cardiactec Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 I'm trying to put in more calories in a day and thus, instead of just pounding water to keep up with fluids, I've been drinking more soda -- coke and such (which has like 250 calories to it) ...........it's FULL OF caffeine though, which is a little rough on the tachy (makes me more jittery but i can deal with it) but someone told me that caffeine dehydrates you ?? is this true? I'm trying more dairy too (milk and such) but it seems to upset my stomach a bit more, more fatty, bad for my gastroparesis .....did i already post this before?? LOL. I'm having de ja vu! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunfish Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 caffeine does dehydrate so extra non-caffeinated beverages are needed to conteract this if you're drinking lots of soda, coffee, etc. this is true for anyone, not just those with autonomic issues. and dairy in large amounts is rough on a lot of people GI-wise. there are a lot of non-caffeinated & non-dairy drink options though that are still caloric, many which have more nutrition as well. juices, smoothies, various fruit drinks, non-caffeinated sodas (not only those deemed "caffeine free" but those that have little/ no caffeine naturally such as 7UP & sprite), etc. your wanting to pack in more calories by cutting out non-caloric water (a good plan when trying to gain weight) shouldn't really be restricted by problems with caffeine and/or dairy.hope this helps, melissa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P SUDIK Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Hi Angela,caffeine is dehydrating,how about some gatorade,it's hydrating and adds calories,Pat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yogini Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Caffeine is a diuretic. It causes you to lose water. (I believe it's in some diet pills for that reason.) Coke actually has less caffeine than coffee. I used to drink a liter of Diet Cokee/day before gettnng sick. Now I rarely allow myself to hahave caffeine. When I do, it tends to make my tachy episodes and insomnia worse - not always, but often. I think you can get the calories w/o the risk by sticking to caffeine free coke or sprite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren78 Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Yes, it does dehydrate you. I can't do any caffeine...tachy gets all out of whack! NO soda, coffee, tea, or too much chocolate for me. I drink flavored waters, decaf iced tea, and gatorade to help with the fluids...and they will add calories too. Gatorade is great because it also has the electrolytes in it. I like the gatorade am...it has less sugar than the regular (17g, as opposed to 40g). So if you want calories and plain water gets to be too much to keep up with fluids (which it does, I have a hard time just drinking lots of water...its too plain unless I am eating or really hot! lol)...I would try the Gatorade! Or something like cranberry juice, grapejuice, etc. Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliegee Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Angela-I'm probably almost old enough to be your Mom, so please excuse my nagging:-) But, Angela, you have NO business using caffeine. With such an incredibly high HR?!?!? Are you kidding me? It is tough to stop, but very do-able. I stopped ALL caffeine for years when my POTS first reared it's ugly head. Even a sip would send my HR into 3 digit numbers. Despite the fact that I was only having one cup of coffee daily, with maybe a diet soft drink during the day...going cold turkey was difficult. I had a horrible headache and even body pains (!!!!) for one day. The next day, I was fine. Restricting caffeine (even a small amount) definately helped stabilize my HR. I suspect that would be the healthiest for you. When my son was recently very ill and underweight, I had him drink fruit nectars (like apricot) and fruit smoothies throughout the day. Tons of calories! Gingerale and Sprite would be great to sip while at work- easily available at a vending machine, caloric and hydrating. Gatorade would also be terrific. Also, have you tried those new vitamin waters? They have some calories (about 50), but they are so soothing and actually good for you. I sipped those when I was at my worst as I wasn't getting much nutrition from food.Once again, pardon my cyber-nagging. I just care.Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardiactec Posted July 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 LOL,Julie, thanks for your concern. haha. ) i know, dont want to totally KILL my heart with it's already crazy rates!! i actually used to drink a lot of soda, lots of caffeine and actually havent for about four years, ever since my stomach started causing me problems - found that soda made me more nauseous.......so certainly not a problem for me to stop any caffeine kicks because truthfully havent been drinking much soda for years --- only would have recently started to just to gain some weight, even though i know it can trigger more nausea for me, and more tachy -- was going to just grit my teeth and roll with the punches -- but now that i know caffeine dehydrates (hey, i'm a cardiac tech, i dont know everything!) than i think it's a bad idea to be drinking caffienated soda anyway......thanks so much for your concerns/sugggestions....i just went out to the store the other day and got some little 10 oz. bottles of grab and go juice - 170 cal's per bottle!! c'mon weight gain! i'm stickin the peanut butter to me too!!!! LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 Caffeine is a very mild diuretic, especially in sodas. Athletes used to be discouraged from drinking sodas while working out but now it is considered fine by many doctors.If your heart rate goes up with caffeine, then is should be avoided. If not, there are benefits to caffeine.I gave up caffeine for years when I first came down with POTS until a Mayo doctor suggested that it is a vasoconstrictor and helps many people. I found it helped me stand longer, feel better and helps control headaches. It has really helped my level of functioning.So do what is best for you. I drink soda in a glass with ice so it gets pretty watered down. It is probably better for most people not to drink it on an empty stomach. Sounds like it wasn't something that agreed with you that well anyway, so there are probably better sources of calories for you.I just don't want people who might benefit from caffeine to be scared off by those who are adversely affected by it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corina Posted July 21, 2007 Report Share Posted July 21, 2007 yep, i don?t need to say anymore about the dehydration!!! still: my body SCREAMS for caffeine during the day. i really don't know why. to avoid dehydration i drink a lot of sportsdrinks. aquarius works the best for me. this always makes me feel better.to gain weight, i used to eat as much as possible AND drank chocolatemilk every day. a very good friend of us, who was very underweight at a time got the chocolatemilk advice from his doctor. not sure if you can tolerate it, though!hope this helps a bit,take care,corina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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