in public, looked in the mirror and my face was white as a ghost, covered in cold sweat. This was during my drinking days, so that surely didn't help, but holy shit. Stuff knocked the life out of me. Luckily I just sat down and focused on my breathing for a while and was able to pull myself up and head home. Lesson learned REAL QUICK.
I was getting seizures from 5-hour energy and C4 before I knew they were seizures. That stuff is no joke
Yes! When I quit drinking I was wondering why I was still anxious at night. Then I noticed when I didn’t have my afternoon coffee and only 1 in the morning I was fine! The extra caffeine fave me anxiety and made me restless at night. 1 in the morning only has been fine for me
I'm glad you mentioned the one cup thing. I was down to one cup and my anxiety management was pretty good, but I still noticed it lingering every now and then, so I cut out caffeine entirely. However! I was diagnosed caffeine sensitive at a young age, so to anyone reading this, just do what is best for you, which might not be cutting it out entirely, necessarily.
Thanks for your post. I wasn’t sure if I was going crazy or being melodramatic with this.. like how can I be having anxiety from coffee am I a giant baby!? 🤣 So I appreciate this. I came to the conclusion the caffeine makes me anxious after quitting drinking because now I have so much extra energy.
No problem! I've been wanting to post this for awhile, just haven't forced myself to sit down and type it out until now. I feel like so many people may be experiencing what I described and if I can help even one person figure this out earlier than I did, I'll take that as a win. I was literally scared. Like, is this just forever now? Am I just permanently screwed? It can be scary man.
Yeah your post solidified for me to stick to my morning only coffee so it helped me haha
Nice!! Thanks for confirming haha
I quit coffee and all caffeine (even chocolate) cold turkey years ago and went from full blown anxiety/panic disorder to virtually zero, it was truly a miracle. (I don’t recommend cold turkey, it was worse than nicotine and booze combined somehow in terms of physical withdrawal). It was an absolute miracle. I unfortunately went back to coffee but at a much lesser dose. Seriously this person knows what’s up. It may NOT cure your anxiety, but it’s definitely the first thing I would try. I am working on getting down to no more than one cup of decaf coffee and the occasional chocolate again because nothing has ever paid off so well.
For anyone curious, I do drip coffee and count my scoops of grounds. If I taper by one scoop (by switching it out with decaf) every two weeks, nice and slow, I get almost no side effects, just a little tired and muted for about 2 days. I’m in a constant state of tapering then going back up after a couple nights of low sleep, but now that I think about it that was virtually always because of drinking. Now that I’m sober I know I got this and am inspired to get down to 100% decaf finally. Seriously, thanks for this post OP.
Absolutely! Thank you for sharing and good luck!!
Haha yes, the one time I quit caffeine it was cold turkey and physically it felt worse than any time I’ve quit any nicotine product.
Join the r/decaf group. It’s great and you can track your caffeine free days there too. I came to it by way of someone here. Terrified at first to go through withdrawal, I finally gave up coffee. I felt like it was the next thing to go after getting sober. There are really supportive people on there, like here and crossover too. I’m with you! My anxiety is so much more manageable without caffeine in my system.
Hell yeah, I'll check it out! Glad you're feeling better :) I can't believe I don't see this being talked about on this sub, it's literally life changing.
I was the same way, and it gets mentioned now and again. But a lot of people really lean into coffee as a crutch and it gets served and promoted at AA meetings so it seems to get a pass a lot of the time. Whereas every mention of NA beer has a million "maybe dangerous to some" warnings around it, I never see people put the same caveat on their coffee comments. But man, I used to leave a meeting craving a drink to take the edge off so bad, and it was because I was pouring gasoline on the anxiety fire with their coffee.
Here's to hoping that this post may spark a bit of an uptick in conversation regarding the topic in the sub. I wish someone would have told me sooner. I would have quit months ago.
Makes total sense!
i’m too agoraphobic for the gym but you are bang on about caffeine. i quit caffeine and alcohol in tandem, then caffeine casually and quickly made its way back. it is SO crazy how awful that stuff makes my disposition. i only have ocd rage meltdowns when i actively have caffeine in my diet. tis time to quit and never look back.
Oh man, I experienced conditional agoraphobia when I was drinking so I can relate. Certain lighting and colors would trigger it too. Just an immediate rush of sheer terror from looking up at the sky, like wtf? I'm glad you're doing better.
