What I learned quitting caffeine cold turkey

I recently experienced the worst headache of my life.

At first I thought it was because I hadn’t gotten much sleep. Then I wondered if it was dehydration. Then I blamed it on too much screen time.

After the second day of constant throbbing I did a quick google search for causes of headaches. Stress? Not really. Pulled muscle? Nope. Neck cancer? Hopefully not!

But one reason immediately stood out among all of the others - caffeine withdrawal.

As it turns out there’s an officially recognized ‘disorder’ called caffeine withdrawal. According to a Johns Hopkins study that reviewed over 170 years of caffeine withdrawal research, as little as one standard cup of coffee a day can produce caffeine addiction

“The latest research demonstrates, however, that when people don’t get their usual dose they can suffer a range of withdrawal symptoms, including headache, fatigue, difficulty concentrating. They may even feel like they have the flu with nausea and muscle pain.”

— Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Johns Hopkinsource

That was me!

I was traveling for business that week and realized I hadn’t had a cup of coffee in a few days. I raced to the nearest machine, brewed a cup, and drank it like a barbarian. Within 10 minutes the brain fog started to clear, and within 20 minutes my headache was completely gone. Everything was back to normal.

I couldn’t believe I was ‘addicted’ to caffeine. I hated the idea that a substance had control over my body. I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Workplace coffee pots & zombies

My relationship with caffeine wasn’t always this way. I actually swore off coffee and caffeine during my first college internship.

Witnessing coworkers hover around the coffee pot to slurp cup after cup all day long was an eye-opener. I’d never drank coffee growing up or in college, and listening to conversations about the various brands of sleeping pills people were using to try to get a good night’s sleep was shocking.

Coffee was their crutch during the day; Ambien was their crutch at night - an innocent yet powerful cocktail of stimulants and depressants intermingled as an attempt to override natural biorhythms.

I was a teenager surrounded by what I felt like were functional zombies. I wanted nothing to do with it.

Monster Energy - the gateway drug

Fast forward ten years. I was heading into the office early one morning and had to stop for gas. I’m a sucker for snacks, so I walked inside the gas station and browsed the shelves to see if anything looked appealing. It was a little early for food so I decided to take a look at the drinks and search for my go-to, sparkling water.

As I opened the door and reached for a bottle, a bright, shiny, tattooed-looking can caught my attention. It was a zero sugar Monster energy drink, and it was on sale.

I remember feeling a little tired that morning, and the Monster can with the ULTRA lettering was so outrageous that I couldn’t help myself from picking it up. I thought, “What the hell, let’s give it a shot. It’s on sale, and there’s no sugar so it can’t be that bad for me.”

I bought the drink, finished filling my tank with gas, and drove and parked in front of the office. I popped the tab on the Monster and took a sip. It tasted pretty good! I didn’t want to walk into the office with such a ridiculous looking drink in hand and decided to finish the rest of it sitting in my truck.

Slugging my first Monster energy drink was an almost euphoric experience. It wasn’t Red Bull, but I felt like I had wings… and more. If someone would’ve asked me on the spot to run a marathon, then swim across the San Francisco Bay, and top it off by climbing Mount Everest I’d have been convinced I could do all three in the same day - with plenty of energy left.

Blood rushed into my head, hands, and feet. My whole body felt warm and tingly. My brain was lightning fast. I felt GREAT.

Chasing the caffeine high

Every day after that I’d stop at the gas station, grab a Monster, and drink it in the parking lot. The first week or two was pure bliss - I was on top of the world and felt superhuman every morning. I ended up finding Monster on Amazon for far cheaper than what I was paying at the grocery store, and had a case shipped to my house. Every morning before I walked out the door I’d grab a can and drink it before work.

But before long that warm, tingly feeling started to get less and less pronounced - until one day I barely felt anything at all.

That should’ve been my first sign that something wasn’t right. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was rapidly building up a tolerance to caffeine and my body was craving more and more to get me to ‘baseline.’

Fortunately the gas station I bought my first Monster at had even bigger cans! Instead of the standard 16oz cans I was used to I started buying the 24oz cans. The euphoric feeling returned… but not for long.

Not only was I chasing the caffeine high to no avail, but I began noticing an unpleasant side effect from all the Monster I was drinking… my teeth hurt like hell! They were becoming super sensitive to hot and cold substances, to the point I almost went to the dentist to help me figure out what was wrong.

