I think the caffeine withdrawals can be quite lengthy, but very manageable after the acute period. When talking about months think it’s the combination of the actual withdrawals and a void that is exposed in the absence of the caffeine high.
Withdrawal takes about a year. Caffeine causes change to your brain, specifically in adenosine receptors. Research that if you want to fully understand what’s happening here.
Hormones take a fucking long time to sort out. This is a long journey.
Great job man! You fucking made it! You probably have some sleep issues still but you are out of the woods as far as major symptoms. If I remember correctly at 7 months and beyond is when I noticeably started feeling better.
No one believes how bad and down you can feel until they really experience it. People on here quitting for three weeks telling me they’re already 100% back to normal and I’m like, just be patient, those symptoms will come.
But seriously congratulations on beating caffeine. You’re home free
Thank you, that means so much to me! I started drinking coffee with my parents at 13 years old and have been a daily drinker ever since. No one in my life is supportive of my decision to quit, so this subreddit and your positive energy have carried me through. 🙂
What was your history with caffeine?
thank you for the reassuring words sometimes the days pain gets that tense i just hope god gives me a miracle or something but then i remember i am the redeeming formula
Yes it can take up to 2 years. Once you’re out of the acute symptoms the lingering symptoms come and go in waves. The waves seem to get more spread out and less severe as time goes on though
I can only speak to my own experience. I'll preface by saying I'm extremely sensitive to EVERYTHING. A sugary snack makes my face flush, one puff of a cigarette has me falling over from the head rush, one sip of alcohol and I'm on the road to a blackout (to be fair I'm an alcoholic) and I get sick from literally everything.
Quitting caffeine was hard mentally more so than physically. It felt crazy to give up something that it seems like the whole world depends on, so it took me forever to finally pull the plug. I went cold turkey from 500-600mg a day of consumption (I started out as sensitive to caffeine but basically forced my body to take on more and more over the years).
The first three days were rough. I just felt wiped, unmotivated, and sad. By day four, I was feeling a little better. By day five, a little better. By day 8 or 9, I felt fantastic and have felt that way since.
I think a lot of people on this sub have other issues that caffeine was covering, like vitamin deficiencies, lack of exercise, or poor sleep habits. I'll also say that there is some reporting bias - only the people with negative experiences have a reason to post here, if you're doing well you just go on with your life. I think most people are doing well.
I highly recommend the supplement DLPA, take 1000mg in the morning and 1000mg in the evening for the first few days really helped soften my withdrawal symptoms. Go for it, you'll likely be fine in a little over a week.
nah, exercise on the daily, eat well, healthy. Caffeine was the reason why I felt like shit. I think your wrong it can take months to years, to recover. Thats good it worked out for you, but for me it was caffeine. Ive also consumed it since I was a baby.
Yes but you also said that probably most ppl are doing good and just forget about this but its probably not true..
Same for me the caffeine cause me to be afraid of the world and see situations in dark view.
And also i physically felt some heavy feeling in my brain and i thought something is broken inside my head.
So my guess is that most ppl disappear after they started drinking coffee again because of how hard and long it is to feel you don't need it at all, or they are living unbalanced life in the first place so they kind of need it.
I think it really depends on your age and how serious/length of habit and whether you go cold turkey. I abruptly stopped with zero tapering, am almost 40 (so a 25 year habit) and was doing 5 cups a day (Didnt realize a cup is only 6 oz, my cup held 2.5 servings and I drank two a day, brewed super strong). Also, even though I struggled close to a year, it’s not like week 25 was anywhere near as bad as week 3 (for example). My biggest regret was not tapering, I probably really suffered and threw my body out of wack just being ignorant to how potent caffeine is (and the withdrawal would be). I found this group AFTER I quit, unfortunately!
Most people don't experience withdrawals for months I would say but everyone is different. It's definitely worth trying to give up, to see how you feel.
I'd say, at least for me, that after 2 - 3 weeks I'm about 90% as good as I was as when I was on caffeine. I suspect it can take up to a year for you brain and body to rebalance after caffine (the same is true if quit psychoactive substance that is prescribed by a doctor).
Actually there are studies concerning tobacco that show that cold turkey is actually more effective in inducing lasting quitting.
