Yes, You Can Be Allergic To caffeine.
Some people have asked if people can be allergic to caffeine. I’m no doctor, but yes. Yes, you can be allergic to caffeine. And it’s not something a lot of doctors have known to look for. The effects of caffeine allergy look like some more severe mental disorders.
When you’re suffering from an allergic reaction to caffeine, one or more of the following things can happen: “loss of focus, intellectual deterioration, delusions, loss of judgement, and other symptoms of poisoning.” Because many people don’t properly recognize the caffeine allergy, they continue to ingest it (and why wouldn’t they?), and that can damage the brain and make things worse.
With symptoms like loss of focus and delusions and symptoms of poisoning, it’s no wonder the reaction often goes improperly diagnosed. What is diagnosed? “ADHD, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, OCD, TMJD, PMS, and other conditions.”
If your doctor diagnoses you with any of the above, and you ingest a lot of caffeine, make sure he rules that out as a cause before putting you on a lot of drugs.
Source (Note that this is PRWeb, so it’s not a real news story. It’s just a press release from a company trying to sell books).
173 Comments
At last! I finally have some idea about what’s wrong with me! For months now, I swear I’ve been thinking I’ve developed adult ADD. I’ve been unable to concentrate, have a short attention span, have been moody, depressed at times, and have been severely fatigued. I’ll miss the free coffee at work, but it’s nothing but decaf from now on, and that wulong tea I just bought in order to help lose weight has to go as well. I’ll report back as soon as I see any noticable improvements. Thank you so much for this article, you may just have saved my sanity.
I have suffered from severe itching for the past 4 years, all over my body. I remember the first time it happened. I woke in the middle of the night feeling like I was being bit all over. When subjected to a colder temperature - even air conditioning my body would produce histamines, I would swell up in areas, and turn all red. It was especially noticeable after swimming when temperatures are colder for a longer period of time. I saw a naturopath and she recommended I keep a journal of my diet. I don’t eat a lot of sugar, fast food, bread…but the one thing I noticed that I have EVERY single day WITHOUT fail, is coffee. I am going to ween myself off it and see what happens. I know I get severe indigestion when I have coca-cola, my bladder/stomach burns when i ingest coffee or coke, and I can’t even finish a chocolate bar before i feel a tummy ache.
Thanks for your comments.
I most definitely have exhibited mental illness symptoms, and it really freaked me out. I’ve never had any kind of mental problems before, but I used to drink a LOT of caffeine. I could drink 3 Mountain Dews (high in caffeine) and a cup of coffee and sleep soundly right after. Lately, I can barely have half a drink of either before I feel jittery, feel my heart beating irregularly at times, lose my breath and generally feel like my intellectual state was deteriorating.. definitely lost focus. I’m eliminating caffeine completely. I’ve heard it can take months or even a year for all the symptoms to go away, but it’s worth it to know you’re not really insane!
My daughter had an asthma attack and her inhalers didn’t help. I gave her a Mt. Dew before taking her to the ER. It put her into a worse attack. She has had a few episodes since and not feeling very good after having pop or lattes. She cut out the caffeine and is doing better. We thought back to when she had to go to the ER and remembered that she had a latte earlier that day. We have gone to an allergist and she really believes that it is an allergic reaction to caffeine. My daughter has to cut out all caffeine now. Decaf. still has caffeine in it and Starbucks told me that their decaf. has the highest amount of caffeine in the industry. WOW!!!
I used to drink beverages of all sorts that contained caffeine without worry when I was younger. A year ago I started drinking “energy” drinks in order to stay alert longer for college work and such. After I became dehydrated after playing sports and drinking energy drinks, I stopped drinking caffeine because of its dehydrating effect till a few months ago. Basically, after I drank an ice tea, I became jittery, my heart was racing, and I couldn’t sit still for awhile. I thought it might just be because I wasn’t used to drinking caffeine. Later that week, I had some more drinks containing caffeine. Huge mistake. I had problems like difficulty breathing properly, rapid heart rate, I couln’t think straight, and had a pretty awful time that lasted awhile. My new doctor contributed my condition to anxiety from increased stress. Basically, I stopped caffeine alltogether and haven’t had any “anxiety” attacks or anything like that since.
I also have to mention how much I appreciated reading everyone else’s stories after stumbling across this site.
