Caffeine reduction

[MistySkiesAreGone]

I reluctantly need to reduce caffeine as I think it is affecting my sleep. I used to have it down to half a morning cup and now it is double bagged in the morning and a couple in the afternoon. In an ideal world I'd quit altogether but for now I will settle for getting back to just the morning cup. I did once go cold turkey and I know everyone says the headaches go in a few days, but I am really affected by them, I feel like they will never end and the whole world is falling apart and I can't do my day job, which is v pressured and cannot drop any balls there.

So my plan is just to monitor what I am having and when for a few days/week, cut down from there, and log it.

Anyone fancy joining me?

No, sorry! I wasn’t thinking about tea.

Two ideas: get some caffeine pills to replace your tea and taper down your dose. Might be tricky as a caffeine pill has probably got way more caffeine than your cuppa.

Another idea would be to taper down the amount you drink. So if you have one cup of tea then for the first week leave a cm in the bottom of the mug, and then week 2 leave 2 cm etc.

Sorry if that's not helpful!

As you want to cut back to just your morning cuppa, then I would cut out one of your other cups of tea for a week and if you feel okay, cut out another one the next week, and so on. It's okay to take it slowly. You can replace with decaf tea or herbal.

All being going well except I had about 4 cups of Yorkshire tea in the office yesterday. Lo and behold was not tired and didn't sleep so well ! It is definitely caffeine related. So, going to stick rigidly to the one cup and buy a selection of herbals for the office so I am not caught out.

Good luck everyone. One of the best things I've ever done for myself is getting off caffeine. I was having terrible wee issues and could barely go for an hour without needing to wee and it really affecting my life. The difference it has made to my life is remarkable.

After a lot of trial and the error the best decaff instant coffee I've tried is Kenco. I need a heaped tsp for a mug of strong ish coffee. Never use boiling water as it destroys the taste.

Best decaff teabags are M&S in the blue box. Brew for at least 5 minutes. I can't tell the difference at all.

Visitors get decaff tea and coffee here and no one has said anything.

I do, however, have the odd 'proper' coffee when out or at a friend's if they dont have decaff. Its fine. I think my poor bladder was just so run down from caffeine abuse that it had given up the will to live 😆

Best decaff teabags are M&S in the blue box. Brew for at least 5 minutes. I can't tell the difference at all.

I'll try these - I do sometimes like a milky tea (caffeine of choice is usually green).