I have been a caffeine addict since college in the mid 80’s . I recently went back to grad school for 3 1/2 years and finished in January. But with grad school, work and a family, I was really consuming a lot of caffeine, mostly coffee. I was able to keep my blood sugar under control, but was taking increasing amounts of insulin to do so. I also gained some weight probably due to more insulin.
I did quit for a few weeks several years ago and noticed that I needed less insulin when I did , but was not committed to quitting, so shortly went back on the caffeine.
2 months ago I decided to quit cold turkey and suffered for about 3 days, but it was bearable. Immediately I needed less insulin to control my blood sugar. I thought it would be really hard to stay awake at work without caffeine but that has not been the case. I have had more energy and don’t feel like a slave to caffeine anymore. I am more motivated and have lost about 20 pounds and am exercising more and eating better.
My last H1Ac was 6.9 but I am sure the next one which will be taken this week will be down near 6 and maybe below that.
I don’t have any cravings for caffeine and have no desire to go back to that. The results of just simply quitting caffeine are motivation enough to stay off of it. I’m sure drinking one or 2 cups of coffee a day or some other caffeine drink is probably ok, but I am just not going back to having any.
Strange, I noticed when I was drinking coffee that my BGs where alright no issues with it what so ever, same goes with my mom (and she drinks it like its going out of style).
I didn’t get into drinking coffee till about three years ago, and even then it might be a cup a day up to 6 cups depending on how I was feeling.
But I’ve not had a cup of regular coffee since May of this year because my husband is allergic to caffine so as not to have contamination in the house we don’t have anything with it in it (save the odd cold med). I don’t miss it since I never was into it fully, don’t even miss the regular pop since to me the no caffine version tastes just the same.
Wow, I’m so glad you brought this up. I started drinking more coffee at work and have noticed that at times is really makes my blood sugar spike, especially in the morning when I eat breakfast late. I drink it with half/half, so no carbs but it still seems to affect my bs. I spoke to my doctor about this and she has other patients that go through the same thing and there’s no explication.
I’ve tried quitting cold turkey but get massive headaches. Any suggestions? I guess I just have to go through it
I have actually noticed this too. When I got very sick from a migraine, it was the only thing I had in my system at the time. I tried to go back to drinking it the next day after the migraine went away, but I couldn’t stand the taste of it. Now, I can’t stand the taste of any diet soda. Not sure why - could be the aspartame…
But with this, I have realized that I have not needed hardly any correction boluses to bring down highs since then. I have switched to Poweraide Zero and G2 Gatoraide (sorry, I can’t do straight water - I’ve tried. Just can’t do it) Also, my after meal spikes haven’t been nearly as bad. I do think caffeine plays a big factor in insulin resistance for us diabetics - type 1 or type 2. (Now, I know you will say that G2 has carbs in it, and yes, the 32oz has 28g in the whole bottle, but I just extend a bolus over 4 hours for it and I’m good to go with no spikes)
I usually did drink coffee black, no carbs. I did drink way too much coffee, 5 or 6 or more cups a day, so getting rid of the caffeine made a big difference for me.
