Caffeine Withdrawl

[mippus]

Become a super-demanding coffee snob: only drink espresso of the very best types. They contain far less caffeine, taste so much better but due to the intensity, you can't drink too much of it and -yes- they are expensive so you won't drink them mindlessly. Letting people know you are so demanding when it comes to coffee will make them offer you less.
It never made me popular, but it worked very well for me...

[Jennifer]

Like others have said (although I guess i differ on a few points):

• Stay hydrated (caffeine makes you urinate, you can get severely dehydrated and even constipated if you don't have enough water intake).
  
• Interestingly, though, I found that coffee also acts almost contradictorily as a laxative for me (sorry if TMI)... and one time when I went cold turkey, everything got stuck and I was a mess for two weeks. Which leads to:
  
• Wean yourself off if you have been drinking a LOT of coffee. If you cold turkey, besides the problem I mentioned, you will probably just completely crash. Each week or half-week, cut back your daily intake by 1-2 cups a day until you get it down to something manageable. If you try to just stop, you'll probably go through all the withdrawal -- exhaustion, lack of energy, lack of focus, etc. Sorry, but withdrawal was a bitch for me... having a full-time job means I can't afford to crash for a few days by cold-turkeying it.
  
• Drink coffee that is less strong. If you want, you could switch to diet soda which I think is less concentrated in terms of volume vs caffeine, but maybe that won't work for you.
  
• Like others have said, decaf tea (along with decaf coffee) is a nice replacement. Merely exchange one of your coffees for a decaf partway through the day. Alternately, you can also add hot water and "water it down" .. or you could mix decaf and regular, to make the coffee half-strength.
  
• Take smaller portions of coffee. Instead of filling up your cup each time and gulping it down, fill it halfway, then go back only at the regular times.

It will realistically take you a few weeks to go completely off without wiping yourself out, if you want to be functional over that time.

But I think the main problem with the caffeine is that it lets you put a lot more strain on your body without you realizing it. My opinion is that basically the caffeine allows you to ignore signs of tiredness your body would otherwise make obvious to you... so it's essentially like running a car that is overheating because your overheating light is broken/turned off. Yes, you go further, but eventually you'll blow your engine or wear out the other parts of the car.

[lowtech redneck]

Originally Posted by whatever

Anyone have any tips on how to make this any easier? It would be greatly appreciated!

Alcohol.

[mippus]

Originally Posted by lowtech redneck

Alcohol.

the answer to everything

[prplchknz]

Originally Posted by mippus

the answer to everything

according to my room mate it is.

[Ivy]

Originally Posted by mippus

the answer to everything

"To alcohol! The cause of - and solution to - all of life's problems."
--Homer Simpson

[Geoff]

Today, I am wearing my Homer Simpson socks.

They say : "Alcohol, now there's a temporary solution"

[Ivy]

Do you really have those socks?! Me want!

As for the OP- I have quit caffeine many times. There is always a few days of lethargy and headache, even if I taper. The best thing I've found is to try and do it when I'll have a couple of days to run on half steam, if possible. For example, quitting the week before a deadline is a bad idea.

[sriv]

I don't drink.

[skip]

If you find yourself a little constipated, try psyllium seed husks.