I also experienced the severe itching (would start on the palms of my hands, feet and nose, and then spread- awful!!). After significant distress trying to figure out what it was, I found that chocolate was the culprit. I had mostly weaned myself off of the Dr. Pepper already due to kidneystones when I was a freshman in college. My name is Tracy and I’ve been caffeine free for about 3 years.
Whoa! Caffeine! almost ruined my life. 17 years ago I went into full madness. At work we got as much free nescafe as we wanted, because we got more work done. For employers this is a good thing. One night I couldn’t sleep and then had something that resembles a heart attack. I didn’t have a heart attack but it scared the hell out of me.
I finally gave up the coffee and for the most part the symptoms are gone. But now if I get even a whiff of caffeine I start climbing the walls and have to keep moving to work off the energy.
I have since be diagnosed with bipolar symptoms but what the hell the coffee, in fact, anything with any stimulants in it makes me insane beyond belief.
I noticed I had a allergic reaction to caffeine in my early 20’s. I started to get sharp pains in my chest and heart. Also my glands in my neck and under my arm pits swell up and get sore if i drank coke.
I still get the same now, but if i drink coffee or coke etc etc after twelve (12) o’clock I can’t sleep at all. On rare ocassions I have dizzy spells and can’t control or move any of my limbs for a short period of time or until i hit the ground.
I think this is a issue that people should be made aware of.
I would love to hear from others who are having the exact same problems or similar.
I’ve suspected this for years. I’ve always disliked sugary caffine drinks/foods, but because they made me sick. For years I didnt think it could have mental effects though and I’ve gone through symptoms of Bipolar, ADD, Depression, Severe panic attacks and anxiety, and even for a while minor hallucinations & delusions. It was always so random though, i though “can I seriously be that mentally ill when I can usually function fine?”
Recently however I quit drinking Red Bull (my only typical intake of caffine) and noticed that my odd psychological symptoms vastly improved. Then just last week I started drinking them again and have been having crazy Bipolar like behavior and a panic attack just last night (I felt as though I couldnt breathe for hours). I think Caffine is the obvious answer.
I agree with Nick, I think people need to be aware of the problems with Caffine, and this should be studied more! I’m going to ask my doctor about this when I next see her.
I am glad to read your comments, now I see my Mom could be affected too, she has had a lot of the psychological symptoms in her life, and a flare recently after a good run following my new counseling method worked.
Me, I can’t take caffeine anymore. I have decaf. A tiny bit of chocolate, as long as I’m not needing to do my yoga or am very tired / under a lot of pressure. Because it will give me a reaction like an anaphylactic shock. My consciousness fails, and it comes first to my hands - loss of nerve function in my hands, tingling in arms and hands. Also the nerve connection to my feet / legs can flicker off, so I make a strange step. It’s worst after yoga, when the rush of energy through my spine turns into convulsions in arms and body, which I try to stop by flicking my hands and arms, hitting my head and lowering my body (head) to the ground. I also had severe eczema which your comments helped me to realize can be from caffeine too. (My mum did too when younger.)
In my emotional herbal healing system, coffee is for language. So people like it because it makes us chatty, it stimulates parts of the brain that help language. Useful for all these desk jobs and the overload of brainwork we have today. But you can’t fool mother nature. Guess the Mormons had it right!
PS - Let’s get the word out, and help our nations revitalize! In America the hype has become deadly, and what will happen in the next months before and after the election has me worried. We need our native culture, and we need to think clearly!!!
I think I might have an allergy to caffeine. Twice now, I’ve noticed that my throat gets itchy and swells a bit and my breathing becomes slightly labored after I have had a frozen coffee drink from a major coffee chain. I also noticed this a few times after I went running. I thought it might be something in the air but I did have a cup of strong coffee right before I went running (it’s suppose to lessen runners fatigue). Shortly after the run, I would begin wheezing and my throat would itch like crazy! Maybe i’ll give it up and see if this is what is causing the problem!??
Whenever I drink coffee, I get very irritated, my eyes start to itch, I usually hallucinate a bit, and I have extremely hard time sleeping. I also end up getting cysts and / or canker sores.
I also instantly get addicted to it very very badly, to the point where I -know- I will get extreme head aches if I stop (esp. cold turkey).
