Giving up caffeine

Herbsman

I've given up caffeine before but not since I started training and racing. Has anyone else given it up and can you tell me how it's affected your riding, rest and recovery?

danowat

Didn't affect anything, apart from my sleep, which improved

amaferanga

I gave it up once. Only thing I noticed was I was a bit sleepy mid-afternoon for a week or two without my coffee to perk me up.

tobermory

I get terrible headaches when i have given up so i now have some coffee to stop those mind numbing headaches

rdt

I 've ended up pretty much caffeine-free. Started by drinking mainly redbush (which has no caffeine) instead of regular tea. Then replaced the few remaining cups of the regular tea with decaf tea. Rarely drink coffee, but use decaf filter when I do.

The advantage of avoiding caffeine most of the time is that if I'm really sh@gged out, a cup of real tea really perks me up.

If you cold-turkey I'm sure you'll get a bunch of headaches for a few days or week, but it'll pass, and afterwards you shouldn't feel much different to before. Maybe you'll sleep better at night and maybe not need to whazz so much.

freehub

I've cut down on it, I only ever have decaf bat at student accommodation in Mcr and only have caffeine when I have large mocha at Costa at Uni, at home I have caffeine cause my mum does proper coffe, and can honestly say the effects of it are minimal, it does not appear to effect my sleep much also.

One thing I do notice is, in a 9am lecture I was twitching quite abit if I had a large mocha.

toontra

rdt wrote:

If you cold-turkey I'm sure you'll get a bunch of headaches for a few days or week, but it'll pass, and afterwards you shouldn't feel much different to before.

Having done that, yes, really bad headaches, along with stomach and muscle cramps, especially in the thighs for some reason. Very unpleasant and shows you how powerful a drug caffeine is.

I now only use it if I need to stay awake (e.g. endurance cycling events) and then it really works

Slack

What's the big deal with caffeine, is there anything wrong woth having a few cups of coffee everyday?

I couldn't give it up - i Just love the taste of coffee!

stevewj

I had violent splitting headaches when I tried to give up (20+ cups of tea a day). Last year I changed to tea bags and, over a six week period, slowly increased the number of decaf teabags and decreased normal each day until I was 100% decaf. No pains at all. What I did notice was the first time I used caffeine before a time trial I couldn't fit the allen key into the bottle cage bolts to remove it as my fingers were shaking..

psiturbo

I gave it up before the ride, then I started back again after it.

Hell no, I got a life pal! LOL

I dont smoke cigarettes, dont drink alcohol, sodas, do not eat at any fast food, or eat processed foods, no fried stuff, go to bed early, are a contributor to society, dont smoke weed or any kind of drugs besides the usual over the counter Ibuprofen etc. Faithful to my wife, got all my physicals, dental, eye check-ups up to date. Eat more cabbage, lettuce, than a hipopotamus.

Caffeine is one of the few things I really enjoy very much and for now will keep on doing so.

squeeler

Love that last post, I'm almost the complete opposite of you!

I regularly smoke while boozing, drink coke/ pepsi, eat fast food, eat fried stuff, go to bed late, been known to take drugs and have a few other vices etc etc but oddly enough I avoid tea and coffee because they make me feel bad, all shaky and on edge!

Vive la difference!

Jon8a

I gave up towards the end of last year. But am now back on it as caffeine is a great substitute for motivation at work.

You get over it but decaf coffee is not as nice as the real thing. The main difference I noticed was that caffeine gels and caffeine sports drink were like rocket fuel. You become habituated to caffeine so it has less effect. Cut back and then get a load in you towards the end of a big ride and you'll fly.

jibberjim

Jon8a wrote:

You become habituated to caffeine so it has less effect. Cut back and then get a load in you towards the end of a big ride and you'll fly.

There's no evidence that the performance benefit of caffeine is impacted by being a habitual user or not. Indeed it's likely habitual users will see a bigger benefit since they won't suffer any side effects.

Of course the placebo impact which could be a larger overall impact to your performance may well be higher if you're suffering from the side effects and think it's going to be great.

toontra

jibberjim wrote:

There's no evidence that the performance benefit of caffeine is impacted by being a habitual user or not. Indeed it's likely habitual users will see a bigger benefit since they won't suffer any side effects.

? I've never seen any evidence to say that it doesn't either, but I have my own personal experience, which may not win an internet argument but it works for me. And it's not placebo - if you've just cycled for 48 hours without sleep them placebo doesn't really cut it

BTW the side effects aren't from taking it, they're from giving up habitual use.

jibberjim

toontra wrote:

jibberjim wrote:

There's no evidence that the performance benefit of caffeine is impacted by being a habitual user or not. Indeed it's likely habitual users will see a bigger benefit since they won't suffer any side effects.

? I've never seen any evidence to say that it doesn't either,

Plenty of that just go spend some time looking for it. e.g.
http://jap.physiology.org/content/89/5/1719.short

caffeine habituation has no impact on the actual mechanisms caffeine enhances performances - other than as I said the placebo.

toontra wrote:

And it's not placebo - if you've just cycled for 48 hours without sleep them placebo doesn't really cut it

How can you possibly know that?

toontra

jibberjim wrote:

toontra wrote:

And it's not placebo - if you've just cycled for 48 hours without sleep then placebo doesn't really cut it

How can you possibly know that?

