Iirc caffeine is a vaso-dilator, meaning it opens up blood vessels. The Saturday headaches mentioned above are the classic effect of caffeine withdrawal: blood vessels are less dilated so can flow less blood volume through the brain. It is a short-lived effect, usually only a day, and can be at least partially offset by increased hydration with caffeine-free drinks such as dihydrogen monoxide. So if you eliminate 6 cups of coffee from your daily fluids intake, you'd better replace them with at least 6 cups of DHMO.
I quit cold turkey, I loved redbull, like 5 a day. Stopped soda of any sort, no caffeine at all. I found that if you search there are some small companies that make super low sugar "sodas" that have no caffeine but aren't berking seltzer water (which I hate). Since then I've had soda in a pinch and it tastes like maple syrup, super sugary.
Kylini
HalfDork
3/27/16 10:39 a.m.
My dissertation is due Tuesday. I started in earnest 5 weeks ago and in that time, wrote about 150 pages of hardcore science. Before this, I'd have coffee a few times a week, maybe a Coke every other day. In this 5 week span, I've consumed 72 Red Bull and had a large coffee just about daily.
The withdrawal is going to suck...
Storz
Dork
3/28/16 6:24 a.m.
DAY 1
Going to do one cup in the morning, and one cup in the afternoon this week, then next week replace the afternoon cup with a lightly caffeinated tea for a week. The following week is going to be tea in the morning and tea in the afternoon, followed by only a morning tea and then finally nothing. Long plan but hopefully it'll ease the transition.
Brian
MegaDork
3/28/16 6:36 p.m.
In reply to Storz:
It sounds like a good plan. Good luck.