Hi all,
I am new to RSD. Can I drink coffee? Can I never drink alcohol again?

Thanks,
Kris

Chris,

I hope coffee is ok, because I drink a pot every morning. I've had rsd for over 5 years. I don't drink alcohol anymore, but that is due to the fact that I take a lot of pain meds, and I don't want to mix the two.

Hope that helps
mary

Hi Kris,
Here is an extract from an article about coffee and RSD:

Coffee should be avoided altogether in patients suffering from RSD/CRPS; to consider coffee as a simple conveyor of caffeine is naive.

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.

Here's the link to Dr Hooshmands website:
http://rsdrx.com/four_f's_diet.htm

Again it is different for everyone though
Hope this helps
Alison

I drink at least 2 cups a day but am going to drink more than that. It has helped keep me "regular". It's very painful to get backed up because of the pain med. I've had no problems with coffee and the rsd.

I haven't drank any alcohol for many years now, since before I got rsd. Since RSD I haven't dared drink any alcohol because it doesn't mix with any meds period and isn't a good idea.

Hugs,

Karen

I'm a tea drinker, but not a tea tottler.

I don't drink alcohol as often, no more glass of wine with dinner each night , but I still drink when I socialize out with friends. I'm not going to tell anyone here that it is okay to do.......there are obvious risks of mixing alcohol and narcotics. I totally understand those risks. My "justification" is that I cannot be comfortable enough on my current doses of meds to socialize after showering and dressing without adding alcohol to the mix

I won't comment too much about coffee. I am a real sinner on that one. I drink more coffee than anyone should, even without any extra condition or medication. Most of my drugs make me sleepy and the coffee helps me get through the work day.

As far as alcohol, my thoughts are similar to many others. Alcohol does not mix at all with a lot of medications. The pharmacist will always add a sticker to the bottle that warns against using alcohol. Some will warn to “be careful” and others will say “DO NOT MIX”.

Many of the drug-related car crashes that have made the news, both locally and nationally, seem to have one thing in common. In addition to the prescription drug, the driver also had alcohol. Sometimes it was not even very much, but the combination was enough to really intensify the effects.

Ambien is one example that comes to mind immediately. This drug works well when used as directed, but will totally knock you out with just one drink.

I am on eighteen different drugs, many of which warn against using any alcohol. The added risk of putting another intoxicant into the mix is not worth it. I have been off of alcohol for this reason since I developed RSD in 1986.

My campaign is to get more non-alcoholic choices offered. The market drives everything. If you like beer, ask for a non-alcoholic beer when you are out, even if you know they don’t have it. At nicer restaurants, ask for de-alcoholized wine (this is made exactly like regular wine, and then processed to remove the alcohol.) After a while, the liquor managers will get the idea that people are willing to buy this stuff. You don’t need to totally give up the taste, just the “buzz.” (You can get the buzz from your drugs, I guess. )

As the baby-boomer generation ages, more of us need to avoid alcohol for many reasons. Hopefully, more “good” choices will become available, not just cola.

It can work, I promise.

Good luck,

Mike

I used to quit drinking coffee quite often just so I knew I could. Even after getting the RSD I quit on doctors' advice but it didn't make any difference each time so I started again. I tried to quit last year and for the first time couldn't do it. I started getting a mild panic attack and it wouldn't quit till I had coffee.

It probably doesn't matter. I'll try to quit again.

Alcohol interferes with a couple of my medications but I don't really miss it much. It washes vitamins out of the system and causes other mayhem anyway. The biggest problem is blood pressure soars with even small amounts usually.

Everything Ali posted about coffee is true.

I had to stop coffee and all Cokes, Pepsi's years ago when I was a Gestational Diabetic. But fast forward about 20 years or so and I was drinking coffee up until a couple of months ago. I should clarify I don't have RSD but do have Neuropathic pain. My Neurologist has told me many times to ditch the coffee but I COULD have tea yet only just a couple of glasses a day. Well, two months ago I had a severe bout with either the stomach flu or something else and I had to stop ALL caffeine and stay on the BRAT diet for one full month.

I was amazed because the burning sensations completely stopped and my stomach has healed due to the Nexium I was taking. I had also been diagnosed previously with Gastritis and GERD due to pain meds. That is all now gone. I had an upper endoscopy last week and the doc said I don't need Nexium anymore.

Anyway, I would tell anyone just to try to stop the coffee for awhile. What I did was to dilute it over a period of time to avoid any headaches and then just stopped and switched to decaff for a bit and now just water or tea.

I WILL say I can tell a big difference when I drink tea. IF I drink all day long, those burning sensations come back. If I just drink water, I don't feel it at all.

I know it is difficult for some to stop the coffee but it can be done. I know the first time I stopped it I was very tired for weeks on end. But that passes. Now, if I could just stop smoking, and yes, I know bad girl. But that is my vice and hard to give up so I know those of you who love coffee probably feel the same way.

Ouch, give up coffee? Oh my, I bet I am one of the worst offenders in the forum when it comes to this drink. I love it, which is usually a bad sign because I love chocolate, peanuts, corn and cinnamon and I am allergice to all four of these things. My allergist didn't test me for coffee because he said most people won't give it up anyway.

I have tried to follow Kathi's recommendation by diluting my coffee. I love it diluted too, I think I just drink more. I do plan to give it up for a full 30 days to see if it makes a difference. I am sure it will in my case because I fear I have coffee (not blood) running through my veins by now!

Kathi - interesting you mentioned you were a gestational diabetic (I was too and had to take two shots of insulin per day). I wonder if you have polyneuropathy due to diabetes. That is the diagnosis I got from Cleveland Clinic, even though my blood sugars seem fine most of the time now. I do think it plays in to my own nerve pain. I wonder if there is a connection, almost a weak link to neuropathy even if you aren't currently running high blood sugars. Most interesting thread. Now I am going to turn aside for a second and sip my cup of brew (but you really have me thinking of a date to commit to cutting this out for a while). Ugh.

Hi Kathy,
Thanks for the info. Do you think if I switched to decaf coffee it might have the same effect on the burning?

Thanks,
Kris