How did you survive giving up caffeine and sugar?

[Bronco0605 135]

I used to be a big coke drinker, almost a 2 liter per day. Now I am down to only one 20 bottle when I get a Migraine. I am trying to ditch my 12 oz coffee that I have the three days week I work at 5 am and it is killing me. I teach internet classes and I am falling asleep during my classes. I also used to eat candy and other sweets(ice cream, cookies) very regularly, now none at all.

I am in the process of getting all my clearances for surgery and I have lost 8 pounds in about 2 weeks. I am happy about that but I cannot sleep while at work. I just don't know hat to do!!

[NtvTxn 1,262]

I suffer from Migraines, between 8 and 12 per month, so coming off caffiene was alarming. I am not a 'coke' girl, but coffee is my drug of choice! We went and bought a little 4 cup coffee pot, so we'd have two. It took a few weeks, but I slowly but surely switched from caffeinated to decaffeinated coffee. First I dropped to 3/4 caf and 1/4 Decaf. I did that a week. Week two was 1/2 and 1/2 and week three was 3/4 decaf and 1/4 caffeinated. Week four, I was totally on decaf. Amazingly enough, after surgery coffee didn't taste good to me. I had to have decaf for the first six weeks, but I had none, at the end of six weeks, coffee still didn't taste good. What the heck??!!! At three months, all of a sudden, I loved it again. I know some doctor's say no caffeine at all, ever, luckily MY doctor is not one of them!! I am sure I drink WAY more than I should, 3 cups in the morning, and many times I'll make a small 2 cup pot in the afternoon. I didn't have a problem getting off sugar, in fact, I never gave it a thought prior to surgery and after surgery I was so focused on my new life, I had nothing sweet, not one bite of anything sweet when I was losing. Now, in maintenance, I feel like I eat like a naturally thin person. I do eat sweets, and love them, but in limited quantities. Good luck!!!!!

[Greeknugget 56]

I'm going off caffeine and it is really hard. I still am not sure what the "real" reason (if there is just one!) for eliminating it? I have one cup of coffee in the mornings and eliminating that has been hard!

Good luck to you!

[tigerbelle 328]

my NUT allowed caffeine after the first month (after the healing process)...as for sugar, I don't really crave it

[RJ'S/beginning 5,357]

I detoxed from everything while I was in the hospital for 5 months due to complications with the sleeve....I can sit and watch people eat sweets and it does not bother me at all...

I drink 2 cups of tea a day...I talked to my dietitian and she said it was nothing to drink that..It helps with my Water intake and I am a Brit....Can't live without tea..LOL

1 cup of coffee a day...that does not sound unreasonable to me...You will have to stop drinking it for the pre-op but then after you heal you can go back to the coffee if you want.....

Sugar....I have no desire to eat it...And you know what there is a chance that once you are done that you won't like the taste of coffee...Stranger things have happened......

[blash67 82]

I was a real big coffee drinker, and even thought twice whether to do this surgery just over the giving up caffeine issue. I truly did not think I would be able to do it. I weaned myself down to 2 cups a day over a couple of months. I then decided that I wanted to get off caffeine before I had to deal with my preop diet, in order to minimize the misery. About a month before surgery, over a weekend, I gave it up cold turkey and dosed myself with naproxen round the clock for 3 days straight. Not one headache! I think the trick is to dose yourself before the headache sets in. I felt a little dull and disoriented, but ... no nausea or bad headaches as expected!

So.... this part may be easier than you think!

[DonRodolfo 1,416]

I used to be a big coke drinker, almost a 2 liter per day. Now I am down to only one 20 bottle when I get a Migraine. I am trying to ditch my 12 oz coffee that I have the three days week I work at 5 am and it is killing me. I teach internet classes and I am falling asleep during my classes. I also used to eat candy and other sweets(ice cream, cookies) very regularly, now none at all.

I am in the process of getting all my clearances for surgery and I have lost 8 pounds in about 2 weeks. I am happy about that but I cannot sleep while at work. I just don't know hat to do!!

i guess i'm not wired for sweets as much as others. As long as I don't have a single bite, i won't crave it.

Now go get yourself an army if you intend to separate me from my caffeine!

[hopingtolose2013 81]

Detox before surgery! I quit coke for two weeks about a month before surgery. I had NO withdrawals. Then I got back on it and quit the day before surgery. My biggest pain was from the headache in the hospital. The pain meds didn't even touch it.

[newat52 1,612]

Like NtvTxn, I weaned down and off several weeks prior to surgery. I remember the caffeine headache and withdrawl that I experienced back in the day when I became pregnant and wow, it wasn't pretty!

I was cleared for caffeine 4 weeks after surgery. It was ok to have Decaf but it took about 3 weeks to even want coffee. I started out with half caf much like I weaned off. It took almost 2 more months before I could finish one cup of regular coffee. I still don't drink as dark of a blend as I did. I find the medium to lighter roasts more to my liking these days.

Now I am one cup of coffee and one expresso size cup in my shake in the morning so two cups a day and I'm great!

Good luck, do it slowly and you won't notice so much!

As for sugar, getting it and all the processed carb stuff out of your system is not fun either but I have not tried it since surgery. It's too slippery of a slope to me. I decided to go till the end of the year before I venture into that. I need time to really get my new lifestyle in order.

[RareGold3000 185]

Caffeine is typically allowed after one month, check with your surgeon. Caffeine is a diuretic, stimulates gut motility and increases appetite, it also isn't good for the healing process.

Karen

[vicster247 8]

Sweets were a big thing to me before surgery but I was 4 weeks out on my birthday I decided I would have a piece of birthday cookie cake. To my great surprise I didn't even like it. I didn't think it tasted good at all. Haven't craved chocolate or sweets since surgery. Good luck I think this has been easier than I thought and sure wish I would have done it years ago.

[Fiddleman 4,376]

Caffeine is typically allowed after one month' date=' check with your surgeon. Caffeine is a diuretic, stimulates gut motility and increases appetite, it also isn't good for the healing process.

Karen[/quote']

In case readers of this post have not heard of gut motility (new to me), here is a link:

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/179937-overview

[LindaS 316]

After being on a very bland diet for months, I had no desire to eat things with sugar. Even very plain items tasted way too sweet for me.

I do drink coffee. I invested in a Keurig though because I don't drink as much as I did, and some days just one cup is enough.

[bigsleeve56 266]

I made it by droping 150 pounds what else matters.

[lifer 38]

I detoxed from everything while I was in the hospital for 5 months due to complications with the sleeve....I can sit and watch people eat sweets and it does not bother me at all...

I drink 2 cups of tea a day...I talked to my dietitian and she said it was nothing to drink that..It helps with my Water intake and I am a Brit....Can't live without tea..LOL

1 cup of coffee a day...that does not sound unreasonable to me...You will have to stop drinking it for the pre-op but then after you heal you can go back to the coffee if you want.....

Sugar....I have no desire to eat it...And you know what there is a chance that once you are done that you won't like the taste of coffee...Stranger things have happened......

Wait! Why were you in the hospital for 5 months!!??