Zero.

“No caffeine, no alcohol, no stimulant medication.”

“But what about–”

He held up his hand like he was making the “OK” sign and looked at me through the hole.

“Zero.”

“Can I drink decaf instead of regular coffee?”

“Decaf can have up to 30% the caffeine of regular coffee and still be classified as decaf.”

“…huh. I didn’t know that!”

He recommended a brand of fake-coffee made with chicory and other non-caffeinated ingredients; his mother drank it too.

“Can I step down my stimulant medication? I don’t think I can just go off of it all of a sudden.”

“Talk with your doctor, but you want to get that number down to zero.”

“Ok.”

“With atrial fibrillation, it’s not a question of if it happens again, but when. We want to reduce the risk to make it as long as possible before it recurs.”

On the way home, I picked up the recommended fake-coffee. My stimulant medication dosage was 20-30mg, but I decided to try reducing it to just 10mg daily until I ran out – I had about 2 - 3 months at that rate.

Giving up the booze was no big deal. I drank rarely and it had already been at least a month since I drank. I’ve given up coffee before for a few months and it was manageable.

I was concerned about going off the stimulant medication. I’ve taken weekends off before and I felt really tired and sluggish. Maybe I could make it work after a couple months of abstinence? Maybe it would be OK?

This experience was literally sobering; I definitely didn’t want to repeat. I felt committed to making this work, somehow.