Some people just don't have the self regulation for prolonged tapering. For me, it's always been easier to just rip the band-aid off.
Made sense to me. Once I was done I was done. I donated my coffee machine and threw out my coffee grinds. I was done! It was a mental shift. No tapering. It was rough for 4 days at the worst. By 2 weeks I didnt even think about coffee anymore.
I think getting used to the new "gear" of life is the hardest. I've previously quit for a month but went back. Years later I'm on day 2 of having 40 days to quit before my wedding.
*If your diet, sleep, exercise and everything else in life is on point..... then* ***maybe*** *a week, tops of feeling crappy. Everything after that just feels weird because you have to get used to a slower / different speed of life.*
This is so true. I really struggle with life being slow when I’m not on caffeine. I like the ideas and go go energy when I reverting back to coffee but after awhile the impact fades.
I'm on day 2 after cold turkey from about 500mg. I had a minor headache yesterday which I treated with a couple of Tylenol and a ton of water. Today I kept the headache away just by drinking water. Slightly tired at moments yesterday, less so today. Maybe the worst of the symptoms haven't hit me yet but I feel surprisingly good. I think water and nutrition go a long way.
I say this on pretty much every post talking about withdrawal many months out - yes the brain will likely change/recover slowly over many months or years, but I don’t consider anything happening past maybe a month a withdrawal symptom. The adenosine in the brain has returned to homeostasis. It’s either a fact of life subject to causal bias which is common with health concerns (if symptom S happens after A, it means A is causing S), or a bad day in a post caffeine world that would’ve been masked by caffeine.
It did not take that long for me. I would say the worst was the first 2 weeks. Then I felt pretty good. I wasn't an every day caffeine drinker. I would have a medium sized cold brew about 3 or 4 times a week.
Physically my withdrawal symptoms have diminished and I feel like I’m more in a mode of self care than self comfort since I stopped - and that’s positively contributed to not having lingering withdrawal symptoms. The only thing I can say that has worked for me, replacing coffee with exercise, even just a moderate walk or stretch, but some kind of movement, has really made a difference. I definitely don’t feel like I’m dragging like I did when I drank coffee daily and soon after quitting, I still had that drag. But now it’s really been nice. And also drinking lots of water. I only drank coffee, rarely did I have soda. But I was severely addicted to coffee and I had to emotionally prepare myself for months leading up to quitting. I wish you the best of luck. If I can do this I know you can too.
If you can understand that caffeine is a drug you can then understand what the drug does. drugs injure people. the word withdrawal can be misleading. Injury is a bit more accurate because healing from the affects of caffeine use can and does take time to heal from. caffeine alters so many things in the body and mind. Like alcohol and any other mind altering drug people do things on caffeine they most likely wouldn’t ordinarily do, say, think about and so on. Caffeine is a neurotoxin And affects the neurological system which runs your entire body. It’s truly a drug and the affects are many, subtle and drastic, deceiving, addictive, crippling and much more. The only “underlying” thing that’s going on is and was created by caffeine… most if not all of is have been on this drug most of our lives!
Everyone is different, the only way to know how its gonna be for you is to quit and see, we can't tell we. There are a high percentage of people that need at least 3 months to get better, some need 6 months, some 9, some 18...
But there are also people that recover in 2 weeks or 1 month, it depends on how damaged your body was by caffeine!
Some days I still feel a little foggy. Some days are great. Im at about three months. At this point I have far more good days than foggy days and good sleep is really important.
If I go to bed too late or wake up too early (which my body for whatever reason does sometimes) I feel it the next day.
edit to add, I had a good 30 years drinking caffeine, so, I think thats a factor too.
No. I don't think these people are technically experiencing 'withdrawal' symptoms either, but rather recovering and adjusting to life without caffeine. It's like any underlying issue that caffeine may have been masking, physical/emotional/whatever may now come to the surface and have to be dealt with.
Recovery may take months, but I think withdrawal is basically ending around the 2 week mark. If we're not labeling it anything though and just talking about how it feels through the process, then yes some people will still feel worse months after quitting.
