Major caffeine addiction

I'm quite embarassed, because I've been pretty judgemental in regard to pregnancy health before.
But... I have a problem.
When I returned to work after having DD I was drinking up to 3 cups of coffee plus 2 cups of tea or chocolate in a day. I cut back to 1-2 coffees and 1-2 cups tea or chocolate when we decided to stop using contraception.
Due to m/s (I have the queasies most of the day) I just cannot stomach hot drinks, which I guess is a relief. The problem is that I am desperate for coke (cola that is, LOL!). It settles my stomach like nothing else will. And the other day I decided I wasn't going to have one and I practically fell asleep at my desk (which was kind of embarassing).
How much coke is harmful to my baby? I'm really hoping that in a few weeks the sick feeling will go away and I'll stop, but I know that the first tri is very important in terms of a baby's development.
I've been having a can or a small bottle almost every day for the last couple of weeks :redface: Will this have negative effects on my baby do you think?

Amy - i can't help you with an answer cos i honestly have no idea - was actually coming on to ask myself how much coke is tolerable!!! i've had shocking migraines my whole life, and was actually recommended by a neurosurgeon in my teens to drink a can of coke a day to control them (was cheaper than $60 a week meds with caffeine as active ingredient!). i've gone mostly off coke since pg (and a bit before to be honest) but have now had a headache that is feeling like it's heading to a migraine for about four days - would be interested to hear peoples opinion on the caffeine front! i've gone off tea (don't do coffee) and even chocolate isn't sitting well, so i was curious as to wheter a can of coke here and there would be bad for the gremlin....

Wow! I didn't know caffeine could cure migraines. (I don't get them so why would I know? LOL. Just really interesting.)

I would say that your one can/small bottle a day would be fine. You can have several cups of normal coffee in a day and be ok.

I was a caffeine addict before I was pg with Oskar!! I was having on a typical day 5/6 cups...lol. Went down to 2 I think, then I was up to 3 but being pg again now I was right off it until a few weeks ago and I have maybe 2 or 3 in a week..lol.

doesn't work for everyone - but it was working for me! we experimented with lots of preventative medication til we found one that worked - when it was working, we went and tried a generic drug that was exactly the same except it had no caffeine - i got migraines again. so we experimented with the coke, and it was working really well. i've managed to go 10 weeks relatively caffeine free (have had maybe half dozen cups of tea and one glass of coke!) but have now been suffering for days with a headache - which makes the morning sickness queasies sooooooooo much worse!

it was definitely a weird experiment (but i've heard it from a number of people now so can't be THAT odd), and one that worked and saved my parents (and i guess me now) heaps on preventative and treatment meds!

Too much caffeine can be a risk factor in miscarriage - but I think its like over 10 cups a day or something??

I just went down to two cups in the first trimester - then just went back to my normal 3-4 cups of tea a day, plus a truckload of chocolate!!! Nothing appears to be wrong with my children ;)

I know my sister drinks about 2L of coke throughout her pregnancies - and she has had losses - but that was cos of a clotting disorder rather than too much caffeine...she has pretty small babies though - don't know if thats related??

I drink at least a double shot latte every day and now I have added a pot of tea to that for some reason, I drink the occasional Coke but if you have a look at the list of ingredients on the can, you will see that caffeine is near the end meaning it doesn't contain a whole lot. I drank way more caffeine with Noah than I do now and so far he looks and acts normal :lol:

They reccommend no more than 160mg of caffine a day for PG women. A cafe style coffee can contain up to 100mg caffine. Insant coffee i about 60-80 mg, tea about 50mg. A can of coke contain about 60mg, I think.

I use to have 1 can of coke and a couple cups of tea a day. I stopped drinking coffee, though that was not a frequent thing.

Just remember, everything in moderation.

Ah, good. I suppose I should be more worried about the other stuff in coke, rather than just the caffeine, hey? :lol: Sounds like I am pretty tame when it comes down to it then. That's a relief :)
And BG, that is really cool - I can just imagine it'd be a huge saving over the years.

i think i'd be broke by now if i hadn't found coke as a substitute preventative!! at the moment, i'm resisting the urge (feeling too queasy to be honest!) but if i wake in the morning and STILL have this headache, tomorrow arvo i'll be bringing out the big guns!

i drank 1 coke most days during preg!!

everything in moderation is ok.

as long as u dont have coke, coffee, tea and choc everyday!!!!!

