4 Ways to Quit Caffeine

The cycle of caffeine addiction can be vicious. Just like any other drug.

The cycle goes like this:

Caffeine causes a variety of pains and withdrawal symptoms. > You use caffeine to relieve these pains and withdrawal symptoms. > Caffeine causes pains and withdrawal symptoms.

Unless you can break this pattern. You will be trapped in this cycle forever. How do you break the cycle?

Here are 4 options for breaking the cycle. Along with the benefits and drawbacks for each.

1. Cold turkey - dealing with the pains and withdrawal symptoms. (Suck it up!)

This options requires mental toughness and discipline. If you take this path. You are fed up with caffeine and are all in on quitting. You may have had an event that pushed you over the edge. You’ve had enough.

You may also realize that trying to wean off may be harder because you are feeding the addiction cycle.

You are immediately stepping out of the cycle. This is the fastest way to quit. But many relapse when the pressure is too great to continue.

2. Tapering - slowly lower your dose so that the cycle fades away without noticing. (Easy does it!)

This option lets you continue to live a normal life. If you have to function at work or at home (or both), this may be a good option. You pick a time frame. Whether it be a few days, or 6 months. Pick an option that you think you can stick with.

This option may, however, lead to “serial tapering”.

This is where you do a good job weaning for a week or a few days or whatever. But then, due to normal life circumstances, you have a stressful day, a short deadline, a bad night of sleep, or a combo of many different things. And you default to solving this problem with caffeine.

Your dose ends up being reset to where you started, or worse, higher.

3. Replacing routines - finding other ways to resolve the pain. (Now we are talking!)

In the book “Atomic Habits”, the author explains the cycle of cue, craving, routine, reward. The cue is the thing that triggers the craving, which leads to performing a routine, which is what gets you the reward. For caffeine, this could look like:

Cue = You are tired, but you need to get stuff done at work.

Craving = You start to crave caffeine.

Routine = You take caffeine.

Reward = You feel “Energy” and get your work done.

With replacement theory, you replace the routine, to get the exact same reward.

Cue = You are tired, but you need to get stuff done at work.

Craving = You crave caffeine.

Routine = You go on a run.

Reward = You feel “Energy” and get your work done.

The trick is, finding a routine to replace caffeine can be difficult. Because there are actually so many factors in the cue to begin with.

In my experience, a caffeine-cycle withdrawal cue looks more like this:

Cue = You have anxiety, are slightly down, have brain fog, you feel pressure to get work done, or chores, dealing with back pain, lack motivation, etc.

Craving = You crave caffeine.

Routine = You take caffeine.

Reward = All of the cues, which are just a myriad of withdrawal symptoms, paired with normal life stress, are temporarily resolved.

Which leads me to the best option..

4. A combination of all three (Super Saiyan!)

How can you combine cold turkey AND tapering? Well, by definition you can’t. But if you merge the two, you dramatically shorten the time frame of your taper. I believe this could give you some serious momentum. Let’s break down this combo, as well as adding routine replacement:

1. Meet in the middle of cold turkey and tapering to do a short, two week taper.

2. Find new replacements for all of your cues.

During your two week taper, write down a list of all of your cues. Then write 2-3 ideas on how to solve them.

Here are some examples:

These may be different for you. But the point is, relentless pursuit of actually solving your problems, and living a fulfilling life. Instead of masking issues with caffeine.

I think this option is the best bang for your buck. As you are not negating the impact that withdrawal has on your life, but still dealing with any underlying problems you may face when fully caffeine free.

Notes on the half life of caffeine.

The average half life of caffeine is 5 hours. This means, if you consume 500 mg of caffeine, in 5 hours you will still have 250mg of caffeine in your system. 5 hours after that, you will have 125mg. Screw it, i’ll make a chart:

The half life of drugs can be misleading. Just because the half life is 5 hours, doesn’t mean that the drug will be clear in 10 hours. As you can see, a single dose of caffeine can technically still be in your system more than 40 hours later. And that’s just accounting for the average half life.

The high end can be up to 9.5 hours. This means, it can take more than 72 hours for caffeine to fully leave your system after a single dose.

