Caffeine an irritant

I haven't drunk any caffeine for a few years now, as I realised that tea and coffee irritated my bladder. I had frequent urine infections - not so frequent now - and no longer drinking caffeine has definitely helped, not just with the number of infections, but also with the uncomfortable feeling of irritation. Also, caffeine is a no no as far as reflux is concerned, another one of my little problems. I drink decaff tea and very occasionally decaff coffee. I also like Redbush tea. Don't forget that caffeine is also in quite a few soft drinks.

Dreadful stuff - I pee about 6 times per cup of tea - or I used to - don't touch the stuff now!

Caffeine (and aspartame - a sweetener which can have the same effect) are often in medicines.

I only drink tea when I'm pregnant

His GP suggested DH switch to decaff to try and cut down his toilet trips, but it hasn't made any noticeable difference. Mind you, he drinks so much of it...

I find I drink far too many cups of tea and coffee, although I've just switched back to decaff. What I've done recently is dig out some old china cups from the back of the cupborad so when Ihave a drink I have half the quantity. Still have to get up several times a night, though.

Me too, Tegan. The annoying thing is OH NEVER gets up through the night! I don't understand it!

I'm sure that's why I feel so tired a lot of the time; then I drink caffeine to keep me going ....

I mostly drink green teas or Redbush, very rarely coffee. Yesterday I was given, unasked, a large cup of very strong black coffee and rather than say 'I don't drink coffee' (wimp) I drank it and woke up this morning with a cracker of a headache - never again.

I'd never heard of Redbush before; it sounds lovely. Must get some.

If I had to drink decaf I would give up coffee altogether, the chemicals to extract the caffeine leave a horrible aftertaste.

It's horrible (Redbush) Completely undrinkable.

I'm sorry Gally! I thought you were someone else!

I'm sure redbush is all down to individual taste.

Of all the decaf coffees with a horrible aftertaste has been one from Costa. We drink ground coffee at home and shopped around until we found one we actually liked as much as our normal brand. Perhaps some people's taste buds are more sensitive to differences than others but I'd disagree about decaf automatically tasting different because it's decaf. We drink Tetleys decaf tea and that's fine too...

Of all the decaf coffees we tried ... I meant to say...

Since I drink Redbush, it obviously isn't undrinkable, jingl.

Most decaff cooffees are done using the swiss water method which does not use chemicals, so I do not see how they can have a chemical aftertaste.

Coffees as well!

We drink decaff coffee - I did know caffeine was an irritant. I think that decaff still has a small amount of caffeine in it though, so I've read, so best not to have too much of it. I still find it hard to sleep at night despite drinking decaff and herbal teas (not together, I might add!)
OH has prostate probs so frequent weeing is an issue - he still drinks ordinary tea though! He doesn't believe it makes any difference and there's no convincing him.
DD1 loves Redbush and is a fan of chai - can't see the attraction of the latter myself, but I do drink chamomile, elderflower, hop, lemon balm and several other herbal teas in the morning. Lemon balm and chamomile are supposed to be calming, which is why I am persevering with them.