Pain & Coffee Consumption
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January 7, 2010 at 1:14 pm
The pain in my hands and feet have increased quite a bit over the last 6 months. During that period, I know that I have been drinking too much coffee and I have developed a love for chocolate covered almonds, yum. The 3,600 mg. of Gabapentin (Neurontin) that I’ve been on for 4 years has only just ever taken the edge off the pain so I can live with it, but it’s especially gotten worse during the last few months. Is there an association between caffeine and increased pain. I would greatly appreciate your help. My doctor knows nothing about neuropathy and would just call me a whiner if I asked. Getting another doctor is not an option here in Ontario, Canada.
Thanks very much
Val -
January 7, 2010 at 10:34 pm
Val
I don’t know about pain and caffeine. I take gabapentin as well as
Nortriptyline for pain.I am curious why you can’t get another doctor?
Ontario is a big place with many doctors. If you need help contact the local GBS/CIDP support person in your area
Rhonda from Canada
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January 9, 2010 at 11:58 am
Hi Rhonda: There is such a real shortage of GPs in Ontario, that if you have one, OHIP will not let you get a different one. A whole lot of people rely on the clinics that you just pop into and wait for a doctor, and likely don’t see the same one twice. You also have to have a referral from a a doctor to see a specialist like a neurologist, and then you don’t see him for 6 months. You cannot make an appointment directly with a specialist, so you can’t ‘shop’ for one. My doctor would not refer me to a specialist, so after 5 months of uncontrollable pain, I went and sat in Emerg. and demanded a prescription for Gabapentin (which is what I learned from this forum), and a referral to a neurologist. Took me 5 months to see him to find out he’s not a neuropathy specialist. I gave him the name of Dr. Angelika Hahn from the GBS/CIDP website who is in London, ON and I saw her 4 months later. She’s the best.
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January 9, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Val,
I’m so sorry to hear about your pain. I don’t know the answer to your question about any relationship between caffeine and increased pain, but hope you find an answer.
Those of us in the U.S. have been blessed with a medical system where we are free to choose our own doctors. While I realize that this can be limited by the ability to pay for the care, I hope those in this country in favor of the Obama care plans now before Congress will take heed of the disturbing limits encountered by our Canadian neighbors with their system of socialized medicine.
The Canadian system is one being touted by our politicians as such a great model for our own health care system. Be careful what you wish for….
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January 10, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Hi Val;
When my symptoms were peaking this summer I had to resort to
decaf , the caffeine would cause shooting pain in my hands and cause
my tremors to increase. Now 7 months later I’m drinking the ‘joe’ again but
I have to avoid too much of it because I still get some discomfort from it.
I really don’t believe it’s harmful but since caffeine puts a bit of a jolt in the nervous system I suppose we can expect it to cause some hiccups.
😮joel
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January 10, 2010 at 8:36 pm
I should also add that I am also a patient in the Canadian health care system.
I am an auto worker , lower middle class by any definition. When I became ill I saw my gp the same day who sent me for a battery of blood tests (the same day). I was referred to an infectious disease specialist , cardiologist and neurologist. Had mri, mibi , ct scan . I know there are some horror stories from our healthcare system but the U.S. system has no shortage of horror stories including millions with no coverage. I am extremely thankful that I didn’t have to go through this with inadequate coverage or have to deal with a possible bankruptcy on top of it all.joel
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January 11, 2010 at 12:20 am
Hey Joel: I guess that makes a lot of sense re the jolt to the nerves. I really must cut down on my caffeine intake and see if it helps. My GP has always spoken against too much caffeine, but he’s used that as an excuse for anything from breast cancer to hangnails, so I can’t take him seriously.
As for the healthcare here, my problem was getting past my GP. He doesn’t like making referrals. He did send me for an EMG but did not tell me that the neurologist in the hospital wanted me to make an appointment to see her because the tests were abnormal. He just laughed at me.
