
How Your Brain Becomes Addicted to Caffeine - Libertatea
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2013/08/this-is-how-your-brain-becomes-addicted-to-caffeine/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+smithsonianmag%2FSurprisingScience+%28Surprising+Science+%7C+Smithsonian.com%29
======
karpathy
I was hoping that the article would also mention some approximate amounts you
have to drink per day to start to get withdrawal effects. Are there no studies
of this?

As one personal data point, I drink 2-4 cups daily and a few months ago I
decided to suddenly stop just to see what happens. The results were very
unexciting: I felt nothing. No headaches, no fogginess, no significant loss of
alertness (although I did need more time to "warm up" in the morning from my
groggy morning states). Otherwise I felt normal and after a week of unexciting
I just went back to drinking coffee because it tastes good and works when you
need it.

At least from my personal study then, it seems 2-4 cups daily is not enough to
get any adverse effects.

~~~
mcv
I don't know about coffee, but I've figured out when tea becomes a problem.
There have been times when I drank 4-6 liters of tea per day. If I'd quit cold
turkey, the next day I'd get a growing, eventually stabbing headache, nausea,
and eventually vomiting.

But it's very easy to kick: one or two days of drinking 1 or 2 liters and I'm
fine. Even less might probably work; I've had times when I was worried that I
didn't reduce my tea consumption in time, and I just drank some cola and was
usually fine. (I don't like cola. I just drink it to ease down my addiction.)

I never actually noticed any significant fogginess as far as I remember.

~~~
conradfr
4-6 liters per day ... don't you get
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_polydipsia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_polydipsia)
?

~~~
haldujai
Polydipsia would explain why he drinks that much. He would get
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyuria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyuria)
as a result from the volume he is drinking.

------
terhechte
I quit Coffee/Caffeine around twice a year for the amount of around 3 - 5
weeks for some sort of cleaning of the system. It is always awful, I get bad
headaches, I feel tired, I can't concentrate, I basically loose 1-2 days of
productivity. However, after that, I start slowly, only with one espresso per
day, and then gradually move back up until I hit the 5 cups a day again, and
that's when I quit cold turkey again.

I do agree that my body feels great when I'm not drinking coffee, however I
like the taste of it so much, that I always have to fall back to it. Still
going cold turkey twice a year feels good.

~~~
mjn
> I like the taste of it so much, that I always have to fall back to it

I find decaf actually helps with this. I like both the taste and the ritual of
coffee, but don't like the jitters it gives me if I have more than one or two
cups a day. So I typically switch to decaf after the first cup, and still
enjoy the rest.

Unfortunately this was easier to do before I moved from California to Denmark.
Here it's easier to find nonalcoholic beer (every supermarket carries it) than
decaf coffee (fewer than half do), and it seems to be regarded with a degree
of cultural suspicion.

~~~
terhechte
I'm also having decaf every couple of days out of the same reason. For what
it's worth, the Nespresso from Nestle has really good decaf espressos. They
taste very close to a normal espresso. Half the time I'm using my Nespresso
only for decaf (my normal coffee is usually handpicked local-roasted that I
prepare in a french press). Nespresso also has three different decaf variants.

~~~
lostlogin
Where do you get ones that you like? Do you check expiration or something like
it so as to get fresher ones? I've only ever found them awful. We have a
machine at work that I avoid, but I'd experiment if I had hope.

------
jebblue
Caffeine has been found to have beneficial effects in fighting diseases like
Alzheimer's:

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20182037](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20182037)

...and for Parkinson's:

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23879665](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23879665)

------
gruseom
It's hard to believe, but caffeine withdrawal is classified as a mental
illness in the recently updated DSM, the bible of psychiatry.

