HeavyJ

I lifted this article off of ***** news today. Kind of long, but an Interesting read...

Heavy


Coffee drinking, smoking common in AA members By Amy Norton
Tue Jul 22, 2:28 PM ET



NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People recovering from alcoholism seem to drink more coffee and have a higher rate of smoking than the average American, a new study shows.

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The researchers found that among 289 members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), 88.5 percent regularly drank coffee, often in large amounts. One third of coffee drinkers said they downed more than four cups per day.

In addition, 57 percent of the group said that they smoked -- much higher than the general rate of 27 percent in Nashville, Tennessee, where the study was conducted.

The findings, published online by the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, help confirm a long-held belief that AA members have a particular fondness for coffee and cigarettes.

Coffee drinkers in the study most often said they relied on the beverage to wake up; smokers typically said the habit helped them deal with negative moods.

Exactly what is all means is not yet clear.

"Is there an association with whether they are able to stay in recovery?" researcher Dr. Peter R. Martin, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, said in an interview.

He pointed out that coffee and tobacco both affect the brain, but while nicotine and alcohol act on the same "reward pathways" in the brain, caffeine operates differently.

It's possible that coffee drinking actually aids alcoholism recovery, while smoking might hinder it, according to Martin.

Although a majority of the AA members in this study smoked, nearly all drank coffee. So there seemed to be some "dissociation" between coffee and cigarettes, Martin explained.

In addition, he and his colleagues point out, the smoking rate of 57 percent among AA members is lower than the rate of 80 percent to 95 percent previous research has found among alcoholics -- suggesting that some people cut down or quit smoking during abstinence.

Coffee consumption, on the other hand, seems to remain high or to increase.

Martin said he and his colleagues are looking at whether changes in coffee or smoking habits are predictive of alcoholics' ability to stay in recovery.

SOURCE: Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, online July 18, October 2008.

Aysha

I have noticed alot of people in recovery drink alot of coffee.
I never really got into the stuff. An iced mocha latte every once in a great while maybe. But I am not a drinker either. Does the saem hold true to addicts?
Addicts seem to drink alot of coffee too.
Especially when I was locked up or in rehab. It was like super necessity.
I have cut way back on the amount of cigarettes I smoke though.
I am more of an Iced tea drinker or water...or juice. And I still dont even consume alot of that.
Maybe it is like replacing one habit with another.
If so..Mine has been replaced by food.

tommyk

Coffee at evening meetings. Must be purely traditional.

I never say anything, but when someone at a meeting shares about how they don't / can't get enough sleep, as they are drinking coffee in the evening while they say it, I often wonder if they are serious.

Coffee - great morning drink to help me wake up.

dancinggirl

I'm gonna be honest with myself and say that I drink coffee because it alters my mood. Gee, how unlikely that I, as an alcoholic, will seek out something to alter my mood! lol It gives me an "awake" feeling and makes me feel more happy. Granted, I only started drinking coffee a year ago, but I am definitely going for it more and more since I stopped drinking booze.

I don't smoke. Although, I do wish I had that "smoker's circle" fellowship that seems to happen at the meetings that I can't partake in.

Horselover

I used to smoke A LOT! That went away when I became pregnant 6 years ago. I eventually resumed the drinking. I have 1 cup of coffee in the morning (rarely 2 cups) and sometimes after dinner will have a cup of coffee. When I was in my 20s in AA I did notice it was a lot of coffee and a lot of cigarettes. I was into both back then. There is definitely a correlation IMHO.

Aysha

Caffeine makes me really sleepy and no energy.
Does anyone else get an opposite effect from it?

CarolD

Hmmm..
I don't drink coffee ...many of my home group don't either.
99% AA meetings I know of are non smoking.
From my observation...
the members under 40 are often non smokers.

It must have been a slow news day at *****

IAintBeatYet

I don't go to AA, but I've been hitting the protein shakes. It makes me feel like I'm doing something good for my body so I'm not about to go out and pound some drinks and wreck it. My liver's gotta be in shock by now.

Toomutch

I don't attend AA, nor do I smoke, but I love coffee in the morning

adore79

This is kinda off topic, but those of us with schizophrenia or schizo-spectrum disorders smoke a lot, about 80% of us do because it helps with our symptoms by regulating dopamine. Also, this article says that alcohol and nicotine work on similar pathways, so that is probably a big reason why so many alcoholics smoke. As a side note, almost 50% of schizophrenics abuse alcohol and/or drugs

LibertyorDeath

I drank A LOT of coffee during the first few days and weeks but have tapered off a lot lately. I still love a cup or two in the AM and sometimes a cup of decaf in the evenings. In fact, I think I'll have one after posting.

