Coffee - yay or nay?

I have probably always been sensitive to caffeine and was just too dumb to figure it out!  :D

Jen

Well last week it took me a week of eating raw veggies every day to figure out they were making me sick.  It was my first time eating them since surgery and it didn't go well.  

When my GERD gets really bad - coffee makes it worse. Coffee is - can be acidic. Adding cream or mil can help with that. or adding acid tamer. (google that), 'I had to give up so much different foods due to RNY - I started drinking coffee app 2 years post op.. unless they can show me that coffee causes damage to my pouch - I am not giving that up.

i do limit my coffee to 3 coffees a day. 

You can see by my coffee wall above how much I love coffee. I was unable to drink it for 3 months following surgery, It gave me acid stomach. But now I have some everyday with no problems. 

Ha!  I love it!   

I haven't had any trouble from it so far, just wanted to get some opinions :)

While you are healing most programs ask that you avoid anything that may irritate what is essential a man-made ulceration (the surgery itself) Coffee is just one on a list of many items acidic, chunky, seedy, fibrous foods, etc to avoid for a period of time usually 4-8 weeks... after that programs vary but most allow in moderation or as tolerated... because there is a lack of scientific studies and thankfully most programs are not run by sadists. LOL. Those that say no to something and you don't get why... I'd ask individually... sometimes it's just easier frankly for programs to say no across the board to something than answer questions and if anecdotally they have had some patients have issues with a particular thing saying no beats getting a call to go to the ER, etc.

Personally, I stuck to decaf everything for 1 month. I had my first cup of fully leaded coffee after that and had no issues. I personally think my love of coffee helps me not want to snack, gives me a little energy boost and shoot since I suck a****er most days it's a major source of fluids for me. I add a splash of soy milk so some liquid cals/protein that need to be accounted for in my day. It's about the only vice I have left LOL. gotta have something ;)

Very true.  I actually look forward to my cup of coffee each morning.   I just love it. 

I have not read anything about it causing ulcers after 6 months.  I will keep an eye out though, because I drink enough coffee daily to kill a very small elephant, so I am curious now!

Generally, there are two reasons you get stomach and duodenal (yes, you can get them in your duodenum) ulcers: NSAIDs (even non-WLS) and h. pylori which is a bacterium that lives in our body.  Rarely, some other medications cause them.  I vaguely recall some psych meds also may cause them.  Anyway, the main reason for avoiding acidic foods is, as people mentioned, irritation thresholds.  If you take NSAIDs and drink it increases your chance.  Smoking too, maybe?  I don't remember.  Anyway!  Coffee is not made of h. pylori or NSAIDs, unless that's some really weird coffee.  Stress can also cause them because cortisol causes cascade effects, like raising blood sugar unnaturally, many of which weaken tissue.  

So, eating risky foods with other risk factors is bad.  If you have a healed pouch or sleeve, do not have other risk factors, and you have 1 cup of coffee, chances are minuscule, I would argue.  If you take NSAIDs, are very stressed, eat spicy food, have a compromised immune system... it might matter quite a bit to drink coffee.  It might be best to avoid it, then.

Most general advice is tailored to avoid liability.  Medical professionals get sued very easily these days, so it is going to be very conservative.  If the nutritionist gave you the OK, I would not worry too much.  If you experience discomfort or reflux though, scale back immediately, might be a good plan :)

Thank you that was very helpful!