I also quit caffeine, now I'm doing amphetamine

Pro tip: Caffeine or not, drink loads of water. Can't stress this enough, but keep your bottle nearby. 😉

Super cool to see you talking about this! This "put coffee into programmer > receive code" meme/idea is pretty widespread. A friend once quit coffee and this one sentence from him got me real deep: "without coffee, you're just always awake."

_me as I watch this whilst drinking coffee_ : interesting

now I will have anxiety knowing that I should quit coffee xD

I respect you, that you share these personal issues with us! I think these kind of videos help a lot of us 🥺

Thanks a lot for talking about your real struggle when quitting. I had someone close to me that tried to quit and I never really understood how hard it really is. I love how you're not just using this as a way to get views but also to help impact peoples' lives positively. Wish you all the best of course, thank you

I quit caffeine cold Turkey in 1998. After 2 weeks of headaches I woke up with better memory, focus, and Zen like calm. So much happier now.

I quit caffeine in September 2019 and it's the best decision I had made in a long time. I: - sleep better - remember my dreams way more often - consistent energy throughout the day (no peaks or troughs) - wake up not feeling tired The headache and brain fog I had quitting was pretty bad though, couldn't focus for a while.

"I'm not a rocket surgeon" - Jeff Delaney, highly intelligent expert developer, 2021

I recently had the same thing happen. After years of drinking tea and coffee regularly all of the sudden I had symptoms never experienced before: extreme anxiety, PVC heart palpitations, dizziness, confusion, panic attacks, and spike headaches. I went to my primary care to set up plans to see if my heart was failing, instead she told me to get off caffeine. I was confused, having had it all my life with no problems, but followed her advice. I went cold turkey, and the following week most of the symptoms were already gone. A few weeks later the fog cleared and I felt better. Anxiety is gone, energy is up, PVCs are gone. Going decaffeinated in moderation now. If you're wondering, I was dring 2 double espressos a day. 1 after breakfast, 1 after dinner. Not a lot IMO.

It's great to have you tackle subjects that are outside of the development sphere. There are so many potential topics I'd love to hear your vieww on. It's always a breath of fresh air to watch your videos!

Great video! I’d recommend adding meditation in the morning to start the day calm and focused. That way when the anxieties of the day creep up you’re able to detach yourself from it a bit easier.

Fasting is excellent to feel like really, really calm.

I really recognize myself in the "extremely unmotivated" part. The demotivation I experience on a caffeine withdrawal is insane. It's like all minor tasks, such as putting a plate inside the dishwasher or checking my mail, become super overwhelming. It has made me realize how much our hormones (serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, etc) actually matter in terms of wellbeing. It has also managed to give me a small glimpse into how a normal day for a depressed person might feel like.

Glad it worked for you and thank you for sharing your story, it's not easy to talk about personal stuff like this, but it always helps someone in the same situation and with billions of people around the world, you're never really alone no matter what you're dealing with

Wait is the just the creator of fireship on KZfaq? Did youtube recommendation actually did something useful? This is awesome!

Nice to see some reinforcement! It's important to note that chai (tea) has a similar effect. I quit on Jan 1st this year and went back to it (once) 45 days after quitting. Hated it and never looked back. I've experience similar benefits after quitting - 1. Mental clarity 2. Emotional stability 3. Much better digestive health 4. Better, more restful sleep (feel fantastic after waking up) 5. Improved learning (related to point #4) 6. Grater consistency in all areas of life (projects, relationships. see points #1 and #2)

Bro, you’re awesome! I think the same. When i quit coffee i started dreaming again, having way better sleep and could keep on coding way more hours cause i didn’t have the crash anymore. If you pair it with exercises then you become a machine feeling good all the time!

Honestly man the way you work your craft in itself is an incredible inspiration to me. You seriously be putting batter pack on my back!!! Appreciate you man!!!!

really glad to know the anxiety is gone, man ❤️ thanks for sharing

Happy you feel better!

Anxiety is no joke, do everything you can to help yourself naturally. I had a panic attack and anxiety for years. I absolutely refused to take the mental pills the doctor prescribed. Instead, I got healthy naturally. This was one way but physical exercise, spiritual health and good diet had more impact. I’ve been anxiety free for years now and have been enjoying my daily coffee since. But I definitely don’t drink as much caffeine as I used to.

I quit 3 years ago and now whenever I drink caffeine, I run the risk of getting a headache. I realized I need to listen to my body when it comes to energy levels and actually rest when I'm tired instead of masking it with coffee.

I once made a huge mistake of drinking black coffee before an interview... I thought I will be energetic and focused but it gave me so much anxiety that I couldn't even talk properly. I was not selected and that only amplified my anxiety and anger.

Stay healthy Jeff! Thanks for all your videos and effort!

