What Does Decaf Coffee Do To Me?!

Image: Annoyed Driver

Over spring break, I was completely deprived of Penn State’s coffee. When at campus, all my coffee was seconds away (Redifer’s Off the Ground, West Dining Halls, or the HUB’s Starbucks). I could walk five minutes and have access to some great tasting coffee that would always put a smile on my face. However, at home, the closest coffee was at least a ten minute drive.

As you guys know from my previous blog post, I generally do not enjoy making my own coffee. But because getting coffee from my local WaWa or Starbucks requires leaving my home and driving (something that did not go hand in hand with all this snow), I decided to give the coffee maker in my kitchen a try.

Image: Coffee Maker

I quickly learned how to brew some of my Mom’s Kirkland brand coffee with the coffee maker. It was actually quite easy - a lot easier than I expected. All you do is take the grounded coffee, place it in a clean filter, place that filter in the coffee maker, then pour a cup of water in the back department of the coffee maker. Finally, you press the “brew” button. Obviously, this differs based on the brand of the machine, but the process should be the same general idea.

I thought all my problems were solved. The coffee was decent. The coffee was convenient. Life was swell. I had coffee right in my kitchen - literally 5 seconds from my room. But to my dismay, THE COFFEE WAS DECAFFEINATED.

I realized this after a span of three days. The first day I made my own coffee, it was around 9 AM. I drank it - ready to feel energized for the day ahead of me. But when 11 AM rolled around, I was confused as to why I was still so sleepy. I thought maybe the caffeine just didn’t kick in yet. So, I gave it some more time.

Image: Man with Headache

At noon, however, I started to get a throbbing headache. I tried everything to get rid of it. I drank tons of water, messaged my head, ate food. But nothing worked! I was trapped in my house with a horrible headache. Not fun. Luckily, the headache went away after a nice nap.

The next day, I woke up and made some more coffee. Low and behold, several hours later, my head started to hurt again. And I wasn’t energized either. I really started to wonder why the caffeine was not kicking in.

On the third day, I decided to persist and give my morning coffee another try. And yes, you guessed it. The coffee did not work and I got another headache. I was honestly so confused as to why I was getting these persistent headaches. Also, why was I not getting energized?!

After much thought, it hit me. I was facing coffee withdrawal symptoms. Now you may laugh, but it’s an actual thing! People who tend to drink coffee or caffeine products on a daily basis start to build a tolerance or a need for the caffeinated beverage. Then, when they randomly stop, withdrawal symptoms (such as headaches) begin. It’s horrible!

Image: Coffee Withdrawal Joke

But the mystery was this.

I was drinking coffee every morning, yet was facing coffee withdrawal symptoms and was not feeling energized. How could this even be possible?

After talking about it with my Mom, she then told me the coffee I have been drinking was decaf. I was baffled. I did not have any words. It all made sense now. The mystery was solved.

Image: Decaf Joke

So this is when I realized that coffee withdrawal is real, and is absolutely the worst. The headaches and lack of energy I experienced were horrid. I never wanted to undergo the pain I went through ever again. And decaf coffee does not help!

To solve this case, I decided to stop being lazy, get in the car, and drive to Wawa. I was finally able to get myself a warm cup of CAFFEINATED coffee.