I'm on day 5 of no coffee. I've just come off this binge of having Starbucks 3 to 4 times a day for a month and a half straight. I also work out 6 days a week, but for the past couple of days I've been feeling weaker after the gym and my anxiety is out of control. I thought I might be dehydrated but now I'm thinking it might be caffeine withdrawal? I just don't want to make a trip to the doctor if I don't have to since I have crappy insurance. How long does caffeine withdrawal usually last?
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4 responses so far ↓
1 kfaulk211 // Jul 29, 2008
Serious health problems are very rare when it comes to caffeine withdrawal, which is a real thing. But it's nothing like, oh, say heroin withdrawal… you'll be ok.
Quitting coffee "cold turkey" can cause mild to severe headaches as well as nausea, anxiety, fatigue and depression, lasting for several days. One method to avoid this is to gradually decrease the amount of coffee you drink by 50% each day. Another way is to keep to your usual number of cups and gradually increase the amount of decaf until it reaches 100%.
But if you've gone 5 days now without it, you should be over it soon. It might not hurt to intake a little caffeine just to lessen the withdrawal symptoms, but you should be fine after another day or two.
2 gkchuchie // Jul 29, 2008
When I stopped caffeine cold turkey, it took me a couple of weeks to feel normal again. I thought I was having an anxiety attack and went to the doctor. Told me it was caffeine withdrawal. Doctor suggested having a cup of tea or a diet soda in the morning. But only one as I was drinking way too much coffee.
3 mpolly7 // Jul 29, 2008
Hey there, I was in the same situation as you. I was drinking anywhere from 6 to 12 caffinated drinks a day and I went throuh the same thing as you.
Caffine withdrawl is in no way an easy thing, and it can take upwards of months to get over.
Hang in there, the hard part is nearly over!!
Hope I helped.
4 sarah_moon_60 // Jul 29, 2008
You are pretty much over the worst of it make sure you are replacing the coffee with lots of liquids. It was harder for me to kick caffeine then it was to quit smoking after 30 years. Your body will thank you in the end for this. After a week the headaches and such go away but the end of week 2 you should have more energy and not the nervous kind that caffeine produced.