Months ago my anxiety was at a sky hi.
I was a daily coffee drinker and thought caffeine was a major part of my anxiety. However I was drinking 2 tall cans daily 9% alcohol and going to bed late at nights between 10:30-1am only to have to be awake for work and drive kids to school at 6am. I did not pin point my anxiety to my drinking although it was in the back of my mind. I went through caffeine withdrawal and I have been clean for many months. Now I am about to have a cup of coffee and would like to know if anyone one quit coffee completely and picked it up again. Would like to know what your experience was like. Did it give you anxiety once you started again? Please share thanks.
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I Drink peppermint tea now stopped caffeine two years now , still have a occasional Latte when im out and about but most cafes have peppermint tea or green so dont have it a lot
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@Mindymoo this was the same for me! Years back I was up to 5 cups a day at the office and like 3 at home. My mind has told me the same shoot if you are not having booze have coffee! Something about how the brain works must be the thing here. I’ll see how I tolerate the caffeine today I guess and gage it from there.
@Ray_M_C_Laren
Wow 2 years nice. So I can have a life without coffee and booze. I honestly don’t have to drink the coffee because I have been having great sleep and I am fully rested and awake now when I wake up. Something I’ll be considering.
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I switched to decaf about 1.5 years ago. I’ll occasionally have a caffeinated coffee and I do feel the effects in my heart rate (especially on empty tummy, as I don’t eat breakfast typically during the work week). At home I’ll sometimes add in a bit of caffeinated grounds for hubby to decaf grounds. But I’m very content with my decaf. I think it’s more of a comfort thing; I like it with a bit of cream and my Organika Relax enhanced collagen powder 
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This is what I did when I stopped drinking coffee. I have been drinking decaf and it’s been good. I was just trying to see if I start drinking actual coffee now that I am leaving the booze behind but maybe I don’t need to drink caffeine again. Decaf has been good so far.
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I find I still get some anxiety type symptoms from caffeine but perhaps not as bad as when drinking every weekend. I decided I’ll just (mostly) stick to decaf
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Hey there!! Yes, I stopped drinking coffee maybe 25 years ago, I was drinking a few pots a day…ouch on the caffeine withdrawal. After about 10 or 15 years I started up again, just having one or two cups in the morning. These days I have 1 cup of caffeinated and one or two decafs in the morning.
The one cup doesn’t cause any anxiety now, but if I have more than 1 cup, it definitely affects me adversely. When I was still drinking, it would add to my anxiety most definitely. My nervous system tends toward anxiety, so I keep it at 1 cup and am happy. It is a really nice morning ritual for me that I so enjoy.
Let us know how it goes for you!! 
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Wow many years of no caffeine. I feel my nervous system is now use to no caffeine already. With my one cup today I feel more alert and like I need to be in the move LOL. Hearing others stories with caffeine is helpful. I definitely want to keep my nervous system chill and at ease. Don’t want to get jittery either. Heart rate has been pretty stable hasn’t been affected much. Can it be that caffeine affects me badly in my head because I have the memory of being on caffeine and alcohol at the same time.
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All I know is that if I have more than one cup now, I am wired and jittery and I hate it🤷‍♀️
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That’s the feeling I’m trying to avoid. So far without alcohol and caffeine I have been pretty mellow that’s how I want to feel.
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Good thinking!! I would stick with what is working. Decaf works for me.
I dunno if it was quitting drinking (lack of depressants) or just getting older. But I quickly realized I was way more sensitive to caffeine than I knew after getting sober. Any more than 1.5 cups or so in the morning I would already have a bad caffeine hangover by early evening, and feel completely disconnected. Any afternoon caffeine keeps me up.
Now I have no more than one cup of regular in the morning. If I have a taste for more, I make decaf. I’ve not had caffeine after lunch for years. Feel much better, and sleep like a clock!
I’ve thought about just not having caffeine at all at this point, but haven’t made the leap.
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Interesting, I noticed a change in my caffeine resistance after my 30’s so I think it might have some correlation with age. Someone else here also mentioned that they only take one cup in the morning and the rest of the day 1 or 2 cups of decaf. I also noticed when I was drinking coffee that the cup I was having after lunch wasn’t allowing me to feel tired at night to go to bed and on top of that I was having booze so needless to say I wasn’t resting well.
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Ugh… I recently started doing caffeine again after over a year away from it. I thought I could “drink like a gentleman”, haha Jason, but I can’t. I’m putting down more Diet Dew than ever. It started out so innocently. I have not started with coffee again, I knew that would not end well. I’m at the point where I don’t even really feel it anymore, I just have to have it. Not good. Thinking I’m going to try to break the addiction over the fourth.
So, no, didn’t start drinking coffee again but did start with caffeine again. It didn’t go good for me. Good luck. It looks like many on here have been successful with a cup or two.
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Yeah, was 36 at the time, and a couple years later I started to really notice more than 1 cup even was too much. But also I just don’t feel the “need” so much anymore, so I avoid it given the down sides. And was long before that I quit any afternoon caffeine.
Really wonder how much is age! In early college I’d drink coffee all day.
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I quit back in my 30s as well! Hmmmmmm…
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@Eke @SassyRocks I am now tempted to do a search on how caffeine affect you after 30. Since I am 33 and noticed the adverse affects.
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I’ll be watching this thread. I quit drinking 10.9 months ago then smoking then caffeine. I’m still off everything. I love it though. But I do want to see how it goes with you going back to caffeine.
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Well I tried this morning. One single cup and I felt a little jittery. That’s a feeling I don’t like. I have been feeling pretty mellow and calm without caffeine and the alcohol combo I had been on. I don’t think I liked the feeling. And from what others have share they can handle a cup a day with no issues and I’d say it wasn’t that bad but as I mentioned I don’t want the jittery feeling. Hope others can contribute to this thread so if others are also considering quitting caffeine they can have an idea.
I love how clean you are! That has been my goal. Rid my body of all substances that alter my senses. I’m sad it’s taken me this long to leave alcohol in the rear view mirror but here I am. Trying ODAAT 
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I think we can all always say we wish we did it sooner but better yesterday than tomorrow right. Congrats on your journey too. I didn’t mean to go so clean. I just knew that drinking and smoking has to go but as soon as I stopped them I started to realize that for me it was about more than just drinking. It about compulsion in searching for something or avoidance from something. Anxiety has gone through the roof and nothing could feed it so I started stopping myself from running to or from anything. Caffeine was the first big thing after smoking and drinking that I had the moment of realization with. I do feel really great without it now though. When I get tired a drink a huge glass of water and it usually Picks me up. Plus it’s nice not to have coffee breath ever. Haha
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