HERE'S a link to a thread on the effects of drinking a can of cola (any type) on your body... it's from the general health section. I'm not sure on the effects on the fetus but I would assume most of the ingredients would cross the placenta so your bub could be feeling the same effects. :dunno: HTH

:doh:

i guess again it comes back to moderation - the article lists worst case scenario - if the only thing you;re consuming for your entire pregnancy is coke, then it's going to be bad for you. but all things in moderation - enying yourself something leads to binging, which is a hell of a lot worse....

I'd maybe try finding an alternative... if it's the fizz you are after then maybe consider lemonade? I don't like coke... but quite like sarspirella on the odd occassion.

for me it's the caffeine - i dont like coffee and rarely drink tea.

i feel a coke every now and again is better than preventative meds = at the moment i only really drink water and maybe 150ml of dry ginger ale

dont stress too much.. i have gone through a good 1-2 litres a day being pregnant. Im an addict i know.. but hey there are worse things to be addicted to. I have tried to cut back and on a good day i will only have a glass but on a bad day i can down a 2ltr to myself!

Hmmm I hadn't thought of dry ginger ale. Lemonade is a bit too sweet tasting. I know that coke has heaps of sugar but all the other chemicals sort of take away the sweet taste, LOL. So that's why no other drinks seem to cut the crook feeling for me. But I hadn't thought of dry ginger, so I might give that a go...
But I don't think it's going to stop me falling asleep at my desk - hence my question about the caffeine. At work they don't know I'm pregnant yet. Perhaps I will have to tell them so I can have a sleep at lunch.

Amy if it is the sweet taste you want and don't want the sugar, what about soda/mineral water with low joule cordial? I was drinking at least a litre of soda water a day when pg with Liam, sometime I had it with cordial or juice mixed into it, but mostly plain. I just loved the fizzyness of it and it helped with my quesiness and later on, heartburn. But really I wouldn't be worried about one small bottle of coke a day. :)

Yep, dry ginger ale often really hit the spot when I was morning sick with my 3 pregnancies... I'd give that a go :)

Kel, I've never much liked the taste of soda water... Golly, I'm a fusspot! But could probably go it with a bit of cordial. I might try the ginger first cause I know ginger is supposed to be good for motion sickness etc.
Thanks for the suggestions.

Hi Snacks. Maybe it's the sugar hit and fluid from the coke that is settling your tummy. Icy cold red cordial was always good for me or a frozen slurpie. But like Feeb said - Everything in moderation so don't be worrying too much. Hope you're feeling better soon.

Hey,
I'm very much the same. I've been craving coke like mad and I figure there are far worse things I could be having. I may have a couple of cans a day, sometimes more. I've tried alternatives but everything else just doesn't sit well on my stomach (even ginger beer/ale, lemonade, soda water). I'm going with the "everything in moderation" line. Plus a midwife I had when I was pg with Lilah said she craved and lived on coke and mars bars throughout all of her pregnancies and all of her kids are fine. People will love to tell you what you "can't" or "shouldn't" do, but like heaps of people have said- moderation is the key. :)

I tend to think people underestimate how bad coke is for your body. Like the article says.... The human body actually doesn't like any fizzy drinks or cold drinks (or too hot). Room temp water is ideally the best way to go. Saying that, I drink tea, but make it weak, and add honey. I find that is great for nausea. xoxo

Just wanted you to know that I'm a huge Coke Zero girl - usually 203 cans a day. When I am pregnant I stop - cold turkey. But of course the first 5-6 weeks when you don't know....well I also drank alcohol and ate shell fish. DD turned out okay!! I think you do have to be more careful but when I had my m/c they couldn't tell me if it was because I drank too much caffeine. I also love ice coffee but try to have only a glass or two a day. Don't feel too guilty and maybe find an alternative if you can. Or caffeine free coke - no sugar no caffeine - what's in it???:doh:

Hey Amy,

Congrats on your pregnancy hun.

I usually have 2 cups of tea a day and a diet coke (which is probably worse than a coke but I love it and figure that everything these days have carcinaogenics in it). If i dont have it I feel sick- headaches, tiredness so I totally understand your need for some cafeine.

I asked my midwife about it and she said the amount of cafeine I am having is fine and that I shouldnt stress as stressing can cause more problems (like high blood presssure) than cafeine.

Hope that you have a happy and healthy pregnancy.