To All Coffee Drinkers...do you think this aggravates IBS?

I am beginning to wonder if its coffee that has been aggravating my ibs lately... and keeps me feeling not well. I usually 90% of the time drink decaf...but sometimes I think it makes very little difference. I drink approx. 5 cups per day.
I would really like to know your opinion and experience with coffee if you have ibs.
THANKS!

Thanks, soystud, for your response. Well, I am not really ready to totally abandon my 'sludge'... and then started in Googling some things that might help. Today I added half and half with a little turbinado sugar and felt great... limited to two cups, however! :)
I also remembered that I used to add a half teaspoon of good baking soda (no aluminum) to a cup of coffee...and that worked.
Take care! Sounds like you are doing a good of that! :)
Bettsann

What I have discovered (experimented with) the last 2 weeks or so... is that when I add half and half or almond milk to my coffee (with reg or decaf) that it seems to have stopped triggering the diarrhea in the mornings. I miss straight black coffee...but its worth the trade off... So...I guess, for me at least, it must be the reduction in acidity (because of the half and half or milk) that could have been the reason for the change.

Hi Lele
Thanks for your response!
I have experimented a bit...and seem to be 'getting along' with coffee once more. However, like you, I have become pretty particular about what kind and how much I drink.
I had almost forgotten one of my 'old tricks' which helped me so much. And that was to add a half teaspoon baking soda to my coffee which will de-acidify it... and when I do that, I seem to have little trouble.
Bettsann

Hi Cherokee!
(My grandfather was a Cherokee from North Carolina! :) )
What I did was go completely off all grains. Completely... this was NOT easy for me... because so many things have wheat in them... This was ALL grains, including things like brown rice, quinoa, etc... not just 'gluten free'...
Well, it worked. All I ate was meat, fruit, and vegetables and things made that were totally grain free...however, I still could have chocolate! :) and certain ice creams so I survived...
I stayed on this way of eating for almost 5 months and then got really sick... NOT from what I ate, but the act that a full blood panel showed I was dangerously low on both sodium and chloride... So, I started in taking pink Himalayan salt and brought the levels back up within a week... I practically had been eaten salt free and that is NOT good for you (as drs are now owning up to!) ... So I started in including brown rice, quinoa, etc... and can now occasionally eat something with wheat in it.
This is essentially what they call a Paleo diet which some people seem to swear by... I guess you could give it a whirl... just know it is VERY difficult (it was to me I should say) It requires treating ALL grains as if they were poison (which means no canned soups, anything that is pre-prepared on the shelves...) It means not even ONE BITE of them...because it takes a long time to get grains out of your system and you will go through a detox which really can make you feel sick at tims...
So...anyhoo....that is what I did...but yes, no more bouts of IBS, no unexpected times of diarrhea, no worries about going out and having an accident...
PS: by the way, gluten-free did NOTHING to help me...in sofar as the IBS was concerned...
Good luck!
Bettsann

Hi,

(I'm a newbie here so excuse any errors!)

Well, I certaibly find coffee "speeds things along" which is great if you have ibs-c but not so good for ibs-d! I find that coffee causes acid reflux if I drink too much and can really upset my tum! I tend to steer away from it during an episode and just stick to tea! Luckily energy drinks don't seem to effect me, so I'm blessed I can still get my caffeine fix from that!