Caffeine withdrawal: symptoms and timeline
Caffeine withdrawal starts 12 to 24 hours after your last cup, is at its worst between 20 and 51 hours, and lasts 2 to 9 days. Those figures come from a review of 57 experiments and 9 surveys.
It is a recognised condition, not a sign of weakness. It is also avoidable: cutting down in steps skips most of it.
Caffeine withdrawal timeline, day by day
| Time since the last cup | What to expect |
|---|---|
| First 12 hours | Nothing yet. Caffeine from the last cup is still active. |
| 12 to 24 hours | Symptoms begin: a dull headache, tiredness, a slow start. |
| Day 1 to day 2 | The peak. Headache, fatigue and low mood at their worst. |
| Day 3 to day 5 | Easing. The headache fades first, the tiredness last. |
| Day 6 to day 9 | Mostly gone. Nine days is the outer edge. |
The timing explains two things people notice. The weekend headache arrives on Saturday afternoon because the first coffee came three hours later than on a working day. And the second day is worse than the first, because the peak falls a day or two in.
Caffeine withdrawal symptoms
The review tested 49 reported symptoms against the evidence. Ten held up:
- headache, the best known, in about half of people who stop abruptly
- fatigue
- low energy
- reduced alertness
- drowsiness
- feeling less content
- low mood
- difficulty concentrating
- irritability
- a foggy head
Three more were judged likely to be real: flu-like symptoms, nausea or vomiting, and muscle pain or stiffness.
For most people this is an unpleasant few days. For about 13 percent it is bad enough to interfere with work or daily life.
Why does stopping caffeine cause withdrawal?
Caffeine works by blocking the receptors for adenosine, the substance that builds up through the day and makes you sleepy. With regular caffeine the brain adapts to having those receptors blocked. Take the caffeine away and ordinary adenosine acts more strongly than it did before you ever drank coffee.
The headache has the same root. Caffeine narrows blood vessels in the head, and without it they widen.
How much caffeine causes withdrawal?
Less than most people expect. In the studies, stopping a habit of as little as 100 mg a day produced symptoms. That is one mug of filter coffee, or two cups of black tea.
The dose still matters. The more caffeine you take each day, the more likely symptoms are and the stronger they tend to be.
How to ease caffeine withdrawal
Taper instead of stopping. Cutting your daily total by about a quarter each week avoids most symptoms. The steps are laid out in the guide to quitting caffeine without the headache.
If you have already stopped, a small dose often takes the edge off. Try a cup of tea before reaching for a full coffee: the aim is to ease the headache, not to restart the habit.
Treat the headache as a headache. Water, food and an ordinary painkiller help. Check the label first: some headache tablets contain caffeine, which relieves the symptom and resets the clock.
Sleep more. The tiredness is real. It is the fatigue that caffeine was covering, arriving all at once. An earlier night for a week does more than willpower.
Pick your week. Day one and day two are the hard ones. Starting on a Friday puts them on the weekend.
If you feel worse on the second day than on the first, nothing has gone wrong. That is where the peak falls.
When is it not withdrawal?
Withdrawal follows a pattern: it starts within a day of the last caffeine, and it eases within about nine days. See a doctor about a headache that is sudden and severe, that comes with a fever, a stiff neck, weakness or changes in vision, or that is still there after two weeks.
What happens after withdrawal ends
Sleep usually improves first, then mornings. Energy through the day becomes flatter: the sharp lift after the first cup goes, and so does the dip in the middle of the afternoon.
If better sleep was the goal, you may not need to quit at all. Moving the last cup earlier solves most caffeine sleep problems while leaving the morning coffee alone. The cutoff for your bedtime is a better first step than a week of headaches.
Sources
- Juliano LM, Griffiths RR. A critical review of caffeine withdrawal: empirical validation of symptoms and signs, incidence, severity, and associated features. Psychopharmacology, 2004.
Common questions
How long does caffeine withdrawal last?
Two to nine days. Symptoms start 12 to 24 hours after the last dose and are at their worst between 20 and 51 hours. Most people feel normal again within a week.
What are the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal?
Headache, tiredness, low energy, drowsiness, low mood, difficulty concentrating, irritability and a foggy head. Some people also get flu-like aches, nausea and stiff muscles.
How much caffeine do you need to drink to get withdrawal?
Not much. Stopping a habit of as little as 100 mg a day, about one mug of coffee, has produced symptoms in studies. The more you drink, the more likely and the stronger they are.
How do you get rid of a caffeine withdrawal headache?
A small amount of caffeine eases it, which is why cutting down in steps works better than stopping at once. Water, food, an ordinary painkiller and an early night help with the rest.