I came to the realization that it was likely the acidic ingredients that were causing the problem and decided to stop drinking Monster. But I still needed the caffeine to feel ‘normal’ in the mornings. I started drinking brewed & iced coffee to fill the need and preparing fresh coffee before work quickly became a morning habit.

In the afternoons I started taking a pre-workout before going to the gym which gave me another boost of caffeine. I was quickly becoming one of those workplace zombie colleagues I was so afraid of in college - but hadn’t graduated to needing sleeping pills.

How much caffeine is safe to drink?

At my peak, I was drinking around 300mg of caffeine/day. According to the Mayo Clinic adults can safely consume up to 400mg of caffeine/day. While I fell under that limit, I wouldn’t consider my consumption to have been ‘safe’ in that I was definitely addicted and couldn’t function normally without it.

Here’s a table summarizing how much caffeine is in Starbucks, Red Bull, Coke, etc. I pulled these numbers from the brand’s websites themselves or from publicly available information.

Drink	Caffeine Content
Starbucks Drip Coffee (12oz)	260mg
Dunkin Donuts Drip Coffee (12oz)	215mg
5-Hour Energy (2oz)	215mg
Zero Sugar Monster (24oz)	~210mg
McDonald’s Drip Coffee (12oz)	~100mg
Red Bull Regular & Sugar Free (8oz)	80mg
Starbucks Latte (12oz)	75mg
Black Tea, Brewed (12oz)	67mg
Coca-Cola, Diet (12oz)	46mg

It’s easy to see how just a few cups of coffee or a few energy drinks gets you close to that 400mg ‘safe’ limit. And caffeine isn’t just reserved for drinks - it’s also in unexpected things like migraine medications, chocolate, and shampoo!

Caffeine fasting - my thirty day experiment

Using my horrible experience with headaches a few months ago as motivation, I decided to kick my coffee (and by default, caffeine) habit for a full month. In preparation I read through various internet forums (shoutout r/decaf on Reddit) and talked to a friend who’d just completed a week-long no coffee challenge.

I wanted to see how quickly my body could recover from the years of ritualistic daily caffeine consumption and was especially curious to see if my sleep patterns changed in any meaningful way. While I never had trouble sleeping, many people who’ve quit drinking caffeine say their quality of sleep improved considerably and they’ve never had more consistent energy throughout the day. Some have even said they’re back to sleeping like they did as teenagers - 10-12 hour stretches at a time!

Below is the text of the daily journal I kept during my thirty day caffeine fast. You won’t hurt my feelings If you don’t feel like reading the entire thing (or any of it) - feel free to skip down to the ‘results’ section for my reflections on the experiment and what I recommend for anyone considering quitting caffeine.

Daily journal during my thirty day caffeine fast

Day 1 - completely miserable. I only slept ~5 hours so that probably didn’t help. Had to take an afternoon nap around 2p, lasted about 45 min and felt a bit better. Had a headache most of the day and took take a late flight that night for work. Fell asleep on the plane for about 30 min.

Day 2 - woke up feeling terrible again, had crazy dreams! But got to the hotel at midnight and was up at 7, so definitely 6hrs or less of sleep. Had a headache when I went to bed, woke up with a little bit of one but immediately chugged two bottles of hotel water. No headache now. Update - 10a, had to take a ibuprofen for a headache that was on the left side of my head. Drank decaf green tea which helped hot drink craving in the morning. Took an extra strength tylenol at 2 for lingering headache, largely went away and felt decent the rest of the afternoon/evening

Day 3 - woke up feeling pretty good, lots of wild dreams last night too, way more than I usually have. Went to bed around 10:45 and woke up at 7a, so I’m sure that helped. No headache! Ate around 11a and getting sleepy at 12:30. Id probably take a nap if I could. Slight headache around 2p on the right side of my head, took a Tylenol at 2:15, drinking lots of water all day, had good energy after food digested and felt great rest of the night

Day 4 - woke up tired but no headache. Went to bed at 11:15 and woke up at 5:45 but reset alarm for 6:30 because of full day of meetings. Don’t remember having any wild dreams. No headache yet and still feeling good at 9a. Drank a bottle and a half of water this morning and a decaf! cup of coffee at 9:30 to provide that warmth. Didn’t get a headache all day (maybe a slight one early afternoon) but never felt super tired. WAY BETTER than previous couple of days.