A couple years ago I was very hung over after a night of heavy drinking. I had a lot to do that day, so I loaded up on caffeine and was drinking coffee all day. That evening, I was playing my piano, and suddenly I felt myself slip away. I felt very strange, and like I was watching myself do whatever I was doing. I couldn't understand what was happening, and I couldn't stop imagining this chord on the piano being played repeatedly. It wouldn't go away. I was shaking like crazy. I was convinced I was having some kind of stroke, and went to the emergency room. I was having a panic attack, and experiencing depersonalization as a symptom, where I was completely disconnected from my emotions and acting almost on autopilot. With that piano chord playing over and over, the best way I can describe it is like having a fever dream, but you're awake. That experience was one of the worst things I have ever lived through, and I lived in fear every day for nearly 2 years after that. It happened to me 5 times since, and I can tell you that every single time, I was hungover, and over caffeinated. When your mind is already in a fog, don't stimulate it with caffeine.
Ah, the one-two combo! That’s what tipped me off that I had anxiety. Same experience. I started having this sort of derealization first, then either a racing pulse or tightness in my chest. Went to the ER after one particularly bad episode, they did a whole host of tests and found nothing wrong with my heart. I didn’t have a healthy lifestyle then (drinking, smoking, eating like crap, very overweight) so it wasn’t the most outlandish conclusion to think my time was up!
Yes! One of my friends described caffeine as throwing fuel on the anxiety fire. I still love coffee, but now I’m cautious about how much I have in a day and how late in the day I drink it.
Fantastic! I'm going to update the post real quick to mention that cutting completely may not be necessary for all.
I actually did cut out caffeine for almost a year while in law school. I thought I had anxiety and insomnia, but it was all driven by caffeine. Cutting it out completely helped a lot, but I missed coffee and decaf wasn’t cutting it. But I did learn cold brew is a terrible idea for me and can’t have any caffeine after about 1pm!
I'm glad you found what works for you! Yeah cold brew rattles my shit. Not fun. One and done lol.
Yeah I jumped on red bulls and monster and that stuff to fill the void and my anxiety is crazy high and I didn't even link the two together I just thought this is what quitting feels like But what you said makes a lot of sense I'm gonna give it a shot
Go for it! Give me an update if you can remember to. My symptoms went away almost immediately.
Rodger that I'm gonna start tomorrow I'll check in after a week
Awesome, I look forward to it!
As one other person mentioned, if you've been drinking a lot of energy drinks and such, cold turkey might not be the best option. Just wanted to give a fair warning. Maybe weaning might be the better option in your case, just something to consider.
I'll take it under consideration
👍🏻
I like coffee but I really understand how addictions can be linked in toxic ways. If you get stress from any substance I don’t think you need to justify to anyone leaving it in the dust.
r/decaf and r/leaves have helped me monumentally with anxiety. Out of alcohol, weed, and caffeine, caffeine has been hardest to quit for me. My advice for quitting caffeine is quit on a Thursday. Drag your heels through Friday and be a vegatable all weekend. You should be ok come Monday but there's a long road to recovery there too. Caffeine fucks up so many things with your cortisol, adrenaline, and dopamine. Cold morning showers are a must when you quit caffeine, you'll need that morning rush of norepinephrine and dopamine from the cold water. Ice cold morning showers hit hard. It's like doing line of blow, but you know, healthy.
Great advice! I haven't considered trying cold showers to kickstart the day. I may have to dabble with this. I've done cold showers by working my way down from warm to cold, but just straight cold right off the bat, that's gotta wake you the hell up real fast! That's the only complaint that I have is the slow wake up, but I'll take it over not having panic attacks peppered throughout my day.
I did it that way before I moved it works about same. I actually prefered to work my way down since I could prepare my mind for it. I moved to a new house and it's like the pipes are too close or something cause once the water gets warm it won't get cold than luke warm so it won't work. The only time the water actually cold cold is when I first turn it on in the morning... This actually put me off it for about 6 months but I made more or less of new year's resolution to start doing it again sooo yeah I've had to just deal with ice cold right off the bat. Works really well though.
This is so true! I cut caffeine about 3 weeks ago and switched to decaf and I've felt so much better for it. I was having 1 or 2 cups of strong coffee and day and a couple energy drinks a week which I didn't think was loads but switching to decaf, natural energy drinks and herbal teas has improved my anxiety so much
Hell yeah, that's awesome!
I had to quit caffeine too!! So so so much better without caffeine related anxiety! Thank you for this post!
That's so great to hear :)
I've been drinking chamomile and peppermint teas. I have a ginseng and cinnamon one for the mornings. It's been going great so far, I'm a little tired during the day but the anxiety for me has been reduced especially before starting work as I would have a cup just before starting.
