Breaking caffeine addiction?

So over the course of the past decade of cube-life I've developed quite the addiction to caffeine. Usually 3-4 cups of coffee in the morning between 630am-10am and another one in the afternoon around 3-4pm. If I don't have it, terrible headaches. I don't like being reliant on something. Anyone ever kick the caffeine habit? Tips? Cold turkey sounds horrible...

Replace a cup or two with cups of water. Drink more water, and maybe a baby aspirin if the headaches are bad.

We're weening my wife off right now. No advice because we haven't gotten to it, but we are cutting out one cup in the morning (i.e. using a smaller travel mug, 16 oz instead of 24), and then making it half-caffeine in the afternoon (her shop will do this for her). We'll eventually start putting her on half calf in the mornings, and slowly remove it until she is at 1 cup of half calf in the morning and maybe a cup of decaf tea in the afternoon.

Her reason for stopping is that she gets migraines, and while caffeine is the normal go-to for a migraine, it doesn't have any impact on hers, and her neurologist thinks it is because her body is so used to it.

I did it. But mine was caffeine and (fake) sugar in coke. I stopped cold-turkey. I had a terrible headache for two days, then just cravings that slowly subsided.
I was totally coke-free for 3 and a half years!! Then.....I was at a company dinner. I ordered the chicken. The waitress said "and to drink?" Total muscle-memory thing, I said "oh. A coke please." Didn't even realize what Inwas ordering. I figured 'hexk, you haven't had a coke in over 3 years. This is just one.
Yup, famous last words. The next morning I woke up in a bathtub full of coke. Kidding on the bathtub, but that was 5 years ago and there's a coke next to me. I'm down to 20 ounces a week at the most. But it's a struggle.
My point? Go cold-turkey and DO NOT GO BACK. EVAR!

As suggested above, substitution is the best method. I worked with a guy whose habits were so ingrained that it was easier for him to go to the coffee machine and get a cup of hot water than just not drink anything or get a cold drink. If water won't do it, both meth and cocoaine are quite low in caffeine content ....

Was able to stop my two cup a day coffee habit over the course of a few weeks. There were three or four days that sucked. I switched to tea at first to get some caffeine but now don't need to have anything to get my morning going now. Small doses of caffeine from other sources like a soda later in the day kept me from becoming a monster.

I did it just because I realized that I was dependant on something and didn't like that

mtn wrote: she gets migraines, and while caffeine is the normal go-to for a migraine, it doesn't have any impact on hers, and her neurologist thinks it is because her body is so used to it.

Same thing here. The pop used to fix the headaches, now it does nothing.

I haven't had caffeine in 10+ years, it's strictly forbidden due to health issues. I just quit cold turkey and switched to decaf (I only have one cup in the morning). Truthfully, at least for me, it was no big deal at all. I'm not at all saying any of the above suggestions are wrong, to me it would have been drastic overkill. I just did the switch and that was it. It's not a tough guy thing, I just didn't struggle with giving it up. When I drank regular coffee, I had about 2-3 cups per day. I was tired for the first week or two, but I adjusted and was fine. Even if I was allowed to have caffeine now, I wouldn't want it. YMMV.

Start drinking green tea. It has a surprising amount of caffeine, but it is absorbed slower and gives you a very mild, all day alertness, rather than a "buzz." This might be enough to stave off the headaches. As Stefan said, start chugging water, you need much more than you think

The good news is that I drink a TON of water now, basically have a glass next to me all day while at work and sip from it.

I used to be like you are (and probably still am). I switched to caffeine-free soda with dinner, to water with lunch and instead of the afternoon cup of coffee, and I cut down to a single cup of coffee in the morning. It's manageable; it just takes diligence and willpower.

I still want those extra cups throughout the day, and if I'm really flagging, I'll have one. But mostly I just remind myself not to. Kind of the way I'm trying to reduce my salt intake, too.

Good luck!

Caffeine has very little effect on me. I had no headaches or anything when I switched to only water. I never drank coffee but drank a lot of mtn dew, a lot. I may have one or dr peppers a week but need to cut those out too because the rash is making a comeback. Stupid allergies.

