I Abruptly Stopped Drinking Caffeine And This Happened 

My friend worked at a coffee shop for a few years, and developed a strong dependence on caffeine that persists to this day. A decade later, his girlfriend didn't believe such a thing existed, and she secretly replaced his coffee beans with decaf to "prove" it. He was about ready to go to the hospital when the withdrawal was in full swing.

I got mad anxiety and depression for about a week after I went cold turkey on caffeine. But it was worth it. I haven't had caffeine in about 3 years and I feel much better for it. The biggest thing I noticed is that I sleep so much better now.

Man, the bone tiredness....it was literally inside my bones. No one could ever prepare you for that one. I made it, but it was brutal. Now I’m careful with my caffeine.

I stopped coffee cold turkey about a month ago. It was giving me acid reflux and insomnia. I went through a week, or so of hellish headaches and and irritability, but now I feel peace inside. I sleep better and I feel like a child inside. Just pure calmness and happiness. I suspect I was hypersensitive to that insecticide.

i was doing 1000-1500 mg caffeine daily for years (sometimes up to 2000 mg).. i used to wake up with horrible headaches sometimes until i had some. i decided to completely quit it a couple months ago. i just stopped one day expecting to have the shittiest week ever. absolutely zero withdrawal symptoms. was very weird. i think maybe i'm done with it for good now.

I truly respect how candid you are. You're helping connect people to doctors, not just virtually but emotionally. You're changing the world. Thank you for all that you do.

I love how you explain the concepts, just building them up in a logical chain good stuff

Thank you for this! You answered several questions I've had, and I didn't know where to find out, or didn't understand what I found... This makes so much sense.

I am a lab technician and for over 15 years, coffee was the diesel which kept my motor running. I drank lots of strong coffee. I made a hard reset and went to zero the next day. It took me over two weeks to adapt. I was nervous, anxious, had depression and several blood pressure related problems. Ultimately, it was worth it.

I quit caffeine after 15 years of dependency. My dependency was so bad that having coffee made me fall asleep at night because it made the constantly slowly creeping headaches go away. After I quit caffeine I fell asleep at 6 pm every night for a whole month and slept 12 hours. Then I was finally back to normal

pleaase make more of these behind the scenes type ones. it helps us connect to the story, seeing the patient is real, and all the effort you put into making it.

You are my favorite medical oddities channel. You don't waste time and you keep everything interesting to watch. Huge Thanks!

I used to be pretty dependant on caffeine, but it was giving me heart palpitations which led to panic attacks, so I decided to stop drinking it and was expecting to feel terrible from withdrawal symptoms. but weirdly enough I felt pretty much fine. It's interesting how different it affects people

Always love your analyses and generally just listening to a doc talk about pharmacokinetics and how the body reacts to different substances. Thank you for being around, Bernard!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU..... I just started recently listening to your podcast and your RU-vid. Thank you for helping out that veteran. I'm a veteran too. And the minute I saw that part of the video is when I hit the subscribe button.

This was excellent. Thank you for the science and for sharing your experience !

My dad started bringing me coffee in bed in the mornings when I was about 12. (He was so sweet!) By early college, I realized I was addicted and decided to quit cold turkey until the addiction ended and then drink less from then on. My symptoms were exactly as Dr. Bernard describes: the sickest headache I've ever had as well as some nausea. That was 40 years ago, and I still enjoy a cup in the morning but have never allowed myself to become addicted again. I appreciate the physiological explanation of caused such an awful headache!

