Decaf still has caffeine so if that bothers you it might aggravate symptoms. Personally I'm a big coffee buff and don't think caffeine bothers me. According to my genetic profile I'm a fast caffeine metabolizer.
Even small amounts of caffeine can trigger a migraine for me, plus coffee always went right through me even back before IBD came along, so I've never been a big coffee person, not even decaf. Caffeine-free herbal tea is as close as I get these days.
Caffeinated coffee does not undergo a meticulous process in producing it unlike decaffeinated coffee. The latter undergoes a process called ‘decaffeination’ in which caffeine is removed. In this process, different solvents are used such as chloroform, dichloromethane, and benzene. But due to unwanted factors to be considered, such as safety, it was replaced by a safer method of extraction.
In this method, called filtration, coffee beans are immersed in water. Then the water which contains the caffeine together with other substances undergoes filtration via activated charcoal. Caffeine is then extracted from this method. The water filtrated will then be brought back to the coffee beans, and they will be dried for the flavor to penetrate back into the coffee beans. The caffeine which was left during infiltration can be sold to manufacturers of soda.
Coffee with caffeine has superior flavor and aroma compared to decaffeinated coffee. It is also said that you cannot eliminate the unwanted effects of coffee, such as palpitations and nervousness, even if it’s decaffeinated because coffee contains 400 other chemicals and substances. So to think of it, decaffeinated coffee seems not to be a healthy option.