I'm new to this PN biz and don't have a diagnosis why I'm suddenly experiencing neuropathy but caffeine makes it worse.

Did any of yall have to quit caffeine? Does caffeine make your symptoms worse?

I have CRPS 2. I only have one cup of coffee in the am and my tea is 'weak'...so far this doesn't make my flare ups worse....

One or two cups of coffee that is not by any means strong is fine. One cup of weak tea in the afternoon. No sugar in either the coffee or the tea and no cream in the coffee. Just the way I like it and not for any health reasons.

CAFFIENE is a central nervous stimulant, it will have an effect on people with neuropathy issues.

No effect on me. Not at the mild drink that I have for coffee or tea. And it's an 8 oz. cup.

My neuropathy issues are of the peripheral nervous system.

Caffiene may bother others but not me. I am not addicted to it either. I can go without and have no problems. Even supposedly healthy people who are addicted to caffiene will have a headache or whatever without it.

i have two cups a day of strong coffee with milk and it doesnt make mine any worse and not having coffee doesnt make it any better

No effect on me. I start my day with a large two-cupper and feel fine.

I'm beginning to wonder if salt might be effecting me, though.

I never found caffeine to affect my PN, but switched to decaf coffee and tea some years ago because I have heard and/or read from reliable sources that it is not good for us. Does it make sense that it is ok to be addicted to a drug? I know there is caffeine in decaf coffee and tea, but vastly less than the regular stuff. I never found much, if any, benefit from caffeine anyway. If you need it to wake up then you are not getting enough quality sleep.
Ron

If you are a moderate caffiene consumer, its likely your body has become tolerant of the effects, so you wont feel it. For me when i am exposed to caffien+sugar, especially high amounts, i get very jittery, nervous, twitchy, shivering, and jerky(like my current and past neuropathic symptoms.

I have never noticed caffeine as an issue for my feet. I get really sickeningly tense from too much caffeine. So I avoid it most of the time. I have never been able to tolerate coffee either...it upsets my GI tract terribly. But I do tea in the mornings sometimes.Usually it is decaf green tea or peppermint however, for me.

What really sends me over the edge however, is MSG in foods. So I read all labels and avoid it like the poison it is.
Some Lays products now are MSG free... Simply Tostitos, is one.
Nightshade veggies also will cause lots of burning pain for me...
even paprika spice will do it. So it pays to read the labels of all the foods you eat-- which is tough as far as restaurant food however. Soups and gravies, typically are heavily MSGed still.
And you just have to do trial and error to monitor your reactions to restaurant food. Usually the better the taste, the more MSG may be in there. Glutamate sets off the NMDA receptors:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NMDA_receptor

The NMDA receptor antagonists, can be used for pain issues.
Magnesium is one....and that is why the lotion works so well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NMDA_receptor_antagonist