Coffee....

I will be 4 weeks out on Wednesday 03/12/08, and I have not had a cup of coffee, one morning I tried decaf and it tasted horrible and I threw the whole pot away.  I know we are not supposed to have caffeine, however what about the Folgers Simply Smart or another brand that is 1/2 caffinated and 1/2 decaf? Also I see from other posts some people use fat free half and half, some use regular, some use milk and some use that nasty powder creamer.  I don't drink alot of coffee - at MOST 2 cups - most days I have just one.  But lately it seems I am missing and a good cup of coffee would taste great! Any thoughts, suggestions etc will be appreciated!  Thanks, Michelle...

I never liked coffee before WLS. Now I drink one cup a day, I mix it with one cup of NF warmed milk and SF syrup and make my own homemade latte. I drink this every morning after I get up - I rise with the chickens at about 4:30 or 5 AM. My DR has never told me not to drink coffee. In fact we talked about this at my last check-up and she told me that as long as I was getting some protein in the AM to break my fast, it was fine. I can't eat that early or I get sick. So I call this drink pre-breakfast and then follow it up with something high in protein an hour or so later.

I drink coffee, mixed with milk for protein.  I will either get a latte or I will mix some brewed coffee at home with nonfat milk and ice (drinking one now).  I probably have the equivalent caffeine of 1/2 to 1 cup of coffee 4-5 times per week.  My surgeon was fine from the beginning with 1 cup of coffee each day but warned that it can be irritating to your tummy, which is another good reason to mix it with milk.  My "home" recipe is about 6oz coffee, ice, and 8-10oz milk - with the milk I use that's at least 14g of protein so I am comfortable with that.  I prefer my coffee black but I don't drink it that way now (maybe once or twice since surgery) because I don't want to irritate my pouch and because I'm not really getting anything out of it nutritionally.  I also drink hot tea very regularly - caffeinated green or black tea, or decaf herbal teas.  I don't think caffeine makes me nearly as hungry as artificial sweeteners do, but I am also very sensitive and easily addicted to caffeine so I try to keep it relatively low - I don't want the headaches of withdrawal. 

Pre-op I never drank coffee except to stay awake during an all-nighter or when I was really really cold.... post-op I was told no caffiene for the first six months.... now.... Coffee is my transfer addiction..... I drink an average of 70 ozs a day.....  I use my ready-to-drink protein drink as my creamer.....  and the caffiene seems to have no effect on me.... I can go to sleep at my regular bed time with no problems even if I just drank a 24 oz mug..... 

I drink coffee most mornings with the OK of my surgeon and have no problems with it.  One advantage for me is that it cuts my appetite for quite a while.

My surgeon does not want us to drink any caffeine for at least the first six months and very limited after that because caffeine is a diuretic (although I have read conflicting reports about the truth to that) and it is already hard for us to get all our liquids in each day.  I do drink a cup of caffeinated coffee about once a week and LOVE it!  I used to drink two pots of STRONG caffeinated coffee per day but now having just one cup once a week does affect my sleep if I have it too late in the day.  I also HATED decaf coffee at first--but now I actually like it and can't really tell a difference (unless I take a sip of caf. coffee and then a sip of decaf coffee).  I recommend trying some of the higher end brands--starbucks, seattle's best etc. because their decaf coffee tastes WAY better than folgers or maxwell house. Good luck!

I don't recall Dr. Clarke or the NUT telling us we couldn't have coffee...do you Estelle?  I drink about 4 oz each morning with a SF creamer. I think as long as you don't do more than a cup a day, you should be ok, but maybe you should check with the office first. HUGS  Jeanine

I drink decaf.  My usual concoction is to fill the cup 85% full of brewed decaf coffee, then sprinkle in some cinnamon, a packet of Splenda, and then top it off with milk.   If you get good coffee, the decaf tastes just as good as caff.  I use Dunkin' Donuts decaf ground or Starbucks decaf house blend.  When I'm out running around, I get my decaf fix at Starbucks, so I get to sample whatever decaf blend is on the daily menu. Oddly enough, after I had my gall bladder out in 1981, I had to give up coffee because it made me ill.  Now that I've had WLS, I can enjoy it once again.  A hearty cup of coffee is part of my heritage.  One of my earliest memories is shopping with my gramma -- she always bought her coffee beans fresh and had them ground at the store.  To this day, the aroma of grinding coffee beans brings back happy memories.  Kix