Day 5 - went to bed at midnight, up at 5:45a. Wasn’t tired last night. Now tired as hell today, but to be expected given the little sleep I got. Update 10a, surprisingly not beat dead tired and don’t feel horrible given how little sleep I got. Still drinking a lot of water. Update - had pizza for lunch at 12ish and feel disgusting, now tired and a slight headache. Also a little stomach ache. Feeling better from a ‘bleh’ standpoint this evening, but very tired at 6pm and getting on a flight. Remember having a crazy dream last night. Not tired in the afternoon/evening but ready to go to bed. Went down around 11:30, alarm set for 6:30

Day 6 - was wide awake at 5:30 with no alarm but feel pretty good. Mother in law was making coffee this morning and it was so tempting, but I opted for a sparkling water. Doesn’t hit the same but we’re gonna roll with it. Update at 11 - feeling good! Still a little tired but one thing I’ve noticed is that the peaks and troughs are basically non existent like they are when I drink coffee. There’s no hard crash in the afternoons (unless I eat like crap, like yesterday) but there’s also no ‘peak’ like the first hour after I drink caffeine. I’m feeling like I like the balance of energy. Don’t remember having any crazy dreams last night. Slight headache coming back on right side but not too bad, am feeling pretty tired at 6:30p. Just ate dinner and was relatively grumpy tonight, not sure why

Day 7 - fell asleep around 11:30 I’m guessing, woke up at 7:30. Had wild dreams and feel pretty good this morning. Was super tired around 2p with a slight headache and had the luxury of taking a nap in the afternoon, woke up around 4. I think I’m dehydrated (only had two small glasses of water all day). Felt a little crappy the rest of the afternoon until drinking a ton of water and eating ice cream, now not tired and it’s 10:30p

Day 8 - fell asleep really easily at 11:15ish and crashed hard! Woke up at 7:15a and had WILD dreams. Feeling great this morning. Had a long car ride and did a hike that made me sweat quite a bit. Ended up getting lunch on the road and feeling super tired from about 4-5:30, but then perked up in the evening and now reading a book before falling asleep around 11:30. Slight headache this evening but nothing too bad.

Day 9 - woke up around 7:30 in my own bed and don’t feel super well rested but don’t feel terrible either. Had some vivid dreams. Felt pretty good all day. Getting a little tired close to dinner (7p) and a faint headache. Went to bed around 10:15, slept hard

Day 10 - BIG DAY - woke up at 3:45a because the dog is now back at home and was making a bunch of noise in the middle of the night :) hopefully I’ll get another hour or two of sleep. Update at 5:30 - didn’t get back to sleep, we’ll see how the day goes. Feel pretty good actually. Do remember having crazy dreams again, way more than normal. Update at 6:30a, was craving something caffeinated but opted to grab v8 (weird replacement I know, but I didn’t feel like just drinking water and wanted to get some veggies in the mix). 8a - not craving caffeine anymore, have constant energy. Update at 10a, feel GREAT. Not sure if v8, good news at work, or something else… but this is legit. 4:30p and not feeling tired at all… this is nuts. Also haven’t eaten many carbs/much at all today so maybe that’s helping? Got fairly tired after dinner, now about 8p and not quite ready to sleep yet but getting tired. Went to bed around 10:45

Day 11 - woke up at 6:30a to my alarm, feeling pretty rested. Remember having a few wild dreams. Nothing too notable today, got tired mid afternoon but nothing crazy. Going to bed around 10:30.

Day 12 - 6:30a alarm wake up. Dog was freaking out during the night because of storms so I was waking up off and on. Don’t feel well rested but also not dead tired. Drank more v8 and water this morning, feeling constant energy. Felt pretty good most of the day, tired at 9p, bed at 10

Day 13 - woke up at 6:20, alarm was set for 6:30. Feel like I got pretty good sleep. No dreams that I remember. Wasn’t tired until 6p or so, then made the mistake of falling asleep on the couch around 10:30p and waking up at 11ish, which had me up until 12:15.