[http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/blogs/daily-
dose/2013...](http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/blogs/daily-
dose/2013/06/10/caffeine-withdrawal-really-mental-
illness/1w3BI7OVgRqcYlf3YDt5PN/blog.html)

~~~
eksith
Not terribly comforting to know this. But I can attest that quitting coffee
was one of the more painful things I've attempted.

And failed at : [http://eksith.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/quitting-coffee-
cold-...](http://eksith.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/quitting-coffee-cold-turkey-
abject-failure/)

~~~
gruseom
I've quit on two or three occasions for a year at a time. What worked was to
gradually lower the dose until you're close enough to zero that zero isn't
hard. I did that over a couple weeks, and it was so much easier than cold
turkey that I don't know why more people don't try it.

~~~
peteretep
+1

I'll also add: this works best for me when I switch to decaf and take caffeine
pills. Then I can start to decrease the caffeine dose independent of the tasty
hot drink.

------
sdfjkl
What I would like to know is, is caffeine consumption a zero-sum game? I.e.
assuming you consume a constant amount of the stuff (let's say two cups of
coffee a day), once your brain has adapted to this intake, is there any
advantage in the habit compared to me never drinking any? Or does it
effectively make your now adapted mind work just like if you had never
consumed any caffeine at all?

I've gone clean a few times now, and the effects and time-frame given in the
article seem head-on. I have a feeling that I function no worse without any
caffeine than when i was drinking regular doses, except my mental performance
is more even throughout the day (no spikes after a cup of latte and no
tiredness in the evening after I stop drinking). Also, I sleep a lot better.

Additionally, being completely off caffeine gives me a powerful tool strictly
for emergency use - if I really need to drive all night without falling asleep
at the wheel or push out a new release before going away for a week, one cup
of coffee works like magic. I do reserve it for really important cases only,
and made it a rule to not drink any for at least two weeks after that to clear
up again.

~~~
jwilliams
There is definitely a phenomenon of caffeine tolerance, but it seems complex
and varies a lot with the individual.

Caffeine is largely self-administered, so there is also situational tolerance.
Even if you have some effect, you're conditioned to expect it.

The two combined means perceived tolerance varies quite a lot.

 _is there any advantage in the habit compared to me never drinking any?_

There is the enjoyment of it.

------
thinkersilver
It would also be interesting to see research on coffee's effect on a wide
range of personality types. I've quit and haven't used in ~19months. Back then
I'd drink 3-4 espresso's a day. Quitting was one of the most unpleasant and
unbalancing experiences of my life. I kept a log of headaches, moods and
fatigue before and after going cold turkey; and it was a long while (months)
before the fogginess, tiredness, muscle spasms and irritability became
manageable.

The rush and withdrawal effects of coffee on individuals seems to me to differ
widely. I have friends that only got a slight barely notable buzz from it, but
for me, I got the buzz, pleasure and motivation from my morning espresso. It
was my on switch.

I think when I began to realise my psychological dependency was a bit unusual,
was when I noticed how jittery and restless I was before my morning espresso.
The first sip would correct that and bring with it a strange zen-like calm;
the hustle and bustle of the day would dim to a dull hum and I would regain my
presence of mind and I could function again. I promptly decided to quit.

------
gruseom
Voltaire famously drank something like 50 cups of coffee a day. When someone
told him it was a slow poison, he replied, "It must be very slow."

That's the story at least. Don't know if it's true.

~~~
vidarh
Sounds exaggerated, unless he had insane tolerance levels or the coffee was
very weak. Typically you count ca. 70mg for a cup of coffee, though of course
it varies a lot with type. If we assume 50mg, that's 2500mg...

For comparison, weight lifting supplements tends to max out at about 400mg,
and from experience if you take those amounts and then _don 't_ do a hard
workout, you're bouncing off the walls and it's horrible. I find it hard to
imagine effectively spacing out 2500mg in a way that'd leave me focused rather
than jittery as hell, despite a very high tolerance level, and without
wrecking any hope of decent sleep....

Then again, tolerance levels for caffeine varies greatly - at one point I'd
often drink a red bull right before sleep.

~~~
gruseom
I think the assumption has been that their cups were much smaller or weaker
than ours.

------
phatbyte
What's life without a little addiction ? ;)

Coffee is small dosages is not bad for you, many studies say that in fact it's
healthy in a long term.