Once I sat in Emerg. and got a neuro., at least he had the sense to refer me to someone that really knew. He did send me for, and went within the month, for ultra sound, MRI & Catscan, but only because the original neuro that I didn’t know about said, ‘possible weight loss may be due to cancer’ and he had to cover his ass once it ended up on his desk. My GP didn’t tell me about that comment either and it scared the poop out of the neuro.
Finally got to Dr. Hahn and had a full workup. She c.c.d me her report because I was afraid that my GP wouldn’t discuss it with me (and he hasn’t to this day).
Suzanne: Healthcare in Ontario is EXCELLENT and it’s FREE FREE FREE. Only cost me parking at the hospital. There are a few bad apples in every barrell. I just happened to have bitten off the rotten one (my GP), so please don’t bash our socialized medicine, nor make me an example. I’m the rarety, and I wouldn’t live anywhere else.
If anybody else has any thoughts on caffeine and it’s affects, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.
Thanks very much
Val -
January 11, 2010 at 11:46 am
Val ,
On one occasion when I was unsure of my gp’s diagnosis (or lack of one)
I found a gp that was taking new patients. This is time consuming but in the end I felt more confident in my original doc! I did the same as you however in going to the er after a bout of passing out. My bp would just drop. THe er doc is the one that referred me to the neuro. I think that gp’s for some reason are less likely to refer a patient than er docs, maybe because the er docs don’t want us back clogging up their dept.! -
January 11, 2010 at 12:36 pm
[SIZE=”2″]Suzanne I agree with you 100% about the great health plan HE HAS. Goverment run–goverment control–and some elected goverment people will have their hands in it. Canada may have a good plan and Obama says we will model like Canada. Yes we will BUT with HIS guidelines.The ones here without a healthplan are the ones who fill the ERS for everything. I retired from a top hospital and one night about 2 AM a woman pulls up in a CAB pays the driver and comes into the ER. I happen to be with the nurse when she asked the woman her problem.(READY) I HAVE A HEAD ACHE.That statement cost someone $150.00. She was asked why she didn’t take something she said she didn’t have nuttin. Why didn’t you go and buy asprin. She replyed NO MONEY You had money for a cab SHE leaped up screamed YOU HAVE TO LET ME SEE A DOCTOR I KNOW MY RIGHTS. SHE SURE DID WHEN I LEFT 6 HOURS LATER SHE WAS STILL WAITING.We call this abuse. and who pays for no health plan NOW WE DO with our insurence[/SIZE][QUOTE=Suzanne]Val,
I’m so sorry to hear about your pain. I don’t know the answer to your question about any relationship between caffeine and increased pain, but hope you find an answer.
Those of us in the U.S. have been blessed with a medical system where we are free to choose our own doctors. While I realize that this can be limited by the ability to pay for the care, I hope those in this country in favor of the Obama care plans now before Congress will take heed of the disturbing limits encountered by our Canadian neighbors with their system of socialized medicine.
The Canadian system is one being touted by our politicians as such a great model for our own health care system. Be careful what you wish for….[/QUOTE]
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January 12, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Steve,
It is really shameful when people abuse the emergency health care system like the incident you described.
In my opinion, the system would work as it now stands, IF this kind of abuse were stopped, and IF this system were closed to illegal aliens.
Wish some enterprising law makers would pass a law making this kind of abuse illegal – AND ENFORCE IT!
We already have [U]so many [/U]laws on the books that would curb many types of abuses, if only our police and procecuters were ALLOWED by the government court system to arrest and prosecute the offenders.
Suzanne
P.S. Don’t know what made me think of it, but I realized that it is coming up on one year since your beloved Ceasar passed away. You, your wife, and Ceasar are in my thoughts.
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January 13, 2010 at 12:00 am
In Ontario, a lot of doctors operate in teams, or what they call The Service in order to provide better care for their patients. My GP is tied into 4 other GPs and by doing so, they agree with OHIP that they will limit each of their annual incomes to say $100,000. (I’m just making up a figure). Now, my GP can usually get me in same day but if I require services after hours, I call his office number and the recording gives the number for their Service. At that number I get a nurse practitioner who will assess my problem and either tell me to go to Emerg. or tell me which of the GPs is on call and she will have he/she call me. In the past, the GP has called me within 20 minutes and if he is able to assess the situation over the phone and make or prescribe medication over the phone, that is done. Otherwise, they will meet you down at their office right away. It’s worked really well when the kids got really sick at night. I’m lucky in that my GP has a medical condition himself, so he’s not on call because he can’t drive to his office by himself. I like the other ones better, LOL.
