Does anyone else's doctor say no to coffee?

Question...

My doctor says that coffee will irritate my stomach sleeve, and makes his patients quit it before surgery, complete with warnings about killer headaches in the hospital when we can't get coffee anymore if we don't quit first.

I am curious... does anyone else's doctor say the same thing? I notice that I keep hearing about coffee on this board, like the peppermint mocha recipe, and it makes me wonder if part of my doctor's lack of appreciation of the wonders of coffee is his LDS faith and general prejudice against all things coffee?

Note - I am LDS too, but I drink coffee. In LDS slang, I think that qualifies me as a "Jack Mormon" although, I have heard it used in conjunction with members who drink beer, not coffee, LOL!

When I went through Dr E's program in 2007 he and his dietitian wanted folks off coffee too but his latest dietitian says coffee in moderation is fine. I did get myself off of coffee and diet cokes prior to surgery and I'm glad I did. I haven't started back with excessive diet sodas...that's another thing my surgeon's program said we had to drop forever. lol I can have diet coke in moderation now but it took awhile to get a taste back.. I didn't like coffee for about 9 months post-op. I have added it back now and make protein coffees every morning. Taste buds are crazy the first year post-op.

--gina

 First place we hit on the way home from both Steve's and my surgeries was...Starbucks.  That being said, we aren't what you would call normal by any stretch of the imagination. ;-)  (Steve reminds me the hospital also gave him coffee while he was there, so...)

I have heard of surgeons' offices suggesting holding off coffee because caffiene is a diuretic.  There's some schools of thought that say if you are a hard core caffiene intaker, you develop a higher tolerance.  We hold ourselves to either consuming 64 ounces of non-caffienated beverages in addition to our coffee or just only counting half the ounces in the coffee (i.e. an 8 ounce coffee= 4 oz of liquid)

Pretty much your stomach is mad at the world post surgery, so I guess I could see the logic in what he's saying, no sense poking a sleeping dragon.  But I haven't heard that reasoning before.

 Honestly,  it's hard to say what anyone SHOULD do, your mileage will always vary.  I would probably try it post op and if your stomach rebels, give it a month before you try it again--but, as I said, I'm not normal.  

It also depends on how you'll feel about looking your surgeon in the eye and either fessing up your disobedience or lying. 

Dr. K does NOT say no to coffee (thank goodness!!). 

Susan

There are many things that might not agree with your stomach as an early post-op, coffee may or may not be one of them.  If you want to try it, I would wait until you felt like you were ready for it.  If it doesnt agree with you, wait a few weeks and try again.  I drink coffee several times a day and have been since I was about 4-6 weeks post op.

Be careful in the beginning, coffee can be a diuretic and hydration will be one of your biggest challenges during recovery.

I love coffee and was very distressed when it tasted terrible after surgery. The taste didn't come back for about 3 months. Now I drink about 1 cup a day as coffee with heavy cream and 2-3 coffee based shakes a day.

As was said earlier, Dr. Keshishian did not exclude it.

our surgeon recommends to be coffee free b/4 surgery and post surgery.  i went caffeine free and hated every day of it.   then just like gail, found i didn't like the taste of coffee for many months after surgery. 
now, i drink one 16 oz mug of joe in the morning, and 3 more caffeine free to make my protein coffees.

I wouldn't do it too early out. By 8 months I was on coffee.

Thanks, everyone! Your responses were pretty much what I suspected, along with the cautions immediately post-op. I loved the don't poke a sleeping dragon comment!

I have quit for now (horrible headaches for a week, ugh!) but I feel like I am moving through molasses. My husband and I keep a pot going at all hours of the day and night. It's probably a good thing I am not home right now, LOL!

Thanks, everyone for the response. I will play it by ear.

Lisa

I highly recommend avoiding anything even remotely acidic to drink (and probably eat, too****il you are well healed.

For me it was black tea and diet coke. I didn't bother quitting because I knew I'd drink them again eventually, and I trusted the anesthesia and pain meds to get me through the caffeine headache. But everyone is different that way.

It was some months before I comfortably drank my caffeine sources again.