Caffeine Withdrawl and Addiction

I've been addicted to caffeine for a few years now, sometimes drinking up to 400ml of caffeine a day. I've tried to quit caffeine cold turkey, I've been good for 2.5 weeks, but even after the supposed 5-9 days that one would feel "withdrawal symptoms," I've felt extremely depressed, and have major headaches. I had a relapse, and I decided to drink an energy drink which had 180ml of caffeine in it, and now I feel fine, and like my "normal" self. What do I do? I've been consuming caffeine like this during a crucial time in brain development, am I permanently fuarrrked for life now? I need to consume a product to feel "normal," pic rel is me now... Has anyone gotten anything out of caffeine pills, or has a good, tested method to wean off?

Switch to Modafinil or Adrafinil in the morning for a week or two, then stop taking them.

>400ml of caffeine >180ml of caffeine mg?

i feel ya here. not only am i addicted to the caffeine, i love the taste of black coffee and crave it frequently throughout the day. ive been thinking about going cold turkey with it but i dont know if i can.

>>9343 >>9349 I've been there and it's hard. Never known a single person successfully wean themselves off caffeine (or nicotine for that matter) although that's not to say it isn't possible. I wouldn't recommend pills, generally making your addiction more convenient doesn't help you quit. Like all addictive substances the effects are two categories: physical and mental. The physical effects will pass and that's the thing you always have to remember, that things will be better one day. As for the headaches, over the counter pills for headaches have worked wonders for me, but as for the energy you just have to deal with it, like you would a bad hangover. It's all about conviction, if you want your life to improve then you have to be the one to improve it. As for the mental, the good news is you're probably not fuarrrked for life. The brain's pretty resilient and given enough time (which may be slower than you want) it'll repair itself piece by piece. One day your new normal will be just as you were intended and if you touch caffeine again you'll realize how powerful and psychoactive of a drug it is considering how normalized it is in society. Craving's suck, as a former caffeine addict and someone who experiences nicotine cravings years later (I didn't use in the first place) it's all about time and conviction. Part of the reason it's so hard is because you make it out to be hard. Quitting isn't hard. Quitting literally means all you have to do is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Whenever you feel the desire to have some, thinking and doting on that thought won't help you, it's hard but try and distract yourself (hopefully without substituting addictions) and slowly it'll get easier and easier. The ease of stopping is all a matter of perception if you make it easier for you to succeed, like getting rid of all sources of caffeine in the house, you can do it. If cravings/withdraws hit really hard think of it like a passing cold or flu, take time away to rest and relax and do stuff to dull your mind for a while (meditation if you're into that) and then gather yourself up and continue on with your day. Sorry that is kinda long, good luck

This is how I quit, I generally drank three to five cups of coffee a day. Basically just tapering >three cups of black tea for two weeks >two cups for a week >one cup for a week After this, I had no withdrawal symptoms whatsoever. I began drinking coffee and energy drinks at 11 yo and I quit at 18. I did this few months ago and I have not consumed any caffeine to my knowledge since.

>>9350 I have successfully quit nicotine (20 a day smoker for 4 years down to quitting completely over the course of 3 months) and am currently trying to quit caffeine. Imo the biggest thing you have to do to be successful is identify the triggering behavior that leads to partaking and eliminate them from your routine as much as possible and then find a good tapering method for the maintenance use that's left over and find a substitution that you actually like, or if you can't get that one that you don't notice. i.e. for me when I quit smoking I spent the first month of attempts really struggling and relapsed a few times until I had produced a list of things that tended to happen before I had a cigarette without feeling a craving, things like whether or not I could see cigarettes on my desk at work or not come break time, the order I did things in after coming home from work, whether or not I had breakfast that morning etc. and slowly worked out those bits as much as possible. Then I looked at how many times I was now smoking as basic maintenance and when in the day it happened, because I would feel bad if I didn't and spaced out my nicotine replacement product use around those times. Finding good replacements is imo also super important, vaping and gum were both terrible for me (I think vaping actually caused me to smoke more when I came off of it) as was the little inhalator thing but lozenges and patches worked perfectly. Quitting caffeine has definitely been harder, I am a diet coke fiend and my triggering behaviours and use times are basically everything and always, but I've at least cut down a bit