Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsAddiction SymptomsWithdrawal SymptomsAddiction QuantityDrinking Less Caffeine

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Addiction Symptoms

Withdrawal Symptoms

Addiction Quantity

Drinking Less Caffeine

This article explains caffeine addiction and withdrawal symptoms, how much caffeine can cause dependence, and how to drink less caffeine.

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A person at home on the couch holding a coffee mug has a headache

Symptoms That Suggest Caffeine Addiction

So, is caffeine an actual addiction? The short answer is, yes, it can be.

“Addiction,” in general, is an older term that has more recently been updated in favor of more accurate phrasing:substance use disorder. People with substance use disorders do not control their substance use despite harmful consequences.In the case of caffeine, consequences may include anxiety, insomnia, and nausea.

Caffeine Sensitivity, Dependence, and WithdrawalCaffeine sensitivitydescribes how strongly a person reacts to caffeine. If you have low sensitivity, you may need to drink more caffeine to feel the desired effects. However, if you have high sensitivity, you may feel effects more quickly, including unwanted side effects like nervousness.Caffeine dependence means your body requires caffeine each day. You may have trouble focusing without it, have trouble not using it, or experience withdrawal when you can’t have it.Caffeine withdrawalis a group of symptoms that accompany not having caffeine. These commonly include headaches and drowsiness.

Caffeine Sensitivity, Dependence, and Withdrawal

Caffeine sensitivitydescribes how strongly a person reacts to caffeine. If you have low sensitivity, you may need to drink more caffeine to feel the desired effects. However, if you have high sensitivity, you may feel effects more quickly, including unwanted side effects like nervousness.Caffeine dependence means your body requires caffeine each day. You may have trouble focusing without it, have trouble not using it, or experience withdrawal when you can’t have it.Caffeine withdrawalis a group of symptoms that accompany not having caffeine. These commonly include headaches and drowsiness.

Caffeine sensitivitydescribes how strongly a person reacts to caffeine. If you have low sensitivity, you may need to drink more caffeine to feel the desired effects. However, if you have high sensitivity, you may feel effects more quickly, including unwanted side effects like nervousness.

Caffeine dependence means your body requires caffeine each day. You may have trouble focusing without it, have trouble not using it, or experience withdrawal when you can’t have it.

Caffeine withdrawalis a group of symptoms that accompany not having caffeine. These commonly include headaches and drowsiness.

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Caffeine Withdrawal Symptoms

If your body depends on caffeine, you may experience withdrawal symptoms when you don’t have it. Caffeine withdrawal symptoms commonly include the following:

Caffeine withdrawal symptoms can start as soon as 12 to 24 hours after stopping caffeine and last up to a little over a week.

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Caffeine Quantity: How Much Makes You Addicted?

How much caffeine do you have to drink a day to be considered addicted? Since everyone’s sensitivity is different, there isn’t an exact number forhow much caffeine is too much. Plus, factors like body weight and medications can influence how caffeine affects a person.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set the upper limit for most healthy adults at 400 milligrams (mg) daily—around four cups of coffee.

People who are pregnant or breastfeeding should consume far less. Experts recommend no more than 200 mg daily while pregnant,while capping caffeine at 300 mg daily during lactation.

Beverages With Higher Caffeine ContentSome drinks have excessive amounts of caffeine. Consuming these, especially regularly, could make your tolerance higher and withdrawal symptoms worse. Examples of high-caffeine drinks include energy drinks (or concentrated drops) and espresso.Highly concentrated caffeine, like pure powdered or liquid concentrate caffeine, can also be dangerous. According to the FDA, just 1 teaspoon of pure powdered caffeine can contain as much caffeine as 28 cups of coffee, while 4 ounces of liquid, highly concentrated caffeine contains as much as 20 cups.These levels are toxic and dangerous.

Beverages With Higher Caffeine Content

Some drinks have excessive amounts of caffeine. Consuming these, especially regularly, could make your tolerance higher and withdrawal symptoms worse. Examples of high-caffeine drinks include energy drinks (or concentrated drops) and espresso.Highly concentrated caffeine, like pure powdered or liquid concentrate caffeine, can also be dangerous. According to the FDA, just 1 teaspoon of pure powdered caffeine can contain as much caffeine as 28 cups of coffee, while 4 ounces of liquid, highly concentrated caffeine contains as much as 20 cups.These levels are toxic and dangerous.

Some drinks have excessive amounts of caffeine. Consuming these, especially regularly, could make your tolerance higher and withdrawal symptoms worse. Examples of high-caffeine drinks include energy drinks (or concentrated drops) and espresso.

Highly concentrated caffeine, like pure powdered or liquid concentrate caffeine, can also be dangerous. According to the FDA, just 1 teaspoon of pure powdered caffeine can contain as much caffeine as 28 cups of coffee, while 4 ounces of liquid, highly concentrated caffeine contains as much as 20 cups.These levels are toxic and dangerous.

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How to Drink Less Caffeine

If you are looking for strategies to reduce caffeine use, it’s best to cut back gradually. Researchers recommend tapering down over a period of four to six weeks.Doing so will help your body adjust to the reduced levels over time and lessen the chances of experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

In one study, participants who used a gradual tapering-off method reduced their caffeine consumption as follows, based on their usual caffeine intake before starting the reduction:

You could modify the above guidelines depending on your goals to suit your needs.

