Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Graduate Student in need of Caffeine!

Sugar will perk you up but the crash is inevitable so instead try eating small frequent snacks that include protein. For example, fix a sandwich of sliced chicken, low or non-fat mayo, and a safe bread, then eat it a quarter at a time over a few hours. That will keep your blood sugar level a little more stable and will also force you to take a break every so often to eat. And if you could walk around a little when you take your break that would help, too.

If you really want to "cheat" and get a tiny bit of caffeine, you can try making a cup of tea with the caffeine taken off. Take a regular tea bag - Lipton is fine or any flavor you like - and pour boiling water over it. Let it steep for 1 minute, then remove the bag and pour the tea out. Use the same bag to make another mug of tea and remove the tea bag as soon as you get some color. This will keep most of the caffeine out of your mug but you will still get a tiny bit and that - combined with the psychological effect - might help. Don't drink a lot of this, though - there is still some caffeine in it and the tannins in tea can be hard on IBSers. I never have more than one of these a day but it can really help when that afternoon crash hits.

HTH. Good luck with your studies.

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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]

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