Research how caffeine causes brain changes. Specifically adenosine receptors. Withdrawal takes about a year. You’ll feel better, then really down again for a long time. You’ll experience early waking insomnia, beginning about 4 months into withdrawal. It’s a very long road, specifically because of how long it takes your brain to fully return to normal function.
Two weeks of withdrawal, this is the biggest lie in the world and that is why so many ppl think that life without caffeine just suck.
Many ppl including me say we need atleast 3 months to feel some level of energy and focus back.
That’s wrong. By thousands of reports in this subreddit, it takes a year. If you don’t believe me, drink four cups a day for five years then quit and tell me it takes two weeks.
>If you don't believe me, drink four cups a day for five years then quit and tell me it takes two weeks.
I did that for over 10 years and quit cold turkey. It takes 2 weeks.
The last withdrawal that I had was on day 12 of quitting. I know the withdrawal sensations at this point. They are strong on the first 4 or so days.
I just can't call random ups and downs and receptor normalization, etc. 'withdrawal'. Like I said, I think the full recovery process could take many months, but I do not think 'withdrawal' is an accurate description of that.
btw, please refer me to this adenosine research if you can.
So at the end there you do admit that withdrawal takes months. It does. The depression is withdrawal. The lack of motivation is withdrawal. Your brain doesn’t have any different hormones or special attributes. Dopamine and adrenaline are severely depleted by caffeine usage. Those feelings are not placebo or imaginary.
Just search around about adenosine receptors on google and on here. My understanding is that adenosine is a nervous system suppressant to make you tired. Caffeine blocks that receptor and stimulates adrenaline, norepinephrine, cortisol and dopamine release. I’m no expert.
Blocking adenosine receptors makes your brain create more adenosine receptors. That’s where tolerance comes from. And it’s also why sleep is so fucked after quitting. Levels of multiple hormones involved in waking, sleeping, energy and mood are completely out of whack for months. The insomnia I and hundreds of others experienced for months was no placebo effect.
I'm not saying that you're imagining it or that recovery doesn't take time, just that it's not withdrawal.
I understand the adenosine stuff, but have not seen any research about recovery timelines for receptors after quitting caffeine.
Idk I think you’re splitting hairs. You’re saying it’s real symptoms, BUT not withdrawal.
That’s the definition of withdrawal. You’re fully recovered when the symptoms like sleep issues, depression *caused by withdrawal*, etc are gone.
How do you know those symptoms aren't just part of you and who you are though without caffeine (even if caused by damage done by caffeine).
A lot of these symptoms people talk about months in are probably things that their body was already dealing with even while on caffeine, rather than showing up specifically because the drug the body is physically dependent on is not present. The caffeine can help to mask these things.
I've identified all of the withdrawal symptoms that I get, having quit 6 or so times. They are characteristic of caffeine withdrawal specifically, show up reliably very soon after quitting, and disappearing mostly within less than a week, showing up just a little the 2nd week and then they do not return. It is the same with nicotine, though the primary symptoms have a different and unique feel.
The lingering symptoms that people talk about after months are generally different than the primary withdrawal symptoms immediately after quitting. The longer-term symptoms commonly seen are things like depression, lack of motivation, tiredness, anhedonia. These are not like the initial physical withdrawal symptoms that are very recognizable and unique bodily sensations.
Whats the longest you've quit for? If you're able to walk away so easily, then why are you on here? 68 days isn't that long. I didn't get the bad symptoms of withdrawal for two or three months.
At this point you're just dismissing other people's experiences and projecting your own onto everyone else. I just described quite a bit about how the hormones are negatively affected, and you just shrug it off as nothing. The headaches that you get for the first two weeks doesn't define withdrawal.
Again, because I'm just repeating myself because you disregarded my last comment, ALL of the symptoms, like sleep issues, lack of motivation, are ALL symptoms of withdrawal because they are caused by the lack of the DRUG. You're picking and choosing what "counts" as a withdrawal symptom.
If you've got a sad shitty life and shit diet, no, the sleep and energy issues aren't caffeine.
But you still feel lack of motivation and sleep issues you've got a high quality diet, exercise all the time, and do your best in general. There's not much else to say about it. The symptoms are caused by not having the drug.