I'm an avid coffee drinker, so some things I learned from this habit: - My withdrawal is a huge headache, strong enough to make me nauseous. Whenever I know I won't be able to drink coffee, a paracetamol or metamizol is a must to not be useless towards the day. But as much as medicine helps, the true solver to withdrawal is sleep, if I can get a good nap or some sleep during the withdrawal, the symptoms reduce significantly. - With time you tend to get to a point where you drink enough coffee to not feel the need to drink more and also not too much to have symptoms of caffeine abuse (for me the most notorious is blinking white spots in my vision with some photophobia). - Drinking coffee with milk increases the amount of coffee you can take daily. It also reduces the stomach problems you get with black coffee. - Drinking good quality coffee will make you drink less at the end of the day. Having the process of grinding beans and taking time to make a good cup of coffee instead of just making a black caffeine juice reduced my consumption from a liter daily to like 300mL tops. Also the improvements in taste, smell and a cool skill to show off to people is way more benefitial

I appreciate this breakdown along with the guidance in how to taper down.

Thank you so much for making this video. I now understand the way caffeine works in our body, and I guess I might have known the cause of the mysterious occasional headaches I get.

It's crazy to hear about such strong physical symptoms associated caffeine withdrawal. I get the headache and become extremely tired but really what nails me is the depression and agitation. The psychological effects are pronounced and enduring for me. It's interesting how people love caffeine and so they want it to be good for them. The way people discuss it as helping them simply because they're addicted to it is hilarious. It may be helpful at times but in retrospect I think far more clearly when I'm not loaded on caffeine. Good video.

I'm a pharmacy student and your channel helped me discover my passion. Thanks for being so cool and doing what you do!

Good video Doc. You are excellent speaker.

This is an awesome video for so many reasons.

There was an interesting study on CYP genes in the liver and how different versions of the gene responsible for the breakdown of caffeine. They concluded this was, at least in part, why some people can drink caffeine and be up forever while other people can sleep and have minimal effects. Essentially the rate of breakdown is increased in some people. I think that might make an interesting addendum to the story and a great example of why most medicine, even just weaning off of caffeine, should be personalized.

Super appreciate your work on this second channel. Thanks!

This is the best explanation of how caffeine works that I've ever seen! Good work Chubs!

This was actually really interesting!

I wish more people would learn about the science behind caffeine and become aware of how it affects them. This could improve so many relationships. Reducing caffeine intake has drastically improved my mood and nearly eliminated my general irritability and irrational behavior. I realized I became caffeine dependent in college drinking two energy drinks. It wasn’t until my late 20s that I realized the cause of my irritability was from the effects of caffeine. Now when I drink caffeinated drinks, I’m much more self-aware and conscious of how I project myself towards others. This has improved my relationship and my overall outlook in life.

I had to quit caffeine due to the discovery of an underlying heart condition (SVT) And the clarity that it gave me mentally and physically was incredible. I've never felt better.

Wow. This is fantastic. New subscriber here. Thank you.

Fascinating stuff!

I've been on 600-800 mg of caffeine for years. Every 9-12 months I like to take a 1-2 week break. For me, the 1st day is oddly fine. The 2nd day, I have to completely clear out my schedule, because I feel like a literal junkie, and I sleep 18 hours. The 3rd day will be like 12 hours. And I'm pretty much back to normal by the 5th day. It's absolutely awful. There's no doubt in my mind that caffeine is a real drug 🙏

As a veteran and VA employee, thank you for fighting for such an important issue! We appreciate you and the others involved in that.

Great choice of music in video btw, Lifeformed is so underrated...

what a great informative video. nice!

Also also (last one I swear) I absolutely love how you're using your own personal experiences for a video. It proves that you're human too and go through things like we do and sometimes even very well versed doctors can be lacking in understanding of something that's going on until they process it a bit. Really reminds us that doctors can't just pull diagnoses and solutions out of their butt for everything within a short period.

I was drinking a lot of energy drinks but decided to stop and go cold turkey. The worst of my symptoms were the steady depression over several weeks but eventually that goes away. I used to feel great after having an energy drink for about 30 minutes to an hour and then anxiety would kick in. Now I feel great all the time and anxiety and depression are gone.

Damn. I love this. Thank you. Im sold on your channel.

Thanks !!! Your talk helped me alot.