This was a very interesting video. Thanks for making it and sharing your experience. I've long had to deal with my own anxiety and depression issues, and it's had a big off and on impact on my work. I've long felt I needed coffee to have any sort of productivity, though I've done several experiments going off it for a few weeks at a time. Your description of coming back to normal productivity without the anxiety after about 3 months or so is really fascinating. I may have to give this experiment another go.

Good video, however I'd like to point out a few things - we actually have a great understanding of how Caffeine works (compared to most drugs at least). The main reason for anxiety is a combination of the increased epinephrine (as you mentioned), however it also lowers levels of GABA (brains natural anti anxiety chemical, drugs such as Xanax/Alcohol increase GABA). The dopamine part you got kinda wrong, it's only a dopamine reuptake inhibitor (as you mentioned) which leads to gradual increase of dopamine, but takes 2-4 weeks for noticeable change (same how SSRI antidepressants take a few weeks because they block reuptake, not directly release it), while drugs such as Meth/Cocaine directly release dopamine causing that rush and addiction. cool little side fact not many people know about coffee: it contains a chemical called 4-cql (4-Caffeoyl-1,5-quinide) which reversely binds to your opioid receptors, and can reverse things such as a heroin OD if narcan isn't around

Youre a huge inspiration and one of my influences to quiting coffee. Thank you for all the content you make!

I did the same thing. I quit caffeine about two years ago. I feel much better

Pro tip: - dilute down your coffee - only take small sip , and squeeze & maximize productivity out of that sip - make 1 coffee last a day, that's why you sip it, and not drink it - 2nd coffee is a big no - stop drinking coffee 5+ hours before sleep

I quit because it started having the opposite affect on me. It was making me super tired, sick feeling, etc. I quit and feel significantly better. I still occasionally drink tea but not coffee.

Some people say it's good for your health, others say it's bad. But all I can tell you it's I'm never going back. Thank you Jeff for this delightful rap.

It felt like you were telling my story for a moment there, great video

I’ve had exactly the same experience as you. I treat it like alcohol now, and occasionally have some tea and decaf coffee expecting it to ruin my day.

Thank you for going through the experience and making the video.

The way you’ve done this video is fantastic 👍🏻

Good on you. I have a cafeïne addiction in the form of CokeCola consumption. Hotter climate, same bad side effects, especially from the sugar. Stay strong, success stories are ultimately motivation to emulate. So keep us in the loop!

I already had depression and anxiety before I started drinking coffee. 1 year in and nothings changed. Not gonna stop drinking coffee ☕️

Best verse of the year Some say it's good some say it's bad but I am never going back. - Jeff

I really appreciated this video. It's great to know there's other people out there that react negatively to caffeine. I didn't get into caffeine until I was 18 but now I'm 24 and always feel anxious and sluggish when I have caffeine. Thankfully I don't have more than 150 mg a day but it's clear that I need to quit for good. Time to quit cold turkey 🦃

Hey Jeff! It's awesome that you could tell the world about your life like this, big respect for that. In case you are missing the taste, you could get decaf coffee, worked perfectly for me!

I listen to your channel regularly, and I am also a software dev. My coffee drinking peaked at 270ml of espresso per day, and 3 days ago I decided I need to stop. Ive always had problems with anxiety, but that wasn't even my main driver. The main reason is that Im sick of feeling happy/optimistic about life when i reach my daily happy dosage of caffeine (which over the years just creeps up and up like with all drugs), and just really pessimistic and not great by the end of the day or when I haven't had enough coffee. I just want to feel more level. Im really struggling though, day 3 right, and how i got to this video was looking for some validation its even possible to write code without coffee, as ever since I started my career ive been highly caffinated.. So thank you for making this video, I really needed this validation right now.

Thanks for sharing your story, as many including myself feel why i am not able to code, feel depressed or anxiety, truth is it happens, your productivity can't be constant. Some days you do nothing and somedays create and learn alot.

Quit over a year and a half ago, at the start of covid. Greatest decision of my life. My focus and overall energy levels are far superior to what they once were. Like yourself, I've encountered horrible anxiety throughout my adult life. By quitting coffee, alcohol (unfortunately), and moving from a big city to a smaller one, my anxiety levels have decreased by ten fold, no drugs needed. It's not completely "gone", but it's much much better.

This channel is super underrated!

Thank you . I believe that is the speech I needed exactly now !

I had a sense caffeine might be the cause, but i kept trying to solve things with meditation and walks. I can't even relax or enjoy a nap. Your story sounds spot on to what I'm feeling. I'm done with caffeine.

The way you explained the biology of caffeine was excellent. Very useful video 👌👌👌

I love the way you present information 💚 Visually - Concise - Hilarious - Relatable

I am a developer as well and I am careful not to develop a dependency on anything. I drink coffee every once in a while just because I enjoy it. Nothing beats getting adequate sleep.

