THE IMPACT OF CAFFEINE USE ON TOBACCO CESSATION AND WITHDRAWAL

Continuous caffeine consumption with smoking cessation has been associ ated with more than doubled caffeine plasma levels. Such concentration s may be sufficient to produce caffeine toxicity symptoms in smoking a bstinence conditions. To test whether caffeine abstinence influences s moking cessation, 162 caffeine-using smokers were enlisted from Americ an Lung Association smoking cessation programs. Volunteers were random ly assigned by clinic to caffeine-use and caffeine-abstinence conditio ns and measured for 3 weeks post-smoking cessation, at 6 months and on e year. Results showed a significant linear increase in caffeine sputu m levels across 3 weeks post-cessation for those who quit smoking and continued using caffeine. Three weeks after cessation, concentrations reached 203% of baseline for the caffeine user. Typical nicotine withd rawal symptoms occurred during the first 16 days of cessation. The caf feine abstainers, but not continued users of caffeine, reported increa sed fatigue during the first 3 days of cessation. Among complete caffe ine abstainers, compared with caffeine users, there was a significant increase in fatigue, a decrease in stimulation, and a marginal increas e in caffeine craving immediately following tobacco cessation. There w ere no differences between the groups on other withdrawal symptoms or in cessation success at 16 days, 6 months, or 12 months. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd