I decided to quit coffee about a month ago because even though it is not that harmful to my health I realised I only consumed it because of addiction rather than it making my life any better. Considering I abstain from all other social drugs anyway, and it was also the last big source of sugar in my life, that was also convenient.
The constant headache went by in a week or so, but these last two days have been the first time since that I haven’t had sudden urges to nap in the afternoon. I never expected quitting coffee to be so disruptive for such a mild drug, so I can’t even imagine how much worse it would be with alcohol, opioids or crack or doing it while particularly busy. It also helped me get my sleep in order, which I dumbly didn’t even think about beforehand. Heartly recommend trying it out (in your time off!).
Coffee cold turkey is devastating. It is recommended that you track your daily “average” starting consumption, and then over the course of several week/days, slowly lower your total caffeine intake. So for example 200mg > 180mg > 150mg > 100mg > 80mg > 50mg > 20mg > 0 mg, or whichever system will work best for you.
Replacing coffee with green and black teas is also a very good idea, though most importantly, KEEP DRINKING A LOT OF WATER. If you are not hydrated, you will get more/worse headaches, and you will feel more lethargic/ in a brain fog.
Yeah, I didn’t want to bloat the post, but I didn’t quit right away. I didn’t do it very methodically but I stopped brewing it everyday and instead spent 2 weeks brewing a single full jar and leaving it on the fridge, then drinking every day some 10% less than the day before until there was none left. I also always waited until every daily dose was room temperature and without sugar to make the drinking experience less pleasant. I only really felt the abstinence when I was finally out of coffee around a month ago, but I was too invested to prolong it any further.
If anybody does this while under significant external obligations, I’d recommend being more careful than me spending at least a full month on the reduction.