Elimination Diet Question - Coffee

[ThisIsMyUserName]

So I have been getting slowly better as I've cut out more and more things, and finally decided to go on a full-on elimination diet. Symptoms are much improved, but haven't gone away (I had a migraine this morning and was nauseous all day, for example). I'm being exceedingly careful and only having single ingredient versions of whole foods (fruits, veggies, fish) that haven't been a problem. I'm thinking it may just be a matter of time, but there is one other possible culprit: I drink three cups of coffee every day (~9 am, noon, and 3 pm); no additives or milk or sugar; just straight coffee from a certified gluten-free k-cup. However, I saw a few places that said some celiacs have a coffee intolerance? Or maybe it's a separate intolerance? But if I cut out coffee, I will feel AWFUL for a week or two, and, besides messing up my elimination diet experiment (trying to confirm that I am actually better on the limited foods), I'm just not up for it. So is there a way to test this without cutting out caffeine? Can I switch to black tea for a week? Is that also a potential problem? Caffeine pills have lots of fillers, so I don't want to go that route. Advice?

[bartfull]

I know some folks have trouble with coffee but I have never been one of them. I'm really glad because coffee is one of my favorite things on the planet.

 

How long have you been doing the elimination diet? I would think you should give it more time before taking the drastic step of cutting out coffee. If you feel you absolutely must give it up you could switch to tea but I suggest if you do you get loose tea and a tea ball or strainer. Some tea bags (the paper, not the tea) have corn starch in them.

[tbiz]

A few years back, before celiac was even on my radar, i took up drinking coffee. It coincided with a spike in the number of migraines I was getting. After a bit of research i found that excessive caffeine  (like that in coffee) can actually be a trigger for some people. I stopped drinking it and they went away again. Unfortunate, but i'd rather drink no coffee than having daily migraines!

[SMDBill]

You can definitely get the caffeine through tea and soda, but they'll likely be in smaller amounts than a cup of coffee. I'm a big coffee and tea drinker myself and I can go through an entire day with no effects from missing coffee as long as I have tea or soda. It's probably not the full amount that matters, but just getting some into you that keeps from getting those caffeine withdrawal headaches.

 

I suffer migraines as well and I went tea, soda and coffee free for a time. Basically I only drank water. I felt ok after the first few days but just missed the coffee and tea because I enjoy the flavors. I went back to them and haven't had them trigger migraines, but I'm also medicated for migraines so that's surely playing a big part.

[gilligan]

I was having trouble feeling better, also.  Dr. and the dietician put me on the FodMap diet for 8 months (essentially an elimination diet).  I had to give up coffee for awhile, switched to decaf, still had a problem until I gave it up completely.  I can finally drink decaf without a problem.  Why don't you try that?

 

I did have headaches for a couple weeks without the caffeine, but it got better.  I gave up black tea and drank only decaf black tea and green tea.  I can now drink black tea (and I can eat chocolate now).  Caffeine might be okay now, but I just haven't tried it yet.