They form this team to provide 24/7 care and a patient should not have to go to a walk in clinic. Actually OHIP penalizes them if you do. For example, if OHIP pays the GP $40. for an office visit, they pay the walk in clinic $80. If you go to a clinic, OHIP will pay the clinic the $80. but they will take the $80. off my GPs annual income. My GP got REALLY mad at me one time when I took the kids to a clinic. He actually hit me really hard on the knee while I was sitting on his examination table (not once but twice, what can I say, the guys a jerk, LOL).
Emergency rooms will likely continue to see a lot of abuse and I don’t know how to correct it, but it’s a real shame. I’ve only had to use Emerg. a few times luckily and I have seen people abusing the system awefully. The Service that my GP has helps a lot to avoid this issue because there is always someone available. I just don’t like using him for this neuropathy issue because he doesn’t know a thing about it. Do you guys have anything like that in the U.S. It’s no charge here.
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January 15, 2010 at 9:49 pm
hello, everyone. I’m new to gbs foundation and forum. I was diagnosed in 2008, with gbs. I’ve been told to cut back on the caffeinne also. I was told ; it can make my syp0toms worsen. I’m still in quite a bit of pain.
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January 19, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Why not everyone give up their Medicare ? That is goverment run !!! That has worked better than anything. My wife has worked all her life and has no health insurance. The places she has worked, one for 25 years and it closed down. Worked for another for 3 years and it closed down, and worked for another 4 years and still has no health insurance, because none of these places she worked offered health insurance and they had no labor union to fight for them, so they went without any. It burns me to hear rich folk talk like it is everyones own fault for not having health care. How about all those rich old people in FL., maybe you could get them to give up their socialized medicare ? I don’t think so !!! Suzanne, let me tell you something else while I am talking… You have to have a referral for just about everything in the gook old USA. I don’t know where you have been doctoring, but you have not evidently done much here in the states. I waited 6 months to get into a pain clinic. I needed a referral from my Doctor. I needed a referral to get colonoscomy, and it took me on the waiting list 3 months and that is a quick as anyone can see this Dr. OH yes, all right here in the good ol USA. I am not an Obama fan and don’t look for much from them, but I am a fan of the hard working people in this country who are just one sickness from bankrupcy; taking away all they worked for…maybe 40 or more years. We would give anything for a plan like Canada has. I don’t hear of them coming to this country for our great medical system we have here.
Where’s you heart and compassion for the hurting people Suzanne ?God bless all the hard working folks around the world,
Drummer -
January 23, 2010 at 6:31 pm
Hey Lovemyford: Thanks very much for the feedback on the caffeine. I guess it does make some sense.
I think that when someone comes into ER for something that sounds harmless, that doctors are so afraid of their E & O insurance premiums going up for failing to perform, that they do their ream of tests anyway. This says something more about our legal systems (yours and mine) than about providing adequate care for those that deserve it, and drives up the cost. Control the blasted nonsense legal claims and cap the rewards, and our healthcare cost will improve. Blame the lawyers who are allowed to operate in such a government approved system, and not the doctors.
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January 24, 2010 at 2:54 am
I drink 12 cups of coffee everyday, and if company comes I make another pot full and maybe another. lol 🙂 I have never been told to cut back by any DR. If you are in the hospital you get coffee 3 times a day with each meal and more in between meals if you ask for it. So I fugure it is not bad if they let you have all you want while in the hospital. Coffee and the caffeine in it has some good benefits to your health. I know all here have read about this over the past few years. Good health too you…and I drink a cup of caffeine to that. 🙂
God bless,
Drummer
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