Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Is there anything you haven't been able to give up?

Hi Tia,

WOW, you have a good memory! Yep, I was drinking a coffee substitute called SoyFee; if you do a search, you'll find a lot of posts about it. I drank the stuff for about six months. It has many healthy benefits, and of all the coffee substitutes I tried, it's by far the best. If you've given up coffee and you really miss the stuff, give SoyFee a try. I tried to convince myself that SoyFee was every bit as good as coffee -- you'll read that in my posts -- and I don't want to discourage you, but after a very long time of consuming the stuff, I had enough.

My big mistake was having a sip of the incredible coffee at ihop. Then another sip. It's a terrible 42-year addiction that I can't seem to kick; of everything I've had to give up, coffee has been the most difficult. (Sorry, I know this is not encouraging for you.)

I'm stable now, such that I very seldom have an attack. Coffee is one of the things I returned to. I bought a very tiny drip brewer that makes only two cups, one for me and one for my husband. After the real stuff, I brew decaf, one for me and one for my husband. So all I have in one day are two cups, one regular and one decaf. Oftentimes I end up with cramps, but they're minor and don't last long. I have chocolate soy milk beforehand, though, which I heat up in the mike (as cocoa), THEN I have my coffee. If I go out to a restaurant, like ihop, I don't have coffee at home, because theirs is the best anywhere. I have two cups at ihop, and even with the Equalactin I end up with cramps -- but, again, they're minor and don't last long. To me, it's worth it.

I know this is bad -- I certainly don't encourage it -- but you should know that, before Heather got ahold of me, I was brewing coffee in our 12-pot coffeemaker every day and drinking more than half of it over a very long period of time, easily 42 years when I was working. So I'm actually pretty proud of being able to restrict myself to only 1-2 cups a day. I shouldn't say that here, should I?

I'm sorry you're not feeling well, Tia, and I strongly recommend you stay clear of coffee until you get stable. It will happen, you just have to be patient. When I have an attack, I lay off the coffee and turn to my Tummy Mint tea (and of course my meds) until the attack is long gone.

Good luck.

Bev

--------------------
<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~letsrow/smily3481.gif">Bevvy

Print Remind Me Notify Moderator