This will go down as one of your most important and valued lectures. thank you. i feel empowered and for once in a long, long time - hopeful - to face the wolf at the door. I know my relationship with stimulants - specifically caffiene - is something I neglected to learn about and as a consequence, it has taken over parts of my life that I felt powerless otherwise to regain control of. thank you... there's simply nothing else to say other than gratitude.

Wow this just made me realize something. Since new years, i decided to quit nicotine and do a caffeine reset at the same time. After around 1,5 weeks i started experiencing pain and pressure in my left eye. I suspected it was because of the nicotine due to the vasoconstriction and started again with the plan of weaning off instead(starting again made the eye stuff go away instantly). But it was weird, since i had quit previously without side-effects. Now i realize it was because i abruptly quit two vasoconstrictors at the same time. Great video as always!

Thank you, Dr. Bernard, for this fascinating video. It all makes sense and I'm going to taper off slowly so I don't go from thisto this!

Great presentation:informative. Thanks.

I used to be a cop and a dispatcher. I drank a LOT of coffee. I developed AFib and had to stop caffeine cold turkey. I had no idea what I was in for! It was 2 weeks of headaches, sweating, no sleep and misery. I'm 15 years caffeine free and now if I order a decaf and I get regular (happens all the time) I can feel the rush within 1/4 of the cup and I have to rush to drink tons of water.

I've worked shift work for 4 years, literally as soon as I started working long unsocial hours I became reliant on caffeine. For 3 years straight it steadily increased to 8 to 10 cups of coffee a day, well over 1000mg, every single day. My sleep got worse and worse during this time to the point I'd barely get 4 hours unbroken sleep per night. I started to feel like I had no energy whatsoever and my anxiety was present all day which was affecting my mood around my kids and at work, so I decided to quit cold turkey, literally overnight just stopped. Within a couple of days my anxiety went crazy, I'd have dark thoughts, no energy, headaches, rushing thoughts in my head, concentration issues and worst of all panic attacks. Infact I had to go see a doctor because I was having 2 to 3 panic attacks a day, it was absolutely the worst time of my life. Do not underestimate caffeine withdrawal after heavy use

Quite interesting. Thank you. Subscribed. Cheers.

hugely helpful---thank you

The headache and excessive water intake is definitely something I experience when caffeine withdrawal. I found it incredibly easy to get off caffeine by switching to instance coffee and slowly migrating to decafe instant over the course of a week or two.

I used to drink coffee a lot, but at some point it was only to avoid having a headache, I did not feel any energy after drinking it. About a year ago I decided to stop drinking it. I did it gradually, and a week after I had my last cup of coffee I started feeling a lot better, started having better sleep, more concentration, and the daily headaches slowly disappeared. I definitely recommend people to try to leave coffee if they think it's having a negative impact in their lives.

Holy meatballs. I am really amazed that you had such a withdrawal from caffeine. I remember getting headaches when I suddenly stop drinking energy drinks, but never have I ever had the need to vomit, or did I start sweating because of it. I guess depression made up for the part where my body just doesn't care/react.

Very interesting. I am in my 50s, last had coffee or soda in my late teens. I remember the headaches and dizziness when I quit cold turkey. I've often wondered about the science of caffeine addiction, so thanks for the video.

I can second this. In 2019 I overslept and didn't get to drink my morning coffee before work. After a few hours I got headaches and got tired while trying to work normally. I tried 2 different kinds of painkillers that day. It didn't help. I got home from work to drink my first coffee of the day and BAM: headaches/tiredness were gone. I then decided to get away from coffee and abruptly stopped drinking it. My symptoms again were headaches and tiredness for 2 long days. After that I was still tired and found out I needed more vitamin D so I took food supplement for it and I can happily live without coffee since then until today....

