Have you ever tried to quit caffeine

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Served

So last semester, I did a little experiment with myself after reading about a study done by NASA some years ago. To summarize the study, spiders were injected with various drugs including marijuana, LSD, cocaine, and caffeine, and were then sent off to go make webs. What they found surprising was that the spider that was high on caffeine made the most messed up webs compared to the ones that were high on what we humans consider more dangerous drugs (like cocaine or LSD).
http://www.kscience.co.uk/resources/ks3/drugs/spider_experiments.htm

So after reading about this experiment, I actually stopped my intake of caffeine altogether for an entire semester just to see what happens. The results were quite the opposite, and I actually saw a noticeable decline in my clarify of thought. I also found myself more nervous and anxious most of the time. Didn't work out quite well. Did anyone try quitting caffeine? How did it turn out?
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I stopped drinking the 2-3 cups of coffee I had started. Aside from the initial headaches, no real problems noted here. I don't think I'm any more or less tired than before.

I do still drink an occasional soda or iced tea though, so I haven't completely given up caffeine.
 
I gave it up for a few weeks, didn't notice any health benefits. After realizing that I still wanted to drink caffeinated beverages, I abandoned the experiment.
 
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I had horrible headaches for about the first week then after that I didn't really notice. This was about 3 years ago. During the summer I am an avid ice tea drinker, but I don't drink any other caffeinated beverage the rest of the year besides a soda every now and again.
 
I have never really consumed a lot of caffeine.
 
I may make my family buy me a coffee maker for med school however.
 
Never.

If I had a choice, I would have my RBC's let go of that silly oxygen they're carrying and load up on more caffeine. But those loser cells never consider any of my recommendations.

Time to schedule a meeting with my leukocytes.
 
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Tried. Emphasis on the -ed part.
 
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I drink about 5 cups of coffee a day. It started a year or so back when I was training a competitive sport all day; needed something to keep me going. Now that I'm in school, I don't want to risk stopping.
 
I was chugging 5-hour energy drinks while studying for the MCAT. After the exam was over, I quit. I was sick as hell for a week with migraines. It was quite dumb to quit without tapering...
 
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Never started on coffee or tea. I'm concerned about my brother, though. He'll drink a cup of iced coffee at like 8pm.
 
I.m quitting now. I was up over 150oz/day of soda. Down to 2 cans a day this week and hurting
 
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I only drink one, maybe two per day. Unless I have an overnight shift, then I'll drink 3 or 4.
 
Served said:
So last semester, I did a little experiment with myself after reading about a study done by NASA some years ago. To summarize the study, spiders were injected with various drugs including marijuana, LSD, cocaine, and caffeine, and were then sent off to go make webs. What they found surprising was that the spider that was high on caffeine made the most messed up webs compared to the ones that were high on what we humans consider more dangerous drugs (like cocaine or LSD).
Click to expand...

This may come as a surprise to you but LSD is actually quite harmless despite its strong hallucinatory effects. It's as safe as marijuana (which is already quite harmless) but even less (mentally) addictive than it. We've just been conditioned to believe LSD is some hardcore drug with extremely damaging effects. There are actually no long term effects of LSD use and it is definitely MUCH safer than Caffeine.


Anyway to answer your question, I have never accustomed to drinking a daily morning coffee but I would consume caffeine regularly through the preworkout supps I used to take (~4 times/week). I then decided to go stim free and quite all caffeine beverages cold turkey. Never had any withdrawal symptoms whatsoever.
 
I own three different coffee makers (French press, drip, pour over), a hand grinder, a coffee scale, and a programmable kettle for getting the water to exactly 200*. So no and I'm afraid to try :D
 
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Is caffeine actually bad, though? From a ton of studies, I keep seeing health benefits coupled with temporary increase in blood pressure.
 
Drinking my super fancy Indian monsoon coffee beans right now... But to answer, yes, I've thought about quitting when I stopped getting a buzz. That lasted all of four days then I returned to the habit.

I'm probably drinking, on average, 5-6 cups of coffee per day. Been doing this for the last year or so. After the MCAT ends, I may taper a bit..
 
type12 said:
Is caffeine actually bad, though? From a ton of studies, I keep seeing health benefits coupled with temporary increase in blood pressure.
Click to expand...