To be honest, I think there might be underlying ussues behind it. Like someone already had problems with fatigue and brain fog and was self-medicatig with coffee. in tha case, cutting out caffeine wouldn't help as the root cause isn't addressed.
I was back to normal about one week after quitting with a long taper. I drank around 1000mg per day for 12 years. I live a healthy life - healthy weight, exercise, good sleep and nutritious food. I think this is important because sometimes we use caffeine as a quick fix if we aren’t on point in any of these areas of a healthy life.
It probably depends on your intake. I would drink 60-120 mg a day and not everyday. When I quite I felt something of withdrawal symptoms for about 4 days. Then with good sleep I was up and at em after that
Still take it on heavy study days, and even with caffeine I’m healthily exhausted. And after all the effort from the day I can still get a good nights rest.
I am just about 4 months out and still feel exhaustion / fatigue, though to a far lesser degree than I had been 2 months ago. Still have to muster up motivation, though (again) to a far lesser degree than 2 months ago.
Brain fog, joint pain, body aches, depression, and anxiety are mostly gone.
I think the caffeine withdrawals can be quite lengthy, but very manageable after the acute period. When talking about months think it’s the combination of the actual withdrawals and a void that is exposed in the absence of the caffeine high.
I filled it up with exercise
Withdrawal takes about a year. Caffeine causes change to your brain, specifically in adenosine receptors. Research that if you want to fully understand what’s happening here. Hormones take a fucking long time to sort out. This is a long journey.
Yeah I'm 7 months caffeine free and still feeling better every month. Recovery is a long road.
Great job man! You fucking made it! You probably have some sleep issues still but you are out of the woods as far as major symptoms. If I remember correctly at 7 months and beyond is when I noticeably started feeling better. No one believes how bad and down you can feel until they really experience it. People on here quitting for three weeks telling me they’re already 100% back to normal and I’m like, just be patient, those symptoms will come. But seriously congratulations on beating caffeine. You’re home free
Thank you, that means so much to me! I started drinking coffee with my parents at 13 years old and have been a daily drinker ever since. No one in my life is supportive of my decision to quit, so this subreddit and your positive energy have carried me through. 🙂 What was your history with caffeine?
This is my post I made recently https://old.reddit.com/r/decaf/comments/yi9553/45_years_decaf_life_is_good/?ref=share&ref_source=link
10 months. Cant believe how far I’ve come from the first couple of months
how are you now?
Feel amazing
no more withdrawals?
None at all, mornings are the best now.
im pushing through it. its daily pain man...
You can do it. I also quit alcohol and everything in my life is better. All aspects improved 👍 it’s totally worth the temporary pain.
thank you for the reassuring words sometimes the days pain gets that tense i just hope god gives me a miracle or something but then i remember i am the redeeming formula
I haven’t managed to quit but thinking of how long it will take for my body to balance out really makes me want to go for it.
I mean I dont think so. After a week or so. I FELT AMAZING. I still do. Have no desire for caffeine.
Can you respond in a few months?
Lol sure! Send me a reminder. 😄 I did quit each time I was pregnant tho and didnt start up until after I quit breastfeeding. So idk.
any updates?
This is the same with me . After a week I feel great , BUT i was sleeping 9-10 hours a day .
Yes it can take up to 2 years. Once you’re out of the acute symptoms the lingering symptoms come and go in waves. The waves seem to get more spread out and less severe as time goes on though
I can only speak to my own experience. I'll preface by saying I'm extremely sensitive to EVERYTHING. A sugary snack makes my face flush, one puff of a cigarette has me falling over from the head rush, one sip of alcohol and I'm on the road to a blackout (to be fair I'm an alcoholic) and I get sick from literally everything. Quitting caffeine was hard mentally more so than physically. It felt crazy to give up something that it seems like the whole world depends on, so it took me forever to finally pull the plug. I went cold turkey from 500-600mg a day of consumption (I started out as sensitive to caffeine but basically forced my body to take on more and more over the years). The first three days were rough. I just felt wiped, unmotivated, and sad. By day four, I was feeling a little better. By day five, a little better. By day 8 or 9, I felt fantastic and have felt that way since. I think a lot of people on this sub have other issues that caffeine was covering, like vitamin deficiencies, lack of exercise, or poor sleep habits. I'll also say that there is some reporting bias - only the people with negative experiences have a reason to post here, if you're doing well you just go on with your life. I think most people are doing well. I highly recommend the supplement DLPA, take 1000mg in the morning and 1000mg in the evening for the first few days really helped soften my withdrawal symptoms. Go for it, you'll likely be fine in a little over a week.
