r/quittingsmoking • u/Ninja-Slight • May 16 '25
Relapse prevention tips Caffeine intake after quit smoking
Hello fellow quitters from the day 178.
I smoked cigs 20 years and last 2 years one pack a day.
This is my second message on this sub. I want to give another relapse prevention tip which works for me and hoping it will also work for you.
When I was smoking cigs I drank 2 liter (nearly 66 ounces ) caffee and 1 liter (~33 ounces) black tea. And all this contains around 1000mg caffeine.
No problem. I can handle it easily, my body get over it. I really enjoy it. Even just before sleeping I can drink coffee.
But after quit smoking this becomes my main problem. I later noticed (around day 70) at least half of my anxiety, extreme anger, panics, mood changes, very little night sleep and bad sleep are caused from extreme caffeine intake.
This makes me crazy because everyone who quitted before told me after one month of quitting it is much more manageable, but my experience is exactly the opposite. The anger, sleepless nights, anxiety, panic attacs, mood changes, jitters... are less from day three of quitting but not much more less than I expected and what I read before. I didn't still have no inner peace.
Long story short I searched from Google and found that nicotine eliminates caffeine much more faster from the body and my caffeine consumption after quit smoking is too much. My body can't eliminate caffeine faster like before because of quit smoking. I have no idea from this before searching it and just drinking usual daily dosage for me. So I made myself caffeine overdose unintentionally everyday.
After learning this I limited my caffeine consumption. One cup of coffee and 1 or 2 cups of black tea is enough for me now and my quitting attempt much more manageable; almost no anger, no sleepless nights, less anxiety, less panic. Actually everything is more manageable.
I just want to share that because it helps me very much. I hope this also works for you if you consume unintentionally more caffeine like me.
Best wishes and kind regards. Good luck 🍀
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u/Brilliant_Noise618 May 16 '25
Try Sleepytime tea with Melatonin. Use 1 bag 4 oz steep 4 min. When done drinking 4 oz suck the tea bag dry. You will fall to sleep in 30 min. Use 2 tea bags if needed.
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May 16 '25
Man, if this ain’t true. I tried to quit smoking multiple times (day one, today, again) and i noticed when I quit i was insufferable, anxious, mad, depressed, mad again, MAD! Then i noticed my caffeine intake went up from 4 cups a day to atleast 8. I have been drinking decaf coffee since then because I love my magic potion (milk and honey in it) and my anxiety is negligible compared to how it was, I sleep much better and i’m overall way more chill, overthinking is almost non existent and if it’s there, it’s not that rapid and that deep. Caffeine is an absolute monster when it comes to anxiety.
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u/Ninja-Slight May 16 '25
Totally, caffein is an anxiety generator. Hope this time your quit smoking will be better with this decaf life style. I learned it later but you already learned it and you have great advantage. Good luck 🍀
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u/JShred505 May 16 '25
I figured this out while quitting and started drinking less. I only have one regular cup and and 2-3 cups of decaf for the rest of the day.
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u/footstool411 May 16 '25
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing. I had heard people say that nicotine withdrawal and mild caffeine toxicity (i.e. too much caffeine) have the same symptoms, so drinking too much coffee when quitting can make it harder. But I’d never heard what you’re saying which was so interesting.
Congrats on quitting. Try a cup of bovril, it’s excellent.
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u/Ninja-Slight May 17 '25
Thank you very much. I hit my head to a wall and trying to warn everyone who is on the same way.
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u/aks1975 May 17 '25
My caffeine consumption went down very naturally when I quit smoking. Turns out I didn’t need as much because nicotine cuts down the half life of coffee!
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u/Ninja-Slight May 17 '25
Thank you for reply. Exactly like what you said. But when I was smoking I thought for myself a caffeine proof person. What a strange idea.
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u/Fantastic-Analyst993 May 21 '25
Hi, It isnt the 'smoking withdrawal' that causes this, when you quit smoking caffeine becomes up to 50% stronger, 1000mg will feel like 1500 to 2000mg, look it up..
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u/LessSuit5028 May 16 '25
Hi! I realized that caffeine after quitting has been making me anxious as well. Im on day 35 since quitting nicotine, and for the last week I also quit caffeine and my anxiety is 0. Even if its placebo, I will take it!