5 days in hell: A walk through my caffeine withdrawal timeline

Jul 19, 2023

The hardest part of quitting anything is at the very start, and there is no substance or behavior that has challenged me like caffeine.

Social media effectively forced me to quit it because it had become so abhorrent.

Eventually, I had not a single craving to look at it.

With alcohol, the challenge and the withdrawals were primarily psychological. I was overwhelmed with anxiety and cravings for the better part of two weeks.

After that, thoughts of alcohol just drifted away to almost nothing.

But caffeine (coffee specifically) doesn’t want to let me out of its clutches.

Every time I think I’m free of it, it tricks me back into having it once and then I’m a full-blown addict again.

Again, the start of anything is the toughest as you wait for momentum to build.

On the plus side, however, I’ve found my caffeine withdrawals taper off much quicker than alcohol.

I recently tried to kick caffeine again and took notes about how I was feeling every day of the process.

Walk with me through 5 days of hell: my caffeine withdrawal timeline.

Coffee beans (Photo by Anastasiia Chepinska on Unsplash, modified by the author)

Monday

I actually feel pretty OK! My body still isn’t aware of what I’m about to do to it, so it hasn’t even had time to process anything.

I don’t even feel a psychological pull toward it — I’m excited about this new lifestyle!

Energy levels are good, though there’s this suspicious, slight tinge of a headache around bedtime. No worries though — I’m cruising!

Tuesday

…straight into a brick wall.

Tough, tough, tough.

This is the first day of a really bad withdrawal headache.

It feels like my brain is trying to press my eyeballs out of the front of my skull.

I think I’m partially in shock because the cravings aren’t even hitting me. I just feel ill.

I’m not even all that tired yet. Even with just one caffeine-free night under my belt, better sleep is already beginning. I feel oddly rested.

Ill, but rested.

Wednesday

All caffeine is out of my system and the massive lethargy is hitting.

I need to lie down twice during the workday and once in the evening just to be able to keep my eyes open for the rest of the time I’m supposed to be upright.

There’s no getting around it — this sucks.

There’s a spark of positivity though: I sleep deeply again for 8 hours. I drift off effortlessly after getting up to use the washroom. My dreams are vivid and entertaining.

Thursday

Another day of deep lethargy, but the mental benefits are starting to kick in.

Writing has become easy again as my dopamine output shifts back to accomplishing goals instead of generating it artificially with the drug.

My brain fog is lifting, and I’m generally more productive at work. I’m also a less rattled, more patient parent.

Friday

I’m asked to write a lengthy, complex message at work, and I effortlessly fire it off in 45 minutes with ease.

I also write two articles before my day job kicks off and, again, this is effortless.

The biggest challenge is getting to the gym.

I’ve trained my body to need caffeine to get a good workout, so it’ll take some time to train it to work hard without the drug.

Thanks for following along for my trip to hell and back. I’ll be back with an update should I figure out how to get through my workouts caffeine and pain-free!

This post is republished from my Medium publication Smart Quitter.

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