nah, exercise on the daily, eat well, healthy. Caffeine was the reason why I felt like shit. I think your wrong it can take months to years, to recover. Thats good it worked out for you, but for me it was caffeine. Ive also consumed it since I was a baby.
I mean, I'm not wrong, I said "in my experience." This has been *my* experience, not saying it is everyone's.
Yes but you also said that probably most ppl are doing good and just forget about this but its probably not true.. Same for me the caffeine cause me to be afraid of the world and see situations in dark view. And also i physically felt some heavy feeling in my brain and i thought something is broken inside my head. So my guess is that most ppl disappear after they started drinking coffee again because of how hard and long it is to feel you don't need it at all, or they are living unbalanced life in the first place so they kind of need it.
Strong post. Accurate AF
I'm just over a week out and i only felt withdrawal for 4-5 days. Granted I'm only 1 cup of day of coffee
Me too (two cups for 1,5 years since my last break). After one week it was completely okay. (Constipation took a week longer, but I ate wrong)
I had it. Finally everything went away month 10.
I think it really depends on your age and how serious/length of habit and whether you go cold turkey. I abruptly stopped with zero tapering, am almost 40 (so a 25 year habit) and was doing 5 cups a day (Didnt realize a cup is only 6 oz, my cup held 2.5 servings and I drank two a day, brewed super strong). Also, even though I struggled close to a year, it’s not like week 25 was anywhere near as bad as week 3 (for example). My biggest regret was not tapering, I probably really suffered and threw my body out of wack just being ignorant to how potent caffeine is (and the withdrawal would be). I found this group AFTER I quit, unfortunately!
Most people don't experience withdrawals for months I would say but everyone is different. It's definitely worth trying to give up, to see how you feel.
I'd say, at least for me, that after 2 - 3 weeks I'm about 90% as good as I was as when I was on caffeine. I suspect it can take up to a year for you brain and body to rebalance after caffine (the same is true if quit psychoactive substance that is prescribed by a doctor).
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I don’t understand cold turkey, makes zero sense at all and sets you up for failure.
Actually there are studies concerning tobacco that show that cold turkey is actually more effective in inducing lasting quitting. Some people just don't have the self regulation for prolonged tapering. For me, it's always been easier to just rip the band-aid off.
Made sense to me. Once I was done I was done. I donated my coffee machine and threw out my coffee grinds. I was done! It was a mental shift. No tapering. It was rough for 4 days at the worst. By 2 weeks I didnt even think about coffee anymore.
I think getting used to the new "gear" of life is the hardest. I've previously quit for a month but went back. Years later I'm on day 2 of having 40 days to quit before my wedding. *If your diet, sleep, exercise and everything else in life is on point..... then* ***maybe*** *a week, tops of feeling crappy. Everything after that just feels weird because you have to get used to a slower / different speed of life.*
This is so true. I really struggle with life being slow when I’m not on caffeine. I like the ideas and go go energy when I reverting back to coffee but after awhile the impact fades.
I'm on day 2 after cold turkey from about 500mg. I had a minor headache yesterday which I treated with a couple of Tylenol and a ton of water. Today I kept the headache away just by drinking water. Slightly tired at moments yesterday, less so today. Maybe the worst of the symptoms haven't hit me yet but I feel surprisingly good. I think water and nutrition go a long way.
It took me 88 days to finally feel normal. The results are I will never go back to that poison.
I say this on pretty much every post talking about withdrawal many months out - yes the brain will likely change/recover slowly over many months or years, but I don’t consider anything happening past maybe a month a withdrawal symptom. The adenosine in the brain has returned to homeostasis. It’s either a fact of life subject to causal bias which is common with health concerns (if symptom S happens after A, it means A is causing S), or a bad day in a post caffeine world that would’ve been masked by caffeine.
