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Comment by inertiatic | Hacker News Reader

The author makes caffeine sound like a super power. I wish I could experience that even for a little bit.

I drink a lot of coffee (I think I average 4 or 5 quadruple espresso shots a day right now) but it does nothing for me physiologically. I don't feel like it wakes me up, it doesn't make me procrastinate less or focus more, it doesn't keep me from sleeping (I'll regularly drink a quad shot after a full day before going to bed).

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> I wish I could experience that even for a little bit.

You can, you just have to reset your tolerance for it.

I've gone off coffee for months multiple times. I went through a tea phase a year ago, there are summer months where I'll drink almost no coffee at all.

I didn't experience any withdrawal symptoms, ever.

And drinking coffee again after that still does nothing for me.

I even bought caffeine pills to see if I could actually get any of the benefits if I stacked these with my high coffee consumption. I think I got up to taking 5-6 200mg pills on top of drinking all the coffee I usually do, didn't notice anything and chickened out of taking any more.

I'm with you. I like the taste of bitter coffee, so unlikely to stop anytime. But I have never felt more energy from it. Drives me wife crazy, as I can have a full cup before bed rather easily. Indeed, I almost feel like it helps me get to sleep easier. (Which sabotages if I try and drink some to wake up and focus, as it is way more likely to make me need a nap.)

Yeah, you’re just addicted (no offense) and have a high tolerance. You’re now feeding the tolerance when you drink it, not having enough to get “wired” or whatever. Give it a rest for a few weeks and then see what happens when you have some. The first week at least probably won’t be super fun.

I'm basically in the same boat with them. I don't think I'm addicted, there are months where I don't drink any coffee, and I have zero withdrawal symptoms. And I can get back to 10-15 cups a day right away after 3 months, and taking naps after the cups like nothing. (Except I would go to bathroom more, of course)

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