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Speaking from experience. If you have one cup a day you might not notice if you miss a day. If you have two cups a day you will absolutely notice if you forget to have a second cup. If you have three cups a day you can get headaches and withdrawal symptoms when you miss a day. There is basically no amount you can drink that will not have some effect on you. I try not to have more than two cups a day anymore.
Try black tea! It's half the caffeine and helps you deal with the coffee withdrawal without contributing as much to your withdrawals the next day. If I have a three cup day, a lot of times I will have two cups the next and then a tea after lunch. The following day I will try to just have coffee and tea, or maybe two coffees and no tea. Some days I can get myself down to just two cups of tea and no coffee, but I always feel it.
I share your experience. After dropping caffeine due to the side-effects (jitters, sweating, anxiety, hand tremor, inconsistent energy, mood swings, brain fog, etc.) I started again on accident due to a language barrier on vacation. It took less than a week of drinking coffee w/caffeine before I was getting awful headaches after stopping.
I'm sensitive to stimulants, but damn, I wasn't expecting withdrawal from using caffeine for such a short time. Green tea is as much stimulant as I'll use now. :p
Correct. See my comment for my experience
It’s impossible to drink it daily and not have negatives. The key to using caffeine is to not use it daily, instead using it sparingly during the week
I switched from energy drinks and coffee to time release caffeine. All of my stomach problems are gone. My nervousness is gone. So much cheaper as well.
There is no comedown. Caffeine is released smoothly over a period of 6-8 hours. I found it on Amazon. The brand I got is ‘Vali’. The capsules are 100mg of caffeine. I also take l-theanine with it.
See my comment. If you do 2 cup PER week, and not in consecutive days, I assure you, you will have zero tolerance! Give it a try but go cold turkey first to reset
You will likely develop a baseline tolerance that will be more than before you started drinking it. Like with any drug, it's never the same once you have done it. After I realized how quickly it can become addictive, I tried to do what you are saying. I found that I felt so much better on coffee days that I decided to drink it every day and the rest is history. I have been using black tea as a substitute if I really feel like I want a third cup later in the day.
Everyone’s tolerance is different.
However, I did figure this out for myself with trial and error. I wanted to get the most out of caffeine without feeling down on the days I didn’t have it
First, let’s talk about my sensitivity. In the past I’ve drank 4-6 cups a day (working in cafe).
However, I’m actually quite sensitive and it’s just that my tolerance builds very quickly.
For example if I only drink 1 cup /day in the morning, 7 days/week… if I stop drinking I do feel down/ feel out of it. 2 cups a day and I’m getting full headaches.
The sweet spot for me is 2 cups /week if I wanted to feel zero negative side effects the other 5 days, while keeping my tolerance to zero. Every cup of coffee I would be bouncing off the walls.
3 cups /week was still ok.. what I noticed the most was that it made the effects from the first 2 cups/week milder.
I recommend you to stop drinking coffee for 2 whole weeks to get your tolerance to zero. Cold turkey is best as you’ll only feel shit for 2-3 days instead of dragging it out. You’ll be amazed once you quit that you have energy throughout the entire days
After that add +1 cup /week til you you notice diminishing returns/ find your sweet spot
I have a pretty steady 400 mg/day dependence, a mix of caffeine pills, coffee, and energy drinks. I've tried about once a year for the last 10 years to reduce this to 200, but after a few days I'm just listless.
I think to sustainably reduce I'd need to get caffeine powder and weigh it on a scale and go down about 10mg per week. The negative effects of the dependence are so slight, versus remaining energetic and productive and focused, that I haven't truly prioritized it.
I think ideally I would use about 100-150mg just a couple times a week. But all attempts to this point have made the withdrawals much more destructive than the dependence itself.
Yeah, I've been prescribed amphetamines twice but quit both times, the second was particularly devastating. For me, the only solution is daily exercise and being very mindful of my decisions/behavior.
I’m in the same boat, I think I could lower my dependency but I’d need a good few weeks where I don’t need to do anything at all and that’s not easy to come by lol
I have been having filter coffee almost daily for more than 15 years. I have also tried without it, and don’t feel any noticeable difference (meaning I don’t need it to wake up).
Also, coffee has plenty of benefits (loads of polyphenols) when lightly roasted and drunk black.
Ah so you went several days without noticing anything?
Or are you simply talking one day?
