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I know - I'm a blog hog lately - trying to keep sane. Since my bladder has started feeling better - I started drinking coffee again - WAY too much - like six cups a day. I just realized on my way home, even after six cups today, that I was craving it -something that I've never done at 6:00 at night. I gave up sugar with almost no problems - when I just thought about giving up caffeine, I almost felt the need to grab a full coffee pot, clutch it, and run for the hills with it. I feel like I"ve just decided to wean myself off of my best friend. Does anyone know if yeast craves caffeine? I'm also thinking that my crazy obsessive compulsive anxiety is probably only made worse by this vice (DUH - you think?) When I went "surfing" for info on coffee and mental problems - I find this very interesting web-site http://www.livestrong.com/article/45331-symptoms-coffee-allergies/ Since we all seem to be sensitive to so much - I kind of wonder if this could be part of my problem? Just kind of wondering if anyone else has noticed my particular vice.
Well
Your not alone Denise... I LOVE my coffee too. Now that is not the problem, it's that I have been thinking that I might need to give it up for awhile (like at least 2-3 weeks) to see if it is causing me problems, despite it not really bothering my bladder at all.
I cut it out for a couple months a year ago (before starting treatment) and though it was terrible at first, after a week or so I felt so much better! I lost the 10 pounds I had wanted to without changing anything in my diet. I just felt so much calmer too, and I didn't have strong cravings for sugar or anything else for that matter. Well, I am not totally certain that dropping coffee was the only thing that lead to all these positive things, but this is why I want to drop it again just to see! I just can't seem to! It's like I feel so deprived even thinking of it. Now that is addiction. But I know also for us, it is a special treat when you can have it.
I am pretty good about having only one cup (a 14 oz cup though!) in the morning and that is it. Sometimes I have another weaker cup in the afternoon, but not usually. I have tried to make my coffee weaker in the morning too, I used to use 3 Tablespoons for that 14oz, now I do 2 TBS. I don't know if that is strong or not to everyone else, but I like strong coffee! And I use the boldest kinds you can get (they are easier on your bladder, or at least mine)
Ok sorry to go on about myself. Does anyone have any opinions about dropping coffee, and doing better???
Coffe
Hi Hopeful,
I love that you go on about yourself - something that I'm so good at.
I'm giving it up! I've had just one cup today, and will probably do the same for the next several days and then quit - I am so sad about that. However, my anxiety today is so much less - I don't know if you looked up the link I included, or if you're interested in surfing on line for coffe alergies, but I'm hoping that my years of anxiety, and problems with Obsessive Compulisve Disorder, are linked to caffeine - I am so hoping so - I'd be a fool to not try.
Take Care,
Coffee
Hi Ladies,
I have gone back and forth with the coffee dilemma since starting treatment (about 7 mths ago). I stopped drinking it as soon as I started treatment and truly those withdrawls were so much worse than sugar. I would get horrible headaches and felt so grumpy at first, but slowly I was off and it was fine. And then when I started drinking it again (when I got to list 2, about 2 1/2 mths in or so) I had one-two cups a day and at first I literally felt like I was on speed, nor could I sleep. But slowly my body got used to it again. I think that alone shows that caffeine/coffee is probably not so great. Although Matia does say that it is an herb (2 8 oz cups, MAX, a day though! At least for me) and most people do OK on it. Having said that, we are SO GOOD with this diet- no drinking, sugar, smoking, medication (at least for me), its that one thing that is like a treat. At least for me. So really I have no answers and I completely flip flop back and forth about it. I think when it starts to be a problem- or it seems to negatively effect you- you should stop! But then again, we all know that :-) Much easier said than done.
MM
P.S. Also- I'm sure you have seen the old forum topics, but there is a TON of stuff on coffee if you do a search.
Yes
I have decided to give it up... I'm going to try with all my might. I did look at the link you gave. Very interesting stuff. Like you said, I would be a fool to not try and see if it helps. That helped me! I am going to go at least 3 weeks without any, to see. I guess if I don't see any difference at all (I know I will, in some way?!) then I can go back to it. This is what I tell myself. I too suffer from OCD, and depression and anxiety. That fact alone, that I deal with things like anxiety, I see good Dr.s (like Dr. Mercola) saying you should defiantly stay away from coffee all together if you deal with that. I also have insomnia... and it's like really? Do I need to be drinking even 14 oz of strong coffee in the morning? It can't help.
One of the things that is convincing me that I need to just give it up, is, on the weekends when I have it, and my husband is home, I notice I do not treat him very nice after my coffee. I know this sounds strange! But it's like I feel SO agitated when I have to be around people (him) right after drinking it. I am curious to see if dropping coffee helps this. Because there is no apparent reason to feel SO agitated. Sorry if I am making not a lot of sense.
So maybe if you are interested we can see how each other are doing with dropping it Denise? I hope you all the best. I am just going to stop cold turkey tomorrow morning : / For myself (I know it is bad) I know if I even have half a cup, I will just want a whole cup... and so on. I know cold turkey will be worse with withdrawals though. i am just afraid if I don't, I won't do it.
mao1981, thanks for sharing! I agree with what you are saying... that it is the ONE thing that some of us can have, and if it is not causing any problems (or it is not bothering you mentally that it MIGHT be causing some problems) then drink it! But within the guidelines of 2 cups a day. Which on some days I was going over, but not usually. I do confess, it confuses me why Matia lets us have it sometimes. I guess I will know more about this, for myself, if I can drop it for a long enough time to see different results. Wish me luck! : )
Wow
Keep us posted on how you feel after dropping coffee for a few weeks. I am not allowed to drink coffee yet. I have never been a coffe drinker but am tempted to start :o)
OCD & Coffee
Hi Hopeful,
Thanks for sharing the OCD with me - I've been feeling like a bit of a freak lately. If you feel like chatting about that, or anything else - You can find me at greatworker1@hotmail.com (dumb e-mail - was looking for a job at the time) I applaud your cold turkey - I always like to gear up for something - I'm having my last cup on Monday (gulp)
Ladies thanks for your feedback - I"ll check back in a couple of weeks with an update - Man, so sad.