thank you for sharing your personal experience with caffeine with us, but also citing and referring to research on the dependency on caffeine. It's helped me reflect on my consumption of caffeine, too. In my personal experience, starting drinking coffee or substances with caffeine in them has the tendency to shift my mood in a positive way. I'd end up becoming peppy, confident and happy and I used to refer to coffee as the "happy bean juice". when I'm trying to drink less per day, or stop cold turkey, I don't get headaches, nausea or other types of illnesses. I'd end up getting in an extreme slump instead. sadness, depression and endless worries would storm my mind and those would be the only things in my presence unless I took something with caffeine in it. for me, it's proven to be mentally taxing and challenging to wean off of coffee and stay off of it because of the emotional assignment or attachment to it, without me even realizing I had built a dependency on coffee, similar to your experience not realizing the problems you face are because of a dependency on caffeine. your video has helped me realize realize how dangerous it is to reverse the effects of caffeine dependency, at least to me. so, thank you for personally helping me by making and publishing this video.

I suffered from mood swings, extreme PMS, back pain, and erratic sleep schedule. When I cut out caffeine, I felt a thousand times better. Turns out, my liver was stressed from living with a bad gall bladder. I still have reactions to caffeine, but it's not nearly as bad as it was before I started liver support vitamins

Thank you for sharing this informative video about the dangers and effects of caffeine consumption. It has provided valuable insights into the risks associated with mixing supplements and the importance of being mindful of caffeine intake. I appreciate the speaker's personal anecdote, which adds a relatable dimension to the discussion. This video serves as a reminder to prioritize health and moderation in our habits, especially when it comes to substances like caffeine.

Thank you so much for this. I kicked caffeine stone cold years ago and I had the worst withdrawal symptoms of my life. I also kicked sugar, alcohol and salt at the same time..... I lost 20 kilos in 2 weeks and after 14 days of pure horror i was like the child I remembered whilst growing up. My mind was sharper than ever before and I looked amazing. Basically rejuvenated

Had to go on a course for the military about a year or two ago. Knew we would be out in the field and have infrequent access to the amount of coffee I'd need to get my caffeine fix. So about a month before going on the course I decided I'd get off all caffeine products and get over the withdrawals before being in the field. Ended up with headaches for nine days straight, the kind of headaches that a tylenol or advil do nothing to stop. Was miserable, but I was glad to get over it before being in the field.

Thank you for reminding me that I want to quit caffeine all together. I'm fortunate in that I don't get the nausea. that you mentioned, but on the other hand, once the headache gets here it's pretty much here all day even after caffeine. Knowing what I do about the vasoconstriction that doesn't seem to make any sense but it's what I've always experienced. I'm too impatient to do a gradual weening but I spose that's really the only choice.

Great video. I try to go off caffeine completely at least once a year for at least 30 days. I went cold turkey off caffeine once from drink about 72 oz per day and after the migraines I had severe anxiety, paranoia, and pseudo-hallucinations (I had the experience of seeing/hearing things without actually seeing/hearing them). I was also severely sleep deprived and under an insane amount of stess, so that could have contributed to the problem.

For years I've noticed the same thing with my own caffeine intake, so I limit myself to 1 or 2 cups of coffee in the morning and avoid caffeinated soft drinks all together, while also staying well hydrated with water or other beverages throughout the day, and simply never get headaches. 4pm is my cutoff time that I will have anything caffeinated, otherwise I tend to have trouble sleeping. excellent video, keep them coming.

Thanks for sharing your story. I’m a stimulant addict, and (once again) fairly early in my recovery. I’ve been trying to be cognizant of my caffeine intake as of late, because… well, withdrawal sucks. But it does get better.

Thank you so much for sharing

I've always been erratic with caffeine consumption. Then when I started my job, I got into a pattern of having a cup of coffee every day at work because of office culture. What I noticed was that every single weekend I'd have a weak headache. I eventually pieced together it was the coffee. Now my caffeine intake is back to it's erratic pattern of some days having a lot, some days having near 0, etc. This has worked to keep me from forming a dependency again. Though honestly, caffeine dependency isn't all that bad for me. The only real reason for me to include coffee in my diet is because I never am able to drink enough water consistently and coffee displaces sugary drinks which are worse for me. Plus it offers a break from work which is socially acceptable.

