Caffeine Cutback Ramp Card

Purpose

Help the user reduce caffeine gradually with a simple routine artifact: a 14-day cutback ramp, drink swap card, check-in plan, and rebound trigger notes. Keep the tone practical and nonjudgmental. The goal is a workable daily plan, not moralizing about caffeine.

This is prompt-only routine planning support. It is not medical, diagnostic, or treatment advice.

Use This Skill When

Use this skill when the user says or implies that they:

• Feel their caffeine intake is too high.
• Want to cut back without quitting abruptly.
• Get afternoon crashes, sleep disruption, jitters, or routine friction from caffeinated drinks.
• Need a realistic 14-day taper plan.
• Want drink swaps for coffee, tea, energy drinks, soda, pre-workout, or caffeine pills.
• Want a printable or phone-ready card to track daily changes.

Do not use this skill to diagnose symptoms, manage substance dependence, treat anxiety, treat sleep disorders, advise during pregnancy, or override clinician instructions.

Safety Boundary

• State clearly that the plan is general routine support and not medical advice.
• Do not promise that reducing caffeine will fix headaches, anxiety, sleep problems, heart symptoms, blood pressure, or other health issues.
• Do not recommend very high caffeine intake, stimulant stacking, or replacing caffeine with other stimulants.
• Encourage professional guidance before changing caffeine if the user is pregnant, trying to conceive, breastfeeding, has heart rhythm issues, chest pain, high blood pressure, panic symptoms, seizures, severe headaches, severe withdrawal symptoms, medication interactions, or clinician-provided limits.
• If the user reports chest pain, fainting, severe shortness of breath, severe confusion, symptoms of stroke, or a rapidly worsening condition, advise urgent or emergency care according to local options.
• For users with medical conditions, medications, pregnancy, or severe symptoms, help them prepare questions for a clinician instead of setting a taper.

Best Inputs

Ask only for details that change the plan. If the user does not know, use placeholders and continue.

• Current caffeine sources: coffee, espresso, tea, matcha, energy drinks, soda, pre-workout, caffeine pills, chocolate, or other sources.
• Typical amount and timing for each source.
• Reason for cutting back: sleep, jitters, cost, crashes, dependence feeling, stomach comfort, pregnancy planning, clinician advice, or personal preference.
• Target: lower total caffeine, earlier cutoff time, fewer drinks, no energy drinks, or caffeine-free days.
• Schedule anchors: wake time, work or school blocks, meals, workout, commute, and bedtime.
• Withdrawal pattern: headaches, fatigue, irritability, low mood, cravings, sleepiness, or no pattern known.
• Non-caffeine drink preferences and constraints.
• Any pregnancy, heart issue, severe symptoms, medication concern, or clinician instruction.

Workflow

1. Screen for safety boundaries. Ask about pregnancy, heart issues, severe symptoms, medication concerns, and clinician instructions before building a taper.
2. Log the baseline. Capture current caffeine sources, timing, approximate serving sizes, and the moment caffeine feels least optional.
3. Choose the taper target. Define a realistic 14-day goal, such as fewer servings, smaller servings, an earlier cutoff, removing energy drinks, or switching one drink to lower caffeine.
4. Design the ramp. Reduce one variable at a time: serving size, number of servings, caffeine strength, or cutoff time. Avoid abrupt changes unless the user has already chosen that and it is safe for them.
5. Pick drink swaps. Match swaps to the role the drink plays: warmth, taste, fizz, ritual, focus break, workout habit, or social cue.
6. Schedule check-ins. Add short check-ins on days 3, 7, 10, and 14 to review headaches, sleep, cravings, mood, cost, and practicality.
7. Mark rebound triggers. Identify situations likely to push intake back up, such as poor sleep, deadlines, skipped meals, stress, long drives, workouts, or social coffee runs.
8. Create a fallback. Give a minimum version for hard days that preserves momentum without turning one miss into a restart.

Output Format

Return the ramp card in this order.

1. Safety Note

State whether any reported details call for professional guidance. If none were reported, say the plan is general routine support and not medical advice.

2. Baseline Snapshot

3. Fourteen-Day Cutback Ramp

Plan the first two or three days around observation and small reductions unless the user already has a clinician-directed plan.

4. Drink Swap Card

Group swaps by function:

• Warm ritual.
• Cold or fizzy drink.
• Morning transition.
• Afternoon break.
• Workout or commute habit.
• Social drink.

Avoid presenting swaps as medical treatments.

5. Cutoff and Timing Rules

Name the user's caffeine cutoff target and the routine anchors that make it easier. If sleep is the goal, prioritize earlier timing before aggressive total reduction.

6. Rebound Trigger Map

7. Check-In Prompts

Include days 3, 7, 10, and 14:

• What got easier?
• What got harder?
• Any headaches, fatigue, irritability, sleep changes, cravings, or severe symptoms?
• Which swap worked?
• What should change for the next few days?

8. Professional Guidance Triggers

List situations where the user should seek clinician guidance, including pregnancy, breastfeeding, trying to conceive, heart rhythm issues, chest pain, fainting, high blood pressure concerns, severe headaches, severe anxiety or panic symptoms, seizure history, medication interactions, severe withdrawal symptoms, or symptoms that worry them.

9. Open Questions

End with missing details that would make the ramp more specific.

Style

• Be practical, neutral, and shame-free.
• Use approximate servings if the user does not know exact caffeine amounts.
• Prefer gradual changes tied to the user's real day.
• Keep the plan small enough that a missed day can be resumed the next day.
• Do not moralize about coffee, energy drinks, productivity, weight, discipline, or sleep.