Has anyone successfully given up caffeine?

[Ginger]

i am seriously considering giving up caffeine. i currently have one large shop bought coffee a day (sometimes, but not often two). i think it is really contributing to causing me unnecessary anxiety and worry. i only really started drinking coffee in the last few years, and for me, this is when all the worry has increased significantly.
i admit that my daily coffee was my saving grace when my kids were constantly waking overnight, but now that they generally sleep through i just can't see a reason for it- other than that i like it and i am addicted lol.
so....has anyone successfully given it up? how did you do it? why did you do it? did you see improvements in your life?
tia

[MummaBee]

I did give up coffee whilst working my last job, as i was learning how to take blood using needles and coffee was the reason i was so shakey. It really hypes me up. Once I quit i took it up again but i have to say it wasnt as hard as i thought it would be, and the shaking dissapeared instantly.

[Maruschke]

i've tried sooooo many times

This time I've had moderate success - I switched to perculated coffee, and then slowly increased the proportion of decaf I mixed in with the normal coffee, until now its only 1/4 strength.

Best of luck with it. I find it is also a social thing, so I don't think I could ever get rid of all coffee from my diet.

[Ginger]

it's really social for me too maruschke, so i will definitely struggle.
I'm just sick of feeling anxious all the time.

[Maruschke]

Well how do you feel about drinking decaf? I am slowly getting used to it. Weirdly enough, I am still addicted to the pleasure and habit of having a morning coffee out every morning. It's like, even if I don't need the "hit", I still love the me time, the treat, the hot drink. make sense? Coffee is far more than the hit, a bit like smoking is far more than the nicotine, which is why it's hard to give up.

[organic-girl]

Yep! I swapped it with a morning green smoothie with raw cacao so the added iron, vit B from spirulina etc helped kick the cravings, also started the day with 1litre of water which helped. I did it cause caffeine is acidic.


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Leah and Dan
Lucy 5
Minnie 2
Pippi due 29 sept

[Ginger]

i like the idea of de-caff.....

has anyone else tried this? or does it taste yuck?

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

I love the decaff and switch straight from caff to decaff. A few withdrawal symptoms, but give it 2 weeks and I'm fine. This was when I had a severe caffeine addiction when I was about 20-21. I even cut out chocolate. And fresh orange juice - that's very caffeinated.

Now chocolate is the only caffeine I have. Not giving that up!

[Lenny]

What about tea? I drink a bit. Is there enough caffeine in it to worry?

[AndiE]

Yep, I've successfully ditched it. And sugar (... and any sweet tastes). No obvious withdrawals, although just the smell of a decent coffee makes me weak at the knees.
Damn ... the things I'll do in an attempt to conceive again!!!

Must say though, I've grown very fond of peppermint tea!

ETA: I just went cold turkey ... to kick the caffeine, I had no other choice.

[organic-girl]

And fresh orange juice - that's very caffeinated.

Store brought yeah? Not as in freshly juiced oranges?!?!




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Leah and Dan
Lucy 5
Minnie 2
Pippi due 29 sept

[Santosha]

Currently attempting this. Bubs is reeeeally hard to settle, wakes frequently and has a very windy tummy. Trying to cut out caffeine to address (the cause of) sleep deprivation seems like the world's cruelest joke. I'm running on 3ish hours' sleep and getting up to a very volatile 2 yr old... FFS I NEED coffee!!!

I really like the decaf we have -tastes just the same to me, and was enjoying that as some compensation... Until Pinky and my GP both suggested I need to try cutting out dairy too. Bugger.

GL Hun. It's hard to break the habit with just 'depriving' yourself. See if you can replace the coffee with something that makes you feel good so you still get a positive ... kWIM? Sorry. No sleep makes brain mushy and expression garbled!

[krysalyss]

Ooh yeah peppermint tea is good. I have thought about giving up my coffee - I have two a day. But I don't really have bad effects from it and it helps me get past morning and afternoon teat without bad snacks.

[willow5]

And fresh orange juice - that's very caffeinated.

Seriously?

Store brought yeah? Not as in freshly juiced oranges?!?!

And yeah that? ^^

[organic-girl]

Yes I love peppermint tea, cause you can still be sociable that way!!! I NEVER have decaf! It is worse for you unless it's oxygenated or water decaffeinated. But seriously the green smoothies work, I don't get an afternoon slump and I'm pregnant!


---------
Leah and Dan
Lucy 5
Minnie 2
Pippi due 29 sept

[diva det]

i gave up caffeine for 5 years and i have just recently started to drink it again
i started drinking decaf coffee to start with and caffeine free cola and then got rid of the coffee after a while as i wasnt interested in drinking it anymore

make sure you get a good tasting decaf that the caffeine is taken out through water filtration. Nut Shack used to have a good decaf
it can be done and as long as i had a hot drink alternative on hand with me- it was easy to do
its more habitual than addictive but dont go cold turkey or you will get head aches etc from withdrawls!

[Ginger]

Thanks for the support everyone.
Santosha- what decaf do you have?

[Maruschke]

I have the water decaf'ed stuff and it's great. It's organic too.