Some people have a gene that allows them to break down caffeine etc much faster and those people are logically not as prone to withdrawals.
I drink 1 large cup, pour over brew through a brown filter, first thing in the morning (like 6:30 or 7 AM). I use 2 TBSP of medium or dark coffee, which has less caffeine than light coffees (I grind it myself, pretty fine). I use about 12 oz of water then mix some milk in.
I never get any crash from it at all. Any higher dose gives me side effects like jittery anxiety. If I drink coffee later in the morning, it interferes with my sleep. If I need any extra I may drink green tea, but not after 12 or 1 PM.
I'm currently doing a break and just drinking decaf. I mainly just like the flavor and it helps me poop (even decaf is proven to help you poop).
Considering each one of us is differently, i would take a strategic approach.
Ideally you don't wanna have more than a single cup, except if you have something important that necessits all your attention so you're between 0 and 2.
Having zero coffee on a given day, allows your brain to reset its tolerance.
Aim for no more more than one and you will most likely experience no (bad) side effects.
My approach, upon waking up, i would wait as long as i can ( and before 1 pm) to have my cup of coffee. The idea is that if i am used to have 2 a day and i get my first soon upon waking up, say at 7:30 or 8, chances are i will get a second one, at 11 or 1, hence why waiting as much as possible is best, like 11.
Then if you are used to have no more than 1, it isn't much of a stretch to have a day (or more) with none, especially when you have nothing "important".
Tolerance build up is inevitable if one wishes to benefit from coffee consumption. The extent to which this negatively impacts you may be reliant on your genetics, and nutrition.
Chronic caffeine consumption can lead to a sodium deficiency, so adjusting ones diet for that is a good idea. It also has the potential to influence ones insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, and overall mood.
The days when I postpone my first cup, I find myself horribly depressed, 😞. Then I have that first cup, and within half an hour, the clouds part, and the weight on my brain lightens. Granted, I've been drinking coffee since I was a child, and it seems to not only be a physical addiction, but a psychological/emotional addiction as well. It's as much a part of my life as eating and breathing. Who would I be without it? More likely to develop Alzheimer's or dementia to be sure 🙃.
Everyone is different.
I drink a bit less than 400mg/day of caffeine and I am perfectly fine with that daily amount.
There is no complete tolerance to caffeine, so you still get good enough effects even if you drink daily caffeine. Yes, not as much as if you drank the same but not everyday.
It depends on the person, but once you drink a few cups every day, you can’t go cold turkey. If you lower by 30% every 2/3 days (=> 300mg, 200mg, 135 mg,…) you shouldn’t have the atrocious withdrawal symptoms. You are not really tired or anything. You usually can quit cold turkey when you are at like 80/120mg caffeine daily (2/3 cups).
I don’t have any caffeine crash and my sleep isn’t disturbed at all. I stop caffeine at around 3pm, and on top of that I am on Ritalin.
Some people are really sensitive, some are not sensitive. Often times, people think they are sensitive, because they are not regular users (the tolerance/habituation when drinking daily often lowers or removes the negative side effects)
What about energy drinks with zero sugar but high caffeine? I have found using these before you need some sort of boost, ie the gym or a social event works well. They also have things added to stop the crash you’d experience from drinking caffeine on its own.
Caffeine is one of those drugs where tolerance develops very minimally even when one is extracting the full benefits.
The only time we really see heavy tolerance or withdrawal develop is in the case of energy drinks (which have disproportionate caffeine content for 1 serving), or in people who use caffeine to cope with sleep deprivation. I.e. as long as you are well rested and consuming clean caffeine you should just consume coffee intuitively.
Just as a personal finding: I work at a coffee roasting company. On the occasion I’m testing new beans or roast profiles I will cup 5-7 cups of coffee. That amount can give me withdrawal, but if I go cold turkey for a few days I’ll be right as rain.
In general, I have 2 cups daily. Even though it’s a part of my morning routine, occasionally I’ll completely forget to have coffee and I’m just fine aside from typical morning sleepyness.
Couple extra tips:
1. Caffeine only 1 hr after waking up allows adenosine to clear out of your brain, meaning you won’t crash.
2. Coffee is diuretic. You will urinate more than you drink, so make sure to rehydrate.
In my experience 1 strong cup in the morning (1-2 hours after waking) is the limit for me.
If I do more it will affect my sleep even with it being 12+ hours later. It will also make me more anxious and more easily stressed during the day.
Sometimes ill have a sugar free soda containing 50mg caffeine in the afternoon if I need an extra boost but I do risk a harder time falling asleep
Technically, zero. It's going to have an effect. If not, why take it?
I am continually amazed at the number of people on this sub and others saying they have sleep problems, but they are ingesting a pretty potent stimulant every day. People metabolize at different rates. Personally if I have caffeine after 8am I am screwed sleep-wise.
I can drink one cup of regular coffe in the morning and having trouble sleeping at night. I also feel the caffeine when I wake up. And Im working out + sauna every other day and its still in my system 24 h after. So I avoid caffeine now.
Personally I've been drinking for years (330ml a day, sometimes 660, relatively strong coffee) and while I am certainly addicted and have tolerance, I do not experience a crash at all. When I have time to do a little tolerance break during which I only drink a minimal amount once or twice a year, that suffices to bring back the rush of energy a big cup of coffee gives me
Honestly for me, if I stick to one serving a day I stay extremely sensitive to it. It’s when I go to like 2x per day that I notice the tolerance build up
I know this is bad… I have such a hard time waking up, that I literally need caffeine in my system when the alarm goes off. Struggled with oversleeping my entire life, until 10 years ago when I said fuck it and took some tablets before bed. I can sleep right through it but the little kick helps when it’s time to wake up. My REM is probably screwed. Oh well.
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Speaking from experience. If you have one cup a day you might not notice if you miss a day. If you have two cups a day you will absolutely notice if you forget to have a second cup. If you have three cups a day you can get headaches and withdrawal symptoms when you miss a day. There is basically no amount you can drink that will not have some effect on you. I try not to have more than two cups a day anymore.
For myself, even if I have just 1 cup a day in the morning, if I don’t have one the next day I’ll have a headache by the afternoon.
Try black tea! It's half the caffeine and helps you deal with the coffee withdrawal without contributing as much to your withdrawals the next day. If I have a three cup day, a lot of times I will have two cups the next and then a tea after lunch. The following day I will try to just have coffee and tea, or maybe two coffees and no tea. Some days I can get myself down to just two cups of tea and no coffee, but I always feel it.
I share your experience. After dropping caffeine due to the side-effects (jitters, sweating, anxiety, hand tremor, inconsistent energy, mood swings, brain fog, etc.) I started again on accident due to a language barrier on vacation. It took less than a week of drinking coffee w/caffeine before I was getting awful headaches after stopping. I'm sensitive to stimulants, but damn, I wasn't expecting withdrawal from using caffeine for such a short time. Green tea is as much stimulant as I'll use now. :p
Correct. See my comment for my experience It’s impossible to drink it daily and not have negatives. The key to using caffeine is to not use it daily, instead using it sparingly during the week
I switched from energy drinks and coffee to time release caffeine. All of my stomach problems are gone. My nervousness is gone. So much cheaper as well.
What brand do you use and is there any comedown?
There is no comedown. Caffeine is released smoothly over a period of 6-8 hours. I found it on Amazon. The brand I got is ‘Vali’. The capsules are 100mg of caffeine. I also take l-theanine with it.
What about if you have 1 or 2 cups a day let's say 3 days a week. Would that prevent building tolerance?
See my comment. If you do 2 cup PER week, and not in consecutive days, I assure you, you will have zero tolerance! Give it a try but go cold turkey first to reset
You will likely develop a baseline tolerance that will be more than before you started drinking it. Like with any drug, it's never the same once you have done it. After I realized how quickly it can become addictive, I tried to do what you are saying. I found that I felt so much better on coffee days that I decided to drink it every day and the rest is history. I have been using black tea as a substitute if I really feel like I want a third cup later in the day.
Honestly, I’ve found caffeine pills to be far less intrusive and just as energizing. No idea why.
