Coffee Questions
#191196 - 07/03/05 08:41 AM
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Suze
Reged: 02/24/05
Posts: 30
Loc: Virginia
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Hi,
I've done a search on the site for coffee info, read a lot of the postings, but still have a few questions. I hope someone can help me.
I quit coffee cold turkey when I started on the IBS diet in Feb. In early May, I took a long car trip by myself, and drank several cups of coffee to stay awake. I didn't have any bad effects from it. Since then, I occasionally have 1/2 cup of coffee, mostly to get started in the morning or when I have a mid-afternoon slump at work. I don't think I've had any bad effects from that, either.
I'm an A, pretty evenly divided between C and D when I'm not stable. I've been mostly stable since Feb, though. Since about mid-June, however, I've had trouble with bloating again. It doesn't seem to be linked to my coffee consumption, but...?
So, my questions are:
1. Aside from causing diarrhea, what does coffee do to IBSers?
2. Can it cause bloating?
3. Are there IBSers who aren't sensitive to it (hmmm, sounds like wishful thinking, doesn't it?)?
4.Can the side effects of coffee drinking build up over time...i.e., not show up at first, only with repeated - even minimal - consumption?
Thanks for your help! I can't imagine how I'd be coping with IBS if I hadn't found this site! 
-Sue
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Some answers to your questions (based on my own experience):
1. I have never experienced diarrhea from coffee, but it would cause an unsettled stomach with cramping and/or gas.
2. If I drank several cups of coffee, like at a restaurant with free refills, I would leave completely bloated. One cup occasionally did not make me bloated.
3. I can handle a small amount and was drinking one cup a day up until recently. Now if I really need the boost I'll have a weak cup, but I try not to have any on bad tummy days.
4. I found the side effects do accumulate with time. One of the big reasons I gave up the cup a day habit was because it will make me sweat uncontrollably when I drink it, even if I'm freezing. After I "detox" for awhile this effect goes away again.
Unfortunately detoxing isn't that easy, by the time I get to the sweating stage I am horribly addicted and suffer withdrawal headaches for a week or two. Best way to deal with this is to try to slowly increase the time between doses. For example, if you normally have one in the morning, try to put it off for a few extra hours, so you may have one around lunch, then maybe around supper a few days later, etc.
I hope this helps!
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I don't know if my comments will help any, but here's my experience:
I haven't had a cup of coffee since late January, just a little while before I discovered this wonderful place. I was very much NOT STABLE at the time, but I did discover coffe brough gas, then a BM within about 2 hours. Regular tea caused gas & bloating but not a BM in the same amount of time.
Even well before I knew I had IBS, I could never drink coffee in the morning. It would cause gas for a few minutes and then clean me out very suddenly and completely. Regular tea in the morning would upset my stomach. However, later in the day, I was fine with either.
I've been stable for a couple of months now and have been tempted to try caffeine in regular amounts again.
I can nurse a 20 oz bottle of diet Coke...and by nurse, I mean have a drink or two a day so that I have the same bottle for about 2 weeks.
I haven't given in yet, though, be cause I'm not altogether sure 8-12 oz. of caffiene is worth the possible upset!
As for gas & bloating, for a week or so last month, I had the gas that just rolls around in my gut, the sort that's annoying but never leads to anything. Around the same time, I was experimenting with lettuce again a little. I stopped putting lettuce on my sandwiches and it pretty much went away. Is there anything you've introduced or reintroduced into your diet that might be causing it?
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I deluded myself into thinking for years that I could drink coffee, but I can't. What happens is that I'm fine with it for a certain amount of time - sometimes as long as a few years! - and then suddenly it causes D, stomach pain, and cramping, and sometimes gas, for "no apparent reason". I'm completely convinced that these trigger foods, even if they don't seem to be doing damage right at first, WILL build up and get you in the long run.
Coffee is especially problematic, not just because of the caffeine, but because of the tannins in it that are ALSO a GI-tract irritant. I shouldn't endorse caffeine use at all, but if it comes down to it, tea may be a "safer" option - there's still tannins, but they don't seem to be as harsh as the ones in coffee.
Not worth it, if you ask me.
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Others have given good answers here. I'll just add that caffeine AND coffee are both GI triggers aka GI stimulants. These stimulants (also includes fat, dairy proteins, red meat proteins etc...) can screw up your gut motility in general - for some that causes D, for others C, for others bloating... etc. (It's a stimulant for both those with IBS and those without.)
It's just one of those things that can make your gut go crazy (spasms), which can cause both D and C and bloating. And yes, as Casey said, it's VERY possible that the effects of this will not show up immediately.
So yeah, it's in your best interest to stick to (herbal) tea 
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Thank you all for the help. Clearly, time to get off the coffee - again. Next time I take a long car trip by myself, I'll get a good night's sleep first.
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Some tips from a Fibromite who's not allowed coffee for that either...
Rooibos tea is a great pick-me-up.
Siberian Ginseng will help with wakefulness if you take it everyday.
Cold water (as coold as your tum can stand) will help to wake you up.
And if you desperately need caffeine, a caffeine tablet or cup of real tea (with soy milk or black) is alot easier on your tum than coffee as coffee also contains those nasty enzymes.
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