Should I give up caffeine?

[Stacey03]

Hi, I hope this isnt a silly question but do you think i should give caffine up before surgery? i think i read somewhere that you cant have caffine after surgery? Is that true or can you eventually go back to tea and coffe. i probaly drink about 5 cups of tea a day and one cup of coffee. is it wise to start giving these up now before surgery? thank you

[Shannon'sVSG]

Hi Stacey03!

From personal experience, I gave up caffeine prior to having surgery because I realized I could not drink coffee in the manner to which I liked to prepare it. Post-op, as a coffee substitute I decided to try drinking iced tea with artificial sweeteners and found that it was very hard on my stomach to the point that it made me nauseous. I have been told it is wise to stop caffeine intake after surgery, but I believe it is about personal preference. Keep in mind, however, that it is always good to consult your doctor and/or dietician regarding these matters.

[Tommy1969]

With such a small stomach after surgery caffeine could irritate and from my understanding possibly cause issues. I drink organic caffeine free teas now and enjoy them and keep B12 sprays at home at at the office. I found a squirt or 2 gives me a boost!

[Stacey03]

Shannon thanks, ill take the advice from the docs on that for sure, also might change to decaf tea :-)

[Stacey03]

Thanks Tommy, B12 sprays sound good!

[Melissa888]

I never stopped drinking either. Have had no problem whatsoever. (I have three cups of coffee every morning and tea whenever the urge strikes.)

[psparks]

I haven’t stopped I don’t want sodas anymore but I drink at least one glass of unsweetened tea with sugar substitute a day

[Tuesday2]

I drank about 5 cups a day before my surgery. I stopped all of it for about a month afterwards (which may be why I was SO tired the first week post op). Now I have 2 cups a day. I put in a SMALL amount of creamer (just to barely lighten it) and I'm happy.

[gopostal24]

Hi Stacey...I am six weeks post surgery and I have not had a lick of caffeine and feel just fine. And I was an all day coffee, diet coke drinker. I imagine it is a personal preference but my doc did not encourage drinking any caffeine and I might feel "tired" from time to time, He also mentioned that I shouldn't start my post surgery life going through caffeine withdrawal, so I had stopped about 2 weeks earlier. Hope all goes well!

[Ann2]

My surgeon told me to "cut way back" pre-op. With a smaller, shredded stomach immediately post-op that's trying to knit itself back together, it appreciates as little acid floating around in there as possible.

And then ten days post-op, my surgeon deemed me OK to start drinking ONE CUP of coffee again.

Over three years later, I seldom ever have more than one cup of coffee in the morning. I steam a half-cup of skim milk and use a half-cup of strong coffee to make a home-made skinny latte -- and sometimes (not usually) have two of them. At 3:00 every day, I have a second skinny latte. That's 1 - 1.5 cups of coffee every day. My tummy's doing just fine.

[Linda51]

I had to give up caffeine prior to surgery in order to get my blood pressure under control. About a month after surgery, I was having problems with energy levels and my nutritionist told me to drink 1 cup of coffee per day and see if that helped. It was a big help. So, I drink 1 cup of coffee per day and several cups of decaf coffee. A 40+ year coffee habit just doesn't go away overnight. It really makes me feel more "normal" to be able to have just that 1 cup of real coffee per day.

[sraebaer]

I never gave it up but cut back. I was having one coffee the day after surgery, doc said that was OK. I use the Premier Protein vanilla shakes as my creamer/sweetener. Tastes as good as a Starbucks skinny vanilla latte.

[Sarcastic_Bard]

I had a sf latte the day before surgery, but after that I didn't have caffeine, especially coffee, for a few months while I let myself recover and tested out what I could and couldn't tolerate anymore. Now I have one or two cups a day without issue.

[Stacey03]

Thanks everyone that's really helpful x

[Christie13]

I did not give up caffeine. I drank it post op probably after about a week. But I drink espresso with nonfat milk and Splenda. It would take me a long time to drink my tall from Starbucks post op. But now I still have my daily vente (20 oz) but most days I make it at home. It is cheaper and I can use the Fa!rilife nonfat milk which has higher protein.