In my case, I drink my morning black coffee, and one espresso after lunch and
another after dinner. It fixes my daily "addiction" and I don't see it
interfering in my life like an actual drug would, say cigars/alcohol/etc..

~~~
Retric
It's really hard to separate if it's small amounts of coffee that's useful or
the brain chemistry / lifestyle of people who drink small amounts of coffee
regularly.

------
jsonne
I had a massive caffeine addiction (think 2 large cans of redbull a day) about
a year ago until I quit cold turkey. It may be in my head, but after about a
month off the stuff I felt like I had more energy than ever.

~~~
thurn
I quit caffeine and ended up regretting it. I felt tired a lot more, even a
year later. Staying awake after lunch became a real challenge for me. I'm just
saying this to temper the confirmation bias here - I think people who quit
caffeine and got nothing out of it probably don't feel any particular need to
share their stories.

~~~
1337biz
Especially when you are not working in a very structured environment caffeine
helps (me) with keeping moving forward. The older I get the more important I
feel energy management becomes. But then again I usually drink one in the
morning and one in the afternoon to not get kicked out of various coffee
shops...

~~~
JosephHatfield
By that do you mean that you try to conserve your energy expenditure over the
course of the day, so you don't burn out too quickly?

------
dsego
I can do without caffeine, but I actually enjoy drinking coffee. I love the
taste, the smell and the ceremony of preparing it. I like to make turkish
coffee and espresso in my moka pot. I've also recently bought a french press.
I don't smoke, so making coffee gives me a reason to take a break from the
computer. Maybe I could switch to tea, but tea isn't as exciting for me.

------
magoon
As I read this article and thought to myself, "hmm maybe I should go cold-
turkey for a couple weeks" since I certainly have been building up a
tolerance, I got an alert for this email (I can't make this up):

From: My Starbucks Rewards <Starbucks@e.starbucks.com>

Subj: The next one's on us. In fact, it's already on your Starbucks Card.

~~~
jacques_chester
No need to go cold turkey. Progressively substitute decaf for regular. If you
have you own espresso machine, this is pretty easy to do over the course of a
few weeks.

------
zxcvvcxz
This raises a very interesting question: what is an optimal stimulant (or
stimulant enabler) dosage routine? I think it's clear that in the short term
something like caffeine is a net positive. But how do we mitigate negative
longer-term effects like tolerance and dependency?

Every week I take a "detox day" \- typically Sunday. I cut out caffeine and
generally add a fair bit of exercise (preferably 45 mins of cardio). I find
this helps cleanse and reset my system. I also free-run my sleep on the
weekends, further helping to "reset" everything. My logic here is that I can
be stimulated for most of the week while taking a day to undo any longer-term
effects that may be done (such as the increase in adenosine receptors). As a
result I try not too schedule anything too important on detox day, as I'm a
bit less sharp mentally. I actually don't mind working then - the only effect
is that it takes longer to "warm up". It's the social obligations where I want
to make sure I have that extra little kick ;)

I've been interested in supplementing with modafinil for a while, but I refuse
to do so just yet on the grounds that we don't understand how it works well
enough. That, and since the drug is relatively new we don't have studies on
long-term effects. As much as I love stimulant-enablers and mental
optimization, I refuse to do so at the risk of my health.

------
trumbitta2
Recently I woke up no more able to hear anything from my left ear.

My hearing has always been higher than most people's.

Long story short, as part of the cure, the otolaryngologist prohibited me to
even smell caffeinated coffee for like forever.

I instantly switched to decaffeinated coffee. The one I drink has half the
caffeine it must have to be legally said to be decaffeinated.

I didn't experience a single effect of caffeine deprivation. Not a single
time.

All in all, I don't think caffeine is a drug like others. I think is a drug to
someone, and it isn't to someone else.

