Definitely. People seem to vary. Some get anxiety. Some have physical symptoms like feeling flu-ish. I haven't really catalogued them but read about people having them in the various forums I read.

Here's one thing I found in "The Gluten File": Celiac Notes: Opiate Withdrawal from Gluten and Casein?

This is one of the reasons I believe in using coffee substitutes. There's a real thing called the "brewing ritual" that people are used to.

The other reason I use them is they allow you to gradually reduce your caffeine (by blending them with coffee in your pot), reducing the chance (IMO) of returning to caffeine.

I think some people can quit cold turkey, and if they have even a little coffee substitute it just makes them crave the real thing...but in my experience, having a substitute is what enables me to stay caffeine-free. (It's like eating low-carb cake, for example.)

Anyway, in earlier posts in this thread I listed some coffee substitutes that can be brewed in a coffee pot (my favorite is Teeccino but there are others); maybe those would help? And some of them taste very good and are good for you, too. I don't know which ones would fit with a paleo diet.

One I definitely don't like is pure chicory; too bitter for me. It's a component in some Teeccino flavors, though, and I don't mind it there.

Congratulations to all of you who are giving caffeine up; it's no small achievement.

--SF

If I went cold turkey from 2 cups of coffee I'd be in bad shape too. When I quit caffeine I was only drinking 1 cup of coffee in the morning and the occasional diet coke. I tried to just stop and I got horrible throbbing headaches that basically rendered me a useless blob. I had to taper down my 1 cup of coffee by mixing it with decaf slowly over 2 weeks to avoid it.

I used to think I started drinking coffee because of my insomnia. I've suffered from it my whole life. (Low carbing cured it from day one!) We didn't have pop around our house when I was a kid, but there always a pot of coffee in the morning.

I've realized, though, that I have a mild case of ADD. I wonder if the caffeine is just enough of a stimulant to help me.

My brewing ritual is now 4 tea bags (2 herbal, 2 black) in my old coffee pot. I love Bengal Spice tea! It's the absolute best!

Two cups was like nothing for me, for many years I drank coffee ALL day, EVERY day.

But over the last six years, I'd cut back on the coffee - finally not allowing any of it after NOON. Didn't always work, but helped some.

Finally, it was down to two cups.

I was just shocked by the withdrawal symptoms - and I don't mean the infamous headache.

I mean the revolting nausea, the waves & waves & waves of jittery nausea; the ever recurring constant NEED.to.FALL.alseep.NOW - that stuff kept up for a couple weeks, I was really appalled.

I'm glad I didn't wean down to NO-headache level.

Why?

Because after personally discovering just how JUNKY-like the withdrawal from ALL caffeine was, I can truthfully admit that I no longer have positive feelings towards ANY caffeinated beverage.

Well, that's an interesting perspective! For me, not pooping like a maniac is going to be enough to keep me away!

Oh I love Bengal Spice too! I remember years ago in school, I used to have it in the afternoons instead of coffee (with cream and sweetener); it was the only thing I could find at the time that really served as a good substitute for afternoon coffee. Yum.

Sometime I'd like to try making homemade Chai with either rooibos or decaf tea, and erythritol instead of sugar. I haven't had that since I gave up caffeine and sugar.

I really like rooibos tea; it tastes a lot like regular tea, but it naturally does not have caffeine. Have you tried it?

I believe you said you gave up dairy, right? Would you be able to use MimicCreme? I've been meaning to try it one of these days.

I've never been fond of putting dairy in tea. It just did nothing for me. Horray! A habit I don't have to break.

did any of you notice how your calcium began to flourish after quitting caffeine?
i believe either the caffeine or the dairy was keeping calcium from being absorbed...

now without either in my system, my calcium is flourishing as in:
my hair is thicker than it's ever been in my existence..
my nails have to be cut with clippers they've gotten so hard and grow like weeds.
before, my nails would bend and tear all the time..

but i also stopped all non animal foods a year ago.
but i still think it's the caffeine that stopped the calcium from being absorbed.

That's because when you drink either coffee or tea either with your meals, or within 2 hours of meals, 75% of the iron cannot be absorbed.

Hair falling out, and/or not growing is a sign of iron deficiency.

Nails which are extremely brittle and weak are associated with iron deficiency anaemia.

Nothing so far. But I'm only newly coffee-free. My hair/fingernails always grew at a fast pace but my fingernails tend to be thin and flexible.

But man oh man, I am constipated.

How about a nice big bowl of blueberries with a large dollop of whole milk vanilla yogurt?

Seriously, I don't know if your are allowed any beans, but one-third cup of black beans or refried black beans would end your constipation QUICKLY.

Or a couple prunes which have soaked overnight in prune juice will certainly keep you moving.

You might see if you tolerate coconut oil better now that you're caffeine free. That always gets my works working.

Or the tried and true magnesium malate.

I expect it will sort itself out once you're over the backlash.

Ummm... we're in the Paleo forum here. We don't eat beans or dairy.

I might try almonds, it seemed like the always did a number on me before I gave up coffee, of course, it might have been the coffee doing it.