Cofffffeeeeee .... how will I live without it???

Anyone have a coffee substitute? I miss coffee soo much. Used to drink a couple pots a day (yeah, by myself) while at work. I'd have 50/50 caf/decaf, but it was extra strong, so that was probably like shooting espresso directly into my veins.
It's like when I used to drink alcohol - I don't miss getting drunk & making a fool of myself; it's the taste I miss! I really liked the taste of bourbon, even the cheap stuff. (Problem is, I've liked the taste since I was 12.) Gave up drinking after it started affecting my marriage. Still miss it, but I can fight that off a lot easier than the desire for a nice comforting cup o' coffee. OKay, so that was all probably TMI

If I up my valium or diuretic once in a while, do ya think I could have coffee sometimes??

 

Have you personally made a connection with coffee and your meniere's? Sometimes people are told by their docs very generalized do's and don'ts, but many find that not to be necessary. And if you have experimented and find a reaction, is it caffeine or the coffee itself?

 

Yeah, I thought I had, but ??? maybe I was grouping coffee in with everything else. I mean, I wasn't low-sodium at the time & it was pre-"that time o' month".

I just drank ~6 oz. of the landlord's coffee - caf, but kinda weak - and my ears are ringing something crazy. I could live with this ringing if it means I can have coffee again, but I'll have to use the M word - not Meniere's - MODERATION. But I suppose if I get vertigo later today, I'll (sadly) have to make the assumption. All this food-trigger testing stuff is complicated and tedious!!!

In your opinion, how long does it take for a 'trigger' food to effect somebody? (Probably different with everybody, huh...)

 

It takes triggers differing time for me, depending on which one it is, and how I am feeling at the time of exposure. But I never trust just once. Could be a coincidence, so when feeling better, I try it again. You can try regualr caffeinated coffee, then later try a good decaff, some are more decaffeinated than others, then another time have something caffeinated that isn't coffee.

I remember years ago trying a tea that had a very robust, coffee-ish sort of hearty flavor. But I can't remember right now what it was. I'll get my brain working on that.
I tried a "coffee" made from cannibas, yes related to weed but inactive and not a drug, perfectly legal, and it was delicious! I had it made up into a latte. Should be able to find that online somewhere.

 

Yeah, I suppose if I can behave myself at supper, I'll maybe try another cup tomorrow and see what happens.

Cannibas coffee...hmmmm...sounds like a very interesting possibility ;D googlegooglegoogle
Thanks!

 

So I tried a very quick google search...cannabis, cannibas, hemp, and all I can find are hemp and coffee beans combined.  The coffee stand I got that latte from said it was all hemp/cannabis, no caffeine and not chemically treated, etc. Come to think of it, I sure mellowed out after that latte,  and I haven't seen that stand for a long time...hmmmm....

I'm not giving up on that search yet though. 

 

Couldn't find cannabis coffee - search for that only led to lots and lots (and lots) of cannabis coffee shops in Amsterdam ;D I have enough dizziness without adding cannabis anyway!!

And Wow! Search for "coffee substitutes" and there are lots of sites ... soy coffee, chicory (of course), dandelion, roasted wheat, barley, yak (okay kidding about the yak, although if I kept looking, I'd probably find that, too).

I sent a few e-mails asking for free samples ... probably won't get any positive responses, but it couldn't hurt to ask. I volunteered that I'd give them free advertising through M web forum if I liked their product - how's that for name-dropping! Aaron never gripes at me for spending money, so maybe I'll go ahead and waste a few bucks on coffee substitutes if I can't get any freebies.

The one place - teeccino.com - sounded pretty good. They had assortment packets of flavored coffee substitutes. There was another one - Bambu - but it was in the U.K.

 

I only did a very small 2 day test to see if coffee was a trigger to me. For any of the symptoms. It does not seem to have any effect at all one way or the other. Thank heavens! (I admit, I could have forced the outcome of this "test" by extreme desire)

 

I do understand that extreme desire thing! If this teeccino thing works out, I'll let ya'll know.

 

Here's a hemp coffee http://www.herbalhut.com/detail.aspx?ID=16856

Im not sure if it is tasty or not as Im not a coffee drinker.

 

Thanks! I'll give it a look. Teeccino customer service rep got back in touch with me yesterday and said she'd be happy to send me a free sample, so I'm looking forward to trying that one.

 

Good Luck I hope it works out well for you

 

Well ... the Teeccino arrived in 'makes six cups' packet. I brewed it with about four cups of water because I like my coffee strong. Went into this with the realization that this stuff IS NOT coffee (so don't expect it to taste like coffee). It wasn't too bad and I'll be ordering more, although I think I'll order some flavored as opposed to the 'original roast'. One of the ingredients was orange peel, and I think that's the 'hint of a flavor' I didn't really like. All in all though, I think I've found a substitute for coffee. I drank most of the entire pot in an afternoon and didn't have any 'reactions'. Where there's a will, there's a way...

 

UPDATE: I ordered more from Teeccino - this time "Organic Maya Caffe". "Ingredients: organic roasted carob, organic roasted barley, organic roasted chicory, organic roasted ramon nuts and natural coffee flavor" Not sure what that 'natural coffee flavor' part's about ???

Anyway, I brewed a pot this morning and it's not bad! This version of Teeccino truly does taste like coffee. It was, like, $8.50 if I remember right for a 8.5 oz. can, so it's not cheap & I won't be guzzling it like I did the Chase & Sanborn, but at least I can have something closer to 'real life' again.

I told the nice lady on the Teeccino website - www.teeccino.com - that I'd tell everybody IF I liked it ... so there I would recommend this stuff to anybody who is sensitive to coffee/coffee ingredients.

Commercial over. ;D

 

I'm glad you found a coffee you like It makes all the difference to changing over our lifestyle.

 

I can't tolerate coffee or tea, my ear will plug right away, but diet coke is fine. Not exactly healthy but gives me that caffeine boost. Lisa

 

Ear plugging isn't my problem; it's the vertigo. For some reason caffeine (coffee, tea, coke, etc.) AND decaf coffee bother me. Oh well I just placed my second order for Organic Maya Caffee. Also ordered some regular roast Teeccino Herbal Coffee. I definitely wish I had something to give me a caffeine boost - I've been draggin' lately!

 

I know what you mean about the caffeine boost, I get dizzy spells from the caffeine too. Sometimes its so hard for me to get all I need to get done without it.

 

We're such shameless druggies!!! ;D Forced to rely on our own attitudes to keep us moving instead of caffeine - EGAD!! What's this world coming to!?! ;D

Strange how Meniere's has been such a lifestyle change ... I'm eating healthier, but not so that I'll look nifty in a bikini (Yikes!). Hard to eat anything when you're nauseous 5 outa 7 days of the week :

 

I have been off caffeine for over a year but I still miss it ;D I was dreaming about Coca-Cola last week!