RSD/CRPS and Coffee
 

Anyone suffering from RSD/CRPS; to consider coffee as a simple conveyor of caffeine is naive.

Hello all readers,
This is information that I scooped from a site of a neurologist that specialized in RSD/CRPS. I saw his seminar and talked to him personally. He told us more about RSD and what "not" to let doctors do because of misdiagnosis than they know today. I saw him in 1995. He was good.
This information is subjective, each one has a choice, it is not telling "anyone" to stop coffee or suck t-bags. It is to broaden your horizon, just information, trying to help, nothing more. May your days be comfortable and your pain be acceptable.
krow46, Thank You



Coffee;

Coffee should be avoided altogether in patients suffering
1. Coffee has an acid-based oil that is an irritant to gastric mucosa. It stimulates the secretion of gastric acidity. Secondarily, the high gastric acidity results in secretion of adrenalin. The secretion of adrenalin stimulates insulin secretion with resultant secondary relative hypoglycemia. The end result is tension, a mild rise in blood pressure, and 2-3 hours later craving sweets because of the relative hypoglycemia. Obviously none of the above is helpful in RSD/CRPS. The rise in plasma epinephrine will undo whatever good medications are doing to counteract the hyperactive dopaminergic system in RSD/CRPS.

2. Coffee is more harmful than caffeinated soft drinks or tea.

3. Mild tea does not cause reactive hypoglycemia and a rise in blood pressure.

4. Tea, if prepared in mild form (not too strong), contains less caffeine. It has no acid-based oil as does coffee. It contains tannin. Tannin or tannic acid curbs thirst and results in less demand for further consumption of tea or coffee.

5. Coffee and tea both temporarily raise the body temperature. A few minutes after drinking coffee, the stimulation of the dopaminergic system causes colder extremities and a simultaneous rise in systemic temperature. Tea has a much milder effect in this regard. The cold extremities aggravate RSD/CRPS.

6. Iced tea seems to be the mildest and safest of caffeinated drinks.

7. A patient with high fever is harmed by coffee and helped by tea and lemon juice. As is the case with home-made chicken soup being helpful to the sick (in contrast with factory-made red meat type of soup) for unknown reasons, mild tea has a healing effect and coffee has an aggravating effect in patients suffering from stress and fever, including stress of complex chronic pain.



Herbal tea

Just because tea is less harmful than coffee does not imply that herbal tea is good or healthy for anyone. Herbal teas are a variety of different dried vegetable leaves. Some of the herbs contain toxic substances that are harmful to anyone- including RSD/CRPS patients. Because of the variety in strength and quality of chemicals in herbs, the use of herbal teas should be avoided. Some of them contain such high doses of tannins (e.g., sassafras tea) that can be carcinogenic. Catnip, juniper, nutmeg, and hydrangea may be hallucinogenic. Chamomile and marigold may be fatally allergenic. Senna leaves, aloe leaves, and duck roots can be strongly cathartic. Mistletoe leaves and horsetail grass may cause fatal toxicity. So why bother with such chemicals?

Just food for thought, no pun intended. :rolleyes:

The tea plant as a tea on its own is know for its healing properties it reduces inflammation and has a high concentration of antioxidants. Other medically unsubstantiated claims made of tea is its ability to increase blood flow, memory retention, lowers bad cholesterol increases, good cholesterol, reducing fevers, diabetes stabilization, may help reduce fatty deposits on the liver and help in the fight against tooth decay. It is also being researched in conjunction to leukemia and its healing or preventative properties. High quality tea is found best in specialty shops and online distributors who specialize in handmade tea. Be sure to get the freshest possible good natural tea does not have a long shelf life apx one year.

~Oolong is known as the best 'medicinal' tea. It is also confirmed to help with inflammation.
~ Black tea as confirmed to alleviate some of the side effects of cardiovascular disease.
~pu-erh teas is scientifically confirmed to significantly improve cholesterol.
~white tea increases the blood flow and helps correct bad functioning blood vessels.


all other 'teas' are actually tinctures not tea even though they are commonly called a tea.

~Chamomile is part of the ragweed family and can indeed cause severe reactions in some people. However if you can take it and are having a runny nose it will help cool and dry up the mucus.
~Peppermint is good for digestive issues and heats you up inside and out however it can increase inflammation in some people.
~Spearmint has the same reactions as peppermint with the addition that if drank immediately after a meal it can increase enzymes and cools you helping food digestion.
many tincture mixtures are available both in your grocery store, online and in specialty shops. Some are helpful for a number of things from menstrual cramping to helping you get a good nights sleep.

I know that the social interaction of tea drinking is not only pleasurable it relaxes the mind and body reducing the stress of the tea drinker. For me, I know when I am stressed my RSD tends to flare creating extra pain. Not to mention I tend to be a stress case. So anything that helps with that is a good thing in my view.

I regularly drink a Oolong tea from Chinatown, San Francisco called the blue people it seems to help some with the swelling and inflammation in my leg. Though it does tend to keep me up so I do not advise drinking it late at night.

haven't drunk tea in nearly 50 years, wouldn't last a day without my coffee

I'm there with you Kevscar. I love my coffee too. I can live without alot of things, but coffee is not one of them!

Coffee
 

Coffee in its common form is a) acidic and b) inflammatory. Not a good thing for RSD.

That said, it definitely promotes a more "motivational" mindset, artificial or not - and that ain't always a bad thing. And there are plenty of other physical things to eliminate along the road to recovery.

I've found personally that a capful of organic apple cider vinegar mixed in a glass of Berkey filtered pure non fluoridated water gets me jacked up (not as intensely as coffee of course). But it's alkaline and non-inflammatory, with a host of benefits.

Coffee does rock though:cool:

"gets me jacked" up 2 Bottles of Vodka and one of Southern Comfort does that for me

I make freshly ground coffee and drink about four cups a day. If I skip a day I get a very bad headache which only adds to suffering.
Bad to do or not I need my morning coffee...

hehehehehe :)

Hi Krow46,

I was wondering if besides avoiding coffee if you follow the Four F's diet (or something similar) as recommended by Dr. Hooshmand and others who recommend similar for those suffering from diseases of the nervous system?

My experience in following it has been very positive. My only downfall is that I have not been willing to fully give up coffee but, I have cut way back. Otherwise I follow it exactly. In my personal opinion diet is just as important for CRPS sufferers as is avoiding ice.

I was actually appalled at the diet that hospitals offer patients! Thankfully after talking with the dietitian they were more than happy to send up plenty of fresh fruit, veggies, beans and nuts - the nurses said more than once that they had never seen such wonderful fresh meals being sent to a patient. I laughed and said it was because I ordered 'actual food'..

Anyways I was just curious if you also follow other food recommendations that help with pain and inflammation?

-Tessa

RSD has taken away so many things, and has forced me to give up even more things....I draw the line at coffee. Not to many things we can enjoy, and all of them make the rsd hurt :(

But I respect others decisions, and encourage everyone to find what works for them when it comes to being as comfortable as possible! :grouphug: