Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Community Conversation => Transitioning => Hormone replacement therapy => Topic started by: Jen-Jen on January 05, 2013, 10:13:06 AM

Title: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: Jen-Jen on January 05, 2013, 10:13:06 AM
I drink alot of coffee at work and I was just wondering. Thanks

I guess this can go for caffiene in general even though I personally don't drink soda pop!
Title: Re: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: LilDevilOfPrada on January 05, 2013, 10:19:28 AM
Quote from: Jen-Jen on January 05, 2013, 10:13:06 AM
I drink alot of coffee at work and I was just wondering. Thanks

I guess this can go for caffiene in general even though I personally don't drink soda pop!

I used to drink coffee everyday but now days its like my body says no no and when I do drink it I get a tad quizzy. Then again I cant nessarily blame HRT for that but it happened after I started HRT so who knows.
Title: Re: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: Catherine Sarah on January 05, 2013, 10:23:29 AM
Hi Jen,

Has a lot to do with the format of your HRT. Pill, patch, gel, shot, implant etc, and your metabolism.

Generally speaking a lot of coffee is not good for the liver, regardless of other medications.

Your Endo will have a better idea, as he/she has more detail info of your internal functionality, from blood tests.

Huggs
Catherine
Title: Re: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: Jen-Jen on January 05, 2013, 10:49:14 AM
Thank you Catherine.  I am currently on pill form,  I am naturally really hyper, I drink coffee to calm me down or i drive my coworkers bonkers by bouncing off the walls! Lol 
Title: Re: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: Catherine Sarah on January 05, 2013, 10:59:05 AM
Hi Jen,

I'm not exactly sure of the chemical composition of coffee and its potential effect on HRT medication.

Just given the fact that on the first pass though of your liver, you'll lose 50% or more of Oestrogen. From memory, coffee has a longer half life which may influence what's left of your HRT. Whether the stimulant effect of coffee can assist at a neurological level, I'm not sure. Again, your Endo will have the answers.

Now might be a good time to check out the hyperactivity and what triggers it.

Huggs
Catherine
Title: Re: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: LilDevilOfPrada on January 05, 2013, 12:26:48 PM
Quote from: Jen-Jen on January 05, 2013, 10:49:14 AM
Thank you Catherine.  I am currently on pill form,  I am naturally really hyper, I drink coffee to calm me down or i drive my coworkers bonkers by bouncing off the walls! Lol

Coffe has never made me more hyper I am ADHD so its kinda hard to but I dont think coffee has enough caffine concentration so I can see how it calms you :P go try have to full mosters in 5 min WOW most fun experence ever till the pass out due to exhaution :P best all nighter tool ever
Title: Re: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: BunnyBee on January 05, 2013, 12:43:00 PM
If coffee calms you down, you probably have ADD :).
Title: Re: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: Elspeth on January 05, 2013, 12:50:46 PM
Quote from: Jen on January 05, 2013, 12:43:00 PM
If coffee calms you down, you probably have ADD :).

What Jen said.

Because of other conditions that tend to suggest I should avoid stronger stimulants I've never been able to do a formal test to confirm ADHD, but both my children have been diagnosed with it since very early childhood, and my last therapist and I had more or less assumed that it was there for me as well.

I try not to do too much coffee, and try to stick to caffeinated teas to get that beneficial concentration boost that's a very common thing with those who do have ADHD. Some sources claim that green teas and various other foods also boost estrogen levels. I'm a big fan of tofu and other soy products.
Title: Re: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: LilDevilOfPrada on January 05, 2013, 01:37:56 PM
Quote from: Elspeth on January 05, 2013, 12:50:46 PM
What Jen said.

Because of other conditions that tend to suggest I should avoid stronger stimulants I've never been able to do a formal test to confirm ADHD, but both my children have been diagnosed with it since very early childhood, and my last therapist and I had more or less assumed that it was there for me as well.

I try not to do too much coffee, and try to stick to caffeinated teas to get that beneficial concentration boost that's a very common thing with those who do have ADHD. Some sources claim that green teas and various other foods also boost estrogen levels. I'm a big fan of tofu and other soy products.

