One of my non-paleo cheats has been one cup of coffee per day (a tall
Americano from Starbucks to be precise.  This is 2 expresso shots with
additional water). I also consume 1-3 additional cups of black (sometimes
green) tea per day.  I always thought this was "moderate" amounts of
caffeine.  However, I have come to realize a dependance on the one cup of
Starbucks to get going in the AM. I also seem to need this for my bowels to
get going as well.   In addition, for the last 3 months, I have experienced
absolute exhaustion in the mornings until I get my fix.  Out of curiousity, I
called Starbucks  to find out just how much caffeine was in the Americano and
was told it has a whopping 180 milligrams. (I had assumed that it was half
this amount because espresso has less caffeine.)  This plus my 1-3 additional
cups of caffeine could easily add up to nearly 300 milligrams.  While this
does not seem like much -- I have done some reasearch and discovered that the
"moderate" and "harmless" 200-300 mg caffeine dose was based on what could be
appropriate for a 150 pound man.  I am a petite female weighing significantly
less than 150 pounds.   Also, I take thyroid replacement (also stimulants in
effect) and am beginning to think that this may make me a bit more hooked on
the energy enhancing effects of caffeine as well as more prone to withdrawal.
 In any event, for the past 2 weeks, I have slowly tried to wean myself of
coffee by asking for only one shot of espresso in the Americano and only
having 1 additional cup of black tea and 1 cup of decaf.  Starting tomorrow,
I plan to omit the coffee altogether and merely have a maximum of 2 cups of
black tea -- gradually cutting down to only green tea.  However, I feel like
absolute crap -- really horrible fatigue, muscular aches, lethargy plus
nausea but no headaches. Could this actually be withdrawal? I purposely have
tried to slowly wean myself very slowly to avoid withdrawal symptoms.  Last
year ,when I was drinking much more coffee (3-6 cups per day) and quit cold
turkey, I experienced awful headaches (and I normally never get headaches),
nausea and constipation for about 2 weeks after quitting -- but am quite
surprised that I could be getting withdrawal symptoms when I am gently
lowering my caffeine intake.  Any thoughts?  I have also been trying to add
some dandelion root tea to help, but this fatigue and nausea is the pits.  I
also notice that I save my cup of black tea until just prior to working out
-- otherwise I'd never have the energy to get my butt to the gym.  Any
thoughts or paleo ideas (herbs, etc) would be most appreciated.  If you all
feel that this is not on-topic enough, feel free to e-mail me privately about
your experiences with caffeine withdrawal.