coffee really that bad?

Caffeine, of any sort, even green tea, will give me an immediate bowel movement, regardless if I'm healthy(Colonoscopy proof), or flaring. When I Told this to my last few GI's , they all recommended I Get off caffeine, but in today's society, boy is that difficult!

Today is day 18 of 20 without caffeine, the two slips were because I had a bad headache and Excedrin(no aspirin) cures 'em fast.

Past few days I have been amazed how much energy I have from just life, no caffeine.

@fatboy - have you tried drinking just hot/warm water(maybe with lemon) in the AM, it may not stimulate you. It's the caffeine , not the temperature. Though the mind can play some tricks on us.

i love coffee!!!  hence my screen name....

i dont think coffee causes a flare, but i think it can stimulate the colon and bring down whatever is up there quickly....

not flaring i drink coffee with no problems

when flaring i switch to green tea

now i am in the tail end of a flare, very mild symptoms and i have experimented with or without coffee and it seems to make no difference so i drink one cup a day

i did notice that if i eat my breakfast first, then have coffee, it has much less of a stimulating effect on my colon.

i think each one of us is different and you may have to expereiment with what works for you.

i feel like i have to give up so much for this disease, but i really love my coffee , and i would rather give up something else

I just came across this topic while doing a search of "UC and Coffee" and wanted to share my recent experience. For about 11 months I have been hovering in a limbo state with my UC. Not quite a full on flare but not quite remission--urgency, frequency, mucus, and bleeding. But, the urgency wasn't for diarrhea but for formed stools--thanks to the fiber. But the urgency would leave me with near accidents.  As of last week I gave up coffee completely. It was very hard because I love coffee--it was my favorite part of my daily routine. I substitute my coffee with a cup of tea (either Earl gray or British breakfast blend). Well, within this week (almost immediately) I feel as if I do not have UC (except still have the blood and some mucus) but the frequency has gone from 5 to 1 maybe 2 and the urgency has gotten better. So, my take away message to anyone out there who is really suffering in a flare to try for at least a week to give up coffee and see if that improves your symptoms. I do not follow any special diet (aside from no Mexican, sausage or salami). I am a bit shocked that it was so simple to just stop the coffee  (I am not discounting there could be other unknown factors involved in this new change for the better) but I feel like if I were to have given up coffee 3 years ago when I was first diagnosed with UC my course would have been better.

It is interesting how coffee aggregates UC. I'm wondering if it's something other than the caffeine because when I'm flaring I can still drink tea and soda. But like you I love coffee...just one more thing UC has changed in my diet.

Getting my colon healed enough to be able to drink caffeinated coffee and green tea in the morning was a happy day. Yes it causes BM's, that's what it does for non-UC peeps too, but doesn't trigger a bad day for me. Can't drink it later in the day but that's OK.