[gumby]

> I’m not sure how you did it so cleanly

I was hospitalized, pumped full of drugs and didn't eat anything (except via IV) for a week -- the absence of caffeine thing was kind of a random side effect. Not an approach I would recommend!

I was pumped full of antibiotics and took more after being discharged so pretty well wiped out all the bacteria in my gut, which I replaced by eating yoghurt. My diet has changed fairly radically since then (zero interest in sweets, for example) so I wonder how much of my coffee and other food desires were actually my gut symbionts' desires.