Does quitting caffeine really help? It’s hard

[[Mi...]]

Please tell me your “no caffeine” success story… did it end up helping you with energy? 
I am in the process of quitting and the lack of energy during my usual 2pm coffee is discouraging me… I was drinking 36 to 48 ounces of coffee a day but due to some bad med decisions (tapering trazadone too fast) my nervous system got very sensitive and coffee started giving me panic attacks.  
if you care to read the rest of my story here it is - 
Due to a couple of bad decisions over the past year I’m stuck on a higher dose of medication than I’d like to be on.  Current meds are -

0.75 klonopin (at night) 

88 Trazadone (at night) 

70 Cymbalta (at night) 

I’ve struggled with daytime fatigue since I was prescribed benzos 12 years ago.  I’m currently holding and stabilizing and hope to be stable enough to begin tapering from 0.75 Klonopin in September.  June was a very rough month for me as I was in protracted withdrawals from reducing trazadone too quickly.  Coffee was giving me panic attacks.  I used to drink 36 to 48 ounces a day - it was how I coped with being on benzos.  Due to the panic attacks - I started reducing my coffee - I’m now down to 8 ounces of half caff a day.    I’ve been holding here for a week.  And probably plan to hold here a little longer.  Since I’m now NOT drinking more coffee when I feel a dip in energy, I see that I have a crash one or two hours after drinking the caffeine.  I’m hopeful this will mean eventually - NOT drinking caffeine will give me steady energy for the morning.   I’m not good at being patient. Perhaps this takes a while to take effect?  On the flip side - if extremely low energy is the new norm I’m hoping this will help when I taper… any advice is appreciated.  Thank you.  

[[Le...]]

Without a caffeine addiction you will have a more stable energy level without the highs and lows. Dont CT it. actually drink the same amount but hot watered down would be my recommendation. same ritual less caffeine. you will be very tired and headachy if you CT from a large dose. It will likely reduce your anxiety after away from it a while too. It wont be too hard either way but the ritual was hard for me to give up. 

[[Mi...]]

1 hour ago, [[L...] said:

Without a caffeine addiction you will have a more stable energy level without the highs and lows. Dont CT it. actually drink the same amount but hot watered down would be my recommendation. same ritual less caffeine. you will be very tired and headachy if you CT from a large dose. It will likely reduce your anxiety after away from it a while too. It wont be too hard either way but the ritual was hard for me to give up. 

Thank you - yes going very slow  thank you for the encouraging words 

[[be...]]

Yes it will help and if u do nicotine try to do less it also make feel worst. I vape dispossable ones they pretty strong so i take only when I need it. Yesterday I was feeling pretty good but then I buyed energy drink 0.5L. and I drink half of it and after 15-20minutes start feeling symptoms. Your body is now weak caffeine and nicotine is stimulant. 

[[Re...]]

Hello @[Mi...],

I had a bad smoking habit and I used to drink morbid amounts of coffee literally all day when I was taking benzodiazepines. This went on for years and I can tell you, it took a toll on me. I was tired all the time, had zero energy or motivation, I really was like a zombie, and the same time gave my issues with my blood pressure, pulse and acid reflux....

However, as my very rapid taper continued to I had to quit that lifestyle. As caffeine, just like nicotine made all my withdrawal symptoms a lot worse, I changed that habit from one day to another.

It was not easy to be honest and I craved that occasional double -or triple espresso with a cigarette, but I soon noticed that my sleep cycle is healthier than ever, I sleep better than I did and my daytime tiredness mostly disappeared. 

In my opinion, quitting caffeine is a good addition to a healthy lifestyle and definitely worth giving a shot. 

[[vo...]]

6 minutes ago, [[R...] said:

Hello @[Mi...],

I had a bad smoking habit and I used to drink morbid amounts of coffee literally all day when I was taking benzodiazepines. This went on for years and I can tell you, it took a toll on me. I was tired all the time, had zero energy or motivation, I really was like a zombie, and the same time gave my issues with my blood pressure, pulse and acid reflux....

However, as my very rapid taper continued to I had to quit that lifestyle. As caffeine, just like nicotine made all my withdrawal symptoms a lot worse, I changed that habit from one day to another.

It was not easy to be honest and I craved that occasional double -or triple espresso with a cigarette, but I soon noticed that my sleep cycle is healthier than ever, I sleep better than I did and my daytime tiredness mostly disappeared. 

In my opinion, quitting caffeine is a good addition to a healthy lifestyle and definitely worth giving a shot. 

@[Re...]Did you quit smoking in addition to the coffee? I want to know because I'm finding it hard to quit with all these withdrawal symptoms. 

[[Re...]]

@[vo...] Yes, I quit both all at once, I never smoked a cigarette or drank coffee again (this is, hmm, about 15 months ago). I tried wheat-based "coffee" but it tasted awful to be honest. 

I now excel at preparing herbal teas and living healthier actually gives me better vibes

[[Ma...]]

Coffee is considered healthy after decades of research: it has been shown to decrease the risk of several different types of cancer, improve insulin resistance, improve athletic performance, improve cardiac and liver function, and decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s dementia.  It can be difficult for people with certain heart conditions to drink too much however and can definitely worsen insomnia if you drink it late in the day. If you are getting off benzos, you may find it harder to drink as much, but personally I drink 3-4 cups a day and it’s fine. I certainly wouldn’t increase your intake while getting off benzos, but it may be fine to keep drinking it if you already do.  Your body has a tolerance to caffeine just like it does with any substance. 

Smoking is about the absolute worst thing anyone can do to their body.  If you can, any time is a good time to quit smoking.    

[[Ma...]]

Caffeine is actually neuroprotective, anti inflammatory, helps with cognition and blah, blah, blah.

Many people in w/d find it much too activating, others believe it helps with their debilitating fatigue.

If you find it’s causing you trouble maybe ‘taper’ it like you would a benzo-i.e. cutting the amount a little every few days. You already know that mindset so adopting it for stopping caffeine might be helpful.

Edited July 8 by [Ma...]

[[Mi...]]

4 hours ago, [[R...] said:

Hello @[Mi...],

I had a bad smoking habit and I used to drink morbid amounts of coffee literally all day when I was taking benzodiazepines. This went on for years and I can tell you, it took a toll on me. I was tired all the time, had zero energy or motivation, I really was like a zombie, and the same time gave my issues with my blood pressure, pulse and acid reflux....

However, as my very rapid taper continued to I had to quit that lifestyle. As caffeine, just like nicotine made all my withdrawal symptoms a lot worse, I changed that habit from one day to another.

It was not easy to be honest and I craved that occasional double -or triple espresso with a cigarette, but I soon noticed that my sleep cycle is healthier than ever, I sleep better than I did and my daytime tiredness mostly disappeared. 

In my opinion, quitting caffeine is a good addition to a healthy lifestyle and definitely worth giving a shot. 

@[Re...] thank you for the encouragement.  So despite being in the middle of your taper - since quitting coffee and smoking you feel like you have MORE energy? Is this correct? I had to rapidly decrease coffee as it was giving me panic attacks.  I am now at 4 ounces of half caff twice in the morning.    My struggle is late afternoon.  I’m soooo tired.  I’m Now trying to reduce the rest of the coffee very slowly as my nervous system has been through a lot this past year.  I read somewhere that tiredness in the evening happens when u r quitting coffee… now I don’t know where I read that.  But I keep telling myself this is a process - it will improve - I’ve been “holding” at this 8 ounces of half caff for only 10 days… in June I went through a lot of medication stuff - I don’t want to “taper” coffee too quickly as I still have a very sensitive nervous system.  I want to throw in towel and try a half caff in afternoons - but I can tell in the mornings after about one hour of having my 4 ounces of half caff I start to feel an energy dip - I WAS drinking 36 to 48 ounces of coffee a day - so I think I was experiencing a huge dip every day.  I did feel like a zombie a lot - I felt like I had to constantly keep drinking coffee - anyway - any other info about your experience that will inspire me to “stick it out” is appreciated thank you! 

[[Ma...]]

@[Mi...] You do know that fatigue, debilitating fatigue, is a symptom of w/d, yes? Jennifer Leigh has a recent blog post about it.

So, it could be more than just a dip from caffeine.

[[Mi...]]

For anyone following this thread - I never had a problem with coffee and panic attacks until I (unknowingly) was in trazadone withdrawal for about 3 months.

Ever since starting antidepressants and klonopin 12 years ago I have not been able to get through the day without a nap. I would crash after lunch and be so tired I wanted to cry.  But if I’m being honest - the crash happened whenever I stopped drinking my morning cups of coffee.   

 I don’t know - do I just “reduce my coffee”’ intake - or quit entirely - a lot of people say they have more energy once quitting - ack.  Hard to know what to do to be best functioning mom as I face tapering Klonopin & some trazadone 

TIA for any words of wisdom 

[[Mi...]]

5 minutes ago, [[M...] said:

@[Mi...] You do know that fatigue, debilitating fatigue, is a symptom of w/d, yes? Jennifer Leigh has a recent blog post about it.

So, it could be more than just a dip from caffeine.

