Argument with NP over Coffee

[Slimsoon1988 123]

Today I went to my bariatric nurse and we had a very tense conversation over coffee. On my 3 month check up I decided to let my nurse know that I have started to drink coffee on occasion. She was not pleased. She said in her experience drinking coffee/decaf coffee will give me ulcers. She sees it all the time that people who drink coffee/decaf coffee come back with ulcers years later. Basically she guaranteed an ulcer if I continue. I asked that I would like to see research which got her more fired up. She said this is based on her years of experience. I should never have coffee or Decaf ever again.

Any truth to this? What are people's thoughts on coffee?

[Katcloudshepherd 630]

I thought it was proven that ulcers were caused by a virus bacteria? The man who proved it GAVE himself an ulcer to do so. He treated it with an antibiotic. I wrote a paper about this for one of my college courses.

I switched to decaff prior to my surgery and was allowed caffeinated coffee after 3 months. coffee is highly acidic but I still have several cups in the morning. Can't do it after noon as it will keep me awake. I know we are all different in the way our bodies work but why so many differences in approaches after surgery?

Blessings,

Kathleen

Edited May 28, 2015 by Katcloudshepherd

[camkids 11]

I am so thankful that my surgeon gave me his blessing for me to have coffee from day one . I drink it black, and have to admit I can't drink nearly as much as I did pre-op. I am 3 weeks and 1 day post band to sleeve. I don't remember that I was not allowed to drink coffee after my band surgery either. That was 8 years ago. I say "all things in moderation".

[conlaura 6]

My own personal experience is that decaff coffee has always been on my approved list of liquids, before and after surgery. The caffeine can dehydrate you, so that is why it was suggested that only decaff coffee or tea should be used. Again, that is what MY program states.

Have a great day.

[Slimsoon1988 123]

It is so frustrating that different programs say different things. She basically guaranteed that I will end up in the hospital if I continue to drink even Decaf coffee. I'm really angry about this because she left me conflicted.

[Babbs 14,681]

Decaf and tea were on my approved list of liquids, also. I've drank full caffinated coffee since 2 weeks post surgery. I do limit to 2 small cups a day.

[AvaFern 3,516]

coffee isn't going to give you an ulcer. If I was in your position I would bring in a lot of recent literature and tell her she needs to work on her evidence based practice. The belief that coffee causes ulcers is an old one and no longer something that should be used to guide medical advice. Sometimes the best idea though is to smile, nod, and lie. If you don't want to get into a discussion with your NP about how she is wrong, just tell her you appreciated her advice and you're staying away from the coffee. Depending on the nurse or doctor, sometimes they get supremely offended and then decide to stick to their position even more irritatingly than in the past when you call them out on inaccurate advice. If she doesn't want to practice under modern guidelines, that isn't your problem. Drink your coffee...just don't tell her.

[Slimsoon1988 123]

coffee isn't going to give you an ulcer. If I was in your position I would bring in a lot of recent literature and tell her she needs to work on her evidence based practice. The belief that coffee causes ulcers is an old one and no longer something that should be used to guide medical advice. Sometimes the best idea though is to smile, nod, and lie. If you don't want to get into a discussion with your NP about how she is wrong, just tell her you appreciated her advice and you're staying away from the coffee. Depending on the nurse or doctor, sometimes they get supremely offended and then decide to stick to their position even more irritatingly than in the past when you call them out on inaccurate advice. If she doesn't want to practice under modern guidelines, that isn't your problem. Drink your coffee...just don't tell her.

Thanks. After my conversation with her I am definitely going to look into the research.. You would have thought I told her I started using cocaine the way she ripped me a part. It was the most tense appointment I have ever had in the doctors office.

[Bufflehead 6,358]

Another thing that gets tossed around a lot but is actually without any modern scientific evidence: coffee will dehydrate you. Actual scientific, published studies show that coffee will *not* dehydrate you and its diuretic effect is about on par with Water. No one is suggesting we stop drinking water because it will dehydrate us.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/01/13/262175623/coffee-myth-busting-cup-of-joe-may-help-hydration-and-memory

Also, coffee (particularly black coffee) is just plain good for you:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/12/upshot/more-consensus-on-coffees-benefits-than-you-might-think.html?abt=0002&abg=0

[Bluesea71 698]

JFGI. Sorry, I couldn't resist saying that . The internet makes a wealth of information available to us with a click of a button. You will find arguments on both sides and each of us has to decide how much calculated risk we want to take. My bariatric program is ultra conservative. No coffee. No alcohol. Ever. For the rest of my life. Well guess what? I made a decision that I still wanted to enjoy a morning cup of coffee. Coffee didn't even appeal to me the first few months post surgery. I still find myself pouring a cup most mornings and only drinking half of it now 14 months post-op. I agree that the acidity is probably not good for me, so I don't entertain the idea of drinking more than one cup a day. What it does to my bowels is havoc alone, but that's a whole different topic of conversation ????. I think we all have to find a balance with what works for us - weighing the pros and the cons.

[robinsmj 39]

My program allows Decaf coffee as long as you get all your fluids in. They don't count coffee as a Fluid

[conlaura 6]

It can be very confusing to know what to listen to and what not to listen to. Yes, we have the internet but it makes things even more confusing with all the different opinions. I guess that is why we trust our information will be helpful from the program that we are in. It too has been suggested that there is no alcohol, but I will make that decision when I see fit. We have the doctors and nurses to advise us, but I guess we are able to make our own choices, good or bad, on our own, for what we see fit . Any piece of information can be torn apart, analyzed or discredited. It is up to each of us to take charge of our health.

[nugirl402 4]

Cc gets Az.

[ShellMilliner 233]

Different surgeons, different rules that is a common theme. My program allows two cups of coffee (reg or decaf)/day. I LOVED coffee pre-op but after surgery I had no desire for it. It smelled good but two sips made my stomach turn. I'm close to 9 weeks and just last week I actually enjoyed a cup of coffee, but oddly I still don't crave or desire it daily. I guess for now it is my once in a while thing.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

For two months pre-op, I started cutting down on food, drinking lots of Water, eating slower, moving more, etc. I thought it made sense to start building new behaviors as soon as possible. I was right.

One of the other things I did was to cut down on coffee. And guess what -- with greater exercise and less caffeine I started sleeping better. And we all know that getting sufficient sleep is important for our health and to maintain a normal weight. For one thing, when we're up late at night with insomnia most of us tend to hear the siren call of the refrigerator. Right?

Now that I'm post-op and have reached goal, my coffee / caffeine intake is still waaaay down from what it used to be. Most days I have either half a cup of coffee (with half a cup of heated skim milk -- a homemade skinny latte) or when I'm really tripping two of those skinny lattes.

My mood is less volatile, too. But then these days I'm not nearly so pissed off about being a fat cow in arthritic pain -- so the coffee may not be a factor there.