I have been drinking coffee everyday for practically 7 years. I've stopped it at times but most recently i stopped to deal with some stomach acid issues. Quitting definitely helped with that but an unintentional side effect was my libido. Pardon the bedroom talk, but the number of erections i randomly got each day was increased by a drastic number.

When i started drinking coffee again after quitting for like 3 weeks, i instantly felt anxiety when i drank it again and a decrease in libido.

I'm honestly considering quitting for good and potentially switching to tea

That's interesting. Was there a remarkable difference in sleep quality? I drink about 2 cups a day and want to come back down to one.

I've never tried nor wanted to cut it out entirely, but I did want to reduce my intake so that when I did take it, I was not so tolerant of it and it's positive effects were more noticeable. Due to having built a tolerance and enjoying the taste, I would have coffee in the evenings, on weekends, and on workdays at least 3 on waking, midday and afternoon.

For the 2 months I've cut down pretty drastically - No caffeine after 4pm. Only taking it on workdays, at 11am and 3pm. 1 shot per coffee (no large size or double shots).

Surprisingly, I haven't noticed any real negative effects. I think it would be worse going totally to zero. Maybe you'll be able to get the benefits you want by a reduction without going cold turkey?

Another thing to do your own research on, but I also started having Theanine alongside my coffee, and I feel like it's functioning as intended in terms of reducing jittery-ness, some of the random mild muscle twitches I sometimes got with high caffeine/low sleep, and less of that heavy heartbeat I sometimes used to get. Unfortunately there's considerate overlap between when I started reducing my caffeine intake and also supplementing Theanine, so I don't know how much to attribute to what...

Also, decaf does not taste noticeably different to me. I started ordering decaf e.g. on weekends, and it's made surprisingly little difference. I did get a few comments when my friends noticed, but no negative pressure, most people tend to be sympathetic to someone trying to reduce their caffeine intake I've found.

I never got "bad" caffeine side effects (like cardiac ones) or even much wakefulness, and I think the article's idea that 400mg is somehow the "max" is hilarious. That's not even a little chatty.

I did end up cutting down in the sense that my life got healthier; where before it was easy to be in front of the computer sipping coffee or running from one staircase to another really fast literally all day, I got more things to do in my life that required time investment and reduced my intake from drinking coffee (and often espresso) sunup to midnight literally refilling cups the minute they were empty to about 8 or 9 cups a day. I discovered to my great surprise that I had never had social anxiety and didn't tolerate alcohol as well as I thought, and also that a lot more people in my life that I had known 1) noticed, 2) thought I had a problem and 3) did not find it funny.

I can't really cut it out now because I don't really think there's an alternative I'd like that isn't worse, but the improvement was there and the worst part is I would never have guessed it before. Like, I thought that stuff was all my personality. And the relationship stuff also was a major difference; in the sense that I was constantly complaining about not having a support system but also not leaving myself time for other people or allowing myself to feel "natural" pleasure from interaction with people.

But also I think it's pretty okay to drink coffee (eat cookies, play video games, whatever your poison of choice is). I don't see why so many people are trying to entirely "cut it out". All your habits that have become expected constants of your life, and not pleasurable luxuries, should be subject to scrutiny though. Do you need daily coffee (cookies, video games, whatever)? What do your loved ones think of that? Have you ever thought of doing a new activity, but decided against it because your ritual seemed more comforting?

Yeah whenever I cut it out for 2+ days I notice less twitchy neuroticism, more relaxed. Skin feels less dry. Teeth get whiter within a week. Sleep after 2+ days off is higher quality and more consistent.

I just love getting that morning cortado to "get in the zone". It really is hard to stop, not in a chemical sense but in a habitual/ritualistic sense.

I stopped drinking it for a couple of months while I was having anxiety problems. There was no upside to cutting it out, I only felt worse.

I drink between 600ml and 1.2L a day and find that it has a positive impact on my mood. There is such a thing as "too much" where I'll get jittery and overbearing but it's a very high threshold.

Perhaps not that useful to people who do frequently drink coffee but coffee makes me feel awful. Sweatiness, shaking, diarrhea. From just a single cup.

I do drink it occasionally because I really like the taste but I frequently end up regretting it.

my daily coffee intake is two heaping teaspoons of grinds ... without coffee for a day the mood, sleep and energy levels start swinging ... it takes a good 10 days free of caffeine dry out after which I am fine without coffee