Thank you @[Ma...] yes I think I’m recovering from a very tough year of interdose withdrawal; withdrawal that I didn’t realize was withdrawal (ugh); and a lot of this has only been resolved in past few weeks.  I’m tired but grateful to be in a stable place.  I have to remain a functioning mom in all of this - so not sure best step with caffeine.  Still holding where I am for now which is - 

70 cymbalta (at night) 

88 trazadone - at night 

0.75 klonopin - at night 

TIA for all the help! 

[[jo...]]

7 minutes ago, [[M...] said:

For anyone following this thread - I never had a problem with coffee and panic attacks until I (unknowingly) was in trazadone withdrawal for about 3 months.

Ever since starting antidepressants and klonopin 12 years ago I have not been able to get through the day without a nap. I would crash after lunch and be so tired I wanted to cry.  But if I’m being honest - the crash happened whenever I stopped drinking my morning cups of coffee.   

 I don’t know - do I just “reduce my coffee”’ intake - or quit entirely - a lot of people say they have more energy once quitting - ack.  Hard to know what to do to be best functioning mom as I face tapering Klonopin & some trazadone 

TIA for any words of wisdom 

How didn't you know you were in trazadone withdrawl?

[[Cr...]]

Millie, the main reason to test out quitting caffeine temporarily is to see if doing so decreases your panic attacks and energy crashes. If you find no improvements then I see no harm in going back to a reasonable amount of coffee a day.

You do not need to quit coffee/caffeine in order to heal from benzo withdrawal or whatnot. In fact, Dr. Ashton says she does not expect patients to give up coffee just for the sake of doing so.

After a couple weeks of being caffeine-free, you should be able to determine whether you are better off with or without caffeine in regards to your symptoms and nervous system. Your fatigue will increase during the caffeine withdrawal process, but your overall energy levels might be more stable once withdrawal is over.

[[Mi...]]

51 minutes ago, [[C...] said:

Millie, the main reason to test out quitting caffeine temporarily is to see if doing so decreases your panic attacks and energy crashes. If you find no improvements then I see no harm in going back to a reasonable amount of coffee a day.

You do not need to quit coffee/caffeine in order to heal from benzo withdrawal or whatnot. In fact, Dr. Ashton says she does not expect patients to give up coffee just for the sake of doing so.

After a couple weeks of being caffeine-free, you should be able to determine whether you are better off with or without caffeine in regards to your symptoms and nervous system. Your fatigue will increase during the caffeine withdrawal process, but your overall energy levels might be more stable once withdrawal is over.

Thank you as always for your words of wisdom @[Cr...]

[[Re...]]

@[Mi...] The only thing I recall, to be honest, ist what a huge relief it was when I quit these stimulants during my rapid taper. I don't remember fighting sleepiness - I was in acute withdrawal. 

My symptoms clearly worsened after a cup (chest pain, sensations etc.). I was actually surprised that such a heightened reaction to coffee is possible and I was disappointed what I have been causing to my body. After I quit coffee during my taper, my withdrawal symptoms clearly eased (both mental and physical ones). 

Now, after being caffeine and benzo free for a while, I do not have drops in energy and I definitely do sleep better. 

It is important to mention, that within a course of 6-7 months, I did radically change my diet and I do regular very light excersise as well - walking. It helped to get over many withdrawal symptoms initially, and might be part of the picture. I know, sometimes these changes are just not realistic for various reasons.

So, you might consider lowering your caffeine consumption slowly if you feel like it, and watch how it works for you - it might very well ease your symptoms Please, don't be discouraged if it doesn't do the trick initially, give some time for your body to adjust. It surely will! 

 

[[Mi...]]

6 hours ago, [[R...] said:

@[Mi...] The only thing I recall, to be honest, ist what a huge relief it was when I quit these stimulants during my rapid taper. I don't remember fighting sleepiness - I was in acute withdrawal. 

My symptoms clearly worsened after a cup (chest pain, sensations etc.). I was actually surprised that such a heightened reaction to coffee is possible and I was disappointed what I have been causing to my body. After I quit coffee during my taper, my withdrawal symptoms clearly eased (both mental and physical ones). 

Now, after being caffeine and benzo free for a while, I do not have drops in energy and I definitely do sleep better. 

It is important to mention, that within a course of 6-7 months, I did radically change my diet and I do regular very light excersise as well - walking. It helped to get over many withdrawal symptoms initially, and might be part of the picture. I know, sometimes these changes are just not realistic for various reasons.

So, you might consider lowering your caffeine consumption slowly if you feel like it, and watch how it works for you - it might very well ease your symptoms Please, don't be discouraged if it doesn't do the trick initially, give some time for your body to adjust. It surely will! 

Thank you so much @[Re...] - I appreciate the advice to be patient - not one of my best strengths :-)  thank you again 

xoxo 

megan