I have been lowering my caffeine intake over the past month or so. While I don’t drink that much coffee, but I think that my two (strong) cups per day allotment is causing me some minor health problems. I am at the point where trying to quit (or at least drastically lower) caffeine consumption seems like a reasonable approach to try to improve things. In retrospect, it is embarrassing how long it has taken me to even consider lower caffeine intake as a possibility.

It has not been easy. I am trying to step down my caffeine intake by substituting decaffeinated coffee for some of the normal (good) beans in my brew. That experiment failed a couple of times; the normal ebb and flow of work-related stress led to a couple of relapses, all for a mid-afternoon boost. I restarted it when I started my vacation. I think I have been drinking about 25-30% of the caffeine in had been consuming. After a day or so I legitimately went through withdrawal symptoms: chills, headaches, and depression. I am perfectly fine now, but, from what I have read about caffeine withdrawal, I can expect even worse symptoms when I drop from some caffeine to none. I plan to stay at half-decaf levels for the next week or more, to delay that pain to a more manageable time.