~~~
kayoone
Ugh, did your hearing recover ?

~~~
trumbitta2
It did, fortunately. Thanks for asking :)

It was a mini-stroke to a tiny blood vessel in the internal ear, that's why no
more caffeine...

Now, when I get the rare glass (250ml) of coke like once per month with pizza,
I also get some minutes of pain to the ears and feel very very stupid XD

------
DigitalSea
I quit drinking any caffeine for a week once, an experience I won't forget any
time soon. I think some have varying degree of withdrawal symptoms but I
recall a couple of days in having one of the worse migraines I have ever
experienced, if I moved my head it hurt, blinked or even chewed my head would
ache. I got hand tremors, I became incredibly fatigued and somewhat antisocial
as well. After a week I returned to normal but have since started drinking
coffee and tea again as it is hard to not drink any of those (especially
client meetings). So it's definitely an addiction, one that your body is quite
dependent on.

Although even though I tried to stop drinking, I never once had the urge to
make a tea or coffee, it's weird in that caffeine addiction seems to be one of
those things we don't feel like we need and more of just a habitual need if
anything. I never got to the point in my week detox where I felt like killing
people for a caffeine fix or stealing from loved ones.

It's surprisingly hard to avoid caffeine, it's in more things than most people
realise. It's in soft drink, it's in chocolate, a lot of decaf coffee still
has low levels of caffeine. While if you want to live a life without, tea,
coffee and chocolate you might mostly avoid ingesting caffeine, lets be
realistic, it's unavoidable...

~~~
aptwebapps
When I have coffee or tea on a regular schedule and it's interrupted I get
mild but irritating headaches. This was happening a lot a while ago and I got
sick of it and quit. I was only drinking that much of it at the time so my
withdrawal wasn't too bad, although I'm sure there's individual variation as
well.

Now that I don't have it on a regular basis, I'll have a small cup of weak tea
if I'm tired and have a lot of work. The effect of even a small amount is
immense when you don't use it regularly. I can have it at about two in the
afternoon and I'll still be alert way past my bedtime.

The only problem with is tea or coffee smells _so_ good when someone else is
having some ...

------
shekyboy
That is why I created this
[http://www.getjumpstart.me/](http://www.getjumpstart.me/)

We had our baby girl earlier this year, which led to sleepless nights and
several cups of coffee during the day. My dad who has been practicing yoga for
decades recommended a different route, which involved a 10 minute session
involving deep breathing.

One thing led to the other and we built this app to help everyone who may have
this problem.

Sorry for the shameless plug but seemed very topical.

~~~
shekyboy
Currently the app works with FB login. Rookie mistake on my part. Update is in
the works to enable email only option

------
drakeandrews
Interestingly, I've found that a significant part of my own addiction is
behavioural. If (for whatever reason), I know I'm not going to be able to
drink tea for a few days, as long as I have something to replace it with that
has an appropriate amount of ceremony to it I don't really exhibit the
withdrawal symptoms the article mentions.

On the other hand, if I just try and stop I feel useless for about a week
(possibly longer, I've only stopped for that long once).

------
dustyleary
I'm surprised to see the caffeine withdrawal horror stories:

I drink what I think is a lot of caffeine. I just counted what I've had today,
a normal day in terms of caffeine: 1 cup of aeropress coffee in the morning,
which I make very dark/thick, so it might count as 2 cups, perhaps more, of
"normal" coffee... And since the morning, another 9 shots of espresso, and a
couple of cans of coke zero.

When I go off of caffeine, I get a mild headache for a few days to a week, and
that's it.

.

One mildly interesting story: I used to play a lot of counterstrike, at
relatively high levels, but below 'pro'.

Once, I went off of caffeine, and went through the withdrawal. During
withdrawal, my counterstrike ability worsened. After withdrawal, I was
noticeably better than I had been when on caffeine. But, when I finally went
back on caffeine, I was on a whole new level. Opponents that I had trouble
with before were almost comically easy to beat. I can definitely see why
caffeine is consider a PED for certain Olympic sports.

------
dhughes
I never used to drink coffee it made me feel very jittery and short of breath
with just a sip, the guys where I worked as a kid (14) went on coffee runs,
make that I went on coffee runs, and once I got a coffee and whoa jittery!
Although a Lebanese store owner used to give make Lebanese coffee for me when
I was a 14 or 15 plus some nice pistachio baklava, the coffee didn't bother me
as much, weird.

Anyway 20 years later I started shift work and when installing equipment when
the building I was working at was being built we had coffee breaks more to
keep warm in an unheated concrete box during a Canadian spring. Now I like
coffee (?) but most often it's a latte, cappuccino, espresso or some coffee
flavoured drink but sometimes I get four shots of espresso.

Now I have GERD and caffeine is a trigger, at worst I am vomiting up stomach
acid and my throat feels like there is a golfball stuck halfway down it. Yet I
still drink coffee :(