I only smoked an occasional cig or two when drunk...stale ones at that because I'd smoke a pack over the course of two weeks or more. YUK!

Alcohol and cigarette free for 89 days and counting~

Now on to a great cup of decaf with heavy whipping cream. That's dessert really.

Aysha

Apple juice is so good. So is koolaid..

ex D-Boy

funny that you mention this heavyj. I remember back when I went to meetings like 6 or 7 months ago atleast every other person in the rooms had a cup of coffee and after the meeting had ended everybody went outside to chain smoke 3-4 cigs in a row lol(always found that so funny). coffee never really did anything for me, my older brother tells me its because I am still young (22) and I will eventually grow to like coffee, but i'll stick with my soda for now

And cigs......stopped that way back in the 8th grade

Eidetic

I don't smoke, and I've always hated the smell, but it does make me feel kind of left out sometimes at meetings, because before/after almost everyone is standing around chatting over cigarettes.

TheBean

Since I quit drinking I have LIVED on diet coke and iced coffee. It's getting a little ridiculous at this point, I really need to cut back. It's starting to make me feel anxious. I need to face the fact that I am replacing wine with food and caffeine. I guess admitting I have a problem is the first step though, right?

Impurrfect

I don't drink coffee, but I do smoke. I tried to quit, had 10 days but was a total grouch and it's hard to get tips (I wait tables) when you want to kill everyone!

Trish - caffiene doesn't make me sleepy, but it doesn't wake me up either. I can drink a coke, eat chocolate, and still go to sleep.

Hugs and prayers!

Amy

LogCabin

I think that there is a connection with us having addictive personalities being addictive people by nature. And Cigarettes and coffee are addictive, and make people go through withdrawal. It's funny, but I can almost always spot a fellow recovery person in a Starbucks. I think we focus on the serious addictions before we can work on the less harmful ones. But cigarettes are very bad for us. But since we just get "less altered" on them then we do on the harder stuff...we can allow it. And let our addictive nature control it.


I couldn't drink coffee at all when I was drinking. I was already so sick by tearing up my internal organs, and by being shaky...it just made it so much worse. It would cause my anxiety to go way up.

But as soon as I had a couple weeks of sobriety back I started drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes again. My body was healing and feeling better.

Now I drink two large cups of coffee in the morning, and sometimes in the evening if I know I am going to be out doing something like going to a show. But I always have to be careful since I don't like to feel anxiety. I drink chamomile tea at my evening meeting. I try to use it as a time to relax and concentrate on the words. I am getting into tea much more now.

I am really ready to stop smoking again. I hate having this habit. It stinks, and it's BAD for my health...gosh darn it! But because I am feeling so much financial stress I just can't let it go yet. But soon.

Anyway...There are more non-smokers in my home group. What we do have that I love is an oven and home baked cookies!

Can we do polls on this site? It would be interesting to see the stats on this.

Lenina

I don't use much caffeine, once in a while a cup of tea or diet cola. I prefer decaf Pepsi but lately have been drinking juice or Crystal Light.

I do smoke and wish I could quit. I don't smoke in public and few people even know I smoke at all. While on a business trip I had requested a smoking room. My coworker was shocked! Said to me: "I had you figured as a pink lung!"

Once I hit the hotel room or my house, I am making up for lost time! I hate the smell of it on my clothes and spray Frabreez on my clothes before going out the door.

In Europe, many hotels don't have smoking rooms as of April this year. Smoking is banned in public places. Might be a good time to quit.

Lenina

PupMum

At the last/only AA meeting I attended, everyone rushed outside to smoke as soon as it was finished. I found this quite hard as I hate smoking and the only way to chat was to inhale passive smoke. Given that quite a small percentage of people in my country smoke, the proportion smoking was quite extreme.

Re caffeine, I gave it up at same time decided to stop drinking (admittedly more sucessful with caffeine!) as it makes me stressed which makes me want drink and/or scream!

Jig

Smokes like a steam train and drinks like a fish.

This is a statement that has been applied to me for years. Now I'm not drinking alcohol my coffee consumption has probably trippled.

Trying to cut back on both but I know I'm not ready to stop so soon after quitting the grog.

At my home group smokers and coffee drinkers make up about 80% of the regulars.