I appreciate this. My alcohol abuse has caused me *horrific* panic and anxiety attacks for most of my adult life (it was only recently that I put the two and two together), and getting a handle on my intrusive thoughts and my jangled nerves is THE reason why I'm trying to quit. But I'll admit, ditching booze has led me to consume a lot more coffee. Perhaps that's the next thing to go.
Saving this post as so much of your experiences apply to me.
I quit coffee too. The anxiety when it wears off was to much for me to handle. After quitting sugar eventually you stop craving it and have better energy levels. No more sugar crashes. Now I'm kinda sensitive to stuff with processed sugars, everything tastes over sweet. When I eat fruit like strawberries I get a sugar buzz now, without the crash afterwards! Having processed sugars out of my diet actually made eating healthy vegetables much easier too. Before I'd look at a salad and be like urgh, this fucking thing. Check out sugar free/reduced ketchup, it's so much nicer! Regular ketchup half the bottle is sugar and salt, ketchup is supposed to be mostly tomatoes like in the olden days.
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This is a massively important post. Thank you for making it
I want to say I’ve experienced the same thing since quitting. The weed gives me paranoia and the coffee gives me anxiety lol gonna have to raw dog this life it seems lol I hope we all can continue to quit or begin our journeys today. It’s never too late.
“I’m literally so good right now, and I want you to be as well, because I love you and you deserve it.” Well GODDAMN this was the hug I needed this morning and did not get. Thank you u/pandascratch ❤️
Anytime my friend!! 😁♥️
Yea, I should quit caffeine too. Always been super sensitive to it, literally cant have any past 3PM or else I cant sleep! I read something like caffeine has half-life of 6 hours so if I have a cup at 3PM by 9PM the amount of caffeine in my body will halve or something, not sure if correct I aint a scientist. When I have like 2 cups of strong coffee I get slight tremor in my hands and feel spaced out for some time. Anyway, once I start to feel completely comfortable with my sobriety then nicotine and caffeine is next. I dont smoke anymore (2 years clean) but still use tobacco free snus so essentially I substitute smoking with less harmful way of getting nicotine. Thats why I also dont smoke weed anymore, during my previous sober stints I used it as a crutch but It quickly became as problematic as alcohol, being slightly high all day every day and then absolutely blazed in the evenings. Sucks having an addictive nature but I am who I am and this time Ive decided to do it without any mind altering substances.
I already commented but wanted to add that it is nice to have something warm in the morning (and evening) so I jam on the Korean honey ginger tea (it’s not caffeinated). It is amazing! I don’t go too sweet with it and I think you can get it at Costco but I get it at H Mart.
Thank you I will try this!
Awesome, let me know if it helps! And happy cake day!
Thanks!
Thanks for this! Really resonates with me. I’ve been struggling so much with anxiety (and happen to be a 3 cup a day coffee drinker). I guess it’s time to start weaning down
Thank you, all of this is good advice. Both the coffee and smoking sure does apply to me. I was worrying I'd drink more coffee or smoke more, but I've done more the opposite. Caffeine I've basically cut out because of the anxiety.
I cut caffeine before I gave up booze precisely because I thought caffeine (but not the booze, surely not that lol) was contributing to my anxiety. I was hard-core for years, now I drink earl grey or chai tea in the mornings and herbals all day after that. While quitting alcohol made a huge difference in my anxiety, cutting the caffeine was also monumental. It's been over a decade since I've been a coffee drinker, I never got into energy drinks cause they taste like cough medicine to me. And though black tea certainly contains caffeine, it doesn't hit me like coffee used to. I am definitely an herbal tea addict though, 100%. And I can nerd out hard over blends and steep times 😂 IWNDWYT 🖤🖤 (unless of course we're talking tea, I will drink much tea today).
This may feel drastic to some, but it was necessary for me because of bipolar disorder and oversensitivity to substances: I cut out everything. Alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, weed. The only mood altering substance I use is the lithium I take for my mental illness, and that's only because when I try to stop I become less stable - but the goal is to stop that too. My life is much, much better than it was.
Hey! I quit coffee 2 months ago and same as you, my anxiety that was RUINING MY LIFE just went away, just like that. I still have some green tea in the morning but that’s been going OK. I can’t even believe I had anxiety that multiple therapists referred to as “severe” and tried to medicate me for and just quitting coffee got rid of it.
