memes

At least until your stomach is all ulcers

As a German: It's totally normal to order a glass of (soda) water when you're in a restaurant for example. I personally prefer the good old Apfelschorle when I'm driving, which is not 0g sugar though.

What about any sort of juice? Lemonade?

I used to think so too, but once I had been off caffeine for about half a year I realized that's not really true. First of all, long-term users of caffeine have just forgotten what it was like before they made it a daily habit. And if they do quit for a couple weeks, and get over the acute phase of withdrawals (usually extreme lethargy, headaches, extreme lack of motivation), they'll still be in post-acute withdrawal for months (below-average mood and motivation, low'ish energy levels, chaotic sleeping patterns).

I tried several times in my 20s and early 30s to quit. I hit 30 days several times and, still feeling kinda depressed and unmotivated, figured that "I'm just a person who's brain chemistry requires caffeine to function, I guess" and went back on the bean.

It wasn't until I reached 2+ months off caffeine until that dull grey cloud of "meh" (or buffer lag, as you say) really started to lift.

At 4+ months I only saw benefits compared to being on caffeine:

• Better focus
• Deeper sleep (+ more vivid and far fewer violent/stressful dreams).
• No more "spinning wheels" (doing something probably unproductive very intensely and feeling like I'm being productive... edit: kind of like what I did with this massive post)
• Far easier to think deeply about things without being distracted by my own chaotic thoughts (helped a lot for stuff like coding)
• Better working memory
• Even energy levels throughout the day
• More dependable motivation-levels
• 90%+ reduction in anxiety
• Better overall mood (mood-swings became very rare)
• Way more patient with others and myself. I used to get irrationally angry at myself when I couldn't figure out coding issues, for example. This also made me a nicer person to be around (got several comments on how I had changed for the better in this regard).

Getting over the post-acute withdrawals also helped me remember what I felt like as a kid/teen: to wake up refreshed and keep trucking all day without significant slumps, then fall asleep quickly at roughly the same time every night (and almost never wake up randomly during the night, as opposed to 3+ wakings).

Keep in mind that the post-acute period varies a lot from person to person. It seems to be mainly based on how long caffeine has been a daily habit, and how much caffeine one has each day. As for me I had a 3-cup (about 300-400mg caffeine) coffee habit from age 18 to 34. I've talked to people who had a 1500mg+ daily habit over the same rough timespan as me that didn't feel fully normal until almost a year had passed.

All that said, I eventually fell back into the caffeine trap once I started drinking alcohol again. Caffeine helps with hangovers a little, and the more often I drank alcohol, the more often I felt I needed the caffeine pick-me-up. Now 4 years later I'm in a cycle of 2-3 days off alcohol (but on caffeine). Then anxiety starts to spike, and I think I need Alcohol "to take the edge off". Then after what always turns into a massive drinking session I'm in a dopamine deficit for the next 1-4 days and so turn to caffeine to get somewhere close to normal... until I'm unbearably anxious and need to take the edge off again.

Would be nice to go back to complete sobriety (including no caffeine). It's just a bit daunting knowing how many months I'm going to feel what you're describing before I see all the benefits.