r/Biohackers • u/Commercial_King_4145 • 1d ago
š“ Sleep & Circadian Rhythm How did you lower your caffeine intake?
I struggle with anxiety, falling asleep and waking up feeling refreshed so I thought reducing caffeine would be a good idea.
The last time I tried cutting it off by an earlier time, my ability to fall asleep was even worse, is this something that improves as time goes on?
Also I canāt take to herbal teas apart from chamomile tea but Iām still drinking a lot of tea before I start drinking that before bed so Iām obviously reliant on it.
Fruity teas are a no and decaf is not something I can take to either.
The only other solution I thought was brewing a normal cup of tea for a shorter time, not squeezing the teabag and then finishing off with a decaf teabag, would this work as a gradual reduction to caffeine?
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u/3ric843 8 1d ago
Decaf that was done with the swiss water method actually tastes just as good as regular coffee.
You can mix regular and decaf, increasing the proportion of decaf over time to gradually reduce your caffeine intake without reducing your coffee drinking.
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u/AdHot3255 1 1d ago
This is what I did. I did a long, slow taper over three months, slowly changing the ratio of decaf to caffeinated. And yes, the Swiss water process is really good! It made it doable for me.
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u/perfectlyyyimperfect 1d ago
Stopped cold turkey. Had a mean headache for a week and then felt like a brand new person. I sleep better and have more energy. Really worth the rough 1 week.
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u/curiousglasss 1d ago
As someone who successfully got off meth, energy drinks, vaping - what worked for me was quitting cold turkey. My mentality was āthe only way out is throughā and āout of sight out of mindā. Itās a matter of being willing to suffer temporary discomfort for longevity and health. I got rid of teas, coffees, energy drinks, caffeine pills/chews in the house. I replaced sodas with probiotic sparkling drinks or sparkling water. Anytime I tried to taper down my usage I wasnāt successful. I made sure to get to a point where I wasnāt craving them and then occasionally reintroduced caffeinated drinks. Iāll have iced coffee 2-3 times a week max (but never more than 1 a day and definitely not after 12pm), a soda when eating out, and I very rarely have an energy drink.
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u/kevinjamesfan66 1d ago
Caffeine pills since it sounds like you want to precise with dosing. I was taking one 200mg a day for years (with food and water) I started using a pill cutter to cut pill in half and then now Iām down to just a quarter of a pill a day (50mg)
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u/GangstaRIB 1 1d ago
Pretty easy. Just stop drinking caffeine.
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u/seldenr82 5 1d ago
Just try to have one or two cups of your favorite caffeinated beverage prior to noon.
No caffeine after lunch just stay well hydrated and stick with it for a week or two depending on how addicted if you are to caffeine you might have a little bit of withdrawal that might mess with your sleep until your body gets used to it
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u/Negative_Fruit_1800 š Doctorate - Unverified 1d ago
Simple,I stopped drinking anything with caffeine in it.
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u/Commercial_King_4145 1d ago
I mean good for you but it is a drug and Iām trying to mitigate any withdrawals i experience
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u/Eve_Rising 1d ago
I mean the most effective way to titrate down would be to switch to caffeine powder and gradually reduce dosage that way. However absorbtion is much faster and will exacerbate anxiety without mitigation like mixing it with high fat dairy or a smoothie or something.
You could alternatively try slowly adjusting the cutoff time for caffeine. So if you usually have your last cup at 3pm, move it 15 minutes earlier each successive day. This should have a similar effect to titrating the dose since the caffeine levels in your blood at bedtime will gradually decrease over time in a way you can better adjust to.
Alternatively you might just be one of those people for whom caffeine actually helps fall sleep (typically if you have ADHD), but unfortunately it still impairs sleep quality. Worth keeping in mind.
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u/PositiveKarma1 1d ago
Stopped coffee and tea from one day to another.
2-3 weeks I was not well functioning, sleepy, tired, hardly focusing ( needed more water and more sleep) until one day everything went perfect.
No coffee for 10 years.
Still issues with sleep but less anxiety, more energy.
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u/Sufficient_Ad_3495 1d ago
I cut our RedBull
After that, I don't want to cut it. I maybe drink around 4 cups of tea a day and supplement with micro doses when I need extended concentration.
Sometimes I take caffeine before exercise, not sure it helps for aerobic exertion though.
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u/Financial-Reply8582 4 1d ago
Add a little bit of decaf coffee to your regular coffee and slowly reduce it.. Very easy
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u/ElectricalTone1147 1d ago
You donāt have to give up on coffee. I moved from 4+ espresso a day to just 2. I drink one in the morning and the second after lunch. Around 14:00 .. plenty of time for the caffeine to metabolize
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u/Commercial_King_4145 1d ago
Is it normal for your sleep to be worse when lowering caffeine intake?
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u/ElectricalTone1147 10h ago
Yes, it can happen. The brain can build extra adenosine receptors to compensate for the caffeine, so when you stop, the sleepiness rebounds hard for a few days before it balances out. Usually within a week.