But wait, there’s more..

Each subsequent dose adds to the amount of caffeine in your blood system. You are likely going to start some form of mild withdrawals at the 24 hour mark. And most of us have a daily caffeine habit. This means at 24 hours, if you take another 500mg of caffeine, your new starting point is 515mg.

If you take caffeine daily, you ALWAYS have caffeine in your system.

I don’t want to do anymore math, but as you can see, your caffeine levels will drop more rapidly the higher the dose. So your tapering, in theory, could get faster without feeling the same withdrawals from lowering a higher dose.

Keep that in mind.

7 Steps to Get Back on a NoFap Streak Immediately

1. Reconnect with your reason why. Is there a book or YouTube video that explained the benefits. What motivated you to start in the first place? Write down the negatives associated with porn and masturbation. And the benefits you have felt from previous attempts.

2. Set a goal related to nofap. A 90 day timeline is far enough to make real progress. But not so far out that your timeline is unpredictable.

3. Set up process controls. This is what you do to keep your goal from breaking down in a lapse of willpower. This includes a weekly plan, daily habits, and peer support. Make sure you track your plan and habits.. And discuss setbacks in a weekly meeting with peers.

4. Use your time with purpose. Say no to anything that goes against your goals. Align your time and energy with things you enjoy doing. And other goals that you have or skills that you want to practice.

5. Schedule time for important tasks. Schedule time to reconnect with your why, every day. And time to work on your plan and daily habits. Create an “Ideal Week” calendar. To live every moment with intention. See

Ali Abdaal‘s video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=6o2tm00Ar8A&t=407s

6. Take Ownership You are the only one who can take control of your results. Regardless of circumstances. Surround yourself with people who own their lives. Take up a Growth mindset: https://amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1

7. Take your commitments seriously. How you do one thing is how you do everything. People will notice. And most importantly, you will notice. This creates a flywheel for success and will spill over to all areas of your life.

Caffeine is Destroying You

Look at this bird.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUngLgGRJpo

Any substance that gives you a lift follows the same journey as the bird in the video. You start out at a healthy balance. But before you know it. You are trapped in an addictive cycle.

DISCLAIMER: YOU MAY NOT FEEL ANY NEGATIVES OF CAFFEINE UNTIL YEARS OF USE!!

Or.. you may not associate the negatives that are currently happening with caffeine. This is because there is a disconnect with the immediate response to caffeine and the negatives it brings.

Here’s how it goes:

1. You take caffeine through your medium of choice. (Some even go for the suppository… Coffee ENEMAS anyone?)

2. You think, “Caffeine is great”. Look at all your new “energy, adrenaline rush, tomato!”.

3. You wake up the next morning. Dreary and weary. Can’t get out of bed. Let’s get some of that caffeine to make you feel better.

And the cycle repeats. You associate your dreary wearies with getting old. Your lack of sleep is because you just suck at sleeping. Your fits of irritability are just your personality.

Your joint pain is your poor posture, not the fact that you no longer have the energy to maintain a good posture, because caffeine is sucking the life out of you.

Take a look at this advertisement from 1924 mentioned in Eugene M. Schwartz’s famous book “Breakthrough Advertising”:

WHY MEN CRACK.. .

An authority of international standing recently wrote;

“You have overeaten and plugged your organs with moderate stimulants, the worst of which are not only alcohol and tobacco, but caffeine and sugar . . . “

You know them. Strong men. Vigorous men, robust men — men who have never had a sick day in their lives.

They drive. They drive themselves to the limit. They lash themselves over the limit with stimulants. They crack. Often, they crash.

You have seen them afterwards. Pitiful shells. The zest gone, the fire gone. Burnt-out furnaces of energy.

“He was such a healthy-looking man “

He was. His health was his undoing. His constitution absorbed punishment. Otherwise he might have been warned in time.

“For every action there is an equal and contrary reaction.” You learned the law in physics. It applies to bodies.

For every ounce of energy gained by stimulation, by whipping the nerves to action, an ounce of reserve strength is drained . . .
But repeated withdrawals exhaust any reserve.

Physical bankruptcy. Then the crash . . .

