Drinking tea?

Ok this is kind of a weird one but I just wondered if anyone else had experienced this - when I drink a cup of tea (breakfast tea with milk) I have to go to the bathroom.

Now, this is't a milk issue because it doesn't happen when I drink a glass of milk, and it also isn't a caffeine issue because it happens with de-caff tea. It also doesn't happen if I don't need to go to the bathroom. So for example if my bowels have already moved and there's nothing left then I can drink tea and nothing happens. I don't drink coffee but I imagine that it would happen with coffee because its quite common.

Has anyone else had anything similar? My doctor had never heard of it and said quite plainly "stop drinking tea then?" But I reeeeeeally don't want to stop drinking tea because I love it too much :(

I'm thinking it is a brain/digestive system communication issue. I'm assuming you are referring to hot tea, in which case the hotter temp may have something to do with stimulating this communication whereas colder drinks don't.

I agree with others I think it is a brain/digestive communication thing, I like the hot beverage vs. cold thought. Have you tried iced tea and does that have the same affect? but really you should just give it a rest for awhile and then go back and see how it goes in a few days or weeks. My thought is it must not to be to bad if the desire to drink tea outweighs any UC issues it causes, if it gets worse I can pretty much guarantee that your opinion on tea will change eventually and it will become much easier to stop it at that point. I have done the same thing for so many foods. I used to drink up to 6 cups of coffee a day prior to UC, I reeeeeally love it myself. Until I got so bad from it now I'm about 6 cups a year and don't miss it anymore.


UC is just a flipping wonderful thing!!!

could it be the chlorogenic acid or catchecins or Vitamin K like in green tea of alfalfa?

...as an addition to the above.

The Clipper organic decaf brand in the UK also uses unbleached teabags, which might be another thing in it's favour.

I also use Clipper decaffeinated coffee, which is not only fine but has actually HELPED my colitis. A cup after a meal helps me digest protein better, meaning less undigested lumps reach my colon. I suspect that's because I have low stomach acid in general, but means I get the health benefits and taste of coffee without the caffeine side effects. I'd recommend it.

(no I don't work for Clipper, I'm just a ex-caffeine junkie trying to get my tea/coffee fix in a healthy way).

Thanks so much for all the info! I've thought before maybe it's in my head, so you could be right about that! My dad drinks coffee in order to "go" in the morning so maybe it's just something like that. Never had iced tea but that's only because I don't like it. I'll keep experimenting and see how I get on :)

Prob worth mentioning, I don't have UC. Doc isn't sure what I have got but there is a bit inflammation. It's a little confusing cos he has been absolutely explicit that I have no evidence of IBD from the (numerous!) tests I've had, inc flex sig, but my biopsies, blood tests, stools samples etc are all normal. He only could see little red patch which he referred to as "very mild erythema" in the rectum. Not enough to call it proctitis even, and he saw no excess mucus anywhere! But I get blood and mucus in stool, never had diarrhoea. Tbf though I also have a fissure so it's hard to tell where the blood is definitely coming from. I'm in the midst of waiting for an appt with gastroenterology just now - see what they have to say. I've not had any meds or treatment, nor have I done food elimination to.rule out allergy or intolerance. It's a big mystery I guess!

What I have learned is that initially I thought if you have inflammation you have ibd, but it's becoming clearer and clearer that it's much more of a grey area. Both my doctors are very experienced and very well respected and both of them tell me they are not at all concerned, and honestly I'm inclined to believe them! Just makes it stranger that I have symptoms. Although that being said, a friend of mine is a surgeon and he developed blood and mucus in his stool when he was promoted to director of a hospital, then when he left that stressful job it disappeared. So who knows what weird stuff goes on!

Thanks for your responses - if I find an answer to the tea thing I'll update you all :)

Have you tried drinking tea without milk? I usually go toilet when I have milk with my tea (I use unsweetened almond milk as I can't tolerate normal milk whilst on Azathioprine - well that's a guess as I used to tolerate it before my flare up and now I can't) and now I have no issue at all.

I think you should try that before trying different brands or methods as it's an easy one to test out. I know you said you can drink a glass of milk but maybe the tea and milk combo is setting you off.

Hope this helps

Currently on a flare-up and I cope better with green tea no milk than I did with normal tea with milk but everyone is different.

I still say the biggest culprit is the temperature.