A little confused--Don't yell at me LOL

Yes, caffeine is associated with ulcers. 85-90% of ulcers are caused by H. Pylori, but the other other 10-15% are associated with a variety of factors including caffeine, alcohol and stress. If you have an ulcer, caffeine will severely aggravate it. Many people post-WLS have caffeine regularly with no problems.

I was having 1-2 cups per day of caff but stopped when I developed abdominal pain (which we have determined is not due to an ulcer). My problem with caffeine is that it's a lot like many other things for me; one turns into two, turns into 5, and so on... So, in my case, I've decided to give it up. I also have anxiety issues, which are exacerbated by caffeine and other stimulants.

I just don't think they have done enough studies on WLS to be certain of a lot of things so they base these guidelines on general knowledge and as time goes on things get revised as they learn more. WLS is nothing new but really I don't think it has only been in the past decade or so that they've been doing them to the extent that they have. Even so 10 years is not reliable study time for making hard and fast guidelines. St. Joes for example has this 7 week post-op diet plan that sounds completely different than any other centre and I understand it is being revised and a new program is going to be rolled out sometime soon. I think the bottom line is that a lot of it is breaking bad behaviours (addictions to caffeine and sugar) and less to do with ulcers and pouch stretching.