Day 14 - no longer craving caffeine or coffee in the morning (or at least haven’t felt that urge in a while now. Woke up at 7:15 w/o an alarm, feel a little tired but overall pretty good. Got tired in the early evening but not a ‘crash,’ just my body telling me naturally that it was time to sleep. One thing I’ve noticed is that I’m far more in tune with what my body is trying to tell me. Caffeine basically created a veil over my natural state. The way foods impact me, if I’m dehydrated or not, my sleep quality, etc… I can now FEEL those. Went to bed around 11

Day 15 - slept like a rock except the dog growling in the middle of the night one time, woke up at 7 without an alarm. Nothing remarkable to note, went to bed around 11:30

Day 16 - woke up at 6:30a to my alarm, feel pretty good. I like the v8 routine in the morning - I’ve found that my caffeine habit was more routine than anything, as an example I’m at the airport today and would typically grab a Red Bull or something before the flight for no real reason. As soon as I stepped in to the gate area today I immediately had a craving for Red Bull - but realized it didn’t make any sense and I’m feeling good as is. Opted for water instead. Was pretty wiped around 5p, not sure why. Probably not enough sleep last night, but also had late pizza for lunch. Wide awake now at midnight and alarm is set for 6:30a

Day 17 - woke up at 5:30 w/no alarm. Felt like ass, almost hungover (but I don’t drink, except for rare occasions). I had a massive dinner last night as part of a work trip, and we ate really late, so I have a feeling that played a big role in it. Sleeping in a hotel may have also played a part (was super hot) but not positive. Feeling better now though (7a). Was consistently tired throughout the day but never miserable. I have a feeling I’ll sleep on the flight home tonight. Update - did not sleep on the flight. Got home and passed out around 10:30p

Day 18 - woke up at 6a to an alarm, feel much better than yesterday. Had crazy dreams again. Craving a warm drink this morning, but deciding that I might try smoothies in the morning instead (I typically don’t eat breakfast). Was a little tired in the afternoon but not dragging by any means. In bed by 11:30, not tired at all… had a late night snack so that’s probably why.

Day 19 - woke up at 6a, didn’t get to bed until maybe 12:30 so definitely feeling it today. Dragging before dinner (6:30p). Fell asleep around 11:30

Day 20 - woke up at 6:15 to an alarm - snoozed twice (rare for me) and was dreaming heavy. Feel pretty good. Felt like taking a nap in the afternoon after a slight headache and slept from ~1:45-3p and was out HARD. Not sure why I was so tired. I did run out of V8 two days ago but have been drinking lots of water. Went to bed super early, like 9:00p ish

Day 21 - woke up w/o alarm at 7:30a and felt amazing. Clearly the amount of sleep I’m getting makes a big difference. Had consistent energy throughout the whole day and felt great. Went to bed around mine night

Day 22 - woke up a few times in the middle of the night because something didn’t settle well from dinner. Immediately fell back asleep, which usually isn’t the case. Woke up around 8:15 w/o alarm and feel pretty good. Was dragging hard around 2p, must not have slept as well as I thought. Took a nap for about 45 min and felt a little better. In bed at 11 with alarm set for 5:45a

Day 23 - was dreaming HARD when my alarm went off. Hit snooze twice and went right back to sleep both times. Felt pretty good all day until about an hour after I ate lunch (2:30) and was dragging. I’m thinking food has something to do with my energy levels… like gluten or dairy. I might have to cut them out for my next experience :) went to bed pretty early (10ish) and woke up at 6:30.

Day 24 - felt good basically all day and only got a little tired after lunch today. Went to bed at 10

Day 25 - woke up a little before 6:30 w/o an alarm, feel really good. It’s become clear that 8 hours of sleep (or at least 8hrs in bed) is necessary for me to feel good. I’m excited to try caffeine again after day 30 to see how it impacts me, while also attempting to keep a better sleep schedule. I may also try a 30 day dairy and/or carb free trial to see what that does for my energy levels, especially after lunch time. I felt great all day, literally no issues. Also worked out this morning, so that may have had something to do with it. In bed at 11p

Day 26 - woke up around 6a without an alarm but tossed and turned half sleeping until 6:20. Don’t feel super rested but don’t feel terrible. Felt pretty great all day, remembered I had wild dreams last night. In bed at 10:30, alarm set for 5:40

Day 27 - was moderately tired all day (to be expected), but didn’t really feel crappy until dinner time which we ate too late. Got a boost of energy after dinner and cranked through some work which made the night go by real quick. In bed at 11pm, no alarm because of saturday morning

Day 28 - woke up at 6:30 :( but feel fairly well rested. Started dragging hard around 1p, even had a bad headache. May be allergies. Took a 20 min nap at 6:00pm and felt way better. In bed at 11p

Day 29 - Woke up at 7a to my wife’s alarm. Feel pretty good and was great all day. One benefit I didn’t expect is that my teeth feel way better. In bed at 10p.