I'm a person who's naturally very high-strung and anxious, both caffeine consumption and caffeine withdrawal have elevated this in the past to the extremes. I didn't drink much caffeine as a kid, but during my first experience drinking a larger amount of caffeine (~150mg) I remember being shaky and incredibly anxious for the rest of the day. I suppose I never learned from that experience, as during 2021-early 2022 I worked up to drinking 1 bang energy a day (300mg) plus pre-workout on days I exercised (~200mg). One morning I woke up hungover, consumed an extra amount of pre-workout (that'll help with the hangover surely, I'm very smart), worked out way too hard for 10 minutes and immediately lost my stomach contents. Without a chance to absorb caffeine, I went into withdrawal, this lead to a 2 week period where I couldn't go to work, couldn't eat for a week, couldn't do any kind of activity, I was bedridden with the worst mental/physical manifestation of anxiety I had ever experienced in my life. I don't pin it all on caffeine, I was drinking heavily and eating unhealthy while working out too hard to "improve my health", but I remember finally getting over it and thinking it was anything BUT caffeine withdrawal, so I started drinking it again. When I happened to go without it a couple weeks later and my extreme anxiety returned (thankfully just for a few days this time), I completely cut it out of my life, alongside alcohol. No doubt I am an extreme case, few people will ever experience it at the level I did, but I can't say I'm not at least somewhat thankful it happened, it fundamentally changed my views of health and self-care, it helped me quit 2 different addictive substances for good, and I can confidently say that chubbyemu/heme videos have scared out any few remaining thoughts of trying either again 🤣

Interesting video as always Doctor, I'm in the process of cutting my caffeine levels down, and I can feel it too. Low-grade headaches are the norm right now but going to work through it. Merry Christmas to you and all your viewers. Much love and respect from Cornwall England

Wow such an insight. Thank you for taking the time to make the video

You seem so incredibly intelligent I can’t believe you made all of those stupid mistakes. You were one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever listened to because you explain everything incredibly well. The experience with caffeine has never happened to me and I used to really utilize it I guess I’ve been lucky.

The explaination of how caffeine withdrawl develops in the brain was super interesting, I'd love to see a similar type of video of how other common drugs that humans regularly take affect the brain if at all (such as tobacco or alcohol). I've never really given caffeine much thought; I can't really remember ever having anything rich in caffeine and really feeling much of an effect from it other than the few times I've had multiple red bulls within the span of an hour, but now that I think about it I drink a lot of tea and a fair amount of coffee (albiet not on a regular basis) and I do not shy away from energy drinks when I need a pick me up while doing busy work and I wonder if this inconsistent yet high consumption could explain some of the long lasting problems I've had which are scarily close to the symptoms for withdrawl.

This was really fascinating! I used to drink at least 2 or 3 coffees a day until I got pregnant and suddenly had an aversion to coffee for months. I was about 28 yrs old at this point, and had been drinking coffee since I was around 15. I don't doubt the caffeine withdrawal added to how awful that first trimester was, and potentially my hyperemesis. When I could finally stomach it again, I started drinking half caf - and then did that for years afterwards. I felt totally fine. It's wild how despite over a decade of sometimes pretty heavy caffeine consumption, you can still bring yourself back down to being barely dependent on it. It was really interesting learning the whole process behind caffeine dependency and withdrawal.

I've giving up caffeine cold turkey yesterday. The head ache was extreme however, I never got headaches previously. So maybe to me just having a headache could have made me exaggerate 🤣. This morning I feel alright, headache has subsided a little but I did feel tired most of the day and hoping it's not the case later on. Good video cheers, explains a lot about caffeine addiction! Keep them coming.

This explains so many of the symptoms I've had over the years.

