Help Quitting Coffee!! « Back to Group Discussions

[OtherMother]

So I know this is super lame. I've never been a big coffee drinker, because I'm sensitive to it. But I have a ton on my plate right now- I get up at 5:20 each day and go to work mucking stalls at a barn, then I'm home with my holy-crap-how-do-you-have-so-much-energy daughter, and I'm supposed to keep a clean house (yeah, right) and, oh yeah, I'm in full time classes, which means escaping to Starbucks for the free wi-fi many nights a week until 9pm or so to get coursework done. Prior to getting pregnant (an 'oops'!) I had been leaning on coffee and, frankly, simple carbs. Now I'm obviously trying to quit, but it's so hard! I've been averaging two cups a week. What do you all think? How best to quit all the way? My exhaustion is rough normally, but even worse now.

[Georgetown HB Mom]

Hi,

I'm a lurker from the April DDC. I'm pregnant with my fifth baby. Why quit your coffee? I have drank caffeine through all of my pregnancies and everything has been fine. Studies have shown that a little caffeine is fine. Two cups a week is perfectly ok. I think they say you can actually have one cup a day and be just fine.

[jillbriana]

I've been a morning coffee drinker since I was about 14 and never thought I'd be able to quit. When I first found out I was pregnant (very early, since we were planning and trying) I went down to 1/2 to 1 cup a day/ watering it with warm milk, and the past few days I've just had green tea or black tea, which has some caffeine but not as much as a cup of coffee. Here I am, alive and typing, and with no headaches--which I thought I'd have for sure. I'm tireder at the end of the day, but I figure I'll get my sleep now.
 

[joy2grow]

I've had friends who continued to use caffeine throughout pregnancy without negative effects.  And two cups a week is very moderate, I wouldn't stress about that at all.  I personally gave it up completely the day after my BFP, that is because I have a history of loss and am in my 40s so I'm extra cautious about stimulants.  I experienced headaches for two days, but was pretty amazed at how quickly I got over the reliance on caffeine.  Now I start the day with a cup of red raspberry leaf tea (a uterine tonic), which I'm satisfied with --  it brews dark w/ rich flavor, I add coconut oil, raw honey, and milk.  Hits the spot!

[crunchybroccoli]

I know that this isn't exactly the same, but I went out and bought myself an organic, expensive, naturally-processed decaf so I could still enjoy the smell, the satisfaction of brewing, and the occasional cup.  Honestly, I haven't had much of it (because it turns out that while coffee smells delicious to me, it makes me want to throw up when I drink it) but it's there and it's a nice alternative.  I know that decaf is awful for you, etc. etc. but, again, this is top-of-the-line stuff and only for an occasional cup when I'm truly craving.  I also have a history of loss and have been dealing with spotting through this pg, so I'm not taking chances either.

There's also delicious herbal coffee alternatives made of barley root and other yummy things (usually available in health stores, etc.)  I drank those until I gave up gluten (they are not gluten-free).  They are really yummy, healthy for you (though I'd check to see if they are healthy while pg, since I was not pg when I used to drink them) and. as a bonus, they are great for your skin! :)

 

[Lynann]

Two cups a week really isn't anything to be too worried about. I'm usually a pot of coffee a day (about 3 mugs) and I'm cutting it down, as I did with my previous pregnancies, but won't stop it completely. I've also had a loss, but I wasn't drinking any coffee at the time and I don't generally react to coffee. I don't drink juices or sodas, just coffee, water, milk when I'm pregnant and I'll add in Red Raspberry Leaf Tea during the 2nd trimester. Other than water, coffee is my main beverage of choice. I drop it down to 2 teacups a day, and since I make it myself at home I also don't drink it as strong as places like Starbucks. (The strength of the coffee is always weaker as I drink it black and don't care for it to be ultra strong or bitter, and when I do get a Starbucks I always end up having to add sugar because they make it both too strong & bitter for my palate.)

Also while black teas have less caffeine, it is more easily absorbed by the body AND they also have tannins which are not good in large amounts either. So even teas that include black tea leaves should be used in the same amount of moderation.

[jillbriana]

Thanks for the tip on black tea! Think I'll steer toward the green now.
 

[nstewart]

Studies have shown that 200mg or less of caffine per day is totally safe during pregnancy.  2 cups a week is far less than that, so if you are enjoying your coffee and not getting more than 200mg per day from soda, chocolate or tea then I really wouldn't worry about 2 cups a week either.  I switch to half caf (when I make a pot I use half regular, half decaf coffee) and limit myself to 2 cups of that mix per day.  Espresso also has less caffine than brewed coffee, because the water doesn't sit in the grinds for as long, so you could also switch to espresso drinks and have less caffine (75mg per shot of espresso).

[Quinalla]

Yeah, just chiming in that what you are taking is a totally safe amount of caffeine, actually much lower than what is considered safe. If you still want to cut it out completely, do you like tea? Herbal teas have no caffeine and can fill that hot beverage hole nicely and maybe you can find a cute tea shop to escape too. Is it the trip to Starbucks what you really need for the wi-fi? Find a non-caffeine drink there or just a bottle of water, they sometimes have herbal teas there. Or maybe find an alternate free wi-fi place with a tasty caffeine-free beverage (Panera is where I usually go when traveling for work and I need wifi and near a campus, a lot of places that wouldn't usually might offer it).