With all of that said, I still drink it sometimes, and sometimes often. I do a lot more work and I get a lot of things done, I also get insanely talkative and crazy, and it makes me feel very euphoric and wonderful with lots and lots of energy. I think it’s good I put these thoughts out there so that when other people do research they can read… or when someone creates a way to scrape and assimilate all of the webs information into cohesive knowledge, which I just might build if I drink this next coffee 
I want to thank you so much for this article. I’m going through this right this minutes. I feel like I’m going to die. My heart feel irrhythmic. My hands and arms are tingly. I feel dizzy like I’m going to faint.I was scared to death. My doctor said that I could make an appointment for 5 hours from now or go to the ER. I realized that I had a large cup of coffee this morning to ease a stomach ache which I never do. Also, I thought that I was taking 2 tylenol but I found out my husband was using the tylenol bottle to hold this pill he takes that has caffine in it. I think its all just stemming from that.
Hopefully I’ll live. I’m only 25 and I have a new baby. But its definately scared me.
Thank you all! I feel better already. For the past 8 years I have had shortness of breath, dizzy, tingling, sometimes feel wierd walking where I think I might fall down and just bad headaches and neck aches. I am only 35 not and these started when I was only about 26. I was tested for everything, x rays, MRI, put on anti depressant drugs you name it, Zanax. Nothing really worked. Even got my wisdom teeth pulled because it was driving me crazy and getting me paranoid. I could not even really drive a car. No joke!! I read this and will stop drinking coffee. If anyone else has any thing like what I went through please email me Dork31@hotmail.com. My nose is stuffed up a lot, hard to breath at times and I tried to figure it out, did allergy test in case it was food, etc. but it has to be caffeine. Oh well I am hoping! Thanks and please email me if anyone else has like feelings. I even thought maybe I was allergic to beer.
I am so glad that I find this web site. A lot of you and me might suffer from some kind of candida or yeast overgrowth. Coffee promotes candida, a lot of your neurological symptoms or sinuses could be that you are fueling your candida growth by coffee.
I got pregnant last year and quit drinking coffee. Before that I had mentioned to my husband coffee made me feel weird, I am usually a nice person but whenever I drank coffee I became agitated, verbally abusive and even paranoid. So I didn’t drink any for 6 months. In my last trimester I started having a cup a day and looking back That’s when I started acting strange again. Thought it was just fatigue from 3rd trimester and caring for my other 2 kids. After havig the baby my caffeine intake has increased considerably and my behaviors and feelings have escalated. This is all hindsight, I thought I was depressed (postpartum) and fatigued but now Im seeing it was happening in conjuction with caffeine intake; when I don’t drink coffee Im tired but far from abusive. I hit bottom yesterday and looked up caffeine allergy. Im off all caffeine from now on.
I AM SO GLAD THAT I READ THESE COMMENTS FROM YOU ALL -
I searched the web, scared and very worried about the way I have been feeling. I have never been able to drink much caffeine in the past - but had slowly started to drink Coke and started drinking a slush-type coffee drink once a day from a local coffee house. Even though I have been doing this for a while now - I have had increasingly scary symptoms that I was worried about,from shortness of breath - to dizziness - leg weakness (but very inoften) chest pains and a big problem with FOCUS. I am pretty sure I have classic ADD signs eveb WITHOUT the caffeine - but I guess the caffeine intensified it. I thought I was going into congestive heart failure and was reading anything I could realted to trouble breathing. I have mitral valve prolapse, so I thought something terrible was happening with that - but now, I really think it is simply the caffeine. It really makes sense. It really cause panic attacks, deppression, thinking sad sad thoughts, mood swings. Who would’ve thought that even minimal caffeine on a regular basis could be the cause of so many things.
