<p>My mom is 87 years old. I have a very serious concern about her coffee and energy drink “habit.” Over the years, she has dealt with fatigue and sleepiness by drinking coffee. Then about two years ago, she started drinking energy drinks such as Monster or Red Bull. Now she’s added energy shots to her arsenal. Last time I visited her, she was drinking two energy drinks, two energy shots, and about a dozen cups of coffee every day!! First thing in the morning, she drags herself out of bed, goes straight to the refrigerator, and downs her first energy shot of the day. She then goes back to bed for about a half hour until it kicks in. She told me that she can’t get up or do anything at all in the morning without her energy drink. I read that heavy coffee drinkers will already being experiencing symptoms of withdrawal when they wake up in the morning.</p>
<p>I can’t even imagine the amount of caffeine in her system. If I drink more than one cup of coffee, I’m hyper nervous. However, it’s obvious that she’s built up a tolerance to it because she still complains of feeling tired all day long. Obviously, it’s not having the desired effect. I pleaded with her to speak to her doctor about how much caffeine she’s drinking, but she won’t. She doesn’t see that this is a problem. I believe that the best thing for her to do is to slowly reduce the amount of coffee and energy drinks until she has completely weaned herself off of them. Then she can see how she feels.</p>
<p>Frankly, at 87 years of age I would leave her alone. Caffeine withdrawal can be an ugly thing, and why? If she was a danger to herself or someone else you should intervene, but just because you can’t handle a large amount of caffeine doesn’t mean that she should be made miserable at this age.</p>
<p>I suppose that I could call or write a letter. My mom lives over 300 miles away. However, my mom has not given me permission to discuss her medical care with her doctor.</p>
<p>Well, as a former caffeine addict who once went cold turkey and felt really sick for several days, I would agree that if she wants to reduce her intake the thing to do is to gradually reduce. You might point out to her that one builds up a tolerance over time, and that if she gradually cuts back she will find that when she really needs a boost a cup of regular coffee will actually give it to her, and she can save money all those “energy” drinks. (The saving money argument usually works with 87-yr-olds. )</p>
<p>Does she have chronic heartburn? High blood pressure? Both of those things would be helped by cutting back on caffeine. </p>
<p>Since I like to drink a lot of coffee, I accomplish this by mixing regular and decaffeinated beans 50/50 before I grind them.</p>
<p>I’m wondering why she was feeling so lethargic in the first place. My other thought is that if she is 87 and isn’t feeling negative effects, it’s her life. (Although I agree it is really hard to imagine that that level of intake is not having negative effects…) My mother will be 90 in March and is hale and hearty and takes no medications. As she says, her “medication” is a couple glasses of red wine and occasional manhattans. Whatever she’s doing seems to work! :)</p>
<p>I’m fearful that all this caffeine is causing more harm than good. Is it just me or are 2 energy drinks, 2 energy shots, and 12 cups of coffee an extreme amount to drink every day especially in an elderly person?</p>
<p>I read online how she can very slowly withdraw herself from the caffeine. It may take over a month or two, but it can be done. Then she wouldn’t experience the negative effects of withdrawal. Once she’s off the caffeine, she can see how she feels. If she feels better – great! If not, then she can start drinking coffee and energy drinks again.</p>
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<p>She has a hiatal hernia and history of a very serious bleeding ulcer. She has to take Nexium to control her stomach acid. I know that all the acid in the coffee must be eating away at her stomach lining. It’s not good if that gets up into the esophagus either. Yes, she has high blood pressure also. I would bet that she has never discussed her coffee and energy drink consumption with her doctor.</p>
<p>I’m sure it probably is doing more harm than good but the question is what do you want the outcome to be. If you want her to be comfortable, happy, independent for as long as she can be, it seems that she is. If you want to make her life to be as long and healthy as it can be, that’s a whole other issue. Both are reasonable and valuable choices. Personally, I’d go for comfortable, happy and independent for a shorter time rather than just healthy for a longer time. But that’s me and you obviously kow your mom. God bless you for being so devoted!</p>
<p>I want her to be comfortable, happy and independent. But she constantly complains to me about being extremely fatigued and lethargic. She also suffers from heavy sweating which could likely be caused by drinking 12 hot cups of coffee every day. If excessive coffee and energy drink consumption is in any way contributing to these problems, I’d like to help her feel better.</p>
<p>I’m sure excessive coffee and energy drinks are contributing to those things. If she’s not feeling well, that’s different. If she was 87, drinking this stuff and feeling great, you should leave her alone. If she’s not feeling well, it should be addressed, but I wouldn’t make it a battle or anything. Definitely write to the doctor.</p>
<p>But I have a question for you. Is your mom eating an appropriate diet? Is she able to handle obtaining, preparing and consuming her meals? Are the caffeinated beverages taking the place of meals? If so, then she is not independent anymore.</p>
<p>My advice: don’t tell her you’d like her to get off caffeinated drinks entirely. She will simply resist. You might ask her to ask her doctor which kind of drinks, and how much, are best for her medical conditions.</p>
<p>Are there reasons for her fatigue? Medication, internal bleeding from the ulcer? Lack of iron?