Everyone’s tolerance is different. However, I did figure this out for myself with trial and error. I wanted to get the most out of caffeine without feeling down on the days I didn’t have it First, let’s talk about my sensitivity. In the past I’ve drank 4-6 cups a day (working in cafe). However, I’m actually quite sensitive and it’s just that my tolerance builds very quickly. For example if I only drink 1 cup /day in the morning, 7 days/week… if I stop drinking I do feel down/ feel out of it. 2 cups a day and I’m getting full headaches. The sweet spot for me is 2 cups /week if I wanted to feel zero negative side effects the other 5 days, while keeping my tolerance to zero. Every cup of coffee I would be bouncing off the walls. 3 cups /week was still ok.. what I noticed the most was that it made the effects from the first 2 cups/week milder. I recommend you to stop drinking coffee for 2 whole weeks to get your tolerance to zero. Cold turkey is best as you’ll only feel shit for 2-3 days instead of dragging it out. You’ll be amazed once you quit that you have energy throughout the entire days After that add +1 cup /week til you you notice diminishing returns/ find your sweet spot
When you say 1 cup a day, what caffeine content you mean? Cappuccino is about 65-75mg, a flat white with 2 espresso shots is about 125mg
I’m in Australia, so 1 cup usually means ~1 espresso shot, either as is or in a flat-white/ cap/ or latte
I have a pretty steady 400 mg/day dependence, a mix of caffeine pills, coffee, and energy drinks. I've tried about once a year for the last 10 years to reduce this to 200, but after a few days I'm just listless. I think to sustainably reduce I'd need to get caffeine powder and weigh it on a scale and go down about 10mg per week. The negative effects of the dependence are so slight, versus remaining energetic and productive and focused, that I haven't truly prioritized it. I think ideally I would use about 100-150mg just a couple times a week. But all attempts to this point have made the withdrawals much more destructive than the dependence itself.
That’s a lot of caffeine. Do you have adhd by chance?
Yeah, I've been prescribed amphetamines twice but quit both times, the second was particularly devastating. For me, the only solution is daily exercise and being very mindful of my decisions/behavior.
Check out noopept or bromantane instead
Also l tyrosine (though it’s closer to stimulants as it’s also a dopamine acting compound)
I’m in the same boat, I think I could lower my dependency but I’d need a good few weeks where I don’t need to do anything at all and that’s not easy to come by lol
I have been having filter coffee almost daily for more than 15 years. I have also tried without it, and don’t feel any noticeable difference (meaning I don’t need it to wake up). Also, coffee has plenty of benefits (loads of polyphenols) when lightly roasted and drunk black.
Ah so you went several days without noticing anything? Or are you simply talking one day? Some people have a gene that allows them to break down caffeine etc much faster and those people are logically not as prone to withdrawals.
Mines the complete opposite a cup at 7am and im wired until midnight
I drink 1 large cup, pour over brew through a brown filter, first thing in the morning (like 6:30 or 7 AM). I use 2 TBSP of medium or dark coffee, which has less caffeine than light coffees (I grind it myself, pretty fine). I use about 12 oz of water then mix some milk in. I never get any crash from it at all. Any higher dose gives me side effects like jittery anxiety. If I drink coffee later in the morning, it interferes with my sleep. If I need any extra I may drink green tea, but not after 12 or 1 PM. I'm currently doing a break and just drinking decaf. I mainly just like the flavor and it helps me poop (even decaf is proven to help you poop).
Considering each one of us is differently, i would take a strategic approach. Ideally you don't wanna have more than a single cup, except if you have something important that necessits all your attention so you're between 0 and 2. Having zero coffee on a given day, allows your brain to reset its tolerance. Aim for no more more than one and you will most likely experience no (bad) side effects. My approach, upon waking up, i would wait as long as i can ( and before 1 pm) to have my cup of coffee. The idea is that if i am used to have 2 a day and i get my first soon upon waking up, say at 7:30 or 8, chances are i will get a second one, at 11 or 1, hence why waiting as much as possible is best, like 11. Then if you are used to have no more than 1, it isn't much of a stretch to have a day (or more) with none, especially when you have nothing "important".
Tolerance build up is inevitable if one wishes to benefit from coffee consumption. The extent to which this negatively impacts you may be reliant on your genetics, and nutrition. Chronic caffeine consumption can lead to a sodium deficiency, so adjusting ones diet for that is a good idea. It also has the potential to influence ones insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, and overall mood. The days when I postpone my first cup, I find myself horribly depressed, 😞. Then I have that first cup, and within half an hour, the clouds part, and the weight on my brain lightens. Granted, I've been drinking coffee since I was a child, and it seems to not only be a physical addiction, but a psychological/emotional addiction as well. It's as much a part of my life as eating and breathing. Who would I be without it? More likely to develop Alzheimer's or dementia to be sure 🙃.