Honestly, its been somewhat arbitrary in research; some claim its black death, others declare it the magical elixir of life. Due to its stimulant effect, I'm sure some people should avoid it; point in case, the brilliant de Balsac seemed to add "copious amounts of black coffee" on the list of stress on his already burdened heart.
 
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Is this the study you are talking about?

 
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I only drink coffee for clutch time, all nighters, late nighters and the aftermath.

I've lowered my soda intake by a lot. Maybe one every other week or one every week. I did that because of all the sugar though. I wanted to eat healthier. Around the same time I became a vegetarian for similar health reasons (and ethical too).


Becoming a vegetarian made me SO MUCH more energetic. As long as you manage your proteins and eat balanced I would say my lifestyle is noticeably superior than before I became a vegetarian. I can run on less sleep, feel lighter, feel healthier, my skin is cleaner and healthier, I feel less stressed, and i don't feel guilty when I order dessett ;).

10/10 would recommend and this is coming from someone who loves their steak and lambchops.
 
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I drink a weekly latte and redbull zero. Casual drinker I guess.
 
Served said:
So last semester, I did a little experiment with myself after reading about a study done by NASA some years ago. To summarize the study, spiders were injected with various drugs including marijuana, LSD, cocaine, and caffeine, and were then sent off to go make webs. What they found surprising was that the spider that was high on caffeine made the most messed up webs compared to the ones that were high on what we humans consider more dangerous drugs (like cocaine or LSD).

So after reading about this experiment, I actually stopped my intake of caffeine altogether for an entire semester just to see what happens. The results were quite the opposite, and I actually saw a noticeable decline in my clarify of thought. I also found myself more nervous and anxious most of the time. Didn't work out quite well. Did anyone try quitting caffeine? How did it turn out?
Click to expand...

Would you be surprised if you discovered that the physiological differences between humans and spiders were great? Also, I work at NASA. Why in the world would we be doing this? Boredom since the space program was shut-down? Reference!
 
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hubriz said:
Would you be surprised if you discovered that the physiological differences between humans and spiders were great? Also, I work at NASA. Why in the world would we be doing this? Boredom since the space program was shut-down? Reference!
Click to expand...
Yes, I do understand that arachnid physiology is different from that of a human, and that's why I did the experiment with myself in the first place. I wanted to see how my body (a human) would react upon a long time removal of caffeine from my system. I was asking people if they had a similar experience after stop taking caffeine.

I edited the first post, and posted the link to the study if you're curious. And by the way, NASA doesn't only carry out aerospace research. I'm surprised that you didn't know that especially if you work at NASA.
 
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BrownyLover said:
Caffeine has nothing on me. I used to drink 4-5 cups a day to help me wake up at 6 am. Now I can get up at like 9 am. Quit coffee and no effects.


Now brownies.... Yummmm
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You again! I've seen some other posts of yours - you... LITERALLY... love brownies don't you? Is this your thang?
 
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I did the opposite. As a teen, I held the misguided belief that caffeine had negative health effects, so I avoided it except for the occasional Coke. I trained myself to pull up to 3 all-nighters in one week (no more than 2 consecutive) without caffeine.
In college, I read some of the research on the subject (spurred by a Cracked article...thank you Cracked!) and realized that I was only making things harder for myself. I then started using 5hr energy and drinking tea as a conscious decision during late-to-all-night studying sessions. Unfortunately, I never seemed to have one on hand when I needed (though the college had free tea everywhere, which helped), so I started looking around for alternatives. I hate coffee, and if anything it is more difficult to find and make when you're tired and everyone else is in bed, plus people can get really picky about their coffee. Also expensive. Finally, I settled on caffeine pills - a known dose available in large quantity for low cost, which I can keep in my bag to have available at any unanticipated time. I now have 200-400mg of caffeine (less than a small Starbucks - medium Starbucks) once every week or so. I cut out soda entirely, though, so my caffeine intake is probably less than in HS...but I am using it more consciously and effectively than when my intake was tied to my beverage cravings.
 
