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Has anyone here with fecal IC had to give up coffee, or mostly so?

I consume two black coffees in the morning (one on weekends). Once in a while I'll have a tea (black) in the afternoon. This doesn't seem like a recipe for problems to me but I do see coffee is listed as a possible cause:

• Caffeine, alcohol, some fruit juices and prunes.
• Beans and cabbage family vegetables.
• Spicy foods and cured or smoked meats.
• Dairy products.
• Artificial sweeteners.

I've given up spicy foods. I gave up smoking decades ago, which was horribly difficult but glad I did (especially with onset of diabetes). But I really don't want to quit coffee.

I experience bowl incontienence when I drink drip (well I have one of those fancy k cup machines) more than espresso. I think it’s the acidity or something. I can get a drink from Starbucks and have no issues but have a cup at home and am unable to make it to the bathroom or just barely make it. I don’t drink alcohol and gave up cigarettes but do use a vape. I don’t see any correlation to nicotine and my bowel incontinence though. Coffee is tricky and i like it a lot. I just can’t give it up. I blame it on the fact that I worked at Starbucks for 3 and a half years. Bastards got me addicted!

Very interesting observations. As my bowel incontinence is due in large part to severe chronic constipation, my SCI doc has virtually prescribed me two cups of coffee each morning to "help move things along." That is timed with breakfast to reinforce the gastrocolic effect.

When I have a messy diaper in the morning, it is due to my laxatives + coffee kicking in a bit earlier than I had planned .

The purpose of the coffee and breakfast is to move as much "stuff" as low in the colon as possible, so that it will be flushed out by my medically-prescribed enemas. Afterward I am almost guaranteed to stay "neat" until the next morning.

I have not sensed a difference from different sources of coffee. I mostly drink expresso from K-cups when at home.

--John
(double incontinent)

In recent years, I have noticed the difference when switching between instant coffee (my norm) and brewed coffee. The switch always sends me to the toilet.

John - the acidity definitely is my issue I think. I can drink caribou k cups and it will give me issues but not aldi k cups. Today I had 2 cups of aldi French vanilla and had a normal BM. Although sometimes my mochas that I get at the rehab hospital makes me have accidents (it’s happened twice. It was horrible) it doesn’t always. And I’m really stubborn about having my coffee but I haven’t found a safe one yet. Starbucks espresso hasn’t caused issues though. So in conclusion. I have no freaking clue.

Update: For that last month of so, I've stopped having my morning coffee when going out, to avoid F-IC away from home. But the other factor was that I quit buying and consuming apple cider. At my last doc visit, he said my Janumet (Januvia + Metformin) should not be causing diarrhea like plain Metformin does. So that had me looking for other sources of this problem. Quitting the apple cider has made a huge difference. So while I miss my beloved apple cider (non-alcoholic), I am relieved to be able to return to a more regular control.

I still have to avoid coffee in the morning when going out, but I am doing much better now without the apple cider. So when I stay home for the morning, I can still enjoy my coffee knowing the toilet is not far away.

For now, I still wear max protection when I leave home for any length of time but the day may be coming when I can relax this somewhat.

My GI system is paralyzed. If I take too little stool softener, or too little laxative, I will develop a blockage; when diarrhea develops, it will leak past the blockage, and I soil myself. Likewise, too much stool softener and too much laxative will cause bowel leakage. Coffee stimulates my GI system, which reduces the amount of stool softener/laxative I need to control my GI system. But I love my coffee, especially at breakfast. However, I'm not a medical professional, so I do not always get the diet/stool softener/laxative/coffee balance correctly, which makes diapers and internal deodorants necessary.

Sorry to hear that Patrick. Life sure gets rough without enough coffee!

Thanks for your concern. Compared to others here, my situation is mild indeed. I do what I need to do, without complaining to my family, and get on with life. Being able to vent here, among folks who understand, makes life for my family so much easier.

Patrick is so right about venting. There are so few people with whom we really can say what we feel as we can here. Plus, those here actually understand how we feel.

--John
(double incontinent)