I’m taking a break from caffeine (for now).

At the time I’m writing this (2/27/2024) it’s been a month with no caffeine. I wasn’t sure I could actually cut the caffeine out, as I’ve tried before. But taking it slow, over nearly the entire month of January, I was able to do it. The biggest challenge really was psychological. Neither Hillary nor DJ quit caffeine, with both still enjoying plenty of tea and coffee. Oh, and owning a tea company for 10 years also made it a bit strange to have a goal of eliminating tea. But, I made it and I do think it was worthwhile.

April 2024 Update: Having been off caffeine now for three full months I’m ready to say the headaches are far better. They occur with much less frequency and, importantly, a couple Tylenol is all I need to deal with them. No more Excedrin! 🙂

Why did I quit caffeine?

As long as I can remember I’ve been getting headaches with surprising regularity. Debilitating though, according to doctors, they were not migraines. But it’s always bothered me to get them 3-5 times a month and have to take 3 x Excedrin to get rid of them. It was the only thing that worked, and even then I periodically had to take another 3 about 8 hours later.

Late last year I discovered my elementary school health records and, surprise surprise, there were notes in my health records about frequent headaches as early as 11 years old! I’m not sure when I started caffeine, but I do recall having coffee with my mother at a young age and having a ton of soda. Maybe that’s what’s caused the headaches all along? Or maybe caffeine made them worse?

In any event, after decades of dealing with the headaches and this nagging concern about having to take Excedrin regularly, I figured it was worth a short. I had already tried to correlate the headaches to weather shifts, barometric pressure, and myriad foods with no luck — so why not?

My process for quitting caffeine.

Years ago I had tried to quit caffeine and gotten massive headaches (probably should have been a clue). And, as of December 2023 I was drinking about 4-6 cups of tea plus a cup or two (or three) of coffee each day. Oh and these weren’t 8 oz cups. No, more like 16-24 oz cups. So, as seems to be the trend these days I went looking on YouTube for any guidance I might find. Most everyone suggested a slow, prolonged elimination. While many focused on swapping decaf for caffeinated, this glosses over the fact that decaf does not mean zero caffeine. If I was going to do this I wanted to get to zero caffeine.

So I setup a spreadsheet (see my quitting caffeine spreadsheet below) with a plan that slowly swapped green rooibos for green tea while also progressively reducing the amount of coffee down to zero. With respect to tea, I was drinking green tea (Japanese Shincha) and mixing in more and more rooibos for less tea. I also worked to narrow my caffeine window. I would have the first cup later and later each day (to a point) and my last cup earlier and earlier.

I ticked off each day, the time of my last caffeine, and added notes for how I felt. Overall the caffeine withdrawal effects were minimal. I certainly had days where my head felt cloudy or that a headache might come on. A couple times I did end up with a full blown headache but was able to use Extra Strength Tylenol instead of Excedrin (which has a hefty dose of caffeine itself).

How do I feel without caffeine?

All in all I feel great. I won’t say the headaches are gone. So far I’ve only had two in the month since my last caffeine and Tylenol took care of them. I did go through a few weeks of falling asleep mid-afternoon, which is rather odd for me. However, it’s been a full month now and I’m feeling great. I do miss the coffee and tea but if the headaches and need for Excedrin are reduced or eliminated then it’s more than worth it.

Will I go back to caffeine?

In short, I don’t know if I’ll return to caffeine. I do miss the taste of coffee/tea. On the other hand, if we are on perpetual travel for a number of years it’s just easier to not have to worry about finding Excedrin plus good quality coffee or tea.

I will say it’s hard to give up a morning hot beverage though, especially since Hillary and DJ still partake. So I’ve settled in to a morning cup of my green rooibos, or occasionally hot water or bone broth. The “benefits” of caffeine are really not worth the headaches and reliance on Excedrin. I’d like no Tylenol too, but if the frequency of headaches continues to be far lower then I can deal.

My spreadsheet for weaning off caffeine from coffee/tea.