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- Quitting coffee suddenly can cause caffeine withdrawal symptoms like headaches, fatigue, and irritability.
- Withdrawal symptoms usually begin within 24 hours and often go away within a week.
- Gradually reducing caffeine intake can help prevent uncomfortable side effects.
Coffee intake has been linked to a number of health benefits, from protecting liver health to reducing the risk of heart disease. However, some people may decide to quit coffee cold turkey due to adverse side effects, health concerns like arrhythmias, fasting, or simply by choice. Unfortunately, quitting caffeinated coffee cold turkey can lead to caffeine withdrawal and some uncomfortable symptoms. Here’s what happens when you cut coffee cold turkey.
Quitting Coffee Cold Turkey and Caffeine Withdrawal
Caffeine is the primary active compound in coffee responsible for many of its benefits, including effects on energy levels and cognitive function. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, meaning it affects neural activity in the brain to enhance alertness.
Caffeine increases alertness by blocking brain receptors for adenosine, a neurotransmitter that accumulates in the brain during the day to help you feel drowsy as it gets closer to bedtime. Drinking coffee regularly causes your brain to produce more adenosine receptors to counteract caffeine’s blocking mechanism. So, when you suddenly cut caffeine, the brain is flooded with adenosine, which binds to adenosine receptors, causing a range of symptoms known as caffeine withdrawal.
Caffeine withdrawal is a condition that happens when a person who habitually consumes caffeine suddenly stops or significantly reduces their caffeine intake. When this happens, caffeine levels in the blood drop dramatically, triggering symptoms such as fatigue and headaches.
Physical and Mental Symptoms
When caffeine levels suddenly drop, your body goes through caffeine withdrawal, which can lead to the following symptoms.
Headaches
Caffeine causes vasoconstriction, the medical term for the narrowing of blood vessels. When you cut out caffeine, the increased blood flow in the brain can trigger headaches.
People with a history of chronic migraines may experience especially intense headaches after suddenly cutting caffeine.
Fatigue
Abruptly stopping caffeine increases adenosine activity. Adenosine’s job is to make you feel sleepy as it comes closer to the end of the day.
This flooding of adenosine that occurs when you cut caffeine can cause you to “crash” and feel intensely tired. For this reason, many people feel exhausted after suddenly quitting caffeinated coffee.
Mood Changes
Quitting caffeinated coffee cold turkey can lead to temporary mood changes, including increased irritability and even feelings of depression.
These symptoms are caused by altered neural activity in response to the sudden drop in caffeine as well as a reduction in the release of dopamine, a mood-boosting neurotransmitter.
Some people may also experience an increase in anxiety and stress when they quit coffee.
Other Symptoms
Though less common, some people cutting out caffeinated coffee may experience nausea, vomiting, and muscle pain and stiffness.
These symptoms may make you feel like you have the flu, but are related to the sudden drop of caffeine in your system.
How Long Does Caffeine Withdrawal Last?
Caffeine withdrawal is uncomfortable, but fortunately, its symptoms don't last long. They typically begin within 12 to 24 hours of stopping caffeine intake and peak within one to two days. This means you can expect the worst symptoms after 24-48 hours.
All of the symptoms related to caffeine withdrawal should go away within a week. This happens as your body adjusts and your brain adapts to not having caffeine.
A Better Way to Cut Back on Coffee
If you’d like to cut out or cut back on caffeinated coffee, it’s best to do so slowly. This is especially important if you’ve been drinking large amounts of caffeinated coffee for a long time.
To reduce the risk of withdrawal symptoms, healthcare providers advise gradually reducing your intake of caffeine, such as reducing it by 25% or less every few days. A slow reduction allows your body to adapt to smaller amounts of caffeine before cutting it out completely.
