What are the Best Tips for Quitting Caffeine?

Some of the best tips for quitting caffeine may be for a person to wean himself or herself off of it slowly,and try to get more sleep until the withdrawal symptoms have passed. The use of painkillers may also be beneficial until the headaches that normally coincide with caffeine withdrawal disappear. Another tip that might help a person to eliminate caffeine from his or her life is to replace it with other beverages, such as decaffeinated teas or water. It may take as long as one month for a person to stop feeling the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal, but the benefits tend to be worth suffering through them.

One way that some people stop caffeine altogether is by cutting back on it gradually. For example, if a person normally has seven cups of coffee every day, he may decide to cut down to five or six for an entire week. The next week, this person might cut back to three or four cups. This slow process of elimination would continue until the last week, when this person would do without coffee altogether. Quitting caffeine in this manner may not be easy, but the withdrawal symptoms will likely be less severe because they would probably occur gradually rather than all at once.

Getting in some extra sleep every day is another good idea for people who are interested in quitting caffeine. A person might benefit from going to bed one or two hours earlier and also getting in a nap at some point throughout the day. The reason this might help a person quit caffeine is because she likely won't feel as tired if she is getting more sleep than she needs, and the desire for caffeine to help keep her alert may not be as strong. Some people might also try replacing their source of caffeine with decaffeinated tea. These teas might still contain small amounts of caffeine, but likely not enough to cause any negative effects.

Headaches tend to be the most complained about side effect of quitting caffeine. In most cases, painkillers can take care of this problem. Other common side effects might include excessive tiredness, lack of concentration, and even depression. For some people, withdrawal lasts only for a few weeks. Others may experience negative withdrawal symptoms for an entire month, but ultimately the majority of people who successfully quit caffeine claim to feel much better without it once the withdrawal symptoms pass.