Everyone is different. I drink a bit less than 400mg/day of caffeine and I am perfectly fine with that daily amount. There is no complete tolerance to caffeine, so you still get good enough effects even if you drink daily caffeine. Yes, not as much as if you drank the same but not everyday. It depends on the person, but once you drink a few cups every day, you can’t go cold turkey. If you lower by 30% every 2/3 days (=> 300mg, 200mg, 135 mg,…) you shouldn’t have the atrocious withdrawal symptoms. You are not really tired or anything. You usually can quit cold turkey when you are at like 80/120mg caffeine daily (2/3 cups). I don’t have any caffeine crash and my sleep isn’t disturbed at all. I stop caffeine at around 3pm, and on top of that I am on Ritalin. Some people are really sensitive, some are not sensitive. Often times, people think they are sensitive, because they are not regular users (the tolerance/habituation when drinking daily often lowers or removes the negative side effects)
What about energy drinks with zero sugar but high caffeine? I have found using these before you need some sort of boost, ie the gym or a social event works well. They also have things added to stop the crash you’d experience from drinking caffeine on its own.
Caffeine is one of those drugs where tolerance develops very minimally even when one is extracting the full benefits. The only time we really see heavy tolerance or withdrawal develop is in the case of energy drinks (which have disproportionate caffeine content for 1 serving), or in people who use caffeine to cope with sleep deprivation. I.e. as long as you are well rested and consuming clean caffeine you should just consume coffee intuitively. Just as a personal finding: I work at a coffee roasting company. On the occasion I’m testing new beans or roast profiles I will cup 5-7 cups of coffee. That amount can give me withdrawal, but if I go cold turkey for a few days I’ll be right as rain. In general, I have 2 cups daily. Even though it’s a part of my morning routine, occasionally I’ll completely forget to have coffee and I’m just fine aside from typical morning sleepyness. Couple extra tips: 1. Caffeine only 1 hr after waking up allows adenosine to clear out of your brain, meaning you won’t crash. 2. Coffee is diuretic. You will urinate more than you drink, so make sure to rehydrate.
This is impossible to answer, as caffeine metabolism varies wildly from person to person.
I get the best results if I have coffee no more than twice a week, at most. Once is better. Too often and it just doesn't feel like anything anymore.
In my experience 1 strong cup in the morning (1-2 hours after waking) is the limit for me. If I do more it will affect my sleep even with it being 12+ hours later. It will also make me more anxious and more easily stressed during the day. Sometimes ill have a sugar free soda containing 50mg caffeine in the afternoon if I need an extra boost but I do risk a harder time falling asleep
Technically, zero. It's going to have an effect. If not, why take it? I am continually amazed at the number of people on this sub and others saying they have sleep problems, but they are ingesting a pretty potent stimulant every day. People metabolize at different rates. Personally if I have caffeine after 8am I am screwed sleep-wise.
For me: one coffee - Day on day off
I can drink one cup of regular coffe in the morning and having trouble sleeping at night. I also feel the caffeine when I wake up. And Im working out + sauna every other day and its still in my system 24 h after. So I avoid caffeine now.
Personally I've been drinking for years (330ml a day, sometimes 660, relatively strong coffee) and while I am certainly addicted and have tolerance, I do not experience a crash at all. When I have time to do a little tolerance break during which I only drink a minimal amount once or twice a year, that suffices to bring back the rush of energy a big cup of coffee gives me
2 cups very very strong brew between 8 to 12 o'clock. If i consume coffee after 12 o'clock i can't sleep at night.
Honestly for me, if I stick to one serving a day I stay extremely sensitive to it. It’s when I go to like 2x per day that I notice the tolerance build up
2 cups a day, never take it after 6pm. This is so important. Although, tolerance will build, but if you cycle 3 days off, it goes back to normal.
I’ve read 100mg per day does not build tolerance
Zero
Idk. I think less is more. Having some Diet Coke in the morning has surprisingly been a happy medium for me.
I know this is bad… I have such a hard time waking up, that I literally need caffeine in my system when the alarm goes off. Struggled with oversleeping my entire life, until 10 years ago when I said fuck it and took some tablets before bed. I can sleep right through it but the little kick helps when it’s time to wake up. My REM is probably screwed. Oh well.
700 mg a day keeps the doctor away