Thanks — sooo much
For years, a friend of mine has been telling me that I am allergic to caffeine… and for years I have been in complete and total denial. I LOVE coffee… not for the buzz but for the taste. Living in the Pacific Northwest has not been helpful for this addiction as there are (literally) coffee stands on EVERY corner, inside EVERY grocery store, inside EVERY mall, at EVERY sporting event, meeting, workplace, it’s sick! Anyhow… I have been reading all of the posts and thought I would share some of my symptoms so that those who think they’re “crazy” will know that they’re completely normal! When I drink coffee, I get an intense body buzz… which causes my hands and legs to shake. I also get a buzz in my head, which results in intense vertigo and feelings of nausea. I am already sensitive to motion sickness, but ingesting ANY caffeine (including soda, tea, coffee, hot chocolate) will enhance it so much that I can rarely get around a corner without vomiting. I also get a low grade but long lasting cramp in my gut (where I had a duodenal ulcer) which causes me to eat a LOT of high carb and sugar foods, trying to cancel out the cramps and the shakes. The cramp in my gut doesn’t really get better until the next day… I get hungry but food causes more pain than relief. About 6 hours after I drink a cup of coffee, I start to cry… for no reason at all. I will be sitting at my desk at work and the phone will ring… this will send me to tears (completely RIDICULOUS). From here, I am a cranky, over-emotional, irrational freak for the next 6 to 8 hours. When I try to sleep at night, I can literally watch my stomach jiggling to the rhythm of my very rapid heartbeat. Im tired but I cannot fall asleep. I wake up the next morning and want to drink more coffee because I’m wiped out! The following day, I usually have what feels like a mild panic attack… rapid irregular heartbeat in a chest that feels like someone is squeezing really hard. I can hear a buzzing in my ears which pulsates to my heartbeat. Yet… I am still driven to drink coffee. I have realized the enormity of my addiction and allergy as decaffeinated coffee (97% caffeine free in most cases) have the SAME effect on me. I am so sad to give up something I love so much, but I am glad to know that, in a town with a 99.9% caffeine driven population, I am the .01% exception and am ready to knock it off.
To Dan (who posted on December 18th, 2007 4:19 am), you are right about the cocaine. Same thing happened to me and I’m 100& sure it was cut with caffeine.
i am also thinking that i am allergic to caffeine. every time i consume caffeine now, my face gets this strange tingly feeeling, and my mouth goes partially numb. i used to drink energy drinks every single day last year, and had no problems. after summer, however, these symptoms started, now after about 4 swigs of an energy drink or coffee, i can feel the numbing in my face, which lasts all day afterwards.
I’m so glad I found this site. This has been the best medicine I could take. I have been drinking coffee for the majority of my 54 adult years. About 3 years ago, I started to realize I had a serious problem. After a stomach bug I could only drink tea, which happened to be decaf. After a few days I went back to my coffee drinking. Within a short time I felt very anxious and irritable and my chest was as tight as could be. I soon recognized that I had been feeling this same way prior to my stomach bug. I pinpointed the coffee as the culprit due to the timing of my chest tightness. I’ve been drinking decaf tea and an occasional decaf coffee with no problem since.
I felt very grateful that the coffee seemed to be the only thing that put me into this state. Low and behold, this past weekend I was convinced I was having an anxiety attack. I had eaten my “daily” bowl of Espresso Chip ice cream followed a while later by many dark chocolate covered macadamia nuts. I was basically unable to draw a satisfying breath and I had tenderness under my left arm mid-way down my rib cage. I lay awake that night trying to catch a good breath and decided I’d call the doctor in the morning. I finally went to sleep and upon waking, felt “normal” again. I was fine all day until my daily dose of Espresso Chip and chocolate covered macadamia nuts that night. BAM - SAME SYMPTOMS.
I’ve had no problems breathing since as I haven’t had any ice cream or chocolate covered nuts then not thinking, I had a handful of dark chocolate covered raisins last night and guess what…. tight chest and trouble breathing. So I now know that my favorite comfort foods cause me great discomfort and I have to stop them completely. The feeling I get is just not worth it.
I’m still going to the doctors so I can verify my own “medical findings!” Hope this helps others.
Does anyone have any subjective or clinical evidence that caffeine is the source of any of these ailments reported, particularly mood disorders and/or energy loss?
And did anyone rid themselves of any ailments after eliminating caffeine?
And the last question - how long after withdrawal from caffeine did you restore yourself to healthy, for any of your conditions?
I stopped drinking tea 2 days ago (several cups a day) as I thought tea (caffeine) may be the source of my stomach tension. I’ve been troubled, worrying for a long time - financial issues.
Yesterday and today I had my symptoms reduced almost completely, say 90%.The only change - no tea.
Thanks,
John
I also suffer from eczema and have been trying to self-diagnose the triggers by avoiding certain foods such as milk, soy or meat. A friend recently suggested that it could be caffeine though, because I am an avid tea drinker and every time I drink tea, my skin starts to dry up. Does the person below (your?) have flare ups with other foods containing caffeine? Or with other foods without caffeine? Thank you!
