Why coffee addicts fasting for surgery need a coffee pill or IV drip to reduce withdrawal symptoms and improve recovery, according to cardiologist
- Patients are asked about addictions before surgery, but few doctors consider caffeine withdrawal
- A pill or IV drip could reduce the headaches, fatigue and nausea caused by coffee cold turkey
Given that 90 per cent of adults are caffeine users, you’d think that hospitals might consider what those orders not to eat or drink before and after surgical procedures might mean for people who have to miss their daily doses of coffee, tea or Diet Coke.
Caffeine withdrawal can cause fatigue, nausea, muscle pain and wicked headaches.
“People get all kinds of crazy ideas about how to avoid the coffee withdrawal,” he said.
That made him think about the woes of caffeine-loving patients. He realised that doctors routinely ask about other substances that can cause withdrawal – alcohol, cigarettes, cocaine, opioids – but they usually don’t ask about caffeine, despite its nearly ubiquitous use.
The result was a recent paper in Food and Chemical Toxicology that reviewed past work on patients and caffeine deprivation and called for more research on what Goldberger sees as “a fairly sane and reasonable solution”: giving patients pills or intravenous solutions that can stave off withdrawal symptoms.