Why I started drinking coffee

Kerri MacKay wrote an excellent article recently at asthma.net called "Coffee and Asthma: What's the Deal?" She even referenced this blog, and made my ego go up a notch, from zero to one. If you delve deep into my blogs you'd know I was chronically dependent on theophylline for over 30 years, only to finally be weaned off it in 2000 thanks to another great asthma medicine called Advair. It was at this time, and I was 40, that I started drinking coffee. 

A theory that arose in my mind was that I started drinking coffee because I quit taking those two little white pills every day. I knew that both theophylline and caffeine come from the same family: they are both Xanthines. Kerri taught me something that I did not know: that theophylline is a byproduct of the breakdown of caffeine. That, in effect, I am still on theophylline, albeit a low dose of it. 

I never had any desire to drink coffee before I was off theophylline. I drank a cup here and again, although never really cared for it. I hated the taste. And I hated that it made me jittery. I remember telling people I didn't drink coffee because it made me feel like a jolt of electricity was flowing through my vessels, and this was probably because I was already on theophylline, so this made the side effects doubly strong.

And for the record, I do not drink coffee because it has a mild bronchodilating effect. I would imagine if you had very mild asthma it might prove useful, but my asthma is not mild. I don't like to refer to my asthma as severe, although that's how my wife refers to it. 

Anyway, nice article. Go read it!