Does your daily routine involve gulping down several cups of coffee? You’re not alone, of course. Coffee makes the day go better, right?
But if you’re a habitual coffee drinker, excess caffeine can also trigger heartburn, an upset stomach, anxiety, jitters, or insomnia. For pregnant women, it may elevate blood pressure, while its effects on the fetus require more study.
If you’re considering reducing your coffee intake, we’ll give you an idea of your caffeine withdrawal timeline.
Drug of Choice for Many
Caffeine is a drug — arguably the most popular stimulant on the planet. And coffee’s certainly not the only caffeinated culprit energizing all of us.
Caffeine occurs naturally in tea, dark and milk chocolate, cocoa-based beverages, coffee-flavored products, and cola drinks. It’s added to energy drinks, most stay-awake pills, congestion and pain medications, and caffeinated water! Even “decaf” products aren’t completely stimulant-free.
Kicking the Coffee Habit
But like most drugs, caffeine leads to dependency. Our bodies build a tolerance to it — so, over time, it takes more and more caffeine to achieve the energy and alertness we crave.
For most people, an average coffee habit — up to four or five cups a day — won’t trigger uncomfortable symptoms. But if you routinely exceed that amount and start to feel side effects, it may be time to dial back your intake.
However, suddenly skipping your beloved beverage could temporarily trigger withdrawal, with its own set of uncomfortable symptoms. Depending on how much caffeine you typically imbibe, your caffeine withdrawal timeline could last anywhere from two to nine days.
Caffeine, Adenosine, and Withdrawal
When we regularly consume coffee or other caffeinated substances, caffeine binds to adenosine, a sleep-inducing neurotransmitter in our brains. Adenosine helps the body store and release energy. It increases during our waking hours and causes us to feel sleepy by the day’s end.
When caffeine enters the picture to keep us wired by day, the brain adjusts by generating more of those sleep-inducing adenosine receptors. If caffeine intake suddenly stops, not all receptors will be filled. Consequently, an abstaining individual may feel irritable, fatigued, and less alert, or experience a headache from a surge in blood flow to the brain.
The good news is that within a few days, those unfilled receptors expire and don’t regenerate, resetting the brain to a normal baseline. And withdrawal symptoms end.
Caffeine Won’t Fix Underlying Issues
As a drug and an artificial stimulant, caffeine drives your body to do something it doesn’t want to do naturally — maybe it pushes you to stay awake longer or to keep working when you should be relaxing.
Or, you may use caffeine as an inadvertent “fix,” dodging the real reasons your body needs a stimulant — perhaps an unsettling, disruptive home life, depressive tendencies, or simply the need for more and better sleep. As patients and doctors, our shared goal should be to resolve those situations.
Using caffeine as a buffer against life’s issues can increase your blood pressure and cause your heart to beat harder. Those side effects are rather minor “in the moment,” and so far, studies don’t show that years of caffeine use have negative consequences. But pushing your heart to work harder than intended over several decades may not be optimal.
Plan Your Caffeine Withdrawal Timeline
In an ideal world, none of us would depend on any drug to deliver something our body can produce naturally.
That said, for most people, your caffeine “habit” is probably fine. I also drink caffeine!
But if you’re exceeding those five cups of coffee a day and feel your habit’s excessive, it may be time to reduce your caffeine intake:
- To reduce the severity of withdrawal symptoms, don’t stop caffeine cold turkey. Plan a controlled taper.
- Reduce your intake week by week to decrease your tolerance. If you drink eight cups of coffee a day, drink seven the next week, six the week after, and so on.
- A slow taper can effectively diminish your withdrawal symptoms.
Everything in Moderation
Our pro tip: If you need caffeine to be a productive member of society and enjoy your life, go for it. Just keep in mind: everything in moderation.
If or when you decide to abstain — temporarily or permanently — your Priority Physicians team can plan a caffeine withdrawal timeline that works for you. We can also help you identify and address the reasons why you feel you need caffeine.
