Best products from r/decaf

I'll give a bit of contrary advice/experience. I (37 yo male) had many of the same symptoms (and to a lesser extent still do, which I'll explain). Anyway, I "quit" coffee twice (cold turkey, month of Dec 2017 and Dec 2018) hoping it would be the fix for these, but honestly besides the first week of headaches didn't notice much difference. It was not the "miracle cure" I was hoping it would be. And I still wanted to have a 'hot drink' at hand all the time so re-filled mug with hot-water from the office coffee pot constantly each AM so it was just as compulsive.

You should probably still try and it may be great!! ...but for OPs list of symptoms you almost certainly need to do other things too. Especially increase water, regularly moderate exercise/fresh air, etc. So what did "help" for me?:

• Intermittent fasting (16:8, where you do 16 hrs fasting or 8pm-noon no food and 8-hr eating (noon-8 pm), with 24-hr on some weekends...you may know about this but this FAQ is v helpful, it is simple https://www.reddit.com/r/intermittentfasting/comments/biygsj/intermittent_fasting_faq/) Helped digestion too.
  
• Vitamin D (as in here with omega 3 fish oil...my doctor said in our modern life everyone should take vitamin D) https://www.amazon.com/Carlson-Super-Omega-3-Lemon-250/dp/B003BVIALG or https://www.amazon.com/Carlson-Vitamin-2000-360-Softgels/dp/B001LF39UG/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_121_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&refRID=DMGSKPFWGA8TEG5D14KY&th=1
  
• For a while I did magnesium for sleeping (for me it has been early awakening (3-4am) not falling to sleep or "golden milk"/turmeric but exercise (though not late evening) seems to be best sleep aid https://www.amazon.com/Doctors-Best-Absorption-Magnesium-Glycinate/dp/B000BD0RT0/ref=sr_1_3?crid=35HKXCW9CTD9K&th=1
  
• Liver pills (can't decide if those helped or just piggybacked on the other stuff, but they are basically good dose of Vitamin B which is often recommended, sometimes called a B-complex)
  
• regular exercise - I joined a $35 free-weight only gym, and do stronglifts 5x5 It is also very simple, and I can tell a difference the months I make it ~9-12 times and the months I make it 0-3 times https://stronglifts.com/5x5/#gref Outdoors, whether or not you are "forest bathing" :) is also obviously great. If anything else if you can get yourself up and out for a 20 min phone free walk before you get ready for day - after a big glass of water - 5 days in a in a row you may be surprised. Could do this before you ty quitting coffee or before you make your coffee if you still debating quitting. Huge help with energy throughout day and "resilience" vs giving up/defeatist by default, also some improvement with posture, tension in back
  
• seeing a therapist re: "cognitive behavioral therapy & general (latch onto work projects or home tasks or anything) anxiety" - what flaws in thinking ("cognitive distortions" like catastrophizing (worst case), "thought projections" (my boss is probably thinking I am screwing this up right now...No! he's busy and not thinking of you at all!), ruminating, etc.
  
  • Much of it similar to the Stoic philosophy stuff ("Man is troubled not by events, but by the meaning he gives them. - Epictetus", know what is in your control and what you need to accept, etc), there is no shortage of this stuff online, like dailystoic, subreddits, etc),
    
  • personally doing this as a Christian with Catholic-intellectual-tendencies with a Catholic therapist has been helpful (e.g. your mind and body are both good, you aren't a mind trapped in a body etc, but need to undertand interaction and limits, also God's 'Providence (not trouble avoidance) in big picture, while reflecting on parable of the talents for small picture along with the Fr Roncalli/Pope John XXIII "just for today" list which is seriously great: http://www.appleseeds.org/Decalogue_John-23.htm)
    
• Hope some of this may help.It's been discouraging feeling like Ive wasted some good months of life and so I empathize. Good luck!!! I'll prob try quitting coffee again soon too to see if that can push over the top, but for me needed "attack from all angles" and have been focusing on the "other sides" for last 1.5 yr.

alcohol explained by william porter is fantastic. He really made me see drug usage totally differently. Briefly: drugs are addictive when they set up a feedback loop to make you use them. They both make you feel miserable (medium term, like 4 to 48 hours) AND make you feel wonderful by instantly relieving the symptoms they create. He mainly treats alcohol, but the ideas apply to caffeine and other drugs.

Note that the author is himself a caffeine addict, in fact he talks about this in the opening of the book, where he explains the concept of tolerance in terms of coffee -- that he has to have his daily coffee just to feel normal, though it doesn't do much for him since he has built up tolerance.

Since reading this book (in one quick sitting), I immediately quit alcohol and caffeine and for once it's stuck. I was always seeing drugs as a reward that I give myself, a way to relax, a special treat. Therefore, quitting never lasted, because I always would eventually yearn for that treat. Porter points out that many or all of the benefits you associate with a drug are often misattributed -- the jolly socializing and relaxing after work has nothing to do with alcohol really because you can socialize and relax without it, but we wind up giving alcohol way too much credit.

I now see drugs as a con-game. They promise one thing (happiness, energy, relaxation), but wind up taking way more than they give (all the awful effects of chronic usage).

There are 13 days I'm out of caffeine and alcohol. For me when I used to drink coffee I was more prone to drink alcohol.

I tried a lot of times and just now I figured out that there was much more emotional reasons for me to drink caffeine and alcohol than just because I like it.

​

I used to drink coffee because it messes my mind and idk how but it relief a little bit my anxiety. When I started to understand those reasons, I stopped wanting caffeine and started to feel the need to take care of myself. That way is a way easier, since I'm getting to the inner reasons.