Day 30!!! - up at 6:20 for work. Feel pretty rested. It’s clear that hours of sleep are a major factor. I also think eating early dinner is helpful but need to track that. Felt pretty good most of the day until getting tired around 3p. Energy picked back up after dinner but ready to start getting ready for bed around 8:30p

Results from going caffeine free

I would recommend anyone who regularly drinks caffeine to try giving your body a ‘reset’ every now and then. I ended up going about 50 days without caffeine because I was enjoying the experience so much and my urge to drink it basically disappeared.

Here’s a list of the benefits and drawbacks of my time without caffeine:

Pros:

- Being in tune with my body *biggest benefit by far*

About two weeks into keeping the daily log I realized how little sleep I was getting and how that impacted my mood and energy levels throughout the day. Days when I slept more, I felt better. Should be a ‘duh’ observation, but I now recognize that caffeine was masking the natural signals my body was sending to tell me to get more sleep.

When I used to wake up tired I didn’t give it a second thought, I immediately got out of bed and drank coffee or a ZipFizz. I never gave serious consideration as to why I was feeling tired - I just used caffeine to overpower the signal and continue on with my day.

When I quit drinking caffeine I realized three things my body had been trying to tell me that I wasn’t paying attention to:

How little sleep I was getting
How little water I was drinking
How different foods impact my energy levels

I’m now far more conscious of these signals and continue to improve on all three.

- Constant energy throughout the day, no ‘crashes’

It was common for me to feel sluggish in early afternoons, usually an hour or two after lunch. When I was caffeine-free I never felt a crash (unless I had certain foods - gluten and/or dairy seem to be a major culprit) and had ample energy throughout the day. It was nice to not feel like I was on a roller coaster.

- Exercise felt better than ever

I always thought runners who talk about the ‘runners high’ were crazy. I always feel like death when I run.

But I played a few hours of pickleball mid way through my caffeine fast and my energy was at all-time highs. Actually felt very similar to my experience drinking Monster for the first time. The other guys I played with had to take a bunch of breaks and I was basically running sprints the whole time.

- Teeth and throat felt much better

My tooth sensitivity disappeared and I didn’t have as much reflux/wasn’t clearing my throat as often.

- Sleep quality *may* have improved

I never had trouble sleeping while drinking caffeine, so nothing changed in terms of my ability to get to sleep or wake up, but I was surprised to have far more vivid dreams than ever before during my caffeine fast. This makes me think I was spending more time in REM, but it’s just a guess.

Because I was tracking my sleep in the daily log, I also learned how often I was waking up at night for various reasons, which had an impact on my energy levels the next day.

Cons:

- No early morning ‘boost’, which is especially helpful during creative work

Caffeine really gets my brain firing on a different level. It’s especially useful for writing or before giving a big presentation, where I can plug through pages and pages of text or bring a different energy to an audience without skipping a beat. Of course the drawback is that I crash a few hours later, but during the time it’s working it’s almost magical.

- No warm drink in the morning

There’s something about a warm cup o’ joe in the morning that just feels right. I tried tea, mudwtr, mushroom elixirs, and various other replacements a few times over the years and none provided the same feeling.

- Unable to support my local roaster

A childhood friend of mine started a coffee roastery (shoutout Blu’s Brews!) and his small-batch, hand roasted beans are killer. They’re also ethically sourced, many from certified women-owned coffee plantations in emerging markets. While my wife, family, and friends continued to benefit from the goodness, I was stuck drinking plain water each morning.

Final thoughts on quitting caffeine cold turkey

The benefits of withdrawing from caffeine far outweighed the cons, but not so much that I won’t ever have caffeine again. Like most things, moderation is key. I never want to be in a position where my body NEEDS caffeine to operate and I also see the perks of drinking it when I need to be in a more creative or productive mindset.

If I ever do this again I don’t think I’ll go cold turkey, as the withdrawal symptoms were miserable. Slowly weaning off of it seems to be a more reasonable approach and one that others online recommend.

If quitting caffeine is something you’re considering or have ever done, I’d love to hear from you! Send me a note through the contact form on this website and we’ll get in touch.