May I just suggest put them on meds, Look I reject and never did meds and because of that I have no memeroy of my childhood and all the doctors I went blame the fact on my ADHD so trust me a worth while venture if they love their childhood but I hated mine so I dont mind :P
Title: Re: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: Pippa on January 06, 2013, 04:29:52 AM
Quote from: Jen-Jen on January 05, 2013, 10:49:14 AM
Thank you Catherine.  I am currently on pill form,  I am naturally really hyper, I drink coffee to calm me down or i drive my coworkers bonkers by bouncing off the walls! Lol

Coffee to calm you down?  As it contains caffiene, a stimulant, it is likely to have exactly the oppositie effect.  I had a friend who was a firemen and used to get throught the nightshift on coffee.  It got so bad that when he didn't get a cup, he got the shakes.

That said, scientific evidence is that your body adapts it behaviour to how much coffee you drink.  for some people 12 cups a day will have the same affect as one on those who drink coffee rarely.

It's not for nothing that large levels of caffiene are listed on the Athletics banned list!
Title: Re: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: luna nyan on January 06, 2013, 05:15:23 AM
Caffeine has a diuretic effect.
If you're taking spiro, then you may have an additive effect on the diuretic front and end up with low blood pressure.  This is not guaranteed to happen though, as many regular drinkers of caffeine will develop a tolerance - you may just have to find out what happens so to speak and have your blood pressure monitored.
There is the well known stimulant effect, but that is seperate to HRT.
Title: Re: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: big kim on January 06, 2013, 06:27:27 AM
I don't know about the effects on HRT but my caffeine tolerance dropped significantly
Title: Re: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: Elspeth on January 06, 2013, 08:38:54 AM
Quote from: LilDevilOfPrada on January 05, 2013, 01:37:56 PM
May I just suggest put them on meds, Look I reject and never did meds and because of that I have no memeroy of my childhood and all the doctors I went blame the fact on my ADHD so trust me a worth while venture if they love their childhood but I hated mine so I dont mind :P

Not sure I understand your suggestion. In my case, another condition is the reason that no one in medicine will prescribe Ritalin or any other ADHD treatment that involves stimulants to me in particular, and the reason as well that absolute confirmation of the ADHD diagnosis that seems almost certain is not something doctors are willing to risk. They don't have those concerns with my kids, though, but I sometimes wonder whether they should be more concerned. Still the ADHD meds definitely help them focus. (Both of them have 800 math SAT scores, as one example of it helping).

Last time someone prescribed something that had the potential to make me manic, I wound up in a hospital for several weeks, and recovery to my usual baseline moods took about a year. I'm with them, the pharmaceutical cure (in my case) is potentially much worse than learning to manage the condition with diet, exercise, sleep discipline and all due caution, taking ownership and care to avoid making the condition worse.  I do tend to think HRT (and T blockers) would also help a lot in my case, and hope to move in that direction as soon as practically possible, with responsible monitoring and observation for any problems that could come from it.
Title: Re: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: Elspeth on January 06, 2013, 08:44:36 AM
Quote from: Pippa on January 06, 2013, 04:29:52 AM
Coffee to calm you down?  As it contains caffiene, a stimulant, it is likely to have exactly the oppositie effect.  I had a friend who was a firemen and used to get throught the nightshift on coffee.  It got so bad that when he didn't get a cup, he got the shakes.

For those with ADHD, stimulants (in moderation) tend to have a paradoxical calming and focusing effect. Ritalin is a stim, relatively mild but equivalant, roughly to a cup or two of coffee, without the cosmetic damage to teeth, and with other benefits since it's probably a bit less stressful than coffee... though I'm not entirely sure about that. Both my ADHD-diagnosed children respond well to coffee, as long as they don't go overboard with it.
Title: Re: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: Jen-Jen on January 12, 2013, 06:20:58 AM
Quote from: Jen on January 05, 2013, 12:43:00 PM
If coffee calms you down, you probably have ADD :).
oh I am sure i have ADD even though i have never been formally diagnosed with it.


Thank you all for the help.
Title: Re: Does Coffee affect HRT effects?
Post by: Tammy M on January 14, 2013, 09:53:07 PM
I drink a coffee a day usually.  One negative is that caffeine can dehydrate you and if you take Spiro the last thing you need is something else to dehydrate you.  I just try to drink more water and Gatorade to make up for it..