Served said:
So last semester, I did a little experiment with myself after reading about a study done by NASA some years ago. To summarize the study, spiders were injected with various drugs including marijuana, LSD, cocaine, and caffeine, and were then sent off to go make webs. What they found surprising was that the spider that was high on caffeine made the most messed up webs compared to the ones that were high on what we humans consider more dangerous drugs (like cocaine or LSD).
http://www.kscience.co.uk/resources/ks3/drugs/spider_experiments.htm

So after reading about this experiment, I actually stopped my intake of caffeine altogether for an entire semester just to see what happens. The results were quite the opposite, and I actually saw a noticeable decline in my clarify of thought. I also found myself more nervous and anxious most of the time. Didn't work out quite well. Did anyone try quitting caffeine? How did it turn out?
Click to expand...
There was a correlational study done that suggested caffeine may act as a natural antidepressant (adenosine receptor antagonist I believe). Not surprised to hear it had those effects. I tried to quit once. I think I made it 3 days.

And since we are talking about coffee, what are the favorites on here ? I vote dunkin donuts.
 
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Guys you can pretty much make a study say anything. The right protocol, massaging of the data and interpretation can make all the difference. Drink it if you want to stay awake but don't pretend like it's some sort of miracle drug. Leave that to Dr. Oz.
 
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Psai said:
Guys you can pretty much make a study say anything. The right protocol, massaging of the data and interpretation can make all the difference. Drink it if you want to stay awake but don't pretend like it's some sort of miracle drug. Leave that to Dr. Oz.
Click to expand...

We've got a ID physician who's been collecting data on jellybean color discrimination over the past 5 years - all the beans placed in a bowl have the same sweet tase but 15 different colors. tbh, haven't heard from him in a while, but I've been curious if he actually pulled off getting it published.
 
Also, BrownyLover, I just wanted to comment that I have never seen the singular 'Browny' spelt that way and am intrigued.
 
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I don't understand why anyone would do that study. It's not like it tells you much. We are drastically different than spiders, and I don't think first exposure means anything. For all we know we forgot we got hyper the first time we had caffeine but that disappears with habitual drinking.
 
OP, it's probably because the amount of caffeine didn't have the same affect as the amount it takes to "wake us up" mentally and focus. The equivalent amount for humans would prob be the amount that almost causes heart palpitations. Lol.

Research has also shown that 1 cup of coffee and exercising at 65-80% max heart rate an hour later can help mobilize and burn fats. So, I think there's actually more good than bad. Coffee is awesome. I drink the strong stuff.
 
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If you injected yourself with a bunch of molecular grade caffeine, you would probably start spinning a weird spider web too. I've read papers suggesting caffeine can reduce your risk for Alzheimer's. Just drink it in moderation and you'll be fine.
 
BrownyLover said:
No silly, hydrogel brownies sounds gross. I quit bc they didn't give me brownies everyday.
Click to expand...

Two reasons why I love you: Your delicious brownie avatar and your ability to tie in brownies to your posts.
 
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Caffeine always just made me sleepy and I don't really drink it much. The last time I had a triple shot moca expresso and I just took a 3 hour nap.

So yes, tried and quit.
 
CarlosDanger said:
If you injected yourself with a bunch of molecular grade caffeine, you would probably start spinning a weird spider web too. I've read papers suggesting caffeine can reduce your risk for Alzheimer's. Just drink it in moderation and you'll be fine.
Click to expand...

Moderate doses can also reduce risk for heart-disease apparently. That injecting sounds like serious junky business though :p.
 
mrh125 said:
Caffeine always just made me sleepy and I don't really drink it much. The last time I had a triple shot moca expresso and I just took a 3 hour nap.

So yes, tried and quit.
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You probably drank 75% milk and 25% actual coffee. All that tryptophan probably counter acted the caffeine
 
Served said:
You probably drank 75% milk and 25% actual coffee. All that tryptophan probably counter acted the caffeine
Click to expand...
There's actually a study recently that showed milk with tea basically removed all the benefits. Not directly related to caffeine, but caffeine-ish. I'm very proud to posit this idea before this study, based on my knowledge of caseins, so I always drank my coffee black. It's always nice to feel like your grasp of science is awesome.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070108191523.htm
 
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