so, I have a super addictive personality. I get obsessed, like seriously obsessed easily.

anyways, I drink coffee. like, a pot in the morning.
has anyone experienced mood changes with so much coffee?

also, I have an energy drink every couple of days...
same question...
any mood changes with that?

that's the only questionable thing that I do..
I would hate to give that up but I know that I can not drink just one or two glasses of coffee. it's all or nothing with me and I know that I'm worth being happy instead of indulging.

I also smoke.... the third and final bad thing.
any mood changes with that?

anyways, i am always super emotional.
any emotional problems with these things either?

I want to improve, but I'm unsure whether I should give these things up cuz it's really all I have that I really enjoy.

thanks for the input!

[OutlawedSpirit]

I also drink a pot of coffee in the morning. I don't really notice any mood changes with it, whether I drink it or not.

However, I know that everytime I try to quit smoking, it makes me extremely manic, to the point where my gf asks if she can go buy me a pack.

I know my habits are bad, but I don't care. Like you said, they're enjoyable.

I don't see why you have to give them up if you don't want to, but that's just me, I 'spose.

just trying to improve... and stop any habits that may be conflicting with my treatment. Can't talk to Pdoc bout it cuz he would say that EVERYTHING is bad..lol

[tribalwolf]

I drink 2 to 3 cups of coffee every morning and I really don't see any mood changes from drinking it. I don't know what I would do it without my coffee, I needed just to get up and get functioning in the morning.

As far as smoking goes I smoked for over 40 years and recently quit using the Blu e-cigarette. So I guess in some ways you can say that I haven't given up cigarettes totally either, as I get nicotine from the e-cigarette.

The Wolf

thanks for the input guys! I'm really on the fence about these things!

[OutlawedSpirit]

I actually tried quitting cold turkey last week, and I made it a day and decided I wasn't ready. My gf keeps telling me you have to be really ready to quit and I think she's right.

It all depends on coffee: if you're sensitive to caffeine, you should give it up. If not,
my psychiatrist doesn't really see the harm in it. You know the article by Ruth Whalen on caffeine sensitivity on the website http://www.Doctoryourself.com

Cigarette smoking is another thing altogether. All one has to do is see a friend
in a hospital room propped up on two pillows taking oxygen and dying because of lung cancer from smoking cigarettes. It happens; and not only that, but it causes emphysema which is a long-term problem long before cancer sets in. I'd quit it now while you still have lungs that function normally.

Try stopping smoking with another person who wants to stop. Use it as a competition thing to see if you can resist smoking longer than the other person can.
Try hard candy when the urge hits to smoke. After about a month, the cravings will no longer hit and you'll be free. It takes about a year to really reach the point that you have no desire to ever smoke again.

It was difficult for me to stop, too, but it's so-oo-o worth it to give up tobacco.

I'm working on giving up grains now, and that's a difficult one, too. Again, hard candy helps reduce cravings.

The problem is that these things are just so addictive and before we know it, we're
right there with the problem staring us in the face. Some people can taper off; I
was not one of them. I had to stop it cold turkey.

Please think about giving up smoking and reducing caffeine intake even if you don't
think you can give that up--do try to reduce your intake--caffeine does a job on
the mental activity, with highs and lows, and cravings for more.

[faerie_moon_x]

I'm with genetic on that it depends on your own body chemestry if the coffee and energy drinks will effect your mood. I don't think it effects me, but I sure do think it effects my mother in law, (although with her it is soda and not coffee, like she can drink a 12 pack in one day....) And she has the other leg to the stool with the cigarrettes, too. And yes cigarettes definately effect her mood a ton. When she doesn't have her cigarrettes she turns into a pot of slow boiling anger.... I hate being around her when she's like that, but I hate that she smokes, because it's terrible for you.

