Hi folks,
I have 1 c of coffee in the morning (no other caffeine thru out the rest of the day) - my GI-doc nor my CRS has mentioned this would be bad for my fissure? Do any of you have any thoughts or suggestions if 1 c of coffee is harmful to fissure-healing? i figure not, if it's only a cup . . .

hey girl...how are you? As far as coffee goes, not a coffee drinker but was a diet coke-aholic pre fissurectomy/LIS. I doubt one cup would hurt, but since the caffeine does cause you to pee and thus dehydrate...it might be a good idea to hold off until you are healed. I have not had any caffeine for about 6 weeks now...2 weeks before surgery and 4 weeks since. I am a tea drinker and hope to get back to having my cuppa again after I feel I have this whole eating/pooping thing totally under control. Maybe decaf coffee will make you feel close enough... :) hope you are feeling better!

Hi Sailorgal,
It seems really unlikely that one cup of coffee in the morning is going to have that much of an impact. The bigger concern with caffeine is that it is a vasoconstrictor and what we're trying to do is keep blood vessels as open as possible to promote healing. caffeine also dehydrates, but one cup is probably not going to have that much of an effect in that regard.
I don't drink coffee so I can't speak from personal experience, but all in all, is it better to avoid it? Probably. But is giving up your one cup really going to make a huge difference? Probably not.
Best wishes today for your procedure, and best wishes for healing, healing, healing, healing.

I agree with jr2. IMHO, 1 cup of coffee is a very mild vasoconstricter, especially if it's an instant coffee.I like having one in the morning, but drink one cup of water before, just in case.
P.S. What about alcohol? It's an exellent vasodilator, exactly what we need. How about taking a glass of red wine every 4-6 hours or as needed ? :)
P.P.S. I'm not serious about PS

Haha! Thanks guys. Figured 1 c wouldn't do harm and Figured I might take a break from the coffee for a minute anyway since I'm on pain meds and any withdrawal symptoms I might have would be trumped by them. Might switch for tea for a bit - it at least has antioxidants. I tend to switch back and forth - don't like becoming dependent on any one thing (except maybe dark chocolate) :)
Seriously, figure same goes for a square or 2 of Lindt dark chocalate with sea salt? It's become a near daily joy, in moderation of course, since I avoid most other crappy food. I like the wine idea! Hae since cut out my glass with dinner when went on antibiotics and now Vicodin. But hopefully won't be on that for as long this time...
Thanks guys!

I never gave up my morning coffee and my fissure healed just fine. I drink two small cups of week coffee per day. Coffee is said to dehydrate, but with all the water I drink daily and the Restoralax I couldn't notice any problem.

thanks Baba, very reassuring and helpful. and congratulations on your healing!

Hi Sailorgal,
I was advised by my CRS to have _no_ caffeine and _no_ alcohol, because they are dehydrating and the colon needs to stay well-hydrated in order to heal.
That said, I tried, I mean I _really_ tried to follow this strictly. Avoiding alcohol wasn't a problem, but after stopping the coffee (I had previously been a heavy coffee drinker), I developed a caffeine withdrawal headache that just wouldn't stop. For 5 days, nothing would touch it, including the strong pain meds given earlier for the fissure. From what I read about caffeine withdrawal headaches, they can go on for a week or two, and that was more than I could tolerate.
I finally had one cup of coffee, and within 1.5 hours, the monster headache was gone. I called the doc's office and explained my situation to the nurse. She said that while complete avoidance was preferable, one cup a day was acceptable under the circumstances. I may be able to gradually go off it altogether, but the single cup doesn't seem to be doing anything to my fissure, and it sure keeps me happy.
That's anecdotal, I know, but it's my experience, FWIW.
May the healing be with you.