~~~
DevMonkey
I have GERD (hiatal hernia) and I stayed away from Caffeine for years because
I was told it would trigger it. They also said to avoid spicy foods and
exercise regularly. I started taking Prilosac and exercising regularly about 5
years ago. Now I can pretty much eat what I want (I go through a bottle of
Sriracha every 3 months, it goes on everything :D). I think the key to
managing GERD is the exercise and medicine. When I don't exercise I have more
reflux. If you are not exercising regularly (which means exercising long
enough to get super hungry), then you might want to try it to see if it
improves your symptoms. Anecdotally, I think the GERD diet is total bullshit,
I've tried it (with out meds) and I still experienced enough discomfort to
convince me to take medication.

Edit: I forgot to mention I drink coffee every morning.

~~~
dhughes
Hello fellow GERD-er, I've never heard of the GERD diet my doctor just throws
pills at me.

Exercise for sure, when I started shift work my gym trips started to suffer
until a few years later I stopped going. I had gone to the gym since just
after high school, almost 20 years, and biking in the summer.

My undiagnosed GERD grew worse a few years later but wasn't discovered until
my dentist put two-and-two together about why my teeth were so sensitive. I
unknowingly discovered it years earlier when having bad coughing fits I
discovered an antacid helped calm my coughing.

Unfortunately the Prevacid I took (lansoprazole) I think was causing my
terrible pain in my back in the morning. I was diagnosed with fatty liver
which I am sure was caused by the Prevacid since it's the only drug I take, I
don't drink, don't smoke, pretty much no drugs other than caffeine. Doctor put
me on dexalansoprazole but that makes my guts hurt, then Tectra (pantoprazole
magnesium) which also hurts.

So I'm back to square one which is I eat small meals and exercise like a
normal human should be doing anyway :/

------
fruitbatsh
addiction or not, my code is more composed and creative under the influence of
coffee

~~~
RyanZAG
Have you taken two week breaks without any coffee to compare? If the article
is correct, after two weeks you should have kicked off the addiction. If
you're comparing day 1 with coffee vs day 2 without coffee, you might be
falling into a trap.

~~~
cLeEOGPw
I was not drinking coffee until half a year ago. I completed my assignments,
but it was slow process, i had trouble concentrating, got often distracted
from the task. Staying awake during most of the days was the hardest "work".
Then, after reading some articles on tea and coffee effects decided to try it
out. The result was impressive. I was like 4x more productive, could solve
complicated tasks and not get distracted by anything during whole day, only
drinking 1 cup in the morning. Then I thought maybe I just got better, and
tried it without coffee again. Result - similar performance as before coffee,
except some improvements in the fields I was able to make while under the
influence of coffee.

~~~
KriptoNYC
This works for a period but eventually fades to the point where you take in
caffeine just to reach the level of performance you had before you used it.

The quality of work is often different as well, in my case it's more of a
pushing to get things done at any costs, without refinement or nuance.

BTW- If you google "caffiene brain blood flow" you'll find out that it reduces
blood flow to the brain by 20%. That can't be good...

~~~
VMG
> you'll find out that it reduces blood flow to the brain by 20%

... if you're a preterm infant

~~~
KriptoNYC
Actually it applies to everyone who consumes it, and the body has a limited
ability to compensate for it.

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19219847](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19219847)

------
mordae
When I drink caffeine, I got really upset stomach, end up with diarrhea,
racing thoughts, loops, frequently inability to concentrate on the come down.