Ok day one of
No coffee... it went well! I felt tired, but a calm sense of tired. I can't explain it any other way. Usually I just feel fatigued to my bones in the afternoon, late morning, when the coffee wears off. But today, I just felt a calm sense of being tired, not sluggish and gross feeling. Now we'll see if it continues! I remember distictly this is one of the benefits I got right away from stopping it last time. I had a slight headache, but very slight that only last a hour. But I have been drinking a TON of water. I drank 42 oz within a half hour of waking this morning, SO I have been close to the toilet (what's new?) but it felt like I needed all the water. I also laid down for 2 hours this afternoon, def good thing to stop in on a day you can rest if you need to. And yes, I was MUCH less agitated this morning. I better get ready for some cravings this week for it though!
Ok, I'll continue to let you all know how I am doing. Denise, you can do it! Good luck... I was tempted to print out all the positives of not relying on coffee (from different websites) to put up in my house to help me. I might still do that if the going gets tough. And yes, you should be able to get to my email to from this website? Is the email thing there? I'll check and see if I can change that if it's not. I'd like to talk to you over email, when we can : )
Take care
Coffee & Day One
Dear Hopeful- Way to go - You are my inspiration. The last two days I've done one cup in the morning - Tomorrow - my last day - I'm doing a half a cup. After that - it's all over.
The thing that I've noticed is this high feeling after just one cup, that lasts for an hour or so, and then this anxiety that seems to peak at around 3:00. If this will truly help ocd and anxiety, I will be so grateful
E-mail me if you'd like - Denise
I love coffee!!!
Hey Ladies!
Just wanted to let you guys know that I drink coffee guilt free and wanted to add some counter arguments concerning the dubious nature of nutrition info out there. Coffee's not guilty! (I would like to note that I'm a grad students and one of the subjects I'm studying is stats, so I think a lot about the consumption of health research.)
I wouldn't trust the stuff on the internet to tell you what is good for you and what isn't--unless its from pubmed and then run by Matia or Matia herself. Reliable scientific information from epidemiologic studies of nutrition is hard to come by--coffee, eggs etc. are all involved in controversy in the medical establishment. The China Study is the largest nutritional study ever done, spanning 3 countries and 25 years--plenty of people disagree with the tenets of it (to eat meat? to not eat meat? why is China so healthy?). It, although large, and funded by the most respected of institutions, still never managed to establish "fact". The implications of this are that we dont really know about coffee or eggs or meat or many things!
Coffee makes me happy, so I will continue to drink it, knowing there has yet to be a study involving people with my diet i.e. controlling for sugar intake, fat intake, veggie intake, with the only variable in question being coffee amount!
If Matia says its cool (for you), its probably cool (for you), because she knows how this works and has over a decade of clinical experience. Any taking out or putting in of food, I would run by her, because she operates only on the knowledge you impart to her, and can only make decisions on your treatment as such. Personally, my approach to treatment has been to trust her 100%, because I cannot spend the amount of time required to keep up this diet, go to an insane grad program and try to mess with things myself.
That's me though, I just wanted to add my 2 cents.
coffee
I LOVE coffee. I think since its one of the only "strong intense food things" its okay. In fact since its a warming herb I think it helps impart some much needed circulation to this part of my body- pelvic area. I think that is one reason why in MODERATION it can be an allowed item. The moderation part is honestly tricky cause I think when we stop certain things we are addicted to then we might pick the next closest addiction to fixate on. If your coffee consumption makes you feel bad- then don't do it if it makes you feel good and you can keep it in moderation- 1-2 cups then awesome.
I tend to do better with it- but I also have OVERDONE it and that's not healthy- to be up to 4-5 cups... I recently just cut back how much I was making at a time and if I still needed a boost or that comfort of warm beverage then I switch to chammomile or green tea or black tea. I'm finding that the anxiety and nervous system stuff is soo much better and the coffee is not IMPACTING it and exacerbating those symptoms which relate to kidney/bladder anyway. that make sense? I've been in tx for a while so it can take some time to have that effect but its coming ladies trust me. The bottom line is - its good to just roll with what feels right for you- you certainly aren't hurting anything by taking it out... but if you like it enough and it doesn't harm your treatment than I don't see the big deal in keeping it in... the restrictions kind of make us hold onto what we can have a little tighter. so I relate to both sides. Peace- Mary
HoneyBee and Coffee
Hi Mary,
I absolutely agree with you - If you're drinking it and it's not bothering you I think that's great - I am so jealous. I honestly didn't mean that anyone should give it up. I was just starting to notice some pretty intense symptoms that were starting to look like they may not be linked just to die off; which I was planning on discussing with Dr I'm sure part of it was the amount that I was drinking - which seemed to be an out of control NEED to have. Out of curiosity I wanted to see what the internet might have to say. Since Dr. B has never really asked me about coffee in our conversations, I didn't even think that starting it or giving it up was much of an issue. I was also so overwhelmed with anxiety I was just looking for some friendly feedback - didn't really want to butt heads with anyone.
So, Peace to you - and thank for the input
Coffee Freak Out UPDATE
OK - I spent three weeks with no caffeine - my anxiety didn't improve - actually, maybe it did when I took up coffee again two days ago. I was so hoping that I had found the miracle ANSWER! HOWEVER, I am feeling better. This is a crazy emotional roller coaster ride that we're on.
All my best to all of you
Well
At least you know you tried! I am glad you get to enjoy it again : )