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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Did you give up caffeine

65 replies

Febe123 · 20/05/2018 15:51

I'm so tired in first tri I can't manage to stop the caffeine. I have one teaspoon of coffee in the morning, sometimes another drink like coke or tea later. How much caffeine do you drink?

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hammeringinmyhead · 21/05/2018 19:42

I have 2 cups of tea a day, or a cup of tea and a coke if I'm going out in the evening. If I go totally cold turkey I get headaches which I couldn't be arsed dealing with in the first trimester along with hiding the bloat, tiredness, sore boobs...

Lightning88 · 22/05/2018 08:10

I swapped to de-caff when I found out I was pregnant with my first back in 2014 as I drank alot of tea throughout the day! When I stopped breastfeeding in 2016, I tried a cup of caffinated tea and couldn't stand the taste! So I didn't even need to give it up this time round. I'll still have a latte if we're out as not alot of places do decaff round here.

But yes, I think the idea is to just cut it down, don't need to cut it out completely. Only reason I did is I suffer with bad anxiety and with my first I was nervous about everything lol.

sirlee66 · 22/05/2018 08:14

I switched to decaf tea and coffee when I started TTC and didn't drink caffeine drinks.

However, once I fell pregnant, loved choc and deffo didn't give that up!! I'm sure I'd go over the caffeine allowance on the chocolate alone!!

spookytime · 22/05/2018 08:15

Yes, on advice from my obstetrician. Had my last coffee the day before my ivf, had three decafs during pregnancy but didn’t trust the coffee shops so I stopped!

I was a paranoid pregnant woman! I did everything by the letter. 3mcs, nothing to do with anything I ate or drank) made me so.

Racecardriver · 22/05/2018 08:16

Yes but it made me sick so not really by choice but rather imperative.

biscuitaddict · 22/05/2018 08:21

I've given it up by accident really, the thought of a hot drink makes me nauseous and I don't really drink coke. I've had the odd lucozade though, and I would have a coffee if I felt like it.

Liland · 22/05/2018 08:24

I've switched to one decaf coffee (morning) and multiple decaf teas in the evening, purely because I drink 2 or 3 cans of diet coke during the day. It keeps me well under the 200mg recommended without feeling deprived. I'd completely forgotten about chocolate though, I might have to look into that...

SoyDora · 22/05/2018 08:30

I have one cup of tea in the morning and that's it. I think it's not wise to drink more than a cup of either one because of the increased risk of miscarriage, especially during the first trimester

The NHS guidance is 200mg per day, and a cup of tea has approx 75mg. You can safely have 2 cups of tea.

Anyway, no I didn’t give up caffeine, I just followed the NHS guidance of 400mg per day. I drink fairly strong coffee so limited to 1 a day in my first 2 pregnancies (babies born at 7lbs 12oz and 8lbs 8oz).
Although I’m currently 8 weeks and haven’t been able to stomach anything except water for the past 3 weeks, so had to go cold turkey on caffeine by necessity!

SoyDora · 22/05/2018 08:30

(Sorry, I mean I followed the guidance of 200mg per day)

rarelythere · 22/05/2018 15:51

I was a massive coffee drinker but completely went off it once the nausea started. Thankfully I can now stomach tea and the odd iced coffee as it's very hard to cope with the tiredness without it!! I just follow the NHS guidelines too, so can have around 4 or 5 cups of tea a day.

rarelythere · 22/05/2018 15:53

Should note it depends what brand of tea you drink - pg tips for example has 40mg so much less than the "75mg" that the NHS says is standard for tea.

0lgaDaPolga · 22/05/2018 15:58

I gave it up completely in my last pregnancy. My son had an ectopic heatbeat and caffeine would have made it worse so I didn’t have any at all. Don’t know if it had anything to do with it but he slept like a dream since he was born so now I’m expecting baby number 2 I’m not having caffeine this time either!

robotcartrainhat · 22/05/2018 16:01

I started drinking caffeine!! Have a cup of tea in the morning now just to combat how tired ive been all through this pregnancy. Only used to drink caffeine once a month or less before I was pregnant.

Every one processes caffeine differently so Id only worry about it if you are particularly sensitive to caffeine.

BlueBug45 · 22/05/2018 16:04

I consume as much caffeine as I use to - one cup of coffee per day and possibly some cola or chocolate.

BubblesPls · 22/05/2018 20:26

I didn't have a choice. The thought of any drink besides water or juice makes me wanna puke! 😩

applecatchers36 · 22/05/2018 20:30

No I carried on as normal a couple of cups of tea and maybe one coffee a day, for all 3 pregnancies.

Markygirl1995 · 23/05/2018 07:54

I'll have a coffee if I had a bad night sleep (from getting up to wee frequently throughout the night) otherwise I'd be zombie and couldn't work. Trying to have a cranberry juice in the morning which helps apparently with urine infections bacterial rather than a strong muddy coffee as I would usually do. If I start to get sleepy at work and had a few coffees already I tend to go to decaf but it's not the nicest taste and tend to leave and forget it. Chocolate on the other hand I go through stages I'll either eat a bag of chocolate buttons one day or on the other I'm eating strawberries or sorbet ice cream 😂

Murane · 23/05/2018 08:21

I drank decaf coffee and coke (and still do because I'm bf). Barely noticed the difference.

Icklepickle101 · 23/05/2018 08:22

Haven’t changed my intake at all. A few cups of tea and a can of coke here and there and plenty of chocolate

offupop · 23/05/2018 08:27

I didn't give up but I cut down, if you breast feed you'll want to cut it out though as you'll notice the baby is pretty awake otherwise!

Cosmoa · 23/05/2018 08:54

I didn't give it up... I had a coffee, tea and a fizzy drink most days! And I just had an 8lbs healthy baby a week ago

terfinginthevoid · 23/05/2018 11:49

I couldn't drink coffee at all in either of my pregnancies - just the smell made me feel sick. It was probably the earliest sign I was pregnant. I normally drink at least three cups before lunch, and I struggled without it.

Namechangemum100 · 23/05/2018 11:55

Yes I gave it up completely for both my pregnancies...I have 2 babies 14 months apart, so I basically gave it up for 2 years.

As a consequence I now can't drink coffee past midday as I have terrible trouble getting to sleep at night!

AdoraBell · 23/05/2018 12:02

I had to. Even a sip of coffee gave me palpitations.

Before and after I never had an issue with it.

AnElderlyLadyOfMediumHeight · 23/05/2018 13:06

I didn't give up, and I had recurrent mc.

I stuck to the 300mg with my first two pregnancies that went to term (as that was the limit then) and the 200mg with dd. That usually meant one cup of proper coffee, maybe two, and largely switching to decaf tea, which I found I liked and still have now some of the time. I breastfed for years and years (5 and a half years straight with nos. 1 and 2 and currently 2y8mo and counting) and have had terrible sleepers wouldn't have survived the sleep deprivation + working without some caffeine.

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