Does cutting caffeine affect the mood? Like, am I liable

[Bertha Venation]

to get more depressed?

[Shell Beau]

1. It is possible. Caffeine is addictive.

It can enhance the mood. I got headaches when I cut it out of my diet.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear Bertha Venation!

I'm not sure, actually...

I've never given up my coffee...

I suppose it could.

Since it does affect your energy level...

:hi:

[ipfilter]

3. Depends on what you cut it with I guess.

[Ohio Joe]

4. Nothing worse then a caffeine headache

I had to give up caffeine a few years back, the headache lasted for days and was the worst one I ever had.

[AlCzervik]

5. life would be very bad for the people that live at my house if i gave up coffee.

[mike_c]

6. DON'T FUCKING BOTHER ME WITH SUCH STUPID QUESTIONS!!!!

I haven't had my afternoon coffee yet.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

7. Bad mojo

I got in the habit of having a pot of coffee to get through my graveyard shift and didn't think much of it until I recently took two weeks off. No work, no need for coffee (which I never did figure out how to make well, anyway). I not only had a bad headache for the first week, the fog didn't lift until two days before I needed to head back to work. Accomplished nothing--basically alternated four hours in bed and four hours up the whole time. Totally fucked any plans to catch up on entropy, read, whatever. Didn't click until that first night back at the keyboard when I made a pot and suddenly rediscovered the energy I was missing.

Coffee is evil, I tell you. Back off slowly, not cold turkey. Of course, I merely started drinking tea again and have been assured that my beloved Scottish Blend is strong enough to put hair on my chest and probably stronger than the coffee was, so I obviously haven't conquered caffeine at all.

I justify it only because I totally gave up sodas last year. Kicking my Barq's habit was a breeze, compared to caffeine.

Maybe you could substitute a cup of St. John's wort tea to counteract the letdown? Since herbs take a while to start working, you might overlap a month before you taper off the java.

[KitchenWitch]

9. "catch up on entropy"

Doesn't entropy do very well all on its own?

:hide:

[frogmarch]

8. After a few weeks

without coffee, I felt as if a dark cloud had been lifted from over my head. Quitting caffeine was the best anti-depressant I ever had - even better than rigorous exercise.

[Left Is Write]

10. Caffeine affects people differently, so I'd hesitate to make any definitive statements.

However, too much caffeine can exacerbate existing anxiety.

[Bertha Venation]

11. "too much caffeine can exacerbate existing anxiety" --

what a common sense statement this is. I must be completly lacking in common sense because this never occurred to me. Thank you. :hi:

It's good to have others' input.