Syd0n

Congrats, bro! I wish we all had your willpower.

You could do a really slow taper. But, you wouldn't need to go quite that slow to avoid headaches. The vitamin c also expedites the process. What I found worked best for me was simply waiting until a headache just started coming on and then drinking about 20mg of caffeine. It takes a very small amount to make a withdrawal headache subside even for a really large consumer. It can take up to 45 minutes to kick in though. So if you just keep drinking until it stops then you can take in more than you actually need to rid yourself of the headache. It went something like this for me (I consumed 500mg + daily) At first headaches were more frequent...maybe three times a day for 3 days. Then it was 1-2 a day for 2-3 days and then they stopped. But, even at that...I was only consuming 60-80mg per day to avoid symptoms. That said...mileage may vary. A good tactic is to just listen to your body. If you feel a headache starting to come, then drink enough to make it stop and try not to overdo it. It may be that you need 40mg to take a headache out. Or you could try ibuprofen and 20mg. Peppermint (not spearmint) herbal tea works wonders for headaches. A person could try experimenting with all of this to find what works before officially embarking on the path to quitting. Many may find a slow and steady route best.

I also recommend doing a taper for a about a week (or shorter) using Yerba Mate if headaches are a problem. Yerba Mate is an herb...NOT TEA. It has a moderate amount of caffeine, is very high in antioxidants, and has no artificial or extraneous substances that are hazardous to your health. In addition, the caffeine "buzz" your get is extremely mild, meaning kinder to your adrenal glands as they try to recover. I specifically recommend Guayaki (brand) Chai Spice Mate, Mate Chocolatte, or the Pure Endurance Mate (This is the best caffeine cessation IMO.) The each have about 20mg of caffeine per cup, making them perfect for addressing withdrawal headaches. Be careful...there are brands that mix tea with the mate and regular mate is much higher in caffeine (about 60mg per cup). I've struggled with giving up almost every vice in the book since becoming a convert. These are the things my research yielded and what I personally have used to quit caffeine successfully. I hope the info on the last 3 posts will help someone.

I neglected to mention in the last post...take 500-1000mg of vitamin C 3x a day while trying to quit. This is perfectly safe and to my knowledge doesn't interact with any medications or supplements. The worst thing that can happen with high-dose vitamin c is diarrhea and stomach upset. I STRONGLY recommend using Ester-C as this form of Vitamin C will eliminate any stomach upset for most everyone. If you experience diarrhea, then lower your dosage. This will help your adrenal glands and more importantly help clear the caffeine out of your bodily tissues much more quickly and alleviate withdrawal symptoms much more quickly. The same thing is used in the "LDS Stop Smoking" program to cleanse the body of nicotine in approximately 1 week.

Try a combo of 500mg eleuthro (siberian ginseng) and 1200mg rhodiola (rosea) in the morning and in the afternoon. This stuff works wonders when trying to get off of caffeine. It helps you stay awake and focus. But, it's natural, non-addictive, and very mild. Liquid works best and is very fast-acting. You may not find them in those exact doses. But just take extra to hit your dosage.