What's the longest time you've ever gone without coffee or caffeine?

United States
September 11, 2007 2:11am CST
Most days I drink tea, just to feel a little more alert. But for years I was a die-hard coffee drinker. It made me too nervous, so I had to quit. About ten years ago, I tried to quit cold turkey and went without caffeine of any kind for an entire month. At first I got extreme headaches, but it got better over time. And, then I had a relapse with one cup of coffee and have needed it ever since. And, during the entire time that I was pregnant and nursing, I avoided caffeine altogether. Not sure if it was necessary to do so, but better safe than sorry. After that time, I was more than happy to have caffeine. Funny thing, during that time I didn't experience caffeine withdrawal at all. Not sure why. So, what is the longest time you have gone without caffeine? Do you prefer to get your caffeine in the morning or evening? Do you find that you can't go more than a few days without caffeine without side effects?
5 people like this
23 responses
@nehems (109)
• Indonesia
11 Sep 07
coffee.. i drink coffee 3-4 times a day.. never late in the morning,and night.. still addicted till now.. ????? :P
11 Sep 07
I am very sorry because I can't answer better. I like drink tea but not coffee just because I think tea maybe better to my health. I can keep myself clear-headed as usual and have no headache without tea.
@KrisNY (7590)
• United States
14 Sep 07
I’m the same- I only drink pop for caffeine. No coffee or tea. I drink usually 1 can a day- sometimes more depending on how my day is going- I have gone without for a couple of days- but that is all. I get headaches without drinking at least 1. Plus I don’t think having 1 pop a say is going to hurt me- I think we get headaches from quitting cold-turkey- we need that caffeine fix!
@andben (1075)
• Italy
18 Sep 07
It's difficult to say because a lot of drinks contains caffeine like coffee, tea, Coke, Red Bull etc. Hovewer, I think no more than a week.
@wonderful1 (2075)
• China
11 Sep 07
i dont like drink coffee, so it is about 1 year, i dont' drink a cup of coffee at all. i like juice very much. if i can't sleep at night, then i will drink a cup of coffee, but now i am excited at night, so i don't need coffee at all. besides, i dont' have to get up early in the morning, so i don't drink coffee to make me excited. i feel it is bad for my health if i sleep very late.
1 person likes this
@bagumbayan (2705)
• Philippines
18 Sep 07
I dont usually drink coffee. I can even not drink coffee for a year or more. I only drink coffee in the morning before I go to take my bath so that my stomach will not be that cold and I got some heat inside my body. We also drink not the one we buy in the supermarkets, we buy direct from sellers of coffee beans and have it granulated. We do have coffee tree in our province but we got no time doing the coffee making, its too tedious. But I can go without coffee. The caffeine is not good but there are some studies that caffeine is good for the hurt and health of drinkers as long as it is not taken too much.
@pendragon (3348)
• United States
11 Sep 07
Three months I believe.The caffeine was messing with the effectiveness of come of my chronic illness meds, and that had to be adjusted first...now I only have one or two cups a week.Used to be about 4-5 cups a day, and no, I never slept,lol.
• United States
11 Sep 07
I think the longest I've gone without caffeine, which is hard considering I'm a die hard caffeine person, is probably only a few days. I think I made a point to try and cut off the caffeine for about a week, or maybe a few days less than that, just to prove that I had the self control. I consume far much more of it when I'm at home than I do when I'm at school. It just seems like I have better drink options. So instead of loading up on it all the time, I may only have a bit of it once a day.
@carlaabt (3504)
• United States
11 Sep 07
Even when I was pregnant I drank soda. My doctor said it was actually better for baby to have a little bit of caffeine than for me to stop, and risk going through withdrawals, that would not only be miserable for me, but miserable for the unborn child as well. I did really cut back my caffeine while I was pregnant, though. I cut back to about half a can every other day. Just enough to keep the headaches at bay. Since he was born, I increased back to a whole can at a time, but I usually only drink 2-3 a week still. Sometimes if I am really tired, I will drink more, but that's about average.
