Ask HN: How did your life change after you kicked Caffeine?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16611596

by artur_makly • 8 years ago

24 21 8 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

rhexs• 8 years ago

After my mid 20s, I became incredible sensitive to caffeine. Drinking a single cup wires me for 24+ hours, gives me rather unpleasant anxiety, and causes racing thoughts when I'm trying to sleep at night.

Giving it up is a struggle (I love having multiple cups of tea), but I generally sleep a bit better and am less anxious. Not a life changing amount, but enough where it's worth it.

hypefi• 8 years ago

I used to drink up to 7 cups a day.

I understood that small naps throughout the day are better to recuperate energy than coffee, naps gives energy while increasing focus without stressing the body. But uses time.

Coffee give focus, with no invested time, but side effects are mild to severe stress and tiredness.

Now I drink 1 cup max only for taste and enjoyment.

bootsz3• 8 years ago

TL;DR: It didn't change much. Better sleep on average, but I eventually missed the occasional bursts of inspiration and productivity that I would get with caffeine which caused me to pick it up again. --

I've gone off caffeine a couple of times, each for a period of about 1 year. If going "cold turkey" (which I did and don't necessarily recommend), I found it took about 2 weeks to return to baseline without headaches or other withdrawal symptoms. After this point it's mostly smooth sailing: I no longer felt I needed caffeine to wake up in the morning and didn't have any cravings.

On average, my sleep quality was quite a bit better. It was usually easier to fall asleep at night and wake up feeling rested. Overuse of caffeine can make it hard to feel tired at the end of the day, which can cause a vicious cycle of insufficient sleep leading to more caffeine use, etc.

On the flip side, during my periods of abstinence I found I would eventually start to miss it. A good caffeine buzz is one of my favorite small pleasures in life; I've had many of my best and most creative productive periods assisted by it. In addition, I also just really love the taste of good coffee and the ritual of preparing it in the morning. While the latter can be satisfied by substituting decaf, personally for me there just isn't any replacement for that feeling of being "in the zone" on caffeine where it feels like all my neurons are firing and forming connections rapidly, and the ideas and creative output just flow effortlessly.

As an aside, I do suffer from minor persistent depression, which is possibly one reason why I find caffeine helps to give me an extra boost to feel like a normal functioning person :)

To date I've found that totally abstaining from caffeine isn't the best fit for me, but I've learned over time to use it more moderately. Some of the measures I currently take that seem to keep me in a healthy balance:

- Maximum of 2 cups of coffee per day

- Practice being more mindful of caffeine consumption: I have one cup every morning around 8am, but instead of mindlessly chugging it throughout the day I will check in with myself before having another. If around 10-11am I feel like I really need a second cup, I have it. If I don't, I drink green tea or seltzer water instead.

- No coffee after ~2pm. If I feel groggy or tired after 2pm I'll try drinking a low-caffeine or decaf tea instead, or going for a walk. 9/10 times just the act of drinking something hot will be enough to perk me up. This is probably the most helpful change I've made, as avoiding caffeine later in the day ensures I can sleep properly at night

artur_makly• 8 years ago

thanks bootz for this in-depth analysis. it helps me a lot to get into these nitty gritty anecdotes. its my last vice ( next to the occasional red wine or craft beer ).

im not a heavy drinker (by American standards ) just 1 cup in the morning and after lunch i love drinking argentine mate.

Ive been on this daily routine for years and im now worried this element alone has been the main culprit to my light sleeping habits + waking up with a lot of tension in my hands and fingers. Taking a .5mg of Xanax is my only respite but that too is just a bandaid/slippery slope. I guesd im long overdue for a full detox.

Of course the timing is never good is it? especially when you are on the cusp of launching a new startup. fun!

hawktheslayer2• 8 years ago

I agree for the most part with bootsz. One trick I play on myself is to make my own coffee at work using an Aeropress. Aside from it being cheaper than Starbucks and much better tasting than office coffee, it naturally limits me to two cups a day because of the effort involved.

bootsz3• 8 years ago

I'd definitely recommend trying a full detox at some point, once you can spare the time and temporary decrease in productivity. It's a good way to eliminate variables and get a better idea of what's really going on with your mind & body. A friend of mine has a mantra: "Cycle your vices", which I quite like. Temporary abstinence from just about any type of stimuli seems to usually carry some good benefits.

drakonka• 8 years ago

I am curious to know more about why people would want to stop having caffeine unless they specifically don't tolerate it well for some reason. I do understand why some people would want to drink _less_ coffee though, it is easy to go overboard.

