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).
163 Comments
i drank insane amounts of coffee for years.
suddenly, things went bad, i became really crazy and totaly lost it. i had major delusions and psychotic breaks and shifting states of consciouness. i was praying to aliens to contact me through an M&M tube. i lost it and ran around the house shaking in terror when i suddenly realised i as abducted by aliens as a child.
total lack of focus, aches and pains, sleeplessnes, . it feels like im loosing grip of reality. its like im controlling myself remotly from outer-space.
if i have 1 coke, it takes about 2 weeks to feel ‘normal’ again.
i cant express my hatred toward caffeine enough, and feel for the people who have lost half their lives to this shit in mental wards.
i want to talk to people with this condition. add me master_yates@msn.com
I used to drink about 5-10 sodas a day as a child (14-17) I am 19 years old now. I recently had an episode where I thought i was dying. Earlier that day I had consumed 1 soda, 1 cup of coffee and i was fine. A few hours later (on an empty stomach) I drank a Starbucks Machiato and totally lost it. My heart was beating so fast I got scared. I felt very ill and had extreme chest pains and delusions. I started to somewhat hallucinate seeing trails and such. I also could feel my pulse literally bursting the arteries in my neck. I thought it was just something i might have eaten. The next day I consumed 1 cup of coffee and felt similiar symptoms. I knew it was the caffeine. Prolonged exposure to the drug made me sicker and sicker. I have not had any caffeine for about 2 weeks now and I havent felt better. For me personally it wasnt hard to stop drinking it but it also contributed to my lack of sleep, which helped me not want to drink it. And also I had numbness in my extremeties (left arm particularly) and it was very scary. I wish you all the best of luck in quitting this terrible ingredient in which i used to enjoy so much.
When I was 19 or 20 I drank a can of Mt Dew, right after my eyes became itchy and swelled shut, my throat felt like it was swelling and closing off, I started vomiting, and felt terrible. Since then every time I have had a drink with caffine I have had similar symptoms.
I even had a reaction on my honeymoon after drinking a rootbeer that I didn’t realize has caffine, but sure enough it was in the ingreadients.
I even started to get itchy eyes and swelling when a co-worker left her freshly brewed coffee mug on my desk and I moved it to her desk, I do not know if it was residue or fumes. I am now 32 and have not had a caffinated beverage for over 6 years, and it feels good not to be a slave to drinks that contain it.
i just found out that im allegic to cafeine.my symtoms are very weird but painful. My hormones react differantly to caffeine. My breasts get cysts caused from the amout of chololate and dark pop I drink. so now i cant eat chololate or drink dark pop for the rest of my life or the cysts will get bigger and cause a bigger problem. i hope that this comment can help you find oput if toy are allergic tocaffine.
Hi
I finally stopped kidding myself yesterday that my allergic rhinitis (like hayfever) has nothing to do with the chocolate i was eating. I’ve this rhinitis thing for almost 2 years now and the drs have been no help at all really. I’ve tried pills, sprays and I even had an operation in september to stop the swelling. The last time I went they told me it could be something I’m eating so I’ve been checking a check ever since. The tradgey of it all is that I’m a chocoholic and i drink tea by the bucket! Apart from the nose swelling and hayfever symptoms I also sometimes feel really weak and have to lie down for a few hours.
Can it really be that 2 of my favourite things that I’ve had all my life could be making me ill now?
When I have a cup of coffee in the morning I am effected by really itchy wrists, fingers and ankles. It actually drives me mad, within a few minutes of having a mouthful I get itchy. There are no marks or anything on my skin (until I scratch) it just drives me nuts for a while. Doesnt happen everytime I have a cup plus I dont normally have one in the morning for this reason. The only thing I can link it to is the caffeine. Strange this is though I dont get the effect when I have other forms such as coke or even red bull.
I’m obviously allergic to coffee and I don’t even drink it…my symptoms appear after someone brews coffee at the office, if I am in a grocery store with a Starbucks, and even if someone has a go-cup of coffee with the little drink hole - my throat begins to swell shut and I have to get air and eventually may have to use my inhaler. It’s very inconvenient and quite ridiculous. I also have eczema, but don’t get a rash from other caffeine items like chocolate or from drinking a coke. I can get an IBS reaction from chocolate, coke or other sweets, but the coffee allergy is something else!
If anyone can help me pls do.
I had a slight fever on Saturday morning and went to the doctors.
He gave me some medicine.. I should think its a new one because the usual ones I took