I stopped cold turkey because of some medicine that I took for 3 months. The withdraw only takes a day or two and it's not that bad, at least mine wasn't. I also started looking for caffeine free teas (different than decaffeinated) to replace the hot cup of something. The drinking more water thing helps too.

I go through this every once in a while. I get up to 4-6 cups per day then get angry.. go cold turkey for about a month then slowly get back on the horse and ride. Life.. ehh.. it's mother.

Yeah, I've quit caffeine many times. Can't stay on the wagon though. Usually can quit at the end of spring. Once it's starts getting dark earlier in October, I fall off the wagon.

I switched to half regular/half decaf but that is as far as I ever got. I am much better though. At one point I was drinking 8-10 cups of coffee during the day, then having a triple whiskey at night to get to sleep. Hell of a cycle.

Switch to hot cocoa maybe? When I was a cuborg I replaced my mid morning coffee with a hot cocoa from the lounge.

Good luck. I predict that when I die it will be possible to run my ashes through a percolator for one last cup.

I would gradually taper off, and replace with healthy, non-caffeinated drinks. Do watch out for the sugar, though. That stuff can mess you up. I drink all of my coffee and most of my tea and green tea unsweetened.

Caffeine seems to have little effect on me, but I drink coffee all day long, mainly out of boredom (and all the sugar I put in it so it wont taste like coffee). I once quit cold turkey when I was having all kinds of stomach issues and it was easy-peasy. Found out the caffeine wasn't the problem, so I started back drinking decaf (why?) and then went back to the hard stuff. Now I can't quit. Same with sweet tea. I really need to quit because I have started putting on weight like a mofo.

No sugar here, drink it black.

Half-caff is a good way to step down, switched to half-caff after regular coffee agitated my gut, still delivers good coffee taste unlike de-caf. I can drink a 8-10 cup pot on midnight and not bounce off the walls. Diner or convenience store coffee gets thinned w/ water or ice but really can't stand that anymore.

There are plenty of caffeine free sodas also, Ginger Ales, 7-Up etc. I don't expect a jolt from sodas but just like a cold, carbonated drink to cool the pipes. Haven't had a cola in years and don't miss it. Figure a lotta people want a sugar and a caffeine buzz, I'm just the opposite after quitting them, I get the major headache then.

Water is still the best replacement for any drink, helped a ton when I quit coffee and alcohol.

I've done it. It wasn't bad for me. I went two days, got one nasty headache which I fixed with a cup of coffee, then I went a week, repeat above, then it was gone.

Of course, life without good coffee proved to be the real deal breaker for me. I'm back on the sauce.

Six week headache that required a coke to get me over times when I was stressed. Went to one cup a day for 4 years and kind of on my way back up at work. I don't really drink them anymore, just pour them and let them get cold.

I quit cold turkey. Was drinking a 12 cup pot of coffee and at least 3 liters of strong home-brewed iced tea every weekday and getting a severe headache around 5 pm on every Saturday. Headache generally went away on Sunday afternoon. Finally realized it might be caffeine withdrawal so I quit on a Thursday. Had a couple of beers on Friday after getting home and before eating a light dinner. Went to bed early and went completely caffeine free for about 6 months. That was 20 years ago, but because I was essentially suffering caffeine withdrawal every weekend I had some idea how it would work out. I don't totally avoid caffeine now, but don't make it a regular part of my day.

I could never quit without medical reasons, but I have learned when to cut my intake for the day. I'm 1-3 cups of coffee in the morning then a liter of iced tea. Or more. Stopping by 5 helps me sleep.

For a while in college, I was sleeping about 4 hours a night and drinking a pot of coffee in the morning and 2 energy drinks during the day. I dialed it back to half a pot and one energy drink, then quit cold turkey- it gave me terrible headaches for about 5 days, but I was OK after that.

Then I started working for a corporation and picked up the habit again- I'm off the energy drinks for the most part now, and trying to dial back the coffee. It's VERY easy to get hooked again, once you quit stay off it.