I used to drink 3-5 cups per day, but over time I just found I didn't like the taste of our office coffee and so started having less of it. My life didn't really change, I still supplement my caffeine intake with other things (though not to the extent of 5 cups per day). Now I drink around one cup per day plus take a caffeine supplement when needed, or an energy drink with caffeine (I don't really restrict myself but it ends up being max 1 capsule per day). Whenever I drink coffee and plan on being productive vs just for the sake of enjoying the taste I also take L-Theanine at the same time, they seem to go well together.

akuji1993• 8 years ago

For me the reason is simple: Panic attacks. Doc told me to cut out any caffeine since the increased heart rate triggered attacks. I got it under control again but still haven't touched caffeine. I miss coffee a lot, I was a lot more productive with some caffeine in my body.

ilovecars22• 8 years ago

I have a similar cause-effect with caffeine. I can drink a coffee in the morning before 10am and feel great because I’m still somewhat asleep - but an afternoon coffee is too much and overstimulates me. I find that alcohol can have a similar effect too!

zer00eyz• 8 years ago

Ohhh... My relationship with caffeine has changed.

I will regularly stop and start drinking coffee and tea because after stopping for a week I get a "buzz" again.

Other than the buzz I don't notice the difference unless I drink an outrageous amount of caffeinated drinks.

zerr• 8 years ago

I've realized that it (coffee) was triggering an anxiety.

WheelsAtLarge• 8 years ago

I wish I could tell you. I tried for years to drop it but I can only do it for a few weeks at most. I will tell you that it's probably a good idea to drop it periodically since your body acclimates to it and it compensates overtime for the extra edge it gives you. It's like any other drug. You need more to stay ahead of the body's compensation.

The edge it gives you declines over time to the point that you need it just to function normally.

ckuhl• 8 years ago

I recently actually decided to give up coffee for a time, after drinking it almost daily since high school.

For the me the biggest changed I noticed was how much more strict I need to be on my sleep schedule. Before I could have an extra espresso shot or three if I didn't get enough sleep. Now I have no way to compensate for my tiredness. So in response I've been way more aggressive at getting to bed at a good time.

overthemoon• 8 years ago

My sleep was being wrecked and my sleep apnea was out of control until I cut out coffee after noon and limited my morning intake to 2-3 cups. I feel far better now, and on top of better sleep, I have a bit more control over my depression and anxiety. It wasn't a cure all, but I definitely noticed an improvement.

It's also probably a function of age, I think its effects became more negative and pronounced the older I got.

ilovecars22• 8 years ago

How much coffee did you used to drink per day? 2-3 cups in the morning does sound a little excessive.

r00fus• 8 years ago

If i drank 2-3 cups in a whole day I'd stay up all night.

I stick to 1 cup in the morning and tea for the rest of the day.

wyld_one• 8 years ago

Less migraines triggered on weekends. I found that idf I did not consume a similar about of caffine per day I coul more often get a migrain on a weekend when I did not have the same amount. E.g. I used to drink 3 Mt Dew a day and have none on weekends.

Now I limit the amount I drink to be infrequent (maybe 1 a week) And I love Mt Dew

bbennett36• 8 years ago

I had to clean my kitchen up.

besasam• 8 years ago

Being a 100lbs female, caffeine seems to have a much stronger effect on me than most other people. I get jittery and anxious, and when I have coffee after 12pm I have a hard time falling asleep in the evening. The little bit of wakefulness wasn't really worth it for me - instead I've been working on fixing my sleep schedule. And if I do need a little pick-me-up, I now drink green or mate tea instead.

This has the added bonus of having literally zero tolerance for caffeine, so if I do need (or want) to stay up long into the night, 1-2 cups of coffee or an energy drink will see me through until the early morning hours.

Ask HN: How did your life change after you kicked Caffeine?

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