It’s time to get back to normal, to close the drafts, to bank some of the fires…

Avoid stimulants. What is good for the boy is good for the man . . .

Borrowed Energy Must Be Repaid!

Two million American families avoid caffeine by drinking Postum.

And two million American families are better

off for it. . .

People knew this was a problem 100 years ago. Yet, we are all still addicted.

Caffeine is the #1 ignored factor when it comes to health.

Here is the “advice” we see over and over again in regards to taking control of your physical health:

• Cut carbs.
• Cut out blue light.
• Don’t eat past 6.
• Don’t eat uncooked spinach.
• Eat only meat.
• Stop eating unsoaked almonds.
• Take this supplement.

80% of Americans consume some form of caffeine daily. I’ve seen mothers give their toddlers Mountain dew! Almonds are the problem? What world are we living in?

We are so obsessed with minor details that we miss the obvious. Seriously, anyone who is recommending putting butter in your coffee for optimal health has no clue what optimal health is.

People are clueless about caffeine. Why?

Because it’s “Normal”.

It’s a problem that is hard to see before it’s too late.

“But caffeine is not a problem for me.”

Any amount of stimulants in your body is a problem. It’s effecting you today. If you want to feel breadth of emotions again, have unlimited energy throughout the day, have healthy joints, be able to recover fully from exercise, have the most creative thoughts you can possibly have…

You need to quit caffeine. Plain and simple. You are not living the life you are fully capable of.

Studies showing caffeine is “Healthy”.

Really think about it. Would you believe studies about cocaine funded by cocaine dealers or done my cocaine addicts that think cocaine gives them a positive lift?

There is a billion dollar industry that thrives off of you believing this nonsense. And the mildness of the drug and normalization make many people never second guess it.

The science is not as bleeding edge as we think. Especially when it comes to nutrition. Caffeine is not a vitamin. We need to start relying a little bit more on human intuition then studies funded by big caffeine and drug addicts.

Is caffeine stopping us from living the lives we truly want?

Here’s the #1 post on Reddit regarding caffeine:

It’s Not Withdrawal. Your Career Just Sucks

I’m a software developer, about a year and a half caffeine-free. Immediately after quitting, my productivity at work plummeted. It hasn’t returned to pre-caffeine levels since.

I have realized that this is not due to withdrawal, but rather because I cannot, as a human being, sit in front of a screen all day, toiling away at meaningless work for a soulless corporation. Caffeine played a pivotal role in hiding this reality. With caffeine, I can slog through all manner of tedium and even have fun. Without it, I feel a strong attraction to a “stop and smell the roses” mode of living. I go on long walks, look at trees, write poetry, and I don’t get jack shit done at work.

I can breathe. My sleep is perfect. My digestion is perfect. My livelihood, however, is in jeopardy. I just wanted to put this out there, in case anyone has quit caffeine but is struggling with productivity or lack of motivation: It’s not withdrawal. You’re a spiritual creature in a cold, mechanical system, and now there’s no hiding.

There is something deeper going on here. Is caffeine used as a form of control? I mean, the Nazi’s gave prisoners soup, bread, and coffee for a reason right?

Caffeine is a worker bee drug. It makes you a slave and complacent. It numbs your prefrontal cortex just like any other drug.

This screws with your ability to delay gratification and makes you seek out more short term rewards to numb the pain.

I go over the pain-pleasure balance in my Dopamine Nation summary. So I won’t re-hash it here.

But the pain-pleasure balance is important to understand. Once you do. You will realize that putting anything in your body that is not food or water is making you miserable.

Caffeine is a gateway drug.

Imagine this..

You are anxious, on edge, irritable, depressed, have trouble sleeping. You think this is just you. You reach for alcohol or weed or Kratom or whatever to take the edge off. You were only in that state because of caffeine.

This scenario may not have happened to you yet. But I guarantee it has happened to millions of people who have turned towards drugs to numb the pain.

Caffeine kills people, tips people with deadly heart disease over the edge, plays a factor in road rage car accidents, causes vitamin and mineral deficiencies, cardiac arrhythmia, perpetuates drug addiction, and much more.

It’s poison.

When are we going to wake up?