What other meds is she on for high blood pressure? Since she has HBP I would assume she is taking something for it if she visits her MD.
My FIL (86) would practically fall asleep in the middle of a conversation and had been that way for about a year. Just lately he decided “that drug isn’t doing anything for me” and quit taking it–he woke up literally. It had been making him so lethargic it was hard to function. He has since been changed to another medication and is doing great.</p>
<p>I would notify her doctor, even though he/she likely can’t “discuss” this with you. It is important for them to have this information, I think. Seems like it could cause some issues with some medications. For example, I just took at 6 day course of steroids that left me sleepless and jittery. If I had stacked a lot of caffeine on top of that, can’t actually imagine what would have happened! Send them a letter, let them know that you are aware that they can’t discuss it with you due to HIPAA regulations, but just that you wanted them to be aware. You can tell them not to let her know you wrote if you want to. My guess is that the doctor will bring up the topic next time he/she sees your mom.</p>
<p>If she is on a medication for high blood pressure and it’s causing her lethargy, the intake of caffeine would make her condition worse and the MD could be increasing her dose over time thereby exacerbating the problem (the more tired she is, the more energy drinks she needs).</p>
<p>Yes, she eats a good diet and is still capable of preparing her own meals.</p>
<p>I’m not sure that she’s discussed her lethargy with her doctor recently. In the past, the doctor has chalked it up to being old. I’m not overly impressed with the care she is receiving from her doctor, but that’s out of my hands. I’ve tried to reinforce that she needs to be pro-active in her own medical care. When she goes for appointments, she needs to bring a list of items she wants to discuss. She is the type who will just sit there and won’t ask questions because she doesn’t want to bother the doctor. She needs to make sure that the doctor answers all of her questions. If I lived nearby, I could accompany her to her appointments. I did this with my MIL a few years ago and I believe it drastically improved the quality of medical care she received because I was there taking notes and asking relevant questions.</p>
<p>intparent – I will take your advice and send a letter to her doctor to let her know about my mom’s excessive caffeine intake. However, I imagine if her doctor brings it up to her, my mom may just deny that she’s drinking that much. She truly is in denial about this. She says she could stop drinking coffee at any time if she wanted to. She doesn’t realize that her body and brain are addicted to it.</p>
<p>You might express this concern in the letter… tell them how much she has been drinking when you have observed her, but that you are concerned that she will minimize it when asked.</p>
<p>At the least find out what medications she is taking. (ulcer, blood pressure, cholesterol, lipid lowering meds, even iron supplement/vitamens/calcium/magnesium). Find out if they could be causing problems for her (ask your friendly neighborhood pharmacist if you don’t feel comfortable researching on the internet–tell them your specific concerns).
Ask her why SHE thinks she feels tired all the time. Is it certain times of the day? getting out of bed? After eating? All the time? Muscle weakness involved? Once she gets moving, does energy level improve or she just adds more caffeine to keep going? Do your own bit of history taking with her.
I’ve found many times that just asking questions of this type helps people think along new lines. Don’t rely on her doctor to do it. As nice as he may be, you already think he attributes it to old age (way too easy) and she’s compliant and submissive with her doctor (TONS of people are–especially the older generation who grew up to respect authority).</p>
<p>I appreciate your suggestions! I’ve already done this. I have a complete and up-to-date list of all of the medications that she’s taking along with the dosages. I researched each medication she’s taking online and discovered that there are several that shouldn’t be taken in conjunction with each other due to possible negative drug interactions. I’ve discussed my concerns with her several times, but she refuses to talk to her doctor about it. What can I say, she’s hard headed!</p>
<p>She’s tired and lethargic pretty much all of the time. She believes that pushing herself to be more active will just make her even more tired. As a result, she will spend about 75% of the day lying in bed. When she starts to feel more tired, she just reaches for the coffee or energy drink thinking it will be the solution or miracle pill. Obviously, it’s not working at all due to the fact that she’s built up a tolerance to it.</p>
<p>I quit coffee cold turkey, and I didn’t get headaches but I was walking around in a fog for a week. Have since relapsed, but 1 or 2 cups only and I will skip a day now and then. Your mother is really overdoing it.</p>
<p>OP, I think you need to write a detailed letter to your mother’s doctor detailing all of your concerns about her meds, her behavior, and the likelihood that she will deny it if asked. </p>
<p>Since your MIL allowed you to attend appointments with her and take notes, is there any chance that your mother would agree to schedule an appointment that you could attend with her?</p>
<p>I am not impressed with the level of care she is getting.</p>
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