# weaning off caffeine



## faze action (Aug 6, 2009)

I'm in the middle of weaning off caffeine... I don't really think that coffee is a trigger food for me, but I've decided to do this anyway because coffee is a GI irritant. I didn't drink much coffee to begin with (only 1-2 cups/day in the morning only) and no soda, etc either, so I'm not experiencing any withdrawal effects, but I also haven't noticed that it's helped my GI symptoms at all (yet). One thing that I have noticed is that I'm sleeping better... I've always had problems staying asleep. I was waking up probably 5-10 times per night and somtimes it was difficult for me to fall back asleep. Now I still wake up a few times, but I notice I tend to fall back to sleep much faster (most of the time).I'm using Teeccino to replace coffee and for 10 days I used a 1/3 T to 2/3 coffee... just started on 1/3 coffee- 2/3 Teeccino and hopefully next week I'll be off the coffee entirely.Has anyone else quit coffee/caffeine and had an improvement in GI/ IBS symptoms?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Some people get a lot of diarrhea or other GI symptoms from caffeine, but other people do not. There really isn't a good way to know, and some people with constipation use coffee to get things moving so it makes them feel better when they have it.


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## Patman75 (Mar 9, 2008)

I have been off coffee, tea and soda for over 2 years. Once in a while I will have some dark organic chocolate.I do sleep better and don't find myself tired during the day as much.As for my GI issues, i do many things so it is hard to tell if it is helping.


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## faze action (Aug 6, 2009)

Today is my last day of regular coffee mixed in with the Teeccino. Tomorrow I start totally caffeine/coffee/tea/etc free. Sleep continues to be better, but still no effect on my GI symptoms. I guess I will just have to wait and see... if nothing else, at least I feel more rested during the day.


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## cherrypie09 (Jan 20, 2009)

I cut out Caffeine about a year ago, I used to drink Coffee but switched to decaf coffee, then a year ago cut out coffee altogther as I was told coffee wether its decaf or ordinary can be bad for the GI, I then started drinking Decaf Tea about a year ago, its a bit strange to start with, but I soon got used to it, It has not made any difference to my Ibs-d though.


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## Brianmay1975 (Apr 3, 2010)

I've stopped drinking coffee five months ago, after a very bad IBS flare up. I can't say to this day whether the coffee ever triggered any GI issue for me, but the fact remains that my body simply didn't want to take in coffee anymore... I used to like coffee a lot, but after that violent bout, I never had any urge or even faint desire to drink it. At that time, I hadn't yet been diagnosed with IBS and didn't know that cutting off caffeine intake was recommended for people with my condition. But it seems that my body was smart enough to figure out somehow by itself that caffeine was bad for it, just as it figured out that fat was also bad for it...However, I drink a cup of black tea each morning and things are ok for me. I also eat chocolate... I actually indulge myself, sometimes I eat too much. It's funny, chocolate is the only thing that never causes me any bowel problem, even if I eat more than I should. And anything else I'd eat more than I should, I'd get bloating or diarrhea or a strong gastrocolic reflex. It looks like IBS is so unpredictable...


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## faze action (Aug 6, 2009)

Update: so far still no change to my GI symptoms with the elimination of caffeine. However, I am sleeping like a baby; this is really the best sleep that I've had in (literally) YEARS. My coffee consumption was pretty minimal, so I'm surprised that cutting out just those 1-2 cups/day has caused such a dramatic improvement in my sleep. As I stated in my original post I am using Teeccino as a coffee replacement and I would highly recommend it if any other coffee drinkers want to go this route. It tastes pretty decent imo (and I was one of those people who was _really_ picky about their coffee!), plus it's non-acidic and has about 650mg of inulin in it. Apparently inulin is a prebiotic, so if anyone is sensitive to fructans, then Teeccino might not be the best, but inulin can possibly help with digestive issues...Here's the Teeccino site if anyone is interested:http://www.teeccino.com/I buy mine at Whole Foods or the natural foods store, and it goes on sale periodically. I think it's available from Amazon too. The "Mediterranean Java Medium Roast" is the one I use. I've tried a couple of others and I think this one tastes best. It's 75% organic, Kosher Pareve, gluten free, and fair trade. Props Teeccino!


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