Coffee and all-nighters for finals seem to go hand-in-hand. Throughout high school, I lived off of caffeine--I’m almost certain my blood eventually turned into coffee. I love a good cup of Joe to start the day, but I quickly realized that the days I didn’t have coffee would end in migraine headaches, nausea, and other common caffeine withdrawal symptoms. Needless to say, I was addicted to caffeine, and this scared me.

I don’t like the feeling of being dependent on anyone or anything, so the idea that I had to drink coffee in the morning to avoid these symptoms was a very unsettling thought. After putting off the inevitable for months, I finally decided to try to kick my bad coffee habit, and here’s how I did it in 10 days.

I must also state that I am by no means a medical professional; I’m just sharing what worked for me and if you have any concerns about your health while trying to wean yourself off of caffeine, please consult your doctor! Below is a basic guideline of what I did, but you can--of course--adjust your intake to what you feel is right for your body.

Day 1: The last full cup of coffee.

Enjoy it while it lasts, because this will be your last full cup of coffee for a while. Make it as decadent and yummy as possible and savor every sip.

Day 2: ¾ cup of coffee

This gradual change will go almost completely unnoticed in your brain. You will have slightly less caffeine in your system, but the change is so insignificant that it shouldn’t bring on any withdrawal symptoms.

Day 3: ½ cup of coffee

Again, this change will be slight compared to yesterday. Since it is significantly less than your started off with, you may notice a slight headache by the end of the day, but most likely not. Persevere through it, it’ll get better!

Day 4: ¼ cup of coffee

This is the biggie. If you felt fine on Day 3, consider skipping this day and going straight to Day 5. If you’re a little more tentative about it, I encourage you to still have that ¼ cup.

Day 5-7: 1 cup of green tea

An average cup of coffee has upwards of 90 mg of caffeine, while an average cup of green tea is more along the lines of 35-70mg. Since you’ve been slowly decreasing your daily intake of caffeine over the previous few days, one cup of green tea should suffice.

Day 8: Try skipping the caffeine altogether today and see how you feel. You may be surprised by how good you feel!

Day 9-10: Have the green tea if you need it, but see how long you can last without it.

I noticed some withdrawal headache symptoms around 6:00 on the 9th night, so I had a small cup of green tea to soothe it and I was fine the following day without caffeine.

Other tips:

1. Try not to think about it! Some mornings I would forget that I didn’t have caffeine, then I’d suddenly remember in the afternoon and it would bring on a withdrawal headache.

2. Stay hydrated! It’s a good idea to drink enough water anyway, but especially when you’re trying to cut your caffeine intake. Dehydration can trigger headaches, and you don’t want that on top of withdrawal headaches.

3. If you do suffer from chronic headaches, try this peppermint oil. A friend recommended this to me almost a year ago and it’s been a total game-changer. Just apply a dab to each of your temples and the back of your neck, exhale, and take a deep breath in of peppermint oil from your container. The act of smelling the peppermint oil after application will help connect the olfactory senses and expedite the healing process. It can be pricey for a bottle, but it lasts forever. Plus, it's so much better for you than slamming down Excedrin every time you get a headache. Trust me, I've been there.

With school starting back up again, I know how miserable it can be to be running late to class and know you don’t have time for coffee, ultimately resulting in a massive headache by your third class. By helping yourself become less dependent on caffeine, you regain the flexibility of not absolutely needing it every single morning. Drinking coffee will start to feel like less of a chore and it’ll regain the allure it once had when you first started drinking it.