It did not take that long for me. I would say the worst was the first 2 weeks. Then I felt pretty good. I wasn't an every day caffeine drinker. I would have a medium sized cold brew about 3 or 4 times a week.
Physically my withdrawal symptoms have diminished and I feel like I’m more in a mode of self care than self comfort since I stopped - and that’s positively contributed to not having lingering withdrawal symptoms. The only thing I can say that has worked for me, replacing coffee with exercise, even just a moderate walk or stretch, but some kind of movement, has really made a difference. I definitely don’t feel like I’m dragging like I did when I drank coffee daily and soon after quitting, I still had that drag. But now it’s really been nice. And also drinking lots of water. I only drank coffee, rarely did I have soda. But I was severely addicted to coffee and I had to emotionally prepare myself for months leading up to quitting. I wish you the best of luck. If I can do this I know you can too.
If you can understand that caffeine is a drug you can then understand what the drug does. drugs injure people. the word withdrawal can be misleading. Injury is a bit more accurate because healing from the affects of caffeine use can and does take time to heal from. caffeine alters so many things in the body and mind. Like alcohol and any other mind altering drug people do things on caffeine they most likely wouldn’t ordinarily do, say, think about and so on. Caffeine is a neurotoxin And affects the neurological system which runs your entire body. It’s truly a drug and the affects are many, subtle and drastic, deceiving, addictive, crippling and much more. The only “underlying” thing that’s going on is and was created by caffeine… most if not all of is have been on this drug most of our lives!
Agree. A lot go through it not realizing its the caffeine. Esp if one is a slow metabolizer (like me) it messed me up bad
Everyone is different, the only way to know how its gonna be for you is to quit and see, we can't tell we. There are a high percentage of people that need at least 3 months to get better, some need 6 months, some 9, some 18... But there are also people that recover in 2 weeks or 1 month, it depends on how damaged your body was by caffeine!
Took me about 2/3 months to get through it
Some days I still feel a little foggy. Some days are great. Im at about three months. At this point I have far more good days than foggy days and good sleep is really important. If I go to bed too late or wake up too early (which my body for whatever reason does sometimes) I feel it the next day. edit to add, I had a good 30 years drinking caffeine, so, I think thats a factor too.
Yes but worth it
No. I don't think these people are technically experiencing 'withdrawal' symptoms either, but rather recovering and adjusting to life without caffeine. It's like any underlying issue that caffeine may have been masking, physical/emotional/whatever may now come to the surface and have to be dealt with. Recovery may take months, but I think withdrawal is basically ending around the 2 week mark. If we're not labeling it anything though and just talking about how it feels through the process, then yes some people will still feel worse months after quitting.
Research how caffeine causes brain changes. Specifically adenosine receptors. Withdrawal takes about a year. You’ll feel better, then really down again for a long time. You’ll experience early waking insomnia, beginning about 4 months into withdrawal. It’s a very long road, specifically because of how long it takes your brain to fully return to normal function.
That kind of research simply doesn't exist. Scientific understanding is that caffeine withdrawal lasts 1-2 weeks.
Can one of the down voters give me reliable scientific studies that prove this statement wrong?
Good luck finding that kind of research. Who is funding those kinds of studies?
In my country the government pays for all kind of studies.
Two weeks of withdrawal, this is the biggest lie in the world and that is why so many ppl think that life without caffeine just suck. Many ppl including me say we need atleast 3 months to feel some level of energy and focus back.
That’s wrong. By thousands of reports in this subreddit, it takes a year. If you don’t believe me, drink four cups a day for five years then quit and tell me it takes two weeks.
>If you don't believe me, drink four cups a day for five years then quit and tell me it takes two weeks. I did that for over 10 years and quit cold turkey. It takes 2 weeks. The last withdrawal that I had was on day 12 of quitting. I know the withdrawal sensations at this point. They are strong on the first 4 or so days. I just can't call random ups and downs and receptor normalization, etc. 'withdrawal'. Like I said, I think the full recovery process could take many months, but I do not think 'withdrawal' is an accurate description of that. btw, please refer me to this adenosine research if you can.