Alternative Drinks With Less Caffeine

As you work to reduce your caffeine consumption, replacing your typical coffee or soda with another drink can help. Here are some other lower-caffeine alternatives to try:

Adjusting to a different drink can take time. That’s why tapering your coffee intake while slowly substituting some of your caffeine with other low- or no-caffeine beverages can help.

Summary

Caffeine addiction or dependence is called caffeine use disorder. If you have trouble stopping drinking caffeine, you keep using it even though it causes problems, or you have withdrawal symptoms, you may have caffeine dependence.

Gradually reducing how much caffeine you consume may help limit the likelihood of experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

9 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Meredith SE, Juliano LM, Hughes JR, Griffiths RR.Caffeine use disorder: a comprehensive review and research agenda.J Caffeine Res. 2013;3(3):114-130. doi:10.1089/jcr.2013.0016American Psychiatric Association.What is a substance use disorder?Sweeney MM, Weaver DC, Vincent KB, Arria AM, Griffiths RR.Prevalence and correlates of caffeine use disorder symptoms among a United States sample.J Caffeine Adenosine Res. 2020;10(1):4-11. doi:10.1089/caff.2019.0020Rodda S, Booth N, McKean J, Chung A, Park JJ, Ware P.Mechanisms for the reduction of caffeine consumption: what, how and why.Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020;212:108024. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108024Food and Drug Administration.Spilling the beans: how much caffeine is too much?Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Maternal diet and breastfeeding.American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.How much coffee can I drink while pregnant?Food and Drug Administration.Pure and highly concentrated caffeine.Evatt DP, Juliano LM, Griffiths RR.A brief manualized treatment for problematic caffeine use: a randomized control trial.J Consult Clin Psychol. 2016;84(2):113-121. doi:10.1037/ccp0000064

9 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Meredith SE, Juliano LM, Hughes JR, Griffiths RR.Caffeine use disorder: a comprehensive review and research agenda.J Caffeine Res. 2013;3(3):114-130. doi:10.1089/jcr.2013.0016American Psychiatric Association.What is a substance use disorder?Sweeney MM, Weaver DC, Vincent KB, Arria AM, Griffiths RR.Prevalence and correlates of caffeine use disorder symptoms among a United States sample.J Caffeine Adenosine Res. 2020;10(1):4-11. doi:10.1089/caff.2019.0020Rodda S, Booth N, McKean J, Chung A, Park JJ, Ware P.Mechanisms for the reduction of caffeine consumption: what, how and why.Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020;212:108024. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108024Food and Drug Administration.Spilling the beans: how much caffeine is too much?Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Maternal diet and breastfeeding.American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.How much coffee can I drink while pregnant?Food and Drug Administration.Pure and highly concentrated caffeine.Evatt DP, Juliano LM, Griffiths RR.A brief manualized treatment for problematic caffeine use: a randomized control trial.J Consult Clin Psychol. 2016;84(2):113-121. doi:10.1037/ccp0000064

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Meredith SE, Juliano LM, Hughes JR, Griffiths RR.Caffeine use disorder: a comprehensive review and research agenda.J Caffeine Res. 2013;3(3):114-130. doi:10.1089/jcr.2013.0016American Psychiatric Association.What is a substance use disorder?Sweeney MM, Weaver DC, Vincent KB, Arria AM, Griffiths RR.Prevalence and correlates of caffeine use disorder symptoms among a United States sample.J Caffeine Adenosine Res. 2020;10(1):4-11. doi:10.1089/caff.2019.0020Rodda S, Booth N, McKean J, Chung A, Park JJ, Ware P.Mechanisms for the reduction of caffeine consumption: what, how and why.Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020;212:108024. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108024Food and Drug Administration.Spilling the beans: how much caffeine is too much?Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Maternal diet and breastfeeding.American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.How much coffee can I drink while pregnant?Food and Drug Administration.Pure and highly concentrated caffeine.Evatt DP, Juliano LM, Griffiths RR.A brief manualized treatment for problematic caffeine use: a randomized control trial.J Consult Clin Psychol. 2016;84(2):113-121. doi:10.1037/ccp0000064

Meredith SE, Juliano LM, Hughes JR, Griffiths RR.Caffeine use disorder: a comprehensive review and research agenda.J Caffeine Res. 2013;3(3):114-130. doi:10.1089/jcr.2013.0016

American Psychiatric Association.What is a substance use disorder?

Sweeney MM, Weaver DC, Vincent KB, Arria AM, Griffiths RR.Prevalence and correlates of caffeine use disorder symptoms among a United States sample.J Caffeine Adenosine Res. 2020;10(1):4-11. doi:10.1089/caff.2019.0020

Rodda S, Booth N, McKean J, Chung A, Park JJ, Ware P.Mechanisms for the reduction of caffeine consumption: what, how and why.Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020;212:108024. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108024

Food and Drug Administration.Spilling the beans: how much caffeine is too much?

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Maternal diet and breastfeeding.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.How much coffee can I drink while pregnant?

Food and Drug Administration.Pure and highly concentrated caffeine.

Evatt DP, Juliano LM, Griffiths RR.A brief manualized treatment for problematic caffeine use: a randomized control trial.J Consult Clin Psychol. 2016;84(2):113-121. doi:10.1037/ccp0000064

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