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Comment by drenvuk | Hacker News Reader

Cold turkey.

1. Quit caffeine on a Thursday and take the day off on Friday (optional).

2. Go for a hike on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. (optional but recommended)

3. Each day you need to force yourself to try and focus on programming as well. You should get something - anything - committed into the repo you're working in. Motivation and your mental state is one thing that you need to train while you're at your nadir. When you get your energy back it'll seem like you were never on caffeine in the first place.

4. On each of those days take a nap any damn time you please. Take pain killers if you must.

Come Monday you should be at about 80%-90%. Enjoy your freedom.

I've used this technique twice after trying to transition unsuccessfully a few times before. Been off it for 7ish months now. Good luck, friend.

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Coming from the coffee industry this comment is mostly the best steps I read so far. It's common for coffee professionals to quit coffee for 10-15 days 2-3 times a year. It is mostly in your own head. I went cold turkey and did not missed it at all, other times it was feeling like hell but it was worth it.

Maybe we all react differently to the chemical, but "mostly in your head" is also how I'd describe it. Personally, I don't have a problem not enjoying my routine morning cup. It's preferable, but I've never had "actual" withdrawal symptoms like described above.

I can't just have a morning cup without it escalating into something like 10 cups a day.

Then suddenly not enjoying those is a different story from yanking away the morning cup.

Just no. Don't think about this. It's not just headaches that come with caffeine withdrawal. The muscle pain is real, very real. Taper it off.

A hot tub helps the muscle pain.

I find it takes more like a week to fully get rid of the headaches and tiredness. The real challenge comes the next time I get extremely busy - its hard to not reach for the crutch

Jesus, don't take painkillers...but definitely do things that increase dopamine etc the days following. Read that as you will.

Think they meant OTC pain relievers (Advil, Tylenol, etc) which will help with the headaches/body aches.

But if they didn’t, don’t use an addictive substance to come off of another addictive substance. You might just transfer that addiction.

Unfortunately, it can take as long as two weeks to recover, and the withdrawal can keep ramping up for several days.

Here is an example of something.

The last time I quit caffeine, I went for a piddly little four mile run on day five or six. This is something I'm more than accustomed to as a regular runner. Moreover, I ran it at a snail's pace. Yet, the next day, my entire body was sore: arms, shoulders, back, abdominals, not to mention legs: calves, quads, shins, everything. It was worse than after having run a marathon. The soreness almost a week to completely dissipate.

It's not just your brain that is used to the caffeine, but your entire body.

Basically, two weeks of plodding through a fog, with a heavy body.

> Take pain killers if you must.

Just, obviously, avoid anything with caffeine, like Excedrin.

This is almost exactly how I stopped too

One addition:

Diet - put good, clean foods in your system. Blueberries, avocados, leafy greens, walnuts, etc.

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