I've been a decaf drinker for close to a decade now, maybe my experience is interesting to you:

I have better mood, presence of mind and working memory in the morning, especially compared to caffeinated peers. I'm also a lot more aware of when I've woken up from a bad night's sleep (see paragraph 5).

I have much less mid-day dysregulation/impulses compared to caffeinated peers. No predictable afternoon slump either – but a rich lunch will always leave me foggy, lol. If it's the weekend, I'll often join my young kid for the afternoon nap and fall asleep in minutes – the 30-45 min nap usually feels amazing.

Coffee really feels to me now like the psychoactive substance it is. I've had anxiety issues for other reasons in recent years, and today a cup of caffeinated coffee will often trigger a good level of anxiety if I'm not physically active during the peak. The physical symptoms of both are very similar. If I'm moving about, it usually feels good, like something hyped me up, but the sensation comes on its own instead.

Anxiety greatly changes my sleep needs, and caffeine and alcohol both hid these sensations in the past, enough that I suspect I didn't have the interoception (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interoception) to consciously notice and adjust in the past, which would leave me stuck or spiraling in terms of maintenance/recovery, probably for weeks at a time.

In recent days (pretty low anxiety! knock on wood) I have sleep that's almost 2hrs shorter per night, waking up naturally. That came very progressively (sleep quality), then very suddenly (lower needs). Also a great gain, though I also aged a decade and that must contribute as well.

Note that I faded out caffeine by progressively substituting for decaf. No headaches this way (from a peak of ~4 cups a day, I would say?). It sounds like you're doing the same, which I really recommend! There's no need to self-flagellate on top of what's usually a major habit adjustment.

The psychoactive effects of caffeine are massive after you detox for a few weeks. I had a full cup after not having caffeine for a month and the effect was massive. Near euphoria, constant task switching, some anxiety, etc. I personally felt the effect was much stronger than weed has ever felt for me and comparable to having 5+ drinks of alcohol.

But the effect quickly drops to almost nothing very rapidly. I started having caffeine 3 out of 7 days because having a low caffeine tolerance was too annoying. One coke, tea, chocolate would completely destroy my sleep.

I take a 30 min bike ride midday, not a hard ride, just get on the bike and start peddling, I'll now do a leisurely 6-8 mi.

My cognition in my 40s is now better than it was at 26, at 37 before I started this routine I thought my engineering career was over, the post lunch crash, the mental tiredness, just terrible.

The fact that we build our brain work spaces so distant from physical movement is bad for our mental health, our soles, our souls, and doing untold economic damage to our country (the u.s. in my case.), I tried lunch walks for years and it's just too fucking boring, cycling is great, after work I rollerblade and it's so mentally engaging and distinct it obliterates the after work fog.

>The fact that we build our brain work spaces so distant from physical movement is bad for our mental health

Ain't this the truth. It's a ridiculous way to build a society.

I had heart/chest pains from Lisdextroamphetamine (ADHD meds) that went away when I stopped drinking coffee. And I drunk very little, just one half cup in the morning.

Much less anxious now too, but that's more likely due to ADHD meds.

Even on the "milder" Methylphenidate you can experince clenching jaw, grinding teeth and a chafed tongue when consuming coffee, tea and even dark chocolate.

While methylphenidate is considered milder, I always experienced come up as much more aggressive. And coffee interaction was just crazy.

Once drank alcohol free champagne, while adjusting meds. I was on 27mg Concerta - long release methylphenidate. It turned out to be too much for me. But, oh boy, when i realized that the champagne was alcohol free, but white tea based - had to leave the birthday party I was at and just walk off the coming panic attack. Compared to that - coffee on lisdex will either just feel a little speedy and then give slight tiredness, or (and I don't understand why and when) give an effect comparable to high dose of methylphenidate - wired and cut of my feelings.

This "cut off feelings" state was why I chose lisdex instead. Not because I was cut off after coffee, but because being cut off of feelings was a regular side effect of methylphenidate for me.

But it's all super personal and case by case. Especially people that also have autism spectrum traits, should be aware that stimulants can work strong on them. So don't suggest yourself with my body's reaction and patiently and compassionately go through the meds adjustment process yourself.