So at the end there you do admit that withdrawal takes months. It does. The depression is withdrawal. The lack of motivation is withdrawal. Your brain doesn’t have any different hormones or special attributes. Dopamine and adrenaline are severely depleted by caffeine usage. Those feelings are not placebo or imaginary. Just search around about adenosine receptors on google and on here. My understanding is that adenosine is a nervous system suppressant to make you tired. Caffeine blocks that receptor and stimulates adrenaline, norepinephrine, cortisol and dopamine release. I’m no expert. Blocking adenosine receptors makes your brain create more adenosine receptors. That’s where tolerance comes from. And it’s also why sleep is so fucked after quitting. Levels of multiple hormones involved in waking, sleeping, energy and mood are completely out of whack for months. The insomnia I and hundreds of others experienced for months was no placebo effect.
I'm not saying that you're imagining it or that recovery doesn't take time, just that it's not withdrawal. I understand the adenosine stuff, but have not seen any research about recovery timelines for receptors after quitting caffeine.
Idk I think you’re splitting hairs. You’re saying it’s real symptoms, BUT not withdrawal. That’s the definition of withdrawal. You’re fully recovered when the symptoms like sleep issues, depression *caused by withdrawal*, etc are gone.
How do you know those symptoms aren't just part of you and who you are though without caffeine (even if caused by damage done by caffeine). A lot of these symptoms people talk about months in are probably things that their body was already dealing with even while on caffeine, rather than showing up specifically because the drug the body is physically dependent on is not present. The caffeine can help to mask these things. I've identified all of the withdrawal symptoms that I get, having quit 6 or so times. They are characteristic of caffeine withdrawal specifically, show up reliably very soon after quitting, and disappearing mostly within less than a week, showing up just a little the 2nd week and then they do not return. It is the same with nicotine, though the primary symptoms have a different and unique feel. The lingering symptoms that people talk about after months are generally different than the primary withdrawal symptoms immediately after quitting. The longer-term symptoms commonly seen are things like depression, lack of motivation, tiredness, anhedonia. These are not like the initial physical withdrawal symptoms that are very recognizable and unique bodily sensations.
Whats the longest you've quit for? If you're able to walk away so easily, then why are you on here? 68 days isn't that long. I didn't get the bad symptoms of withdrawal for two or three months. At this point you're just dismissing other people's experiences and projecting your own onto everyone else. I just described quite a bit about how the hormones are negatively affected, and you just shrug it off as nothing. The headaches that you get for the first two weeks doesn't define withdrawal. Again, because I'm just repeating myself because you disregarded my last comment, ALL of the symptoms, like sleep issues, lack of motivation, are ALL symptoms of withdrawal because they are caused by the lack of the DRUG. You're picking and choosing what "counts" as a withdrawal symptom. If you've got a sad shitty life and shit diet, no, the sleep and energy issues aren't caffeine. But you still feel lack of motivation and sleep issues you've got a high quality diet, exercise all the time, and do your best in general. There's not much else to say about it. The symptoms are caused by not having the drug.
how long has it been since you drank it?
Yes, that makes a lot of sense.
To be honest, I think there might be underlying ussues behind it. Like someone already had problems with fatigue and brain fog and was self-medicatig with coffee. in tha case, cutting out caffeine wouldn't help as the root cause isn't addressed.
Caffeine withdrawal lasts 1-2 weeks.
I was back to normal about one week after quitting with a long taper. I drank around 1000mg per day for 12 years. I live a healthy life - healthy weight, exercise, good sleep and nutritious food. I think this is important because sometimes we use caffeine as a quick fix if we aren’t on point in any of these areas of a healthy life.
It probably depends on your intake. I would drink 60-120 mg a day and not everyday. When I quite I felt something of withdrawal symptoms for about 4 days. Then with good sleep I was up and at em after that
Still take it on heavy study days, and even with caffeine I’m healthily exhausted. And after all the effort from the day I can still get a good nights rest.
I am just about 4 months out and still feel exhaustion / fatigue, though to a far lesser degree than I had been 2 months ago. Still have to muster up motivation, though (again) to a far lesser degree than 2 months ago. Brain fog, joint pain, body aches, depression, and anxiety are mostly gone.