​

The same with alcohol... I used to drink because I want to turn off my stress, anxiety and depression. But with time I started to see that it was worsing my symptons. Then I keep drinking only beer and it was ok until the point I saw that I was getting fat and causing health issues.

​

Basically we use any king of drugs to hide our pain. The best thing you can do is to find a good therapist to help you in this inner understanding and I would recommend this book:

​

https://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Self-Sabotage-Being-Worst-Enemy/dp/1521179891/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=self+sabotage&qid=1558526445&s=gateway&sr=8-7

​

It was a blow mind for me in various aspects.

​

I was thinking about creating a whatsapp group for people in this journey so we can help each other... if you have interest, send me a message!

I would recommend a nice slow taper. I went cold turkey on 15-20 cups a day. I am still in withdrawal it but I have been feeling a bit better recently but not great. About every 3 months I would see a noticeable improvement. At 3 month, 6 months, 9 months and coming up on 12 I am noticing feeling better. I read a great book early on to help with the depression and anxiety and it really did help. https://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-New-Mood-Therapy/dp/0380810336 if you're interested. I have never met a person who read it that doesn't praise it. Long story short do a slow taper over a couple of months and see how you feel. It doesn't have to be torture and if you're drinking again and want to stop what's the harm to cut back? You can do the teeccino method and cut the coffee you brew with this https://www.amazon.com/s?k=teeccino&i=stripbooks&crid=1TAF54O34YN9D&sprefix=teec%2Cstripbooks%2C144&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_4 There is a laid out method of taper in the book Caffeine Blues https://www.amazon.com/Caffeine-Blues-Hidden-Dangers-Americas/dp/0446673919/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2IMQXLJ9LFJE8&keywords=caffeine+blues&qid=1557526769&s=books&sprefix=caffeine+%2Cstripbooks%2C144&sr=1-1. That should be enough to get you started and make a thoughtful decision on how you want to proceed. Best of luck and speedy recovery.

Well, if it's just one or two cups then just go cold turkey... organic Swiss Water Decaf coffee taste just as good as regular coffee (I think) and it has the least caffeine of all the decaf versions. Don't get regular decaf though because it still has about 15-20mg caffeine per cup (Swiss Water Decaf has about 3mg or so per cup, so very low).

Also, what I do is drink refrigerated peppermint tea all day so I constantly feel refreshed all day...

Here's a link to a pretty good (imo) Swiss Water Decaf coffee (Keurig): https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Coffee-Co-Compatible-Decaffeinated/dp/B076HQ3G8B/

The Eight O'Clock whole bean decaf and this Kirkland (Costco, Starbucks) decaf are the best I've found. You may be thinking, Whaa? Eight O'Clock??? Give it a try. I was surprised too. :)

Try Dandy Blend!!!!
That stuff is amazing and helped me through quitting!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003SO4EK2/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_HfgSAb4C739WJ

Here's a good book on lucid dreaming for anyone interested.

these are great, they only have 50mg of caffeine per pill:


https://www.amazon.com/Caffeine-L-Theanine-Smooth-Energy-Clarity/dp/B074G3SYTT/ref=sr_1_9?crid=2TUNNJ4WUF6GY&keywords=caffeine+ltheanine+pills&qid=1556806837&s=gateway&sprefix=caffeine+l+%2Caps%2C128&sr=8-9

Yeah, you can buy it as capsules.

​

like this https://www.amazon.com/L-Theanine-200mg-Relaxation-Powerful-V-Capsules/dp/B01BD29KHW/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=255DE78CRM7NC&keywords=l-theanine&qid=1564380005&s=gateway&sprefix=l-thea%2Caps%2C209&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1

"Blue Lotus Traditional Masala Chai contains: Naturally brewed and flash-dried black tea powder; 100% Certified Organic powdered spices: ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves"

​

-Is Flash dried black tea powder not caffeinated?

​

​

​

I did see this advertised as caffeine free

https://www.amazon.com/Ayurvedic-Organic-Masala-sweetener-Servings/dp/B077X722LL/ref=pd_cp_325_3?pd_rd_w=GdRfr&pf_rd_p=ef4dc990-a9ca-4945-ae0b-f8d549198ed6&pf_rd_r=1W939YB2KMAM8CQSAC54&pd_rd_r=b11edbb0-2976-11e9-bc59-4542edde534f&pd_rd_wg=yFhN7&pd_rd_i=B077X722LL&psc=1&refRID=1W939YB2KMAM8CQSAC54

​

Nice. I'm just switching to decaf and will try those. Last night I picked up Folger's Simply Smooth because I've found it really helps with stomach pains before bed.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01L2S7SQM/ref=oh_aui_i_sh_in_o1_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thank me later

Caffeine Cleanse is what you want. Each pill is 20mg.

BulkSupplements Taurine Powder (100 grams) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N3Y4GCH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_MmP5Cb379E76G

Now Supplements, P-5-P 50 mg with Coenzyme B-6 + Mg Bisglycinate, 90 Veg Capsules https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0753G21CW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_MnP5Cb9PKEEPS

Solaray Magnesium Glycinate Dietary Supplement, 400 mg per 4 Capsules, 120 Count https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Z1GLJI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_NoP5CbCDGRDPM

American Weigh Scales AWS-Gemini Precision Digital Milligram Scale, Silver 20 X 0.001 G https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012TDNAM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_TaZnDbYHGC87B