Re: coffee and flares

[Guest guest]

I have been experiencing a flare recently. I'm upping my dosage of Humira to once weekly starting today, my rheumy said to up my Bextra to 40 mg for a few days. I did have some extenuating circumstances recently, having just gone through abdominal surgery (unrelated) 4 weeks ago. But I feel almost 100% recovered from that, but my RA has gotten really bad.

So my question goes out to coffee drinkers and reformed coffee drinkers. Is a flare related to the actual coffee or caffeine? I used to drink buckets without any effect (or so I thought) and certainly buckets of tea. Tell me it isn't true!! I'm willing to switch to full decaf - right now I drink only half caf and then later in the evening, switch to decaf only. I have so few vices to give up! What do you all think?

gloria

[Guest guest]

Hi Gloria,

Some people have noticed a distinct relationship between caffeine

and RA flares, but it's not universal. While I don't drink coffee,

I get my caffeine fix from Diet Coke and tea (not mixed together

though). Days when I don't have any don't feel any different from

days when I do.

Hope you get through the flare quickly.

Beth

> I have been experiencing a flare recently. I'm upping my dosage of

Humira to

> once weekly starting today, my rheumy said to up my Bextra to 40

mg for a few

> days. I did have some extenuating circumstances recently, having

just gone

> through abdominal surgery (unrelated) 4 weeks ago. But I feel

almost 100%

> recovered from that, but my RA has gotten really bad.

>

> So my question goes out to coffee drinkers and reformed coffee

drinkers. Is

> a flare related to the actual coffee or caffeine? I used to drink

buckets

> without any effect (or so I thought) and certainly buckets of tea.

Tell me it

> isn't true!! I'm willing to switch to full decaf - right now I

drink only half

> caf and then later in the evening, switch to decaf only. I have so

few vices

> to give up! What do you all think?

>

> gloria

[Guest guest]

Gloria,

I too drink buckets of coffee and soft drinks and they don't affect my arthritis at all. In fact, it's the opposite -- they tend to help with headaches and overall make me feel more active and alert. I know some people swear that coffee is the devil, but these are the same people who don't eat sugar or white flour or red meat or tomatoes or salt or anything that tastes good. It's all individual. Sometimes RA can be immensely helped by diet, but it hurts my heart to see people giving up sugar because someone on a mailing list suggests it might be bad for you. (NO offense intended to the person with the 78 sugar list -- it's just that I think it's really important to realize that diet has no effect for a lot of people and it's unnecessary to cut back on something that you really loved and wasn't hurting you. So I assimilate these things into my stash of knowledge, as should we all, I don't swear by it immediately.) I wish I could help my RA by cutting out coca-cola and coffee. I've tried it and it only made me miserable.

Jenni

[Guest guest]

Jenni,

My alternative doc suggested I quit the sugar. I did this long before reading it on this site. I'm not cured, but glad to be off most meds and working fulltime.

Kay

----- Original Message -----

From: Jenni

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Sent: Monday, September 13, 2004 9:40 PM

Subject: Re: coffee and flares

Gloria,

I too drink buckets of coffee and soft drinks and they don't affect my arthritis at all. In fact, it's the opposite -- they tend to help with headaches and overall make me feel more active and alert. I know some people swear that coffee is the devil, but these are the same people who don't eat sugar or white flour or red meat or tomatoes or salt or anything that tastes good. It's all individual. Sometimes RA can be immensely helped by diet, but it hurts my heart to see people giving up sugar because someone on a mailing list suggests it might be bad for you. (NO offense intended to the person with the 78 sugar list -- it's just that I think it's really important to realize that diet has no effect for a lot of people and it's unnecessary to cut back on something that you really loved and wasn't hurting you. So I assimilate these things into my stash of knowledge, as should we all, I don't swear by it immediately.) I wish I could help my RA by cutting out coca-cola and coffee. I've tried it and it only made me miserable.

Jenni

[Guest guest]

Kay,

I hope you didn't think I was criticizing you for not eating sugar! That wasn't my intent at all and I apologize profusely if it came across that way. I seem to have a habit of using words that can sound different than I meant for them to.

If anything, my upset is at folks who don't take these things with a grain of salt -- because someone told them not to eat salt. Hehe. It's just so important to remember that not everything works for everyone. I'm militant about this particular issue, of restricting diet, because I went through such hell as a teenager and none of it worked for me. I was down to 80 lbs and practically starving to death on one diet after another. I was so miserable I'd rather have the RA uncontrolled. I'm definitely not saying this is going to be everyone's experience, but if I can save even one person from being as unhappy as I was, I'm gonna keep speaking up about it.

Jenni

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/13/2004 11:51:24 PM Central Standard Time, chaospearl@... writes:

I hope you didn't think I was criticizing you for not eating sugar! That wasn't my intent at all and I apologize profusely if it came across that way. I seem to have a habit of using words that can sound different than I meant for them to.

If anything, my upset is at folks who don't take these things with a grain of salt -- because someone told them not to eat salt. Hehe. It's just so important to remember that not everything works for everyone. I'm militant about this particular issue, of restricting diet, because I went through such hell as a teenager and none of it worked for me. I was down to 80 lbs and practically starving to death on one diet after another. I was so miserable I'd rather have the RA uncontrolled. I'm definitely not saying this is going to be everyone's experience, but if I can save even one person from being as unhappy as I was, I'm gonna keep speaking up about it.

Jenni

I really think salt is a major culprit with flares. Bacon and ham are real no-no's for me, as the next day I can hardly use me hands after eating either on them.

I am also thinking that chocolate is part of my problem too. : ((

Becky

[Guest guest]

Hi Becky,

I also notice that salt is a major culprit in the swelling of my hands, knees and ankles. In order to eat ham, I buy sliced ham with the lowest sodium content that I can find, and then drop the slices into boiling water for 3 minutes. Three minutes seems to be long enough to leach out alot of the salt without ruining the taste. I also like the fact, that after the boiling, I'm sure the ham is fully cooked and any pathogens that may have been on it are now killed and rinsed away. However, bacon is still a "no-no" as I haven't found a low sodium way to prepare it.

As for chocolate...have you looked at how much sodium is in the average candy bar? Wow! I like to eat chocolate covered raisins. The kind I buy has only 10mg of sodium in 40 grams (about a handfull). They satisfy my chololate craving while still providing some fruit and fiber. My husband (who has high blood pressure) likes dark chocolate. It is lower in sodium than the milk chocolate that I love.

W.

I really think salt is a major culprit with flares. Bacon and ham are real no-no's for me, as the next day I can hardly use me hands after eating either on them.I am also thinking that chocolate is part of my problem too. : (( Becky __________________________________________________