Can coffee make me worse?

[adisgirl99]

Hi All,

I have suffered with HA for two years now.
It started due to problems down below, I have had constant infections, soreness, heavy discharge, irregular periods and feeling like I need to wee all the time.
After being tested for STI's (twice and them being negative) I have been, treat for BV, Thrush, Cystitis and Water Infections constantly, nothing has changed, however, in October, we went to Lanzarote for a week, and hardly drunk any coffee,(replaced it with alcohol lol), and guess what...hardly had any of the problems, until the day before we were due to fly back home.
I drink about 10 cups of coffee a day, strong coffee and about 3 cups of tea.....could this have anything to do with the fact I am suffering from these symptoms and constantly feel stressed??

Thanks

Adisgirl99

[russ]

Hi there,

Coffee is a stimulant and in large quantities can have certain side-effects.

A lot of anxiety suffers do try and cut down or give up on caffeine and alcohol.

It certainly is worth a try Adisgirl99.

I have not cut-out tea and coffee, but I have cut it down. I try and drink more water, vit c drinks and I've even started drinking malted horlicks! You don't have to stop drinking, just change what you dirnk slightly and reduce the strength of the coffee you drink.

Why not give it a go?

[kayc]

Hi there

I have suffered a lot from water infections since June 06 and have had several courses of antibiotics since then, the infection seemed to go when I was on the antibiotics and then as soon as I stopped taking them the infection came back.

I found that cutting out tea and coffee (well, I'm down to 3 cups of tea per day, lol) really helped as did taking cranberry capsules which you can get from any good health food shop.

It may be that when you were on holiday you were a lot more relaxed than usual and symptoms were not so apparent? I know that's certainly the case for me!! I find that chamomile tea really does help me relax and although it takes some getting used to I drink a fair amount of herbal tea as a substitute for my tea and coffee.

Hope this helps
K xx

[Jimbo]

I used to drink a lot of cups of very strong coffee a day. It definately increased my stress levels and gave me a lot of physical symptoms, migraines, dizzyness, nausea, racing pulse, sleep problems.

I eventually managed to kick the habit a few years ago when I realised how it was affecting me, it was actually really hard work to stop. I now only have a cup as a treat every once in a blue moon. I still have to have a cup of tea in the morning to get up, but limit myself to 2-3 cups a day at most.

[kimmy]

YES!!!! Coffee can make you worse. BUT it will pass also. I went to a friends this morning had 2 cups of coffee, me being used to decafed decaf and when I came home I have been whizzing around the house! Im still shaky a bit now, luckily i have my anxiety under control and knew what it was

[Adrian]

It sounds like your caffeine intake is exessive; suggest water or weak squash. Not much fun but best in the long run.

[bottleblond]

Hi there,

Yup aparently coffee is a big no no if you suffer with anxiety. Typical eh? all the things we like are bad for us. lol


Lisa
xxx

[mico]

People react differently to caffeine, but as a general rule, if you're already anxious a lot, then there's a good chance it will increase your anxiety.

Some people only need one coffee to set them off on a panic attack, others might (or might not) just notice a subtle increase in their anxiety after a few.

It's certainly best to stay away. It's worth noting too though, that new environments can also have a calming effect on your anxiety.

[barbie]

Caffeine does irritate the bladder I'm afraid. And if you are susecptable to water infections its best to give it a miss. I only drink de-caff tea now, I have it just like normal tea with milk etc and you really cannot taste the difference!
I found this on the internet:


Caffeine and alcohol

Cut down on tea, coffee, cola and other caffeinated drinks. Caffeine irritates your bladder and can make UUI worse.

Caffeine is also a diuretic, so for every cup of coffee you drink, you’ll pass a greater volume of water than that one cup. Cutting back on caffeine can help decrease the urgency and frequency of visits to the toilet.

Cut down on alcohol. It’s likely to worsen any type of urinary incontinence because it is a diuretic and stimulates the kidneys to produce more urine.

And as kayc said, cranberry capsules are great, I usually take 4 anytime I feel a sting coming on. (Suggested to me by a pharmacist some years ago, and I have never used anything else since!)