transfer addiction to Coffee

I think I have transfer addiction starting. I rarely drank coffee before surgery. Now I find myself drinking a hot cup with splenda, fairlife milk, and skinny syrup every morning, then an iced coffee sugar free caramel with splenda at lunch that is a minimum day. Sometimes I have a cup in the evening. I know the calories are not much however, I really enjoy my coffee.

I do not have issues with getting my water in. I don't have issues with my food, protein or anything. But it is still concerning....

I think it's only addiction if it interferes with your life.

Definition of addiction, from the medical experts:

Addiction is characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment in behavioral control, craving, diminished recognition of significant problems with one's behaviors and interpersonal relationships, and a dysfunctional emotional response.

If you physically can't say no to your coffee, it's having a negative impact on your relationships, and you would quite literally cut a ***** for a cup of joe, then that would be an addiction. I don't know that this sounds like that, though.

I'm in the same boat with my Coke Zero. One can in the morning, one can at lunch, sometimes in the evening. I'm not going to become ill or cranky or violent if I can't get it, I just really like it. :)

I would caution you to be careful. I developed a bit of a transfer addiction to coffee a while back and the additional caffeine gave me gastritis. I had RNY, so irritation or an ulcer in my closed-off remnant stomach is dangerous. Be on the lookout for odd stomach pain up to 12 hours after your last cup. To me, it felt like really intense gas that radiated over to the left side and it took me way too long to put 2 and 2 together and could have led to a serious issue. I did a course of Prilosec and laid off the caffeine for six weeks to get over it and now I limit myself to 2 caffeine drinks a day and the rest is decaf. I also stick to dark roasts as those tend to have a bit less caffeine and acid. I haven't had a recurrence in two years now.

I suspect that I have always been sensitive to caffeine because I'd felt this pain before, but always wrote it off as gas. Just be aware of how you are feeling. Some people have no issue with it at all. :D

Jen

Half the people in this country are addicted to coffee or so they think. Many of us just HAVE to have our morning coffee or after dinner or whatever. Me too. I was this way before WLS and it continues. Unless its 8 cups a day to the exclusion of healthy things I think its pretty harmless. My surgeon recommends coffee as an appetite suppressant. Cheers! Diane S

I also started drinking more coffee post op than pre op. Like b4 I would sometimes make a pot of coffee, but never really went out my way to drink it unless I needed something to wake me up.

Post op started drinking more coffee & once I bought a Keurig machine, I went into overdrive. I just started to like the taste more. I do need to start drinking decaf. I think the caffeine is messing up my sleep.

Coffee is my new love...

I do drink decaf exclusively, but that is because of an extreme reaction to it long before WLS...

The taste is incredible to me now though, I received a Ninja Coffee System for Christmas, and I go to town with it!

I don't think it's unusual for us though, and as long as your doing OK with the caffeine (or doing decaf), then enjoy!

Why is it concerning? I drink two large cups (32 oz total) of high test in the morning. After that, it is decaf for the rest of the day. I usually put some half and half in it. Okay, I always put some half and half in it, but on rare occasions I will add some stevia. Coffee is mostly water. Even the caffeine is only enough to make you lose the coffe you just drank. As for the fat filled, calorie laden half and half, I am down 200 lbs in 17 months. I'm not worried.

I drink the same insane amount of coffee now as I did before surgery, with my team's blessing. I have 16 ounces before I leave the house. 16 in the car on the way to work. Another 16 in the morning at work and another 16 in the afternoon at work. I get all my water in. I meet my protein goals.

I have horrible insomnia which is not related to my caffeine use. (Docs have ruled that out - I've given it up and still don't sleep). If you want me to function at work, just give me my damn coffee. I drink it black, except for the first cup which has one packet of stevia in it.

Some days I drink less. Some days, more. It's what I drink. Some people drin****d tea or hot tea. Some people add flavor to their water. It's what I drink. My team know exactly how much I drink and they are OK with it. If your doc is OK with it, don't worry.

I am glad I am not the only one who feels this way!

I would go to caribou 1-2 times a week before surgery and get a caramel or turtle mocha cooler or iced coffee (sometimes hot but with lots of surgery crap in it) but now i find myself wanting coffee every morning.

Do I drink decaf? No because I suffer from migraines and tension headaches from my car accident still and the little bit of caffeine actually helps. I only drink MAYBE 12oz of coffee a day. So it's not much.