[reikimama]

I LOVE coffee and even prior to this pg, I had to cut back because I realized I had heart palps because of my intake.  I was drinking about 3/4 of a pot of organic French roast a day.  I am down to a cup (not a tiny one, but not a huge one either) and half and half. 

With 3 kids, pg, homeschooling and running a small, indie record label out of my house, there's no way I could live without at least that cup each day.  I tried even before becoming pg with just doing decaf and it didn't work for me. 
 

[Kate&Joey]

Chiming in...my doctor also said 1 to 2 cups per day is fine.  That's about all I drank pre-BFP, but I did switch to decaf anyway since it didn't bother me.

Question: how is decaf bad for you?  Is it worse than regular coffee somehow?

[nstewart]

Originally Posted by Kate&Joey 

Question: how is decaf bad for you?  Is it worse than regular coffee somehow?

It's the process of how some decaf coffees are produced that make them bad for you.  Some coffees are decaffinated by soaking the beans in various solvents a number of times.  The solvent residue can be harmful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaffeination

[Kate&Joey]

Originally Posted by nstewart 

It's the process of how some decaf coffees are produced that make them bad for you.  Some coffees are decaffinated by soaking the beans in various solvents a number of times.  The solvent residue can be harmful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaffeination

Interesting.  Maybe that's why I quit coffee altogether during my first pregnancy and didn't bother with decaf! 

[wishin'&hopin']

Water process decaf is safe :) --it's also more expensive, LOL!  Up to 200mg a day is considered safe (even by our super strict reproductive endocrinologist--who recommended NO sex until the second trimester...sigh)  Of course, DW doesn't drink coffee (I'm the caffeine addict in our house--and to cut coffee when I was TTC I gradually increased the amount of decaf to replace caf in my daily cup...then in my first trimester, the smell of coffee totally gagged me, which made giving it up easy!)

[kikaaaso]

I drink a cup of coffee each morning. I don't want to see how I would function right now, without it..lol!! I have always drank one cup during my pregnancies..it really does help me feel better and gives me just that little kick I need to get necessary things done. 

[moriahmoonstar]

joy2grow is my hero right now! I used her recommendation along with something I read on a different forum about roobios tea being a good alternative because it is naturally caffeine free but is dark and mixes with honey and milk very nicely, and have now found joy in today.

I gave up coffee the day I got my bfp because I was already trying to wean myself since I was getting very aggitated and grumpy when drinking coffee. I just don't think caffeine is very good for my body, so I switched to pregnancy tea, first I tried black tea and green and they both made me sick. That was all well and good until today. We had a hurricane in northern california yesterday(what!) and today I got in a fight with the hubby for no good reason, a clients dog attacked her newborn :( and I had to collect scared wet angry chickens from all over our mud pit of 5 acres because the door to their coop was blown down. Anyways, I needed a deeply satisfying beverage to forget the stressful day and then I found it, a cup of roobios tea with raw honey, coconut oil, and cream. Ahhh, I'm happy. Thanks for being here ladies.

[OtherMother]

Thanks all for your responses! It was helpful to know I wasn't doomed to mc because I was having a tough time giving up coffee.

I have since quit completely, since it was making me very sick (naseous). Glad to be off it  ;)

[augustashley]

I have had one miscarriage out of 6 pregnancies.  It is probably a coincidence, but it was the only baby I didn't quit my 2 c. coffee/day habit for.  Perhaps that is related because my hormones weren't high enough to make the coffee repulsive, though.

I was having a hard time quitting caffeine this time-I was a 2 big cups a day person and then knew I was pregnant because it started suddenly being revolting before I even missed my period... but I had horrible headaches going off of it so I switched to tea.  I've weaned myself down to ~2 c. coffee a week, and tea on the other days (half the caff).  It feels odd, because I didn't have issues giving it up my other pregnancies. (after 11 weeks it started smelling delicious again).

Even knowing that, i'm having a hard time giving it up, especially when I know friends who are pregnant and frequenting sbux and making my mouth water.  I picked up a book this week, Skinny B**tch Bun in the Oven, and it has a very motivational two pages about quitting caffeine.  I can quote it, but basically the gist is that when you have caffiene, your baby does too. Measurable effects occur in the fetus almost immediately, and studies show that it can affect fetal brain oxygenation, even at lower levels.  The baby doesn't process it out of their system quickly as you, so it has a cumulative effect.  There, does that help?  ;)  Paraphrasing, but although studies don't show a horrible effect for less than 200 mg, any effect in my opinion is some motivation to do less. If 2c+/day  increases miscarriages, it just seems logical that it has a negative effect that isn't magically switched on at the 200mg level.  Less is more, IMHO.  My mom is a caffeine junky and never quit it for her 8 children... we are all incredibly sensitive to caffeine, more than the average person.  She is not.  Might be a coincidence, might not be.