Thank you for this video! I am currently trying to cut back on my caffeine intake due to recently being diagnosed with high blood pressure. This video helped me understand how to do just that. I really appreciate all of your videos Dr. Bernard. I have subscribed to all your channels. Thanks again. 😁

Nice video! I quit coffee during the pandemic and after a few months, my sleep cycle totally changed - never knew I was a morning person! I also had more control over the time I went to bed and fell asleep, so getting up early became much easier due to that. When coming off, I was advised to drink alternating black and green teas throughout the day and I attribute that to not having any migraines and far easier withdrawal symptoms overall. After I felt like I no longer needed the coffee, cutting back the tea was incredibly easy. Originally I was drinking about 6-8 cups of coffee per day and I would use about 200mg caffeine in my preworkout, which was about 5-6x/week.

I could remember several years ago I was actually a big time caffeine user. Caffeine actually destroyed my life. Also suffered severe depression and mental disorder. Not until my husband recommended me to psilocybin mushrooms treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly. 6 years totally clean. Never thought I would be saying this about mushrooms.

Educational and informative. Thank You. now to look up chubby emu...

Nice to see a video on this subject as I know my daily caffeine intake as well as my own withdraw symptoms, so I feel better knowing I have better control and less side-effects than others. I will say that the easiest way to deal with withdraw is to get more electrolytes in your system as that will clear up most headaches and even help lessen fatigue. Yes, water will also work, but you really need the other elements like sodium, potassium, niacin, etc. to help. Plus, since flavored electrolyte drinks exist, you're more likely to enjoy having them on weening periods. Another thing that I find useful is to have various sources of caffeine. I like to drink gamer energy drinks of various brands, so I will never get too accustomed to one formula and dosage. This could also extend to having tea, soda, hot chocolate, lattes, coffee, etc. Granted, I still try to keep myself somewhere between a daily flux of 140 - 420 mg of caffeine at most, but it's not enough to impact with my sleep schedule.

Several years ago I decided to lower my caffeine intake. I was consuming 720 mL (24 fl oz) of coffee daily, all in the morning. I realized it was contributing to my anxiety problems, so I decided to cut back. Since I would have two mugs of 360 mL (12 fl oz) each, I simply lowered each by 10 mL (1/3 fl oz) per week until I was at the point where it would all fit in one mug: 380 mL (13 fl oz) total. I use a scale to get the quantity right. This took me several months, but ultimately avoided caffeine withrawal/sluggishness I would have had if I had just cut it in half right at the start.

Pre-watch! I gotta hear this. I quit drinking alcohol for a month and I lost 7 pounds and prayed for death daily.

Incredibly accurate explanation of the migraine symptoms and the nausea. Personal experience...

I went on a complete caffeine cutout because I dont adhere to my own desires at the best of times and after the migraines went away about 3-4 days in i felt pretty good. This lasted for 2 weeks until I started drinking coffee again for my night work. It likely lasted that long because I had been drinking caffeine since I was 6 until I was 24. Now I have one caffeinated beverage a day and try not to exceed that because i always feel worse the day after. The way i describe caffeine is that it's like a loan; Like loans borrowing money from your future self, caffeine is borrowing alertness and wakefulness from your future self.

I've had coffee for one and a half decade. The withdrawal I've had was 2 weeks full of grueling migraine, insomnia and nausea. To see that you didn't experienced anxiety, depression nor mood disorders means that patients that displayed those might already have those underlying psychological symptoms, the caffeine withdrawal amplified that to make it very significant.

7 months ago I went full stop of everything that had caffeine in it after a decade of high caffeine intake, about 2000-2500mg daily average. I didn't have any symptoms for the first 3 days. After 3 days I couldn't sleep at all and I got really hyper, the hyperness lastest about half a day then thats when the headaches hit. The headaches for the first 24 hours basically made it impossible for me to do anything, the slightest about of movement, light or sound made my head hurt so much i'd want to throw up. Physically I looked really bad, my eyes at the headache period turned red like I was high, and around my eyes were black like I had been given a hardcore beatdown. That all last for about a week. When the headaches started to go away I became more tired than I have ever been in my life, I couldn't really do anything other than lay down and I was falling asleep every few hours, my skin got very cool, very pale and the bloodshot black eyes went away but my eye lids turned bright red. That lasted about another week.