Sorry…the person I was referring to (your) posted a while ago.
could u tell me if drinking energy drinks could be making me very itchey, as soon as i have a energy drink im going mad with this itching , all over my arms its so bad at night its like my arms are on fire, also iv noticed that when iv eaten chocolate my throat goes funny i start coughing and chocking, i have a under active thyroid so i drink them for a bit more energy as i feel like i want to sleep, but this itching is driving me mad,
I think I have a caffeine allergy. I get itchy feet
high anxiety, depression, feelings of hopelessness and I cry for no reason at all after I have drank 2-3
cups coffee. Headaches with aura every so often, shortness of breath. Been back and forth to doc, so many tests done nothing wrong with me. Rashes on the bottom of my feet. Severe depression, loss of focus.
I am going to ween myself off coffee and see what will happen. But I really think it is coffee.
Three years ago I was diagnosed with hyperaldosteronism, a condition where the adrenal glands secrete too much aldosterone. This is one of the causes of hypertension, or high blood pressure. I am 63 years old and under the care of three doctors. The GP told me at the beginning to cut out coffee. Well, being the stubborn person that I am, I switched to tea. Eventually I went back to coffee.
To make a long story shorter, I am currently on eight different medications because the standard high blood pressure meds didn’t work very well. A recent measurement showed my BP at 120/80, not too bad.
I described my condition to a homeopathic health guy at a local health food store and he replied, “Coffee, tea, it’s all the same. Your problem is that your kidneys and adrenal system cannot tolerate caffeine in any form.” Two weeks ago I decided to wean myself gradually off caffeine, reducing my intake of coffee by eight ounces per day over several days.
I re-discovered rooibos tea, a great tasting no caffeine, herbal tea from South Africa and my old French press machine.
On 10-20-08 my BP was 115/75 and yesterday it was 116/69. Sticking with the no caffeine will at some point require a change in meds, but that’s just fine with me.
Barry
Strasburg, OH
kelsey thompson
or
molly
Is there a way either of you? Your symptoms sound very much like mine. I get blister like patches on my hands. Red and itchy. I also get moody. I went off coffee and it got better.
I thought it was mold or food allergies, but after reading this, it may be the stimulants in the coffee and chocolate.
Dark chocolate is the worst for me, coffee and pop may also. My reactions are delayed, so I haven’t always been sure, that and i love chocolate.
Thanks!
-Eric
I have read all of the comments and I feel that I can relate. I love sweet tea , Dr.Pepper and chocolate. I would get dizzy, my heart would race, and I would get bad heartburn pain in my throat. Dizziness and sleeplessness would happen at night. Does anyone else get bad heartburn. I would like to know. I am deffinately going to drop caffeine. It is not worth it.
Remember there are other common things that can make you itch - like chocolate and aspartame.
OMG… I am so glad I found this site. I have been thinking that something was wrong with me, like I have lost my mind!!! I am 25 an have 2 kids an sometimes I just feel like I am going crazy. At first I thought I was having a heart attack, I have been in and out the ER thinking I was about to die!!! The doctor would tell me that it was just anxiety attacks and they wouldn’t kill me and I could talk to a psychiatrist and they would try and help me get over them. Well I knew that something else was going on with me because I could be having a good time and all the sudden it would hit and I thought I was going to die. I then started realizing that I have the spells after I would eat. So I started watching what I would eat and I was fine. Then at a birthday party @ my sisters, I thought, well I’m fine it won’t hurt to have a little bit of coke to drink and WOW!!! My left arm went numb, my face went numb, my tongue felt like it was swollen, I couldn’t breath, I was having sharp pains in my chest, I knew were I was, but it was like I had major memory lost at the time. I didn’t want to go back to the hospital because I had been in and out so much with the same symptoms, and every time they would tell me the same thing. I got in the bath tub and after about a minute or so I was fine. Since then I haven’t had any caffeine and I am fine. I haven’t had anymore symptoms.
You know, I am at work right now….in December I went to the emergency room twice with blotches all over my face..I couldn’t sleep..i could NOT stop itching… My lips were swollen and I couldn’t talk..my tongue was swollen…The doctors told me it could have been the detergent I was using. I since gave up the detergent and still began itching..it wore off a bit a couple of weeks ago, but today it flared up again. I was indulging in a chocolate donut with some coffee and immediately had to throw the rest out because I couldn’t stop itching, and couldn’t even eat……I realized it HAS TO BE THE CAFFEINE! I CANNOT STOP ITCHING! it is even making me lose my concentration here and the itching is so bad that there is a bit of heat coming from where I itch (burns) This is nuts! I never thought I could be allergic to something that seems soo small!