Caffeine... Crohn's Related?

[Ataraxia]

What are everyone's opinions on caffeine being linked to Crohn's Disease? I really have my suspicions. I mean, I'm a regular tea and coffee drinker, but particularly at the end of my university years, I drank it excessively (sometimes 4-5 BIG cups a day). On top of that, I drank alcohol regularly.

Thoughts?

[Guest1]

Although I'm not diagnosed, I've been wondering the same thing since I could potentially have the disease and have excessively consumed caffeine.

[Ataraxia]

Potentially? Is that your opinion or the doctors, Vanessa?
Are you getting a lot of pain?

[kello82]

for me, i dont think caffeine had an impact on my disease. since i was dx so young when i was 9, i had literally no caffeine consumption when i was that little.
now is a different story, though ive been trying to back off on it lately, drinking decaf stuff instead of regular.

[CD68]

Originally Posted by Ataraxia

What are everyone's opinions on caffeine being linked to Crohn's Disease? I really have my suspicions. I mean, I'm a regular tea and coffee drinker, but particularly at the end of my university years, I drank it excessively (sometimes 4-5 BIG cups a day). On top of that, I drank alcohol regularly.

Thoughts?

I was diagnosed when I was 40, but I can remember unexplainable bad stomach aches and diarrhea as an adolescent. I drank very little caffeine. Now, I drink much, much more and it clearly causes a laxative effect, I think that much is documented. Maybe in some people this might trigger a flare or make their current symptoms worse.

[Guest1]

Originally Posted by Ataraxia

Potentially? Is that your opinion or the doctors, Vanessa?
Are you getting a lot of pain?

A mix of both. I had been told by several doctors since last year that my problems were gynecological-related (being a woman with pelvic pain, it's automatically assumed that's what it is) -- I was diagnosed with Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (even though I tested negative for the bacteria), ovarian cysts (ultrasound ruled that out), MRI ruled out appendix problems, etc. One dumb nurse told me that I was probably experiencing "ovulation pain" (1. you ovulate one day a month, not 30, so why am I feeling pain daily? 2. you don't ovulate on birth control, but she argued me.) It wasn't until I spoke with my OBGYN and we discussed the possibilities of bowel diseases and he referred me to a GI.

I do have pain and it varies significantly. It's usually a constant, dull ache, but there have been a few occassions where I thought my appendix was going to burst out of my abdomen. My entire right side, from my ribs down to my lower quadrant constantly feels "inflamed", however, around the appendix area it is worse. I've always had messed up bowels, which I got use to thinking it was normal, so I never considered it a symptom, but it wasn't until I researched bowel diseases that I quickly realized there was something off.

Sorry to ramble -- just wanted to be thorough in my explaining, lol.

[misscris]

Hey Vanessa, I was told the same thing. For the past 3 years the doctors all told me they thought I had endometriosis (spelling?) and that's why I had severe cramping on my periods. It's the only time I ever got pain in my abdomen or looser stools for that matter. But without doing exploratory surgery there is no way to diagnosis it. But upon getting my surprise resection surgery, the surgeon said he saw no signs of endo, but diagnosed me with Crohns.

[Ataraxia]

Some doctors/nurses are so stupid.

My first diagnosis in hospital was 'constipation'. Erm, I think not.

[Guest1]

Damnit, I had an entire post typed out, left the computer and came back to my baby x'ing it out, ack!

Criss, I've heard of that happening quite a few times. When my doctors were telling me I was experiencing female-related problems, endometriosis came into my mind.

Ataraxia, I agree. One of the ER doctors asked me when's the last time I did #2 and when I told him the day before, he said I was constipated. Uh, hardly. Their nurse was pretty dumb, argh. When I explained to her that I was experiencing severe abdominal pain in the right lower quadrant, she actually rolled her eyes and mumbled, "ovulation pains". I said, "Uh, I'm not ovulating. I'm on birth control" and she actually contested me by saying, "Hon, you do realize that you still ovulate while on birth control, right"? I asked her then what was the purpose of horomonal birth control and asked her if me taking the Nuva Ring meant that my body fought of sperm with swords instead (what can I say? I was on the #8 frown face on the pain chart, LOL) Friggin' moron. Thankfully though, the doctor DID explain that ovulation is stopped and hopefully she learned a basic lesson that day, ugh.

[D Bergy]

I asked her then what was the purpose of hormonal birth control and asked her if me taking the Nuva Ring meant that my body fought of sperm with swords instead

That one made me laugh. Great, sarcastic answer. I can't imagine her reaction to that answer.

Dan

[Guest1]

Originally Posted by D Bergy

I asked her then what was the purpose of hormonal birth control and asked her if me taking the Nuva Ring meant that my body fought of sperm with swords instead

That one made me laugh. Great, sarcastic answer. I can't imagine her reaction to that answer.

Dan

She scoffed at me -- needless to say, I never got an answer, LOL.

[BWS1982]

sounds like she probably thought a nuva ring goes on your finger.

[Agent X20]

In answer to the original post, I'm virtually caffeine free now. I have a couple of cups of decent coffee a week, but the rest of the time I drink decaffeinated tea, or herbal tea, or water. Years ago, I used to drink a lot of fresh coffee each day, and got stomach cramps, bloating and D quite often. I cut down a lot about three years ago. I cut down even more recently and that was more to do with improving my sleep patterns

[Ataraxia]

I should probably cut down, but I love the smell of Coffee (especially) so much.
You must be able to tell the difference with decaff, surely? Personally, I've never tried it.

[Agent X20]

Can't tell the difference (now) between caff and decaff tea.. you just get used to it. With coffee, I can only drink freshly brewed "proper" coffee (I think we've had other coffee threads... but maybe I dreamt that bit). Strangely, when I came round from my hip operation three years ago, I completely lost my taste for coffee. Now I can take it or leave it, so I just have one cup on Saturday and one cup on Sunday... or none at all

[kello82]

im a coffee addict as well and i can tell a teeny bit of a difference between caff and decaff but it doesnt bother me. any coffee tastes good to me.

[Agent X20]

I used to drink a lot of coffee in the mornings to wake myself up, but I think you're just borrowing energy from further down the road and it has to be paid back... so I'd go through these peaks and troughs of artificial energy and utter exhaustion.
Since giving up caffeine, I'm uniformly tired all the time... much better!

[cheeky]

yeah i used to drink a lot of pop (or for americans i guess i should say 'soda' lol)... it's quite possible the caffeine contributed to developing the crohn's... if anything, it definitely aggravated my symptoms, that's for sure.

[Procyon]

I drink a lot of diet soda. I'm addicted to the caffeine, and I start to feel kinda crummy if I don't drink enough of it throughout the day. That's probably not a good thing.

[daisy_dueller]

Caffeine is extremely bad for me! I drink decaf everything, and I can't notice a difference at all! My Tim Hortons coffee still tastes like a Tim Hortons coffee! I can't have alot of chocolate because of the caffeine content in that...now THAT'S sad.

[Ataraxia]

Is coffee worse than tea?

[kello82]

i always thought that coffee was way more caffeine loaded then tea.
i dont really know though.
maybe it depends on the tea?
huh.

edit: here, i just found this--- scroll down to the bottom and theres a smaller box thats just compares coffees and teas.

http://www.wilstar.com/caffeine.htm

[prettykitty]

Originally Posted by Ataraxia

... I love the smell of Coffee (especially) so much.

Sometimes just the smell of coffee makes me poo.

I'm down to 1 cup a day.