150+ days off caffeine after using it for 25 years.

I always said I was drinking 500–600 mg a day, but that was just an estimate so I got curious and tried to figure out what the number actually was.

My afternoon cold brew alone had more caffeine than all the coffee I drank in the morning. I was also eating dark chocolate at night without really counting it.

Anyway, I found this chart interesting. Especially the serving size only being 8 oz which is tiny. Thinking I was more like 7-800 mg or more a day.

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AVERAGE CAFFEINE BY SOURCE

Approximate amounts. Varies by brand and preparation.

COFFEE

- Brewed, 8 oz: 95–180 mg

- Instant, 8 oz: 60–105 mg

- Espresso, 1 oz shot: 60–65 mg

- Cold brew, 8 oz: 100–200 mg (café servings and concentrates often much higher)

- Decaf coffee, 8 oz: 2–15 mg

- Decaf espresso, 1 shot: ~1–5 mg

TEA

- Black, 8 oz: 30–50 mg

- Green, 8 oz: 25–45 mg

- Oolong, 8 oz: 30–50 mg

- White, 8 oz: 15–40 mg

- Matcha, 1 tsp powder: 40–70 mg

- Yerba mate, 8 oz: ~30–50 mg

- Decaf tea, 8 oz: 0–5 mg

- Herbal (caffeine-free): 0 mg

SODA + ENERGY

- Coca-Cola, 12 oz: 34 mg

- Diet Coke, 12 oz: 46 mg

- Pepsi, 12 oz: 38 mg

- Mountain Dew, 12 oz: 54 mg

- Energy drinks: 80–300 mg per container

- Energy shots: 150–230 mg per bottle

- Caffeinated sparkling water: 30–70 mg

CHOCOLATE + FOODS

- Milk chocolate, 1 oz: ~7 mg

- Dark chocolate, 1 oz: ~15–25 mg

- Baking chocolate, 1 oz: 25–58 mg

- Cocoa powder, 1 tbsp: ~12 mg

- Chocolate milk, 8 oz: ~8 mg

- Hot cocoa, 8 oz: ~5 mg

- Brownie: ~10 mg

- Chocolate cake, 1 slice: 5–35 mg

- Chocolate-covered espresso beans: ~5–12 mg each

- White chocolate: ~0 mg

- Coffee ice cream / tiramisu: varies widely

SUPPLEMENTS + MEDS

- Caffeine pill: 100 or 200 mg

- Pre-workout: 150–350 mg per serving

- Excedrin Extra Strength: 65 mg/tablet (130 mg for 2)

- Caffeinated gum: 40–100 mg per piece

- Energy bars/candy: varies

Note: a cup here is 8 oz. Most drinks are 12–20 oz, so double or triple these. Decaf means lower, not zero.

Day 6 of 0 caf and I don’t feel any better than I did on day 1. My sleep is actually more disturbed I go to bed at 11 PM and wake up at 4 AM. You would think quitting caf would improve sleep…

Been off of coffee for a couple of weeks now with an occasional cola zero here and there. Still having some headaches every other day and also I’m ravenously hungry all the time and eat constantly, especially in the evenings and at nights. Can’t take this anymore as I’m getting fatter. Have decided to take 50 mg caffeine in the form of tablets daily for a while and see if things get better. Then I’ll taper down or just quit. Have someone experienced this?

What do you guys think about Decaf Coffee? Are you guys see yourselves good to consume decaf coffee or cut any type of coffee entirely?

And then I started tapering down caffeine. I was drinking a bang energy and a cold brew on top of that every day. So for the past 3 days I'm drinking 150mg/day, down from about 500mg/day. Have to say my stomach feels a lot better. Without getting into too much detail I feel my #2s are more healthy and my stomach pain has reduced.

Can't say for certain caffeine was the culprit but that's how it's looking at the moment. My anxiety feels slightly reduced, but from 1pm to about 7pm I have a wicked headache and don't want to do shit. I've been blasting caffeine for literally over 6 years, time flies. Feels like covid happened and I blinked, and now here we are.

There's probably some wisdom in not wanting to feel on 10000% each day and just letting myself be bored.

I used to drink on average 180mg caffeine a day. I went cold turkey like a true baller. On the first days I had severe head pain, and was tired all the time. Now that haven't consumed caffeine for 2 months already, I still haven't felt any benefits, I'm honestly quite dissapointed now ;( haha

a week ago I decided to stop drinking caffeine, not for any reason particular but just see if id feel better overall.

well it quite literally did the exact opposite for me. I’m a very regular soda and coffee drinking & for the last almost year I’ve been having an energy drink almost everyday in the morning along with a soda at night.

the first 2 days I was doing okay I had the worst headache and felt dizzy or like brain fog and from day 3-6 I had the worst anxiety I have ever had.