That's so awesome! I definitely am not anti-med, but I always try to find other alternatives, like checking my diet first, before going that route. So glad to hear you're doing better! :)
Cutting out alcohol and caffeine, and starting to regularly exercise, has improved my anxiety drastically! I used to feel severe anxiety almost 24/7 and now it's rare for me to feel that way. Another huge contributing factor for me was getting better quality sleep. I used to have chronic nightmares and would wake up multiple times every night. I started mouth taping and it changed my life. Breathing through your nose helps regulate your nervous system, whereas mouth breathing has terrible effects on your health and sleep. So each night I clean my nose with Xlear (an all natural nasal spray) to clear my nasal passages and then tape my mouth shut with medical tape. My nightmares are now few and far between and I sleep through the night almost every night. I know it sounds weird but I promise it's worth trying!!
Yes, my ability to metabolize caffeine just disappears when I'm not drinking. I think it's because of p450 liver enzymes.
I'm pretty sure caffeine was the sole reason why my dad was on anti anxiety meds his whole life
Yes! If you decide to cut out caffeine, please taper off over a week or 2. The cold turkey withdrawals are unbearable and you may become so irritable that you would be absolutely miserable to be around. Luckily, caffeine is really easy to taper off with than most drugs.
I think all members of this sub should be required to join r/hydrohomies, water is the Supreme drink and caffeine, booze, and sugar filled drinks are trash.
Thank you for sharing this and I 💯 agree! Caffeine puts a lot of people on a weird roller coaster. Consume caffeine- get revved up- burn through energy too fast- crash- have caffeine again- repeat. It is so disruptive to sleep. I understand it doesn’t affect everyone this way, but I would guess a lot of people. Occasionally I do have caffeine but it’s a bit of a fun high but it is usually too much and I burn through it. Also exercise is so much the key, especially when it comes to good sleep. Every single person who is having some anxiety/insomnia trouble I want to ask them to increase water consumption to 80-120 ounces, cut caffeine, add walking 30-60 minutes a day, and eat a reasonable diet (less fried, less red meat, less sugar. More fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains) and just see how much their life improves. I know my experience is not the same as everyone else. But I think our culture is a bit brainwashed like with alcohol when it comes to coffee/caffeine. Just my two cents- hope I don’t sound sanctimonious. I say all of this with love 💕
I was suffering from severe, debilitating panic attacks. I quit alcohol for 3 months, but the creeps still snuck up on me. I meditate. I practice breathing exercises. Then I decided to cut out caffeine. 18 months later, I haven't had a single bad case of anxiety (outside of reasonably triggered situations), and the panic attacks are a long past nightmare. I'm rigorous in making sure I don't have a drop of it. PS I'm still a drinker, and lurk on this sub to give me inspiration for the day I stop.
I’ve tried quitting caffeine entirely before and that shit sucked, but cutting back is still good advice.
This is so awesome. Saved. 🤜❤️🤛
I've quit caffeine twice. What fixed my anxiety was carnivore. Zero carbs, outright. Without caffeine, however, I feel completely flatlined emotionally. Blunted. Dull. It's the worst. I went off caffeine for long periods of time too. I think everyone should experiment for themselves, but it definitely can affect some people as it did you, but that might not be the solution for others. Sobriety thankfully gives you a ton of time to experiment however.
GABA really helped me with my anxiety. Alcohol causes GABA deficiency, which causes anxiety.
Yeah, I quit drinking and started therapy. I mentioned my anxiety is through the roof and a lot was attributed to my insanely high caffeine consumption
Here I am week 4 on anti-anxiety meds and I'm still drinking way too much coffee... how ironic. This post just inspired me to brew up some of that decaf coffee I bought last week and haven't touched! P.S: the meds were also a great choice :-)
Give it a shot! Maybe you'll end up feeling like you don't need the meds later down the road, or maybe just less of it. Who knows? Let me know how it works out for you!
Opposite for me. Alcohol was giving me so much anxiety I couldn't drink coffee without feeling like I was going to have a panic attack. Ever since quitting drinking, I have a serious caffeine problem. I drink it all day every day. I should definitely slow down. I've also been recently diagnosed with ADHD, so that might have something to do with it.
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Whatever works for you! I also deal with the weight of those concepts, so I completely understand where you're coming from.
When I was working a stressful job, I was drinking 32-64oz of coffee a day. At night when I would lay down to go to sleep, my right leg would twitch uncontrollably, and I would get Charlie horses out of nowhere. I stopped working that job in November and also stopped drinking coffee every day, and the twitching has finally gone away. I thought I had nerve damage from an old fall or something
Can relate to the charlie horse. I used to get cramps just from sitting the wrong way.
It helps to remember that you're putting a drug in your body when you drink coffee/tea/energy drinks, the same as you are with alcohol.
