I did a thing
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So I basically weaned myself off of caffeine.
I drink a full pot of coffee a day, and have for as long as I can remember. A few months back I switched to decaf after noon, but still had 5-6 cups of caffeinated coffee a day.
My sleep has always been bad, and I've been listening to Michael Walker and Peter Attia on the subject and decided to see if I could improve it and to see what the effects might be in the short and medium term.
So instead of switching mid-day, I started mixing caffeinated and decaf (both the same 'make and model' - Pete's Major Dickenson's Blend) and drinking that all day. I started with 50/50, then kept adjusting the percentage until I got to 0/100. I've also done a couple of other interventions to tamp down the cortisol-driven 2am wake ups.
It's been a couple of days and I've noticed:
(1) No caffeine headache. This surprised me. But 'decaf' still has caffeine in it, and can range from ~2% to 10 or even 15% of regular coffee depending on how it's made. I have no way of knowing where my decaf falls in that range.
(2) My sleep has been north of 7 hours a night. My long term average is in the low to mid 5 hour range. I go (literally) years at a time without a singe 8hr night.
All this comes with caveats, It's early days yet. But so far it seems like I've (basically) eliminated caffeine and paid no price.
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Great idea!
I used to drink a few mugs of coffee a day at work. I could drink half a dozen cups at dinner at a restaurant and fall asleep easily as soon as my head hit the pillow at home. Never had trouble sleeping eight hours, with or without coffee. Ever. Until....
When I hit my 40s (hello, perimenopause!) I found out that caffeine was affecting me in completely different ways than it did when I was younger. Couldn't fall asleep, got heart palpitations. I weaned myself off completely and didn't drink any coffee or tea for maybe 10 years. It helped some but I've never experienced the blissful uninterrupted sleep I did in my youth.
I started to have a cup for breakfast in the morning. No problems cropped up. A cup in the late afternoon or evening, OTOH, would keep me from falling asleep.
My digestion just isn't quite the same after my gallbladder came out and coffee is enough of an irritant to trigger stomach issues. Lately I've cut back to a cup in the morning maybe every 2 or 3 days. Looks like I can handle that.
Always good to test things out to see how what works best for you. Everybody's different and our bodies also evolve as we age.
Hope you enjoy your extra sleep.
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@jon-nyc Good for you! I weaned myself down from multiple cups a day to only one cup, first thing in the morning. I think it did it over the course of something like 3 months, because I wanted to avoid the caffeine withdrawal headache. And it worked (no withdrawal headache).
My sleep quality is hit or miss, so sometimes I think I should try weaning off of that last cup, but I like it too much to totally give it up.
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@jon-nyc Good for you! I weaned myself down from multiple cups a day to only one cup, first thing in the morning. I think it did it over the course of something like 3 months, because I wanted to avoid the caffeine withdrawal headache. And it worked (no withdrawal headache).
My sleep quality is hit or miss, so sometimes I think I should try weaning off of that last cup, but I like it too much to totally give it up.
The thing about the coffee I buy is I literally canāt tell the difference. Every ounce of enjoyment is still there. And no need to cut back on the number of cups (coffee is quite good for the liver and is dose dependent, and given my AATD itās a good habit to have).
So, so far, this seems to be a change thatās pure upside and no downside.
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Great idea!
I used to drink a few mugs of coffee a day at work. I could drink half a dozen cups at dinner at a restaurant and fall asleep easily as soon as my head hit the pillow at home. Never had trouble sleeping eight hours, with or without coffee. Ever. Until....
When I hit my 40s (hello, perimenopause!) I found out that caffeine was affecting me in completely different ways than it did when I was younger. Couldn't fall asleep, got heart palpitations. I weaned myself off completely and didn't drink any coffee or tea for maybe 10 years. It helped some but I've never experienced the blissful uninterrupted sleep I did in my youth.
I started to have a cup for breakfast in the morning. No problems cropped up. A cup in the late afternoon or evening, OTOH, would keep me from falling asleep.
My digestion just isn't quite the same after my gallbladder came out and coffee is enough of an irritant to trigger stomach issues. Lately I've cut back to a cup in the morning maybe every 2 or 3 days. Looks like I can handle that.
Always good to test things out to see how what works best for you. Everybody's different and our bodies also evolve as we age.
Hope you enjoy your extra sleep.
-
The thing about the coffee I buy is I literally canāt tell the difference. Every ounce of enjoyment is still there. And no need to cut back on the number of cups (coffee is quite good for the liver and is dose dependent, and given my AATD itās a good habit to have).
So, so far, this seems to be a change thatās pure upside and no downside.
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I cut out caffeine just about entirely for about 30 years up until my early 60s . I started drinking coffee again pretty much when I retired. now I have a cup of coffee every morning and sometimes ice tea or a Diet Coke at lunch.(thereās no excuse for the Diet Coke. I give it up every few weeks too.)
. I have a hard cut off of 2 PM for caffiene of any sort, otherwise I do think it affects my sleep somewhat.
If I have a very early meeting or early morning drive related to my stupid job, I will occasionally go crazy and have 2 cups of coffee. The nice thing about being a flyweight coffee drinker is that 2 cups really perks me up for several hours when I need it sometimes.
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I weaned myself off caffeine a dozen years ago after frightening chest pain that I interpreted as a heart attack, but tests proved it was something like GERD. I had been drinking lots of tea daily. Then I went into strictly herbal teas for a long time. I discovered that coffee didnāt cause a bad reaction, so I have one or two cups a day. I seem to be fine.