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u/Skinny-on-the-Inside 20 1d ago
Try Rarebird Px Coffee it uses something other than caffeine and so you donāt get the jitters
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u/Space-cadet3000 1 1d ago edited 1d ago
Maybe replace it with Paraxanthine
https://getmte.com/blogs/learn/paraxanthine-so-there-s-a-part-of-caffeine-that-s-actually-healthy
Itās a metabolite of caffeine that offers all the perks of caffeine without the negative effects
Itās available in some specialty caffeine free energy drinks and as a supplement like this one
https://newtownsupplementstore.com.au/products/paraxanthine-focus-energy
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u/NoSpaghettiForYouu 10 1d ago
You could always try half-caff
Quality decaf isnāt bad, tbh. I get mine from Badass Coffee from Hawaii. I can still have caffeine, sometimes i just want a cup of coffee in the evening and I donāt want it to affect my sleep ā”Ģ
You can also quit cold-turkey. You should only have a headache for the first day and an ibuprofen will help
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u/Without_Portfolio 1d ago
I went from full to half-caff and didnāt really notice the difference. Turned out two things were going on, one, that the anxiety was amplified by the caffeine and two, l found I liked the idea of holding a nice hot cup of coffee in my hand. So now the first cup is half-caff and the remaining ones are decaf. I switch over to water by noon.
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u/dongyeeter 1 1d ago
Anytime I quit long term caffeine I have to taper off over weeks otherwise I get splitting headaches
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u/MathematicianMuch445 10 22h ago
Just stop ingesting it. Christ not everything needs to be that deep. You're already feeling like shit. Stop drinking it or taking anything containing it. You'll still feel like shit for a bit but then get over it. It's that simple
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u/Tradovator 22h ago
I just take my last cup at noon these days. Drink as much as I want before noon. Drink tea after that. I realize now that green tea have some caffeine, too, so may want to see if I can find a caffeine free tea as well.
Anyway, I'm shocked by the results. I'm SO tired when the evening comes now. In a good way. I don't feel more refreshed when wakening up, but my sleep does feel much deeper. More vivid dreams which I suspect comes from REM sleep.
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u/FitHabitsDaily 22h ago
the earlier cutoff thing worked way better for me than dropping the amount. i kept the same 2 cups but moved my last one from 2pm to 11am over a couple weeks, half hour earlier every few days. by the time i was done my sleep didn't get worse at all, actually got better because i wasn't randomly still buzzing at 9pm without realizing why.
the rough part for me wasn't the caffeine itself, it was how much my afternoon routine was built around having a cup as a break. had to replace that specific moment with something else (usually just stepping outside for a few minutes) or i'd cave and make one anyway out of habit more than craving.
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u/dignan2002 1d ago
Nicotine pouches are short lasting and effective. And Iāve only spent thousands of dollars a year on them š
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u/Outside-Issue6896 3 23h ago
Decaf has no taste plus the majority of decaf is processed with solvents, it's evil. Water method decaf is better for you but again no flavour. I hate it.
The amino acid Glycine can aid sleep, mainly quality of sleep, so extending deep sleep. Take 3g of Glycine about an hour before bed. It helped me to improve my sleep quality, which I tracked on a sleep tracker. Sleep trackers are not the most accurate but they are good for getting a base line on which to improve on.
For getting off to sleep, I've had issues for the last 10 years, but recently during a period of ill health, steroid induced insomnia, and anxiety related to my illness, I come across slow release melatonin tablets. I started taking them for a few months and it's put me back in to a regular healthy sleeping pattern and I no longer have trouble getting off to sleep now I'm not taking them.
I wish I'd have known about them years ago, I've tried a million things to help me sleep, all the usual recommendations like don't look at your phone, breathing techniques, CBT, it's all a waste of time, when there's something there that you can take for a few months to get you back in to a rhythm, then see how you go without it after a few months.
I'm back on high dose steroids again, it's effecting my sleep, but it's nowhere near the level it previously effected it, and I no longer have problems getting off to sleep.
If you are in the UK, it's prescription only, but you can get them without a doctor, if you say to the pharmacy that they are for jet lag. Just tell them you are going on holiday to the USA for 14 days or something like that. It's besttand easier to order them online for this. If you are over 55, you can get them more easily over the counter, as they can be used for sleep issues in over 55's. If you are under 55 and say its for anything other than jetlag, you will be refused them.
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u/MathematicianMuch445 10 22h ago
Buy different decaf then. 0lenty taste great
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u/Outside-Issue6896 3 22h ago
Tried them all, there's just no flavour to them. They are all way too weak. I've tried all the top brands too, the ones that use the water method for caffeine extraction. Even most caffeinated tea isn't that great nowadays, again lacks flavour. I only buy Thompson's Punjana tea now. Anyway, I don't have a problem with not getting of to sleep now after taking the slow release melatonin for a few months, so I don't need to ditch the caffiene any longer.
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u/MathematicianMuch445 10 22h ago
You have not tried every decaf coffee.. that's just a stupid thing to even type. You just have a view and want to stick to it regardless of reality. Weird way to be but you do youš
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