Erm, because I've done it (once so far) on a 1400k ride. Not cycling for the full 48 hours - probably only 42, but no sleep.

I also do 300, 400 and 600k rides, all of which push you into sleep deprivation, so I'm fairly in tune with the way by body responds to caffeine, both before I gave up regular use and after.

As I say, I can only speak from personal experience.

BTW your link has nothing to do with what I'm talking about, which is countering sleep deprivation.

jibberjim

toontra wrote:

jibberjim wrote:

toontra wrote:

And it's not placebo - if you've just cycled for 48 hours without sleep then placebo doesn't really cut it

How can you possibly know that?

Erm, because I've done it (once so far) on a 1400k ride.

So you did some sort of double blind study on yourself which isolated the situation in some way? It's impossible for you to know that it's not a placebo. Because it worked is not a way to know it wasn't a placebo - that's the whole point of them.

You took what I said, about the performance benefits of caffeine and decided to limit it to alertness - and the alertness boost which only happens when tired and is offset with an increase in anxiety for most is irrelevant to most cyclists performances. The benefits of caffeine for cyclists are really the ergogenic advantages.

Herbsman

What was that study that showed no benefit of caffeine over placebo for cycling performance? IIRC performance increased significantly in athletes who were given placebo but believed they were receiving caffeine.

toontra

jibberjim wrote:

So you did some sort of double blind study on yourself which isolated the situation in some way? It's impossible for you to know that it's not a placebo. Because it worked is not a way to know it wasn't a placebo - that's the whole point of them.

My point is, when you are in extreme sleep deprivation then placebo will not work, only something having an actual effect. And yes, I have tried endurance rides with/without caffeine, and before/after having given up regular use. That's all the information I need.

jibberjim wrote:

You took what I said, about the performance benefits of caffeine and decided to limit it to alertness - and the alertness boost which only happens when tired and is offset with an increase in anxiety for most is irrelevant to most cyclists performances. The benefits of caffeine for cyclists are really the ergogenic advantages.

Because that's the bit that's relevant to me. I'm not making claims for all regular cycling and never have. If you read my posts you'll see I'm saying what works for my specific needs, that's all. You're the one making general sweeping claims on very flimsy evidence.

sooliddarity

I started drinking coffee a few weeks ago, since I have been riding more and working in the garden I realized that I have enough energy and self motivation, the caffeine gets me in a hurry and I make simple mistakes

Ands

I gave up for about 6-8 weeks last year. I had headaches for the first few days, which were bearable. ABout 2 weeks in I started to get terrible joint pain in my wrists, ankles, hips and knees, which was really unpleasant, but it only lasted about 7 days. My sleep improved no end - I had been struggling to get into a deep sleep for a while and giving up caffeine made me sleep a lot deeper so I felt more refreshed when I woke up. I am back on caffeine but I limit myself now.

morstar

Depression!

I absolutely despair at how many years it took me to establish the link between caffeine and some seriously low moods. For the record, the low moods would be on the come down when I no longer had caffeine in my system rather than when drinking it.

Been off the stuff completely for well over a year now. Miss red cans of Coke more than caffeinated coffee.

Dmak

Caffeine isn't the problem, it's the crack pipe I chuff every 10 miles!

Joking aside I should cut down on the coffees.

Herbsman

Crack NEVER harmed ANYONE. Now where's my f**king pipe? :evil:

Richa1181

I keep meaning to give up caffeine but it isn't easy, cans of Coke are my main vice rather than tea and coffee but when you see the likes of Ivan Basso enjoying a cold coke at the top of a mountain it really doesn't inspire you to kick the habit!

snickwell

Is caffeine not just like many other dietary issues? Avoid in excess? Or have I missed an important study somewhere that slams caffeine?

freehub

Slack wrote:

What's the big deal with caffeine, is there anything wrong woth having a few cups of coffee everyday?

I couldn't give it up - i Just love the taste of coffee!

You did know you can actually have coffee without caffeine right?

Tom Butcher

I've yet to taste a caffeine free coffee I'd want to drink on a regular basis though - and I'm not exactly a coffee snob - ordinary Nescafe instant does me fine. Anyone recommend a good decaff coffee ?

freehub

Tom Butcher wrote:

I've yet to taste a caffeine free coffee I'd want to drink on a regular basis though - and I'm not exactly a coffee snob - ordinary Nescafe instant does me fine. Anyone recommend a good decaff coffee ?

Well I like Nescafe Alta Rica I think it's called, and the decaf tastes no different to the one with caffeine in. Same goes with coffee my parents put in the coffee machine.

dfbpdave

I'm about 6 weeks into giving up caffeine and as has been said, past the first couple of days I've noticed no difference. The second day was horrible however - I was very irritable and fell asleep during a meeting at work. Not the best impression to give my boss!

Now though, the only difference I notice is an extra £5 in my pocket at the end of each day.

There was another unfortunate incident at a conference when my decaf and a colleague's normal coffee got mixed up. That night I got about three hours sleep

waterford123

Being a teacher it's the law to drink 3 cups of coffee before 1st lesson. You have to have the smelliest of coffee breath just to p**s off the little scroats. I have to smell the 11 year old's fag breath so fairs fair I say.