Caffeine...has anyone been able to quit?

[Lucyhere]

D.H. wrote:

The religious law allows consumption of caffeine pills (and enough water to swallow them) under those circumstances, even on that day!

Which religion is that??

Yom Kippur I believe.

[canyouhearmeaya]

I used to drink a lot of caffeine, 500mg-1000mg a day. At the time I quit cold turkey, and had 0 headaches (i've never once had a headache from caffeine withdrawal, so it's definitely an individual thing as I was consuming far more than most would be.) Although I did notice a dip in energy and mood at the time, which even after 3 months still didn't seem to fully shift...

In hindsight, I suspect it was because I was using the caffeine to try and remedy the side effects of bad sleep due to apnea, and because I wasn't aware I had a SBD at the time, my sleep quality was probably still awful. Although I did find it easier to fall asleep.

I'm thinking about reducing/quitting again for the time being. I'm only 1 week into CPAP and wonder if caffeine is reducing my sleep quality also, and making me take longer to fall asleep. Although my consumption is no where near as high as it was back then.

The other thing to consider is personal genetic makeup. The time it takes for caffeine to effectively 'be used' by the body (i.e. the half life) varies from individual, and if I recall correctly it can vary quite widely (e.g. having a half life of 2 hours upto 12 hours, something like that.) I recall my 23+ME test showing that I had a gene expressed that made me more sensitive to the stimulatory effects of caffeine.

If I drank a coffee at 8PM, I'd be awake all night. Yet, I know people that can drink a coffee right before bed, and fall asleep. They even claim it doesn't 'feel' like it reduces their sleep quality.. although I find it hard to believe that it doesn't objectively.

[ChicagoGranny]

They even claim it doesn't 'feel' like it reduces their sleep quality.

They are fooling themselves. Several studies have been conducted in sleep labs. Some participants said caffeine has no effect on their sleep. The lab results showed something quite different. More and deeper sleep on the nights they were caffeine free.

Results demonstrated a moderate dose of caffeine at bedtime, 3 hours prior to bedtime, or 6 hours prior to bedtime each have significant effects on sleep disturbance relative to placebo (p < 0.05 for all).

http://jcsm.aasm.org/viewabstract.aspx?pid=29198

[SewTired]

My grave will say "Death before Decaf". However, I do understand some folks have a terrible time with caffeine. Occasionally, I've had to give up coffee (up to a year) due to interaction with medication and have never had symptoms, so it's not one of my problems. I also drink black tea which has slightly less than half the caffeine of coffee. Cola has about 30% less caffeine than tea.

Just like with quitting smoking, you have to figure out what method works for you. Try to stick with one change per week to lessen the consumption of caffeine overall with the plan to completely quit during Week 6. You can cut the number of cups by a third, you could alternate with something with less caffeine (cola or black tea), use smaller cups. The goal is to not go cold turkey because that gives you those horrible symptoms.

For my late Dad, he first eliminated coffee after lunch. After that he used substitution: A cola or black tea instead of a coffee, every other cup. He ended with only the 1 small mug of coffee daily, which is what he had for the remainder of his life. Neither of us could stand decaf.

[SewTired]

They even claim it doesn't 'feel' like it reduces their sleep quality.

They are fooling themselves. Several studies have been conducted in sleep labs. Some participants said caffeine has no effect on their sleep. The lab results showed something quite different. More and deeper sleep on the nights they were caffeine free.

Results demonstrated a moderate dose of caffeine at bedtime, 3 hours prior to bedtime, or 6 hours prior to bedtime each have significant effects on sleep disturbance relative to placebo (p < 0.05 for all).

http://jcsm.aasm.org/viewabstract.aspx?pid=29198

This is why I don't drink coffee or black tea after 4 pm. Caffeine doesn't prevent me from sleeping, but I think it can make a difference in how deep I sleep.

[zoocrewphoto]

They even claim it doesn't 'feel' like it reduces their sleep quality.

They are fooling themselves. Several studies have been conducted in sleep labs. Some participants said caffeine has no effect on their sleep. The lab results showed something quite different. More and deeper sleep on the nights they were caffeine free.

Results demonstrated a moderate dose of caffeine at bedtime, 3 hours prior to bedtime, or 6 hours prior to bedtime each have significant effects on sleep disturbance relative to placebo (p < 0.05 for all).

http://jcsm.aasm.org/viewabstract.aspx?pid=29198

I used to drink Mountain Dew, several a day, even at night before bed. I never noticed any trouble trying to fall asleep.

I gave up all pop for 6 months. I didn't see any improvements. No weight loss. I didn't go to bed any earlier. I didn't feel that I slept any better. I didn't feel any better. Eventually, I became dehydrated because I wasn't drinking nearly as much water as I had been drinking pop.

When I restarted pop, I started drinking Sunkist orange which has caffeine. I drank that for many years. I don't like many drinks, so if I was thirsty before bed, I would drink pop before bed. I later switched to Orange Crush, no caffeine. No difference in my experience. I am still a severe night owl.

[ChicagoGranny]

I used to drink Mountain Dew, several a day, even at night before bed. I never noticed any trouble trying to fall asleep.

I gave up all pop for 6 months. I didn't see any improvements. No weight loss. I didn't go to bed any earlier. I didn't feel that I slept any better. I didn't feel any better. Eventually, I became dehydrated because I wasn't drinking nearly as much water as I had been drinking pop.

When I restarted pop, I started drinking Sunkist orange which has caffeine. I drank that for many years. I don't like many drinks, so if I was thirsty before bed, I would drink pop before bed. I later switched to Orange Crush, no caffeine. No difference in my experience. I am still a severe night owl.

The effect of caffeine is real. Science backs this up.

You may have other problems that mask what caffeine was doing to you.

[zoocrewphoto]

I used to drink Mountain Dew, several a day, even at night before bed. I never noticed any trouble trying to fall asleep.

I gave up all pop for 6 months. I didn't see any improvements. No weight loss. I didn't go to bed any earlier. I didn't feel that I slept any better. I didn't feel any better. Eventually, I became dehydrated because I wasn't drinking nearly as much water as I had been drinking pop.

When I restarted pop, I started drinking Sunkist orange which has caffeine. I drank that for many years. I don't like many drinks, so if I was thirsty before bed, I would drink pop before bed. I later switched to Orange Crush, no caffeine. No difference in my experience. I am still a severe night owl.

The effect of caffeine is real. Science backs this up.

You may have other problems that mask what caffeine was doing to you.

I have given up pop with caffeine twice in the past 15 years. I do not drink coffee, so my only sources of caffeine now would be a little in chocolate (not every day), and whatever has a small amount. No big sources. Once was for 6 months. After 15 years of drinking Mountain Dew every day. That's like suddenly giving up several cups of coffee a day. I didn't notice ANY difference. The last time was several years ago when I changed pop. I have NEVER noticed a change.

You do know that not everybody reacts to the same drug in the same way.

For example, they put warnings on a lot of medications that a medication may make you tired or dizzy. Most do not do that to me. Allergy meds, even benedryl, do not make me tired. Many pain medications, including vicodin, darvoset, and codeine do NOT relieve pain. The vicodin made me sick. The darvoset made me dizzy,but neither helped with the pain. I have better luck with tylenol and an ice pack. Codeine does help with cough. It does not relieve pain, and it does not make me sleepy. I Have since found a better cough medication.

If most drugs do not work for 100% of people, why would caffiene have the same effect on 100% of people?