Extreme caffeine dependency? page

[Pearl]

I was a bit of a drunk for a few years there: high stress job, broke, isolated, sick. I'm sober six months.
Quitting the sauce was a cakewalk compared to quitting coffee.
Try as I might, I really need caffeine, and a lot of it, just to function in the morning. I've managed to wean myself off the afternoon coffee, and I just take mine with a little cream, but two cups is the bare minimum and most days it's closer to four. Just to get the wheels turning.
I've tried cold turkey, rotating in decaf, chicory beverages, caffeinated tea, but my body knows, and caffeine withdrawal feels like a really nasty hangover for days on end.
I'm clearly addicted, but I'd like to see if I can get down to one, maybe two cups just in the morning.
I sleep plenty, I get a few miles a day of slow movement, my food is pretty darn primal and my workouts are PBF by the book. I've eliminated grains and I've drastically cut my dairy. Sugar is on the way out, too.
Anyone else have success breaking the chains of the coffee cup?

[Tercio]

I've gone through caffeine withdrawal a few times. 3 or 4 days of walking around with an axe in my head, or so it feels. I'm at 2 cups a day now and content to be there. It can be done, just don't expect to function during the withdrawal. But the suffering is temporary and with strength you can pass through it. Pain is weakness leaving the body, as the saying goes. On the other hand, good coffee is one of lifes better pleasures at little cost, and not a bad source of antioxidants too. Also it may help fend off Alzheimer's in older adults. So now I set myself a limit and stick too it.

[Knifegill]

Ozzy's Genetics Linked To Neanderthals, Vulnerable To Caffeine

Just sayin'. I'm an aspie and I also cannot ditch the black liquid of life. I've quit, cut back, replaced it with ungodly amounts of green tea - but I always come back. At least now I can at least find solace that Neanderthal camps were often loaded with potent herbs, so I can partially thank my ancestors for this...

[peril]

I quit many years ago by reducing my consumption by a cup per each each week. My wife says I was much more irritable than when I gave up smoking cold turkey

Am back drinking coffee these days but irregularly. None of the withdrawal headaches I used to have. For example, I'll have a couple of coffees tomorrow to help with a 24 hr fast, but haven't had any today and probably won't have any on Friday

[Blackcatbone]

I love coffee. Love, love, love it. To me it's almost ritualistic, the making of it, the smell. These days I mostly drink decaf (espresso . . . I know) and the occasional regular latte when out and about. The easiest thing for me was to gradually cut regular coffee with decaf, slowly increasing the amount. Part of the problem is also that it's psychological as well as physical. It's soothing. In Dutch there's even a slang term, a bakje troost, a cup of comfort. I don't think there's a need to completely give it up, but perhaps replace a few cups with something else. I've got a big pot of bone broth on the stove now and I'm going to try drinking a couple of cups throughout the day.