[Periodic]

Caffeine is known to have withdrawal symptoms. Those headaches, for me in the face and forehead, seem to be a common symptom.

As I went through my 20s I experimented with abandoning coffee a few times. I had developed the habit in college and I wanted to ensure that I was continuing to drink coffee for the benefits and not simply because I was addicted to it. This meant that I did handful of experiments with not drinking coffee for 2-3 months. The first week or two would be rough. Headaches starting 24-30 hours after I stopped and persisting for about a week. After that I would just settle into what felt like a normal life, but a lot more groggy.

The main difference between my life with coffee and my life without seemed to just be how grumpy I was before noon. I still had insomnia, I still got tired after lunch. Those things seemed unconnected to the coffee.

Maybe I need to go off coffee for a long time to really see the benefits, e.g. give it 3-6 months for my body to recover and stabilize. I'm not sure, but at this point I have what I consider to be a healthy consumption level and I get the benefits of increased alertness and focus in the mornings. I'm focusing on other elements of my life to address any health concerns.

[stevep98]

I had horrible heacahes from ~16-19 years old... I never made the connection until a professor in college mentioned 'caffeine withdrawal headache', and it totally clicked. And I switched to decaf for the next 15 years. Totally paranoid about waitresses filling my coffee cup up with the wrong pot.

However, a couple of years ago, I noticed that I can actually drink caffeine without getting any withdrawal problems at all, making me think it was all in my head...

[TACIXAT]

The first month without caffeine was absolute misery for me. After that it improved. I normally would come home from work and do work on personal projects. For that month I just couldn't, it was horribly depressing. If it had kept up for 6 months I would probably be drinking caffeine again.