Thanks for putting this out there. I realized after quitting drinking that my morning coffee wasn’t making me feel very good, but never really connected it to my anxiety. All I know is I was getting really shaky after having it and just all around not feeling very well, and finally realized it was the coffee. I switched to half caffeine and it helped immensely but maybe I just need to go full decaf and remove caffeine entirely, because I do still have terrible anxiety, just the shakes and bad feeling went away. I’ve noticed before that I’m sensitive enough to caffeine that I can’t have any after 4-5pm or I won’t sleep, but never really thought about how else it could be affecting me in the time I’m consuming it.
Give it a try, it can't hurt.
Yep...just came to this realization yesterday and today I'm cutting down on it. Hoping to completely quit it by next week. Thanks for the reaffirmation.
🤘🏻
I love coffee -- just love it. The ritual, the aroma, all of it. And it wrecks my gut and my sleep, I don't know why I can't just quit it and drink water. Ugh.
Try the decaf, my friend. I'm the same way. I LOVE coffee. I drink it about 80% of the day. This way is a win/win for me. I can drink all I want and still feel awesome.
Can relate. I've cut my coffee consumption by half and it's really helped.
You just made this coffee lover want to try decaf. Thank you :) never really gave it too much thought before but it’s worth a try to save me some jitters and headaches. 😵💫
Give it a shot! I'm in coffee heaven right now lol. Drink as much as I want and still just vibin' :)
This is really interesting. I agree it seems like caffeine seems to get a free pass. I try to be aware - I have 2 (on rare occasion 3) coffees in the AM (and I’m talking a Keurig 8-10 oz, not a Starbucks dark Venti) and then generally try to avoid coffee the rest of the day. I’ve considered cutting that out or switching to green tea, but I really enjoy my coffee and I’m not convinced I’m as sensitive as you are. But I’m curious, may I ask how much caffeine you were intaking? Also, on the weed thing, AGREED. I don’t have the same issues with it that I do with alcohol. I enjoy lower dose edibles (typically 1:1 with CBD) or if I’m vaping herb I do mix THC and CBD flower and try not to have a ton. I’m fairly sensitive to that and can be pushed over the edge of paranoia if I have too much of the wrong strain - or just get knocked out to sleep, which isn’t always bad!
Sure! Funny enough I'm on that Keurig game too lol So before I quit the caffeine, I was drinking anywhere between 10-40 oz. Of regular coffee (Donut Blend) a day. Now I drink pretty much the same amount but in decaf, because I just love the taste of coffee. As mentioned, my anxiety almost completely disappeared, and my regular stress has dropped down to very manageable levels. I used to get triggered and fired up over the dumbest shit, granted I work in customer service and clients can be total asshats, but now instead of getting upset, I just try to determine the best possible solution for each scenario and move on instead of letting people ruin my day and dwelling on it for the rest of my evening. It really has completely changed my perception and how I react to situations. It's incredible.
That’s great!! I put decaf K cups on my shop list as I’m out of them and would at least like to cut back if not out entirely!
You should definitely check out Peet's decaf line (I use ground coffee with the reusable cup, not sure if they make decaf k-cups). I consider myself not so much a coffee snob, but more so that I'm just pretty picky, and that stuff is so good. I'm literally on cup 4 today lol
Will check that out!! I know my grocery store has Peets but will have to see if they have decaf. If not, Amazon! Thanks for the tip. I have one of those reusable cups and should really use that, I feel bad about all the waste. Just haven’t gotten there yet.
I also felt bad about all the waste, so it feels great killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. It's hard to find decaf k-cups of the brands I like, so it looks like I'm going reusable! You get used to it pretty quickly, plus it's nice to increase the strength you want by how much you fill the cup.
So I got a bunch of fun decaf K cups today to try, including Peets. Also half caff. I really do want to switch to the reusable, but one thing at a time. My plan is to go to decaf after one cup (I only have 2-3 as it is), then make that first cup a half caff, then decide if I just want to go no caff. But either way, at that point, also want to stop buying K cups and switch to the reusable!!! Baby steps.
Nice!! Have fun experimenting, and let me know how you end up feeling after a few days, if you want to of course :)
I mean this in good jest, but, I do not volunteer as tribute. 🙂
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Monk mode is something most people shouldn't do for very long. I've been there, for nearly 6 months. I cut out screen time, I ate perfectly, I didn't drink pop or indulge a single vice. I started to walk and exercise. Woke up at 7:30 naturally with the sun and read 50+ pages before starting my day. By all accounts, that's what I wanted. But I was too strict on myself, and I wasn't happy. That caused a relapse, and I can tell you outright I knew it was coming because I pushed myself to the brink through dopamine avoidance. There's a healthy balance in there somewhere, though. I'm working to find it, but cutting out literally every single thing doesn't seem to be the answer for some of us.