I have a 250g bag of anhydrous caffeine powder. I always take some out with me
in a plastic tube. If I can recommend something, it is _not to swallow it_. It
quickly absorbs from the mouth and I perceive it to be much cleaner
experience. Also, the duration is much shorter which makes it ideal to wake
yourself up for the long way back home at night, but still does not prevent
you falling asleep in an hour or so.

------
JohnDotAwesome
I read this as I sip my daily coffee.

~~~
lostlogin
And I'm lying in bed waiting for the machine to warm up. Best part of the day
arrives early on.

------
eeeeeeeeeeeee
I drink 2-4 cups of caffeinated coffee each day and I really don't have any
problems. I drink Red Bull every now and then, too. On days that I don't have
caffeine I do feel "sluggish" but it's not awful. I enjoy the ritual of
drinking coffee plus the taste.

I don't have any problems sleeping unless I have caffeine very late in the
day. I get a solid 7-8 hours of sleep each day without any problems. So, I
don't really see the reason to quit caffeine.

------
rbsn
I generally don't drink coffee because it makes your breath smell. It is
really awful when you're talking to colleagues or clients with "coffee
breathe".

------
virtualwhys
Recently I cut my normal coffee intake (2 very strong 16oz cups per day) to a
single mild 8oz cup in the morning.

Suddenly I was depressed, like meaning had been swept out from under me, not
to mention a 2 day headache.

On the 3rd day the clouds broke and I started to feel much better, better than
the best of days high as a kite on caffeine.

Have more energy, less irritable, sleep better, etc.

I'll be surprised if I go back to previous levels, seems incredibly unhealthy
from the less is more side of the fence.

------
europestup
I don't like coffee, but when I need a kick I use caffeine pills. I only use
them sparingly, they're very useful, and I don't find any drawback!

------
zmmmmm
I've always maintained a strict rule that I don't drink any caffeine after
midday, preferably not after about 11am. The theory being, this leaves my
brain without caffeine for at least half of its time, which should thus
prevent the brain modifications from setting in. However I've never had anyone
confirm this is a valid approach, but it seems to work ok as far as I can
tell.

~~~
keeperofdakeys
I don't think this would stop it. However, the caffeine would be out of your
system by the time you are going to sleep, so you would be able to sleep well.

------
dmead
quitting caffeine was way harder than i thought it was going to be. i still
have doubts if i'll ever be as productive

------
shire
Who would want to quit drinking coffee? Can anyone give me some negative
health outcomes of drinking coffee? Other than the coffee breath which is
awful.

~~~
Tomis02
Among others it can lead to heart problems, as experienced by a relative of
mine after 20 years of drinking coffee. So good luck with that.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_coffee#Risks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_coffee#Risks)

------
NDizzle
Neat article. I'd like to hear about the next step in the process. Why Aspirin
cures the caffeine headache, but something like Tylenol will not.

------
wissler
Why quit cold turkey and invite suffering, when all you have to do is reduce
your intake over time?

~~~
regularfry
Because it's quicker. You trade the mental effort of remembering to dose down
over a longer period against physical discomfort for a day or so.

Personally I don't find cold turkey too bad. The second day after I stop I'll
have a headachey, nauseous afternoon (which is almost entirely handled with
paracetamol as long as I stay hydrated), but after that it's more a matter of
habit.

~~~
vidarh
If your withdrawal is over after a day or two, your withdrawals are _mild_.
You're lucky...

Caffeine withdrawal can get really nasty. Think a full week of evening shakes
so strong you can have a hard time ingesting anything, fevers, headaches that
paracetamol won't make go away, diarrhea.

------
Dewie
The article doesn't seem to mention whether coffee is healthy or not. One
thing is if it is addictive, but if it is healthy (or even if it just isn't
unhealthy), I've got to ask... so what if it is addictive?

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTVE5iPMKLg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTVE5iPMKLg)

~~~
aestra
I am sure that it is dependent on the individual. I know some people who can't
have caffeine due to various health reasons and others can't tolorrate the
effects.