You've got a great knack for elucidating pharmacological concepts. Subscribed.

You're channel is all the addiction I need, brother.

I stopped caffeine cold turkey 7 years ago. I wake up insanely energetic, I hold energy levels throughout the day, no more crankiness in the morning, no withdrawals, I save money and my breath doesn't stink like coffee breath anymore. Win, Win, Win!! Also, no fog-brain. Sharp as a knife, all day.

Love this video. About 18 months ago i cut out caffeine cold turkey and experienced all of the same symptoms described in this video. The most surprising thing was that while the negative symptoms only lasted up to 2 months, I didn't start to recognise and feel the BENEFITS until 8-9 months later. Much like quitting smoking, the thought or taste of caffeine now disgusts me and my natural energy levels are at an all-time high. Naturally feeling mentally sharp, consistently good sleep and no trouble focusing even when slightly drowsy. One of the best decisions I ever made.

I quit caffeine this summer for a month and yeah even though I had some withdrawal symptoms not much changed in my body, not that I can think of anyways. The longest I've gone without coffee or caffeine was six months, again some withdrawal symptoms at the beginning but after a whole six months I realized that I felt the same with or without coffee, so I went back at it, I think my body is compatible with coffee. There were times when I could drink a cup or two in the evening and still go to bed due to exhaustion from work. I had an old colleague who said that he could drink coffee before bedtime and still sleep because he was so immune towards the caffeine. I guess everyone is different.

I used to drink coffee daily and it got to a point where i just couldn't sleep at all. The final straw was when i went to sleep and i just couldn't drift off. My eyes were heavy and sleepy but 3 hours later i was still conscious and awake, all i've been doing was rotating sides in the bed. The following day, after that sleepless night, i decided i would go cold turkey on coffee. The withdrawal symptoms hit 3-4 days later and it was 10 days of headaches much like you explained in the video. I completely quit caffeine 7 months ago and it was the best choice i made. Lots of headaches during the withdrawal period? Yes. But i can actually go to bed and sleep now. Anecdotally, the frequency of headaches IN GENERAL has dramatically reduced those last 7 months. Come to think about it it's been a while since i last experienced a headache.

I really like these videos that get down into the science behind what's going on when you do this, that, or the other. I watched this particular video because I'd decided to go cold turkey on coffee after attempting to gradually reduce the amount I was drinking and failing. At lower doses of any addictive substance I've ever gotten rid of (alcohol, nicotine, sugar, and now caffeine), I've always found my addiction beats my resolve to quit. But if I just quit, I'm able to overcome any withdrawal symptoms.

Wow never knew you were a doctor, bodybuilder, gamer. You're living my dream.

Nice to have this accurate feedback on caffeine addiction. I wish nicotine addiction, which is usually causeing more violent symptomas than caffeine's deprival in case of intensive and prolonged usage, had been researched more seriously. There are still many reports out there stating that all withdrawals symptoms are gone in less than a week and that after that it's purely psychological, when the reality is that you still have minor withdrawal symptoms up to two years after stopping smoking, mostly higher nervosity and sometimes depression symptoms. The higher nervosity is something which I felt after stopping, despite stopping very progressively over a period of 9 months with patches. And as a poker professional, used to meditation and emotion control, it was very easy to notice it, and it's 100% a physical symptom, it happened at times where I didn't even have any thought about smoking, it just was there, something not going right in brain chemistry :). I heard alcohol's withdrawal symptoms are much more terrible though.. I am glad that, even though I've been binge drinking a lot in my youth and had some prolonged periods of regular drinking almost every evening, I never exeperienced it. At least it's much rarer and more difficult to become strongly addicted to alcohol. Caffeine addiction comes pretty quickly and nicotine addiction much more so - it only takes less than a week of regular usage to appear.