I quit coffee 5 days ago. Still have some head aches but the anxiety and panic attacks are already gone. Im already sold on staying off it, just have to get through the next little while

Nice. Didn't know you had a second channel. I have also been thinking about quitting caffeine. Let's go!

I quit caffeine last October cold turkey. I was off it for 4 months until February rolled around and I had school (in addition to wanting to wake up early). I also am a runner, which added an additional excuse. Long story short, I relapsed into insane coffee consumption. I am back in the process of quitting (I cold turkeyed 2 weeks ago and then started drinking coffee again), and I feel really depressed but I am down to no caffeine whatsoever. I'm tired, but I will make it through this, and I know now that the excuses are lies.

I just love holding something warm and the smell of it, i dont always drink all of it sometimes. But the anxiety is real, when i was in collegue i was drinking over 2 cups in a day and felt like i was drowning

I went through this process last year, though it wasn't that bad for me. The pandemic alone was bad enough (hell, it still is here in Brazil), so I decided to quit coffee altogether, tune down the alcohol and quit smoking too. The last one is the toughest. But I do recomend it if you want a better day to day life, better sleep and a thousand other benefits.

Thanks, I'm currently thinking about it :)

Great video, I like what you do on this channel please keep working on videos of this kind, speak about what things/concepts have improved your life. I have also stopped drinking coffee at the end of December. And I feel so much better.

Thank You For Being Straight Forward.

Pretty insane how badly coffee can trigger anxiety. I started having anxiety a few years back when I started my first internship, and thought it was related to being in a new environment. A year of on and off anxiety attacks passes and I finally figure out that coffee is the cause. Switched to decaf and haven't looked back since!

quitting caffeine was one of the best things that I did. I realized how much raw energy I really had and I didn’t need caffeine to function every day

Thanks for sharing. Great vid.

great channel management. I love listening to you talking about your personal activities as a person and not as a profession.

Thanks for this. 100% relevant to where I am right now: trying to quit caffeine, but every previous time I tried, the depression/lethargy was enough to tempt me into using again. Yesterday I caved again and then had a crippling depression episode during my night shift at work. Funny thing is, I used to get massive amounts of work done without any drugs at all. So ultimately I know I'm better off without. I just need to push through the initial few months (max I've gone so far is 40 days). Again, thanks for the video - it helped me a lot. 100% relate.

I guess everyone reacts differently. I was also drinking multiple cups of coffee for a decade, and often caffeinated energy drinks too, I quit because I wanted higher quality sleep. Had no withdrawal symptoms, and was not an issue to stop at all. Started feeling more awake during the day almost immediately. Also never caused any anxiety for me.

I stopped drinking coffee about 6 months ago because I had experienced chest pains due to a high blood pressure. I felt my chest tightening whenever I drank coffee early in the morning. Thought I was having a heart attack tbh. Now I only drink tea but without caffeine of course and it’s so much better. I feel great and yes it was tough for the first days/weeks but it’s for the better.

Amen Jeff! I too quit after a couple of panic attacks and I read that something like 250mg injection of caffeine will induce a panic attack in most people. I drink hot chocolate instead - and it was the perfect transition from coffee to hot chocolate. I have never had anxiety from drinking hot chocolate (it has about 10% of the caffeine of 1 cup of coffee). Dark chocolate 70%+ and a lot can induce anxiety so take it easy on the quantity. Cheers.

I went to another country a few years ago and because of that I went from 5+ cups of coffee a day to 1 and lately I am not even drinking any cups of coffee. I do feel much better and more awake in the morning, immediately ready to go to work, which is a lovely feeling.

this is the best video I watched about it, thanks. I was able to leave caffeine for years using decaf. I am back on it now.

Watching your videos on your other channel. You are amazing teacher and quite humorous. Enjoyed learned. Thanks!

Completely agree. I was restless when I was addicted to caffeine.( on the days when I don’t program / have no work ) .. I went no coffee in between and now Now I take a Indian coffee (milk cream ) once a week. I feel al good now ..

I soft quit caffeine - that is, I still drink it from time to time, but on very small doses, and for the taste as opposed to getting energy - and replaced it with good sleep, exercise and several years of psycotherapy. I think the What I Learned channel might've published a similar video like this a couple years ago which motivated me to take the leap :) Love your work on Fireship!

EXCELLENT !! so i think i will start by having it only on weekends, like cheat day and gradually remove it from my life style, cause the info u gave is a eye opener, but executing it is a challenge :)

I quit in January. Starting to meditate twice daily helped with the focus and energy level issued when making the switch

I've seen these effects on myself as well, that is why I have switched to an irregular consumption. Sometimes I drink coffee in the morning, sometimes tea, sometimes I don't drink at all. In the weekends I mostly never drink coffee. I have noticed that this way, that first cup of coffee in the morning has more kick, and whenever I feel that kick, I know that I need to focus on work and not procrastinate, otherwise I loose it and will have to drink another cup, which I do not want to do!