Plus I heard somewhere recently that cigarettes actually trick your brain into thinking you're calming down, when in fact you're not. Your body is still responding to your stress but it tunes your brain out. So, smoking to relieve stress is like the worst thing you can do because it addicts your brain but your body gets 0 releaf.

Sorry my spelling isn't so good I'm noticing.... I'm quite a bit off today.

[Clinte89]

No mood changes with coffee or energy drinks, and I dont smoke so no idea. I would quit smoking if I where you just for health reasons. But thats just me.

[Secretum]

Coffee elevates my mood sometimes, but not always. Energy drinks do not affect me; they don't even keep me awake. Total waste of money and calories! And I've never smoked, but I would be very surprised if nicotine was mood-neutral.

In my opinion, if you have to give up only one of those, I would choose the cigarettes. It will be hard, but smoking really harms your health.

ok. I'll start with quitting smoking then. Since my last med increase, I can only smoke half of a cigarette at a time anyways. I don't know why that is... but I'll take advantage of it while I can lol.

[~Christina]

I agree smoking would be a good one to give up.

[Anika.]

Agree to smoking is the one to work on. I also think smoking is the one to give up that.will effect your mood most not to mention your health and I know you know all about that, me too and I still do it. Unless you are sensitive to caffine. How did the patch go today Dan?

[Confusedinomicon]

I would use a combination of the fake cigs and patch.

Quitting smoking is so difficult because its often associated with a pleasant activity or it helps the smoker relieve stress. If you use the patch and limit yourself to half a fake-cig? then it may be easier for you to eventually quit. You have to train yourself into believing that the cig isn't needed in those contexts. It only really works if you don't want to smoke anymore, though. (You have to be ready blahblah)

Don't stop drinking the coffee right away. If you want to quit you'd have to taper off. You probably have a caffeine dependency.

You really should look into some kind of therapy or mindfulness program. Feeling helpless can be a factor in over-sensitivity. Having a lot of hurt in the past that is not resolved/accepted can make it difficult to move forward in an emotional-way. Where you're at is normal, though. It takes times to look at oneself and examine behaviors/thought processes that can change and then implement that change. It took me a few years of actively examining myself and asking for feedback before I was able to change some of my thought processes/behaviors.

I got so tired of wearing the patch. it gets me wired for some dumb reason. making plans now to set date and get really serious about this whole thing.

[Confusedinomicon]

Patch has low amount of nicotine that it releases in your body.

Its mainly the action/drive that makes smoking hard to quit.

[bos314489]

Originally Posted by landskaperdan

so, I have a super addictive personality. I get obsessed, like seriously obsessed easily.

anyways, I drink coffee. like, a pot in the morning.
has anyone experienced mood changes with so much coffee?

also, I have an energy drink every couple of days...
same question...
any mood changes with that?

that's the only questionable thing that I do..
I would hate to give that up but I know that I can not drink just one or two glasses of coffee. it's all or nothing with me and I know that I'm worth being happy instead of indulging.

I also smoke.... the third and final bad thing.
any mood changes with that?

anyways, i am always super emotional.
any emotional problems with these things either?

I want to improve, but I'm unsure whether I should give these things up cuz it's really all I have that I really enjoy.

thanks for the input!

I don't notice any mood changes with coffee or energy drinks and I don't smoke but I eat sweets for my good mood. Sugar for me is the best antidepressant there is. I know it is bad just like cigarettes but it allows me to function when I otherwise would be too depressed to do so. I am able to workout, run errands, clean house, etc plus I feel happy. I love the sugar high. Yes it is bad but like you said why should you give up the one or two things that you have that you enjoy? That is just my take. I don't think too much about the future. If I was getting the same high from cigarettes I would continue to smoke and not think that oh I better quit becuase I might end up hooked up to oxygen. When a person is mentally ill, suffering day in and day out with depression and they can get a little bit of joy from one or two things, be it coffee, cigarettes, sugar, I say go for it, we have a hard enough time in life to worry about long term consequences.