Last year I realized that coffee was one of the causes of my terrible anxiety and tremors, so I started to reduce my intake for two weeks or so until I took 0 caffeine. However, I still love coffee way too much and tea is too bland/sweet for me, so every morning I still drink a cup of decaffeinated coffee. I just can’t quit the flavor ☕️

Wanted to comment here as it might be helpful for people who have anxiety or sleep problems. I drank caffeine for 8 years every single day fluctuating from 1 cup a day to 4 or 5 at times when work was really intense. I quit this year cold turkey and when I did literally all of my sleep issues and anxiety disappeared overnight. Even if I would drink 1 cup of coffee at 9am, it would have an effect on me by 11pm when I was trying to sleep (very tired but couldn't sleep, tossing and turning for 1-3 hours a night). Everything I've ever read indicated to me that the coffee shouldn't be having an effect on my sleep since I wasn't drinking it after 12pm but that clearly wasn't the case for me. I've also had bad anxiety for that entire period of time (and before the coffee started as well) and when I quit it completely went away. Mind you I did a lot of the necessary work during that time (meditation, therapy, fitness etc) but even with all of that I could never totally overcome it without removing caffeine. I do miss my morning cup of coffee, but I will never miss the crippling anxiety and sleep issues I had for years. If this sounds like anybody reading this, quit caffeine for a while and see what happens. What I will say though is as far as withdrawals I felt tired the first 2 weeks and I was having bad lower back pain for about a week and a half. Supposedly this is related to your adrenal glands since caffeine activates them but totally worth it. I'll never return to coffee again

I’ve been working full time since I was a senior in highschool to support my family. And developed a huge caffeine alcohol and nicotine addiction. I’m ready to change!!

What I find most interesting about caffeine dependency/withdrawal is that everyone is affected differently. I know that's basically every drug, but caffeine is such a commonly used drug that it's especially surprising (to me at least). I've been at that ~400mg a day limit a couple times in my life, and each time I'd forget to or be unable to consume any caffeine, the worse I'd experience is a splitting hangover like headache and the worst mental fog imaginable. I never really had any stomach related symptoms. Honestly this is the first time I've heard of someone nearly vomiting over caffeine withdrawal. I'm sure it's common enough, I just personally wasn't aware it was a thing because of my own experience with it. E: I will say, caffeine used to give me terrible anxiety so I'd hardly ever consume it. Then I started anxiety meds and my caffeine consumption has skyrocketed. Probably at around 250mg a day for the past half year or so. Trying to keep it there :p. The worst part about caffeine is that eventually you become nearly fully tolerant to its effects so you're really just maintaining a status of not having withdrawal.

It’s interesting that last clip of you at the very end talking on caffeine, you could tell you were hyped up on something even though the audio was not there, very cool to see in action, maybe not cool but you get me

I live in Seattle, coffee/caffeine is a way of life here. I realized a few days ago I had drank about 8 cups of coffee at breakfast, which didn't include my usual double shot in the dark (coffee with two added shots).....and I barely felt anything from it. I decided I'd stop caffeine on Monday, and while I didn't have the severe symptoms you describe, I got a splitting headache, which is pretty severe for me since I have literally never had a single naturally occuring headache in my life (ie. only get them from hangovers....and now, I guess caffeine withdrawal too). Today is my third day without caffeine and I'm already starting to feel better, energy is coming back, more steady energy, better sleep. I'll probably fall off the wagon sooner or later, but so far, so good.

If you're suffering with brain fog, quit caffeine. Brain fog has been my constant companion for the last 2 years, I was drinking 5to6 coffee per day to offset the fatigue. When I found brain fog was in part caused by restricted blood flow to the brain, I decided to quit caffeine. 2 weeks later a noticeable difference. This video explains the mechanism well, caffeine restricts blood flow to the brain. Nice work!

I learned about caffeine headaches when I really really young. My mom used to drink 3 large pots of coffee daily for decades, so when she went without we all knew we had to figure how to get some asap. We lived in the middle of nowhere and the nearest store was a tiny gas station a few miles up the road. She’d send little me on my bike to get some. She drinks a lot less now and it taught me to be mindful of my caffeine intake.