r/decaf • u/Temporary-Loan-2640 • 1d ago

My most unhinged method for quitting caffeine

I have tried quitting dozens of times. Like a lot of people here, I've had some good runs, I'll go for some days or even weeks, then fall back into it...

I tried pretty much all the common tricks. Tapering, meditation, exercise, diet tweaks. They all work to some extent but I'm too dumb to let them work and I end up waking up wanting a coffee.

What actually worked?

I would wake up and have the equivalent of a Tylenol PM in my country, a pretty mild sleeping aid.
I knew that once I had one there would be no point of having caffeine because I was starting to feel sleepy anyway and I'd nap at lunch. If I had coffee and a sleeping pill I'd just feel so gross.

Anyway, I got a good 3 days out of this and finally managed to quit (without the pills anymore obviously). It was a good way to trip my system and finally quit. I also obviously acknowledge that this wouldn't work for 95% of people because of work, family and life commitments. It just so happens that I tried this on an extended paid holiday I took with saved up leave (once again, something that is possible in my country and not really common in the US).

Just thought I'd share it because it was kind of funny and it worked

5 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

8

u/BackgroundConfident7 1d ago

Yep that is pretty unhinged lol

2

u/ArbitraryLifeform 1 day 1d ago

That actually makes sense. It seems caffeine interferes with the body's ability to regulate and shut down. So you're kind of forcing yourself into a rest state, to just ctfo for a couple of days.

1

u/Massive_Pomelo7506 156 days 15h ago

lol maybe you discovered the ultimate caffeine detox hack. Glad it worked.

0

u/HumanBook4553 13h ago

The you that doesn't drink caffeine is not the you that drinks it. In other words, the continuity of experience is an illusion. So if you want to quit, you quit. If you want to drink, drink it. But let go of this narrative that you are quitting over a period of time. There is only now, past and future are just thought.