Caffeine = d* ?

[blackrabbit]

Do any of you get d* or soft stool from drinking soda with caffeine? I drank some diet coke from the fountain today and have been going to the br like 4x already. I kind of feel queasy but not sick. I'm confused and IDK what to think :/

[pinkprincess]

All the time which is why I cut it out. I have ibs and find caffeine doesn't help it, so I don't have it in tea or coffee and don't drink soft drinks with it in either unless im constipated as I know it will help lol also diet drinks can cause d* because our bodies can't absorb the sweetner.

[blackrabbit]

I do the same thing, if I haven't gone to the br in a few days I'll drink coffee and/or diet soda. But today I feel different, tired and queasy, like I just wish I would d* more. scared I hope I don't have a sv*

[SilentFrog]

Just recently since I was diagnosed as being IBS I've found that caffeine drinks can give me d* and also bad stomach cramps, particularly if I drink them around tea time (5pm-6pm), but I guess everybody is different really. When I used to drink a lot of caffeine years ago - like if I had two big bottles of coke - and I wasn't used to it, I would get d* sometimes, but mostly just get the most awful nausea which I called the "sugar crash", even though that term is referring is something entirely different :P

It definitely sounds like it's just a consequence of having too much sugar though, funnily enough I had the exact same 'queasy' but not s* feeling one day last week when I drank a whole carton of "summer fruits" juice. I didn't notice it was massively high in sugar and drinking so much of it so quickly was probably why I felt bad.

I haven't ever felt like v* or even close to it from drinking too much coke, or juice, or having too much sugar, so honestly I think you'll be fine. In a couple of hours the feeling should begin to fade away, it's not nice but it certainly won't make you ill

[Collie]

Once in awhile. I drink coffee every day with generally no problem, but once in awhile it'll cause some digestive issues. Diet Coke doesn't have that much caffeine in it, but if you are super sensitive to it I guess it could cause some issues.

[blackrabbit]

Thanks for the response. However it was Diet Coke so there was no sugar, just the artifical sweetners. So idk if that's the same cause :/

[Collie]

Thanks for the response. However it was Diet Coke so there was no sugar, just the artifical sweetners. So idk if that's the same cause :/

Maybe your body doesnt like the artificial sweeteners? Do you not normally drink sugar-free stuff?

[blackrabbit]

Badly enough, I have at least 1 can of diet soda a day. It's a hard habit to break

[Collie]

Badly enough, I have at least 1 can of diet soda a day. It's a hard habit to break

It is! I know. I used to be hooked on diet sodas too No good. No judgement here though. No idea why it upset your stomach then, sometimes our bodies just do weird things with no explanation lol I wouldn't worry about it.

[SilentFrog]

Sorry I was a bit misleading there, when I talked about sugar I was talking about natural sugars and artificial sweeteners, for example aspartame, or in the case of diet coke and other low calorie drinks, something called acesulfame potassium (known as acesulfame k). My fruit juice didn't have any sugars in, in fact the carton says "No added sugar", which is true. But it was from concentrate and had a large amount of artificial sweeteners in it. In fact there have been some studies which have linked acesulfame k and aspartame to nausea, headaches and tiredness etc.

Although all of the evidence for these effects is hotly contested, there have been anecdotal reports both on here and on other forums of people consuming a lot of these sweeteners and feeling quite nauseous afterwards.

Ps. Should point out that I did work briefly in flavour chemistry, so am quite familiar with sweeteners, additives, preservatives and all those kinds of chemicals

[michele83]

I've noticed that whenever I get d* I tend to over think it and in turn I begin to feel n* just from anxiety alone, without even realizing it. It's buried in my subconsciousness. Since I made it an automatic habit to get anxious whenever I get it I always get n* , creating a domino affect, thus having a bad day for no reason. Caffeine can cause d* alone but over thinking can cause n*. Keep hydrated also. Caffeine can cause dehydration and so can d* also causing that tired feeling. I think if it was a sv it would be more obvious. I'm sure ur fine. Just keep hydrated. I wish u all the best

[Shubertgoddess]

It's more than likely from the artificial sweetener than the caffeine, honestly... I don't drink diet anything for this very reason. I eat healthy but I dont eat "low fat" or drink "diet" drinks. Next time, just go for the regular coke and you'll probably be fine.

[kaiilyn_23]

Yes! When I was little, every time I would drink Coke, instant diarrhea! Same thing now, and same with coffee. I can't drink caffeine for the life of me. It makes me nauseous too. It's quite common for caffeine to cause diarrhea.

[blackrabbit]

Thank you for the in-depth response. I think you're right about that. Damn those artificial sweeteners...