Comment by theoldgreybeard
3 hours ago
I've been doing my own personal experiments on myself trying to reduce caffeine intake to help with stress and anxiety. I've felt much better with just a small cutting back of my caffeine intake by taking my "main" cup of coffee (12oz cup) in the morning like I usually do and then just drinking 1/3 caffeinated, 2/3 decaf the rest of the day and going full decaf after 2pm if I have any at all.
I used to drink minimum 36oz (~150mg of caffeine per cup) of coffee per day and it was just turning me into an absolute wreck and just cutting back that little bit has made a huge difference. So instead of 450mg of caffeine, I'm getting ~270mg, so just a little above half the intake and it's made a huge difference.
A-fib just seemed like a natural consequence of the "caffeine peak" and reducing my consumption helped quite a bit.
Note that study suggests that coffee consumption decreases arrhythmia. (The title is horribly confusing, I know.)
From a quick skim, the protocol seemed to be “advise the patient to drink at least one cup of coffee per day or continue drinking your usual amount.” So it seems the results don’t track with your experience (or my own experience of improved stress and happiness when I cut down on coffee) which is why I think it’s surprising / possibly a fluke.
Me too, less caffeine means less stress and anxiety for me.
The key is to find other warm beverages to drink and get protein and sugar into you in the morning.
We've been loving Golden Lattes!
Have you compared any other factors? I find that my most consistent factor for a-fib is dehydration.
I would say it does. Lots of things improve overall when I am sufficiently hydrated...but I pee way more lol
I've found great difference in how I feel based on the source of caffeine.
From best to worst, for me: Yerba mate > healthi-ish energy drinks > white/green/black tea > coffee.
Coffee almost always results in significant anxiety (at same caffeine dose), jitteriness, and acid reflux. Yerba mate is by far the best for me.