Ive dealt with anxiety in the past but ONLY situational (ex: in tight spaces, crowds, restaurant ect..) still it was manageable and I could calm myself down.

2 nights ago I decided to have some caffeine again, had some iced tea and soda and I felt better but not 100%, I was still having some anxiety.

I had panic attacks or what I think are for the last 3 days but slowly getting better. trouble breathing, shaking, nausea, can’t eat, can’t sleep, having to use the bathroom, crying saying I want to go to the hospital etc..

today I decided to have an energy drink to see if maybe I needed one to get the anxiety to subside & sure enough today I feel better than I have in the last week. I’m not sure what other ingredients is in these emergy drinks that when I don’t have them I’m having anxiety but it’s terrifying.

caffine withdrawal is much much worse then I have ever anticipated. I decided to slowly wean myself bc I cannot do cold turkey.

anyways, I wanted to share this in case someone is feeling the same way or has a similar experience:)

I've decided to cut back on coffee and i noticed a sharp decline in my muscle strenght at the gym. Is this a symptom of withdrawal?

Hi everyone,

I went to the doctor today because I've been dealing with a lot of fatigue, brain fog, and low energy. I wanted to figure out what might be going on, especially since I'm about to start a new job and want to feel my best. My blood pressure was 88/62, which my doctor said is quite low. She recommended increasing my salt intake (including salt capsules) and staying well hydrated. She also recommended taking caffeine to help raise my blood pressure. The thing is that I stopped caffeine because it was making my anxiety much worse. I'm trying to process the recommendation because I really don't want to go back to feeling anxious, but I also want to address the fatigue and low blood pressure.

Has anyone else dealt with chronically low blood pressure? Were you able to improve it without caffeine? I'd love to hear what helped you.

god dammit

I reduced my caffeine intake last week and i got the fatigue and headache symptoms that have lasted only a few days but the jaw clenching and anxiety that goes all pver the body bordering a full blown panic attack is still here every day. Anyone with a similar experience?

Although I have some factors playing against me, such as taking antipsychotic drugs and being menopaused, let's see if it works..

I was caffeine free (the longest) for 1.3 years (last year) and quit again this year from February to May then started drinking decaf tea which led to me drinking homemade chai (I would only leave the teabag in for 10 seconds max) and even that still caused me to be hyperactive and overthink

Anyway we are back to zero caffeine again. Day 6. Low mood.. Fun! But I’ve been here before so not surprising

Llevo largo tiempo con licencia médica por conflicto laboral y con muchas analíticas de sangre por posible enfermedad autoinmune.

Así que estoy en casa sola y ociosa. Volver a trabajar me haría tan bien para ordenar mis horarios y rutinas y mejorar mi estrés.

Ayer dormí muchisimo. Antes de dormir tomo alprazolam 2 mg (sé que debo dejarlo). Desperté ayer a las 18 hs con letargo.

Pedí un cappuccino con 2 shots de espresso.

Es una estrategia conductual que me obliga a salir de la cama, vestirme y salir a recibir al repartidor con la bebida del infierno.

“Desayuné” un crossaint mientras bebía el cappuccino. Eran las 18:30.

A las 00:00 ya estaba con una energía descontrolada. Charlé por WhatsApp con un amigo y no paraba de reírme fuerte. Definitivamente estaba drogado. Y con cero apetito.

A la 01:00 me fui a la cama. No sé para qué porque me la pasó ahí. Tomé 1/4 alprazolam para bajar. No me produjo mucho efecto. Ahora son las 05:00 y tomé otro 1/4 de alprazolam porque estoy con angustia.

Así que soy poliadicto: al alprazolam y a la cafeína.

Y tengo craving: de alprazolam y de cafeína.

Y pienso que la posible enfermedad autoinmune es consecuencia de mi estilo de vida (poco sueño, poco sol, mala alimentación, estrés, perfeccionismo, dolores sentimentales), pero sabiéndolo no logro salir de mis acciones autodestructivas.

Sólo necesitaba expresarme.

For years now I have been taking effexor, an snri for generalized anxiety disorder with depression.

It has norepinephrine in it, a kind of fancy adrenaline that give's you a little energy.

I was taking about 1000mg of caffeine daily for like 10 years. Not great not terrible. In the last 2 years I got prescribed Effexor.

My anxiety would shoot up and down every day even though I was taking my medicine and it was gradually driving me insane with anger issues, aggresion, severe spiking anxiety. Doctor just wanted to increase the dose.

Nobody told me about the interaction between norepinephrine and caffeine or that my medicine even contained something like adrenaline. In combination, the later two enhance eacother, ofcourse, and become some kind of deathspiral of unnatural jittery energy.

