Now, this is one aspect of getting preggers that I am not happy about, and I am sure I am not the only one! I see friends go on caffeine cleanses for weeks to reset their bodies and I cannot imagine why someone would voluntarily go through such torture.
Yes, I understand that you build a tolerance to caffeine and over time you may need more and more to get the same benefits, so going on a caffeine detox can help reset you, but I would prefer to just continue on my happy way ingesting more and more.
It is safe to say I loveeeee caffeine. I am a horrible sleeper and wake up every morning at 5 am (on a good day) so caffeine is crucial to get me through the day. Although, because I am such a bad sleeper, I am very mindful not to consume any at all after 12pm – I choose to suffer all afternoon instead.
I do not drink coffee and only drink herbal tea…so how do I get my caffeine you might be wondering? Brace yourself…Energy drinks. Yup. I said it. I know it is horrible but that is what keeps me going. I drink one to two each morning which is approximately 200mg – 400mg caffeine…I know this is not as much caffeine as some drink but it is still a decent amount (read: most days likely closer to the 400mg limit…). And in case you are wondering, one regular cup of coffee is approximately 100mg (this is not a venti Starbs, I’m talking one regular cup brewed at home).
I have done a lot of research on caffeine and pregnancy and fortunately, you don’t have to cut it out completely, but the upper suggested limit is 200mg/day. This is like two regular cups of coffee, a few black teas…or technically one energy drink BUT there are other ingredients in energy drinks that I suspect are NOT on the list of best things to consume while growing a human.
SO I am on a mission, as I am TTC, to decrease my daily consumption. I am decreasing the energy drink consumption slowly…but slow is better than nothing. And I will be trying to switch over to coffee (yuck) and mainly teas.
I have been pretty good over the last couple of weeks at limiting the total amount to around 200mg but I am having a hard time saying bye to my energy drinks. You may think this is gross but they are fruity and tasty to me.
Overall I am making progress and I know that once I get that positive test I will absolutely stop. But in the meantime, I am trying to slowly wean myself off and switch over, so that the shock is not too awful when the time comes.
I don’t really have a specific process to do this, the energy drinks I use are in powder form so I am just trying to use less and less each day (mix with water). A full scoop is 200mg caffeine, so trying to decrease to 3/4, then 1/2 + tea, etc. Some days are better than others but overall there has been progress.
Who knows, maybe I will be totally off energy drinks by the time I have a bun in my oven! (likely not, hopefully not, as I want that bun NOW).
Happy caffeinating!