Quitting caffeine and cigarettes?

Question

I was just diagnosed with an intermittant irregular heartbeat that sent me to the ER and the docs all told me to cut out the caffeine (3-5 coffee and 3-4 diet soda per day) and cigs (about 3 packs a week). What is the best and most painless way to do both, or should I quit smoking first, then worry about the caffeine? My hubby is afraid I will become unbearable to live with!

Also, when should I see symptom improvement (palpitations, tightness, lightheaded, tachycardia)?

Answer 1

OK.First,talk to your doctor about the nicotine patch.He/She will give you information on the patch.This will get the urge to smoke out of your system.Instead of regular coffee,try decaffeinated coffee,which has less caffeine.Try diet sodas or ones with half the sugar than intended.

Answer 2

If you drink a lot of caffeine you will probably have some mild withdrawal when you quit. Most common problems are irritability or bad mood, headache, being a little more tense/nervous than usual, etc. It is nowhere near as bad as quitting smoking though IMO:/ I think its best to cut down a little at a time until you aren't drinking it anymore. Like if you drink 5 cups of coffee a day do 4 for a couple days then 3, then 2, then 1 then 0. You can try replacing the missing drinks with another thing like herbal tea or decaf instead of plain coffee, a non-caffeinated soda or other drink instead of Mountain Dew or energy drink, etc. Also drink lots of water, its good for you and since it flushes everything bad out of your body it may help get rid of the caffeine quicker I guess?

Answer 3

I would find the caffeine affecting the HR more than the cigs, so cut back to 1-2 caffeine drinks in the morning and none the rest of the day.
Do that for a few weeks, then quit smoking- either cold turkey (I did it ) or the patch or gum or whatever.

Answer 4

quitting caffeine cigarettes

Answer 5

your husband is probably right.

quit caffeine first - it'll be a hell of a lot easier. quitting cigs has been compared to quitting heroine. i would just cut back on the caffeine every day, until you get down to a can of pop a day, and then pour half of it out, until your off. with cigs the best approach may be cold turkey. not quite sure about that myself.

Answer 6

Caffeine isn't as hard to quit as cigarettes... So you should quit that first, get over the part of the withdrawal where you feel very tired, and then you'll be in better condition to quit smoking. To quit smoking you might want to try something like Zyban, people who I know who've used it (I never smoked myself!) say that it's really good, it makes you have so few cravings that you sometimes just forget to smoke.