@AmbiePam (93946)
• United States
11 Sep 07
You did a good thing by avoiding caffeine during pregnancy. I hear a lot of new mothers talking about that's the one thing they didn't want to avoid, but have to avoid during pregnancy. I've gone probably two months without caffeine. I wanted to see if I felt better without it long term. These days I have a coca-cola, but nothing too excessive. Even Weight Watchers tells its member they can have at least one caffeinated beverage a day. Good thing I'm not a WW member, because I just might want two! : )
• Portugal
11 Sep 07
I only drink coffee when in need... Work for the night... that's my only addict when I am busy for day and night... But I know this is not good for health.. No side effects unless stay awake for me... But lots of the caffeine I drink comes with the Coca-cola, but I started to reduce it also
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
12 Sep 07
Maybe a day at the most. I get headaches too and i get grumpy if I haven't had my coffee fix. I know I am addicted to coffee and need it everyday! I drink coffee in the mornings, noon and evenings and sometimes late at night. If I go without I most definitely get withdrawal symptoms and get very agitated!
@sandwedge (1339)
• Malaysia
12 Sep 07
the longest time i do without coffee is exactly the time it gets from my table to the coffee maker.
@3lilangels (4639)
• United States
13 Sep 07
well i would say the longest i went with out any caffeine is when i was in the hospital having my babies and was there for 4 days.other than that i need my caffeine at 530 in the morning when i get up to tend to my 3 kids,which is a great big glass of pepsi,since i dont like coffee at all.i only drink it in the morning so i can get my energy to get me going all day with my babies.if i dont have my soda in the morning than i need nany911 lol.
• Australia
11 Sep 07
Quite a number of years ago now my naturopath told me to stop all caffeine. I started drinking caffeine-free coffee alternatives. I had severe withdrawal. Every joint in my body screamed at me and my head throbbed mercilessly, even though I never get headaches. The second day, I couldn't stand it and made myself a cup of coffee flavoured water: just a few grains of coffee - and all aches and pains vanished. I gradually stopped having caffeine, to the point where I was free. Then one day I had some fruit cake which unknown to me, had coffee in. I was on a high! I decided to keep a little tiny bit of caffeine in my body, and started drinking decaffeinated, which is .3% caffeine. I continued that for about five years. That was many years ago. I now have one cup of coffee every morning, but if I miss it, it doesn't bother me.
@williamjisir (22819)
• China
11 Sep 07
Sometimes I drink coffe to keep me alert. Most of the time I drink tea instead because it is easier for me when I am working in the office. But I don't drink coffee or tea in the evening. I don't want my sleep to be ruined.
• United States
11 Sep 07
true it is better for you if you dont have as much caffiene but me with two young children I just cant help it if I didn't have my caffiene i would go crazy. As for the longest I went was when I was pregnant with my first son I would get sick from the smell of coffee and dr pepper tasted like crap so the entire pregnancy I didn't drink coffee or dr pepper which is my two most favorite drinks. the day i had my oldest son I drank me a nice cup of coffee oh and i had so many dr pepper cans in my hospital room the nurses thought i was having a party. When I got pregnant with my second son I was afraid he would do the same as my first so I drank coffee and dr pepper throughout the whole pregnancy and it didn't hurt him he is very healthy. right now im more concerned with trying to quit smoking which isnt going very well i imagine once thats over with then Ill start winging out the caffiene for so i can feel a little more healthy and start losing this excess weight I gained while pregnant. but I imagine ill always get a couple cups of coffee as long as it dont make me sick.
@dotsey (98)
• Ghana
11 Sep 07
Thankfully I don't drink caffeine, therefore no side effects.
@moneyandgc (3428)
• United States
11 Sep 07
I think the longest I have gone without caffeine is about a week. I don't drink much, just a Coke a day. Every once in awhile I have some coffee. My husband and I like to sit, have a cup of coffee together and chat when we are home together. Sometimes coffee makes me jittery but usually it depends what I have eaten. I drink hot tea too but I mix up my own and it is all caffeine free.
@viroop (155)
• China
11 Sep 07
iam a regular coffe drinker but when i went to my grand parents house for first time after 12 years i liked to stay for 30 days ,its sad that i cant get coffe there for about 30 days i was without coffee at that place its great to me and my tounge without coffe without 30 days .