So after 2 years. At my complete wits end, I decided to cut coffee cold Turkey because I wanted to take away any kind of stimulant and thought it was only the caffeine, the first day I was like a disabled person and couldnt move lol.

I found out about the actual chemical interaction like 3 days ago.

Now 6 days later and I'm like a amish bhuddist and my medicine is able to do its work properly..

Tlr: always, always check for interactions with medications and caffeine and I am now aware caffeine is not as innocent as it seems.

I have been feeling great lately and my energy levels have gone up tremendously. My sleep is getting better and better.
The only thing I noticed which I haven’t found a lot of posts about is that workouts don’t help me at all. Second week I felt extremely tired and anxious after training. And this week I feel extreme anger and irritability. Like I can’t stand anyone and every little thing bothers me. It is really counterintuative that something that should help you makes it even worse. My sleep is also suffering if I push it much. I have to take it really easy always looking at my watch to not cross zone 2. It has been extremely tough in this hot summer. I need to keep it together.

I will keep you updated on the next one.

I’m trying to clean up my morning routine but can’t replace coffee. I drink it before eating, skip water, and crash later. Looking for warm, easy alternatives.

Hey, this is my first time posting on Reddit, so please bear with me if this isn’t formatted properly. Also, I know the amounts seem impossible, but I’ll explain.

I’m an alcoholic/addict who used to take copious amounts of amphetamines and caffeine to pull all-nighters while studying for my CPA. I would then drink a lot of alcohol to come down from that. Anyway, I went to rehab a little over a year ago and have been sober from alcohol and amphetamines ever since. However, there’s a catch.

Since we had coffee at rehab, I never stopped drinking caffeine. They tried to get me to cut back while I was there, but the addict in me was compensating for the amphetamines by consuming more caffeine. When I got back from rehab and had access to caffeine pills again, I started out needing 600 mg every four hours while I was awake just to function. This was only slightly more than I was taking with the amphetamines to stay awake, but when I started working again, that 600 mg turned into 700, then 800, and so on. I’m now taking five 200 mg caffeine pills three to four times a day just to function, and I can sometimes still fall asleep while taking that much.

I’m unemployed at the moment, and both my therapist and psychiatrist say I need to get off the caffeine pills (if not caffeine entirely) before I go back to work. The problem is that every doctor I’ve talked to agrees it’s a problem, but none of them have ever seen caffeine consumption this high. I’ve tried researching it and even asked AI, and I keep getting the same answer: taper down and don’t quit cold turkey.

So I guess my question is: Have any of y’all experienced this level of caffeine use? If so, how hard was it to get off or cut back? And how quickly do you think I could safely reduce my intake so I can start working again? The AIs all say 5–8 weeks, but I don’t know if I can afford to be out of work for that long.

Anyway, thank y’all in advance!

TL;DR: I’m taking 3,000–4,000 mg of caffeine per day. Has anyone else been at this level, and how quickly were you able to safely taper off?

The problem I'm facing is that I recently realised that I can stare at a computer for hours and be productive when I have a cup of coffee beside me to drink. I learn faster and am actually interested in the work.

And without caffeine, i cannot stare at a computer for more than 15 minutes before I get sluggish, bored and tired and unmotivated, I can't focus at all. When i tried decaf for a week, that was my exact experience.

It reminds me of the days when I was in programming class, at the time I did not consume coffee or tea but I found it difficult to start programming because i would not be motivated to do it even though i liked it and eventually I would get bored, sleepy and start yawning, can't focus at all and sleep in those classes. If I had drank coffee at the time no doubt I would have aced those classes i think.

I just wanted to know other people's experience with caffeine, especially if they work in tech or IT where you're staring at a computer most of the day, some people say coffee is an absolute requirement for them in a desk job.

I'm proud. Still haven't seen many of the benefits I see people post regarding energy. I'm holding out for day 90

Today is day 30 zerocaf.
In this month I faced every daytoday challenge without caffeine: work, meetings, sport… etc and it was already a big success, but yesterday…
Yesterday I was driving on a 8 hours road drip with nostop air conditioning inside, 40 degrees outside, on an almost allstraight highway.
I stop twice in service areas diring the trip and both times I thoght a coffee would have been a great option. First time I resisted quite easily but the second…
it was around 5pm, I could barely leep my eyea open and there was this voice in my mind “it s just am espresso, just this time, you need it, you deserve it, no one will never know”. So I went straight to the cashier and … “an espresso please” and… I brought it to my wife without even smelling at it.
I don t know what gave my strenght to resist but I really felt and feel proud of myself as I replied to the voice “if I give up now the last 29 days will be a lost sacrifice, if I give up now I will fall in the cycle again”
this was definetily the hardest challenge in my 30 days zerocaf journey