I had exactly the same situation. But I reached worse levels. I didn't want to accept it was anxiety, because by accepting it I had to accept that I was kinda crazy or something similar. One day, I got so much bad thoughts that suddenly I got paralized. I barely could move anything but eyes, mouth and to breath by thinking on it consciously. I got inyected in the hospital with a very strong sedative drug but I was for 3h more still with high heart beat rate and unable to move or to think anything than to breath. I thought it was poison or allergies so I followed a very strong rotating diet. After some weeks of no results. The new diet consisted in quitting for almost all liquids but water and this is how I started to recover. I started to sleep longer, digest better, and have a normal life back. It has been almost a year ago since I don't take any caffeine and I am productive again as a developer, and being productive, and solve my tech issues on a daily basis the best sedative ever. So I am ready for the next day with energy. Totally recommend quitting from caffeine. I hope you don't have to realise about this when you are in the hospital.

Best video I've seen on the matter no doubt. 100% agree on everything

Your talent for explanation is fascinating

I really appreciate this video. You do good work and you are a rocket surgeon.

Brother this is the way to educate people like me! Great advice and easy to understand information.

I started having premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) and that was a wake up call- I was drinking way too much caffeine. Now it's all caffeine free tea 🍵 So far it's been alright.

My anxiety recently peaked so badly that I somehow felt a natural rejection to coffee. I wasn't planning on quitting, it just didn't feel right anymore.. Like I didn't enjoy it buy just drank it out of pure addiction. Great Video

Thanks for the motivation boost to quit caffeine and caffeine-filled drinks

Hey this was awesome, I have had an on and off struggle with anxiety for a while, I really always find that when I cut out or at least mostly cut back from caffeine it really goes away

Thanks for sharing, Jeff! This idea of a trade-off instead of a free lunch reminded me of Micahel Pollan's "Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World". Really amusing (and short) read that shines light on Coffee's cultural roots, you may want to check it out :)

I'm a construction worker who gets a huge boost from a single cup of coffee in the morning. It really helps my performance when it comes to physical labor. When that caffeine hits just right I feel like a God throwing them 2x4's around. That being said I'm still building a tolerance to coffee and I'm interested in the benefits of quitting for a month or so.

I didn't take coffee ever but from this vedio i came to know how one addiction lead to resistance in change and make all of us think and spend most time in interpreting the effects and this is what make us addicted to another addiction without which we cant spent working ideally Thanx

I quit this year, too! I'm never go back! Thanks for sharing this video!

Nice video here. I have reduced my caffeine intake after exploring how it affected me. Nowadays I still drink coffee but in much lower doses and can feel the benefits and if I can i have decaf. My friends and clients who are brave enough to drop the coffee habit report the same. What's been interesting for me in the first place was how much people are scared of going off coffee in the first place 🤔😂 Just to add to your video, people react differently to caffeine. Part of it is genetics and part of it might be due to how you use or misuse caffeine. In a sleep deprived state it can make you make bad decision faster... Generally, we see net positive of caffeine, however, probably due to polyphenols in coffee and tea. I invite you to check my experience that I made a video about last year.

Came straight from your IA videos to this one. I've been lowering my caffeine consuption last days, and I'm thinking about quitting it entirely now. Just like I quit Coca-Cola a decade ago, I hope I'm able to do so with caffeine, and also help my anxiety. Thanks for sharing.

Very surprised by the video quality, great content!

I really liked this minimalistic video style

3 weeks after watching your video, I quit caffeine too, and it’s been great. Worth it for me.

lmao, I shouldn't laugh at your "going to die jokes" but it's very funny. I liked this video a lot Jeff. I haven't had a caffeine problem, in fact I started drinking a few cups a week about 5 years ago. But I know it's an issue in our community. Thanks for sharing your insights. Looking forward to more personal dev topics.

I quit coffee about 2 months ago and has had a great improvement in how I feel every morning. I also drink at least a bottle of water every day. Highly recommended!

i have been a big fan of this style of teaching from Fireship. Been wondering of this same style is appropriate for science communication. This video, a clear yess!

Damn p100 content as always. Keep up the good work! Luckily I can’t drink caffeine too much as it makes my body worse.

Maybe your best video I've seen so far

I'm on day 12. Needing 2 naps just to get through. This video, from someone whose work (on Fireship) I admire, really helped at the right moment.

I'm starting to drink coffee. I feel slightly more mentally energised during the day and I also like the improved bowel movement it gives you since I've had some digestive issues lately. I'm gonna start this habit until the cons outweighs the pros. I will just limit myself to one cup in the morning just to start the day, but I won't use it like a energy drink when im exhausted somewhere in the day.