Is there such a thing?
I doubt I’m a minority in saying that as my alcohol consumption decreased, the coffee intake skyrocketed.
Certainly, a lesser of two evils. But, now I’m starting to ponder the long-term side effects of the excess caffeine. No, decaf is not an option.
Am I just paranoid, or is coffee another vice that I need to quit?
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I think setting a time that I don’t have any more that day (11 am for me) has worked well. It is a big time diuretic, and, we make ourselves pretty dehydrated with its use so my afternoon’s schedule is focused on water.
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I would think you’ll build up a tolerance and need more and more to feel the effects of caffeine just like alcohol. @Chiron started a great topic about this that you may find insightful.
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In one of previous attempts at sobriety i posted something about this. I think i was drinking so much coffee it was dehydrating make and making me crave alcohol more.
I found aha waters to be outstanding this time around. I still enjoy about 4 cups of coffee a day. Best wishes to you and congrats on getting sober!
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I believe it can be another addiction; if you’re drinking it for the happy coffee buzz or for energy. For me, it was a cross-addiction to where I would even drink it black and it reminded me of drinking a shot because it was so bitter it made my face cringe. I also started drinking energy drinks, energy shots, etc. and then I relapsed soon thereafter. Be careful. If you can just have one because you enjoy the smell and taste and not keep drinking more, than you’re fine.
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I think it’s easy to think that caffeine addiction is something that is ‘lesser’ given the acceptability and usage within society as a whole. But It hink it’s important to ask just how caffeine is affecting your life?
It is a psychoactive drug. It does actually affect your brain, and it will affect your sleep cycles, which in turn will affect the way you think even more. You can only block Adenosine for so long before it becomes a real problem for you. This is not even to mention things like the effect caffeine has on your kidneys and urinary system, given that it causes overactivity in this area.
I appreciate that @Lisa07 mentioned the thread I started on caffeine. I haven’t posted there much given that I haven’t been posting much at all recently and I really have nothing to report at this time for that thread. But I definitely invite you to post there as much as you’d like.
In the end, I think that you only really “need” to quit caffeine if you you feel that it is becoming a hindrance for you living your best life. I decided that for me it is, but for many people they are just fine with having it be part of their lives, and there’s no problem with that either.
By the way, decaf isn’t an option for me either. I’m a coffee snob. 
Best of luck.
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Examining my coffee/caffeine intake in conjunction with my sobriety was very helpful in my staying sober. The topic from @Chiron was key. I couldn’t keep jacking myself up caffeine, not sleeping and stay sober. The cravings for alcohol to shut me down to sleep was bad. When I cut my caffeine intake to about a third of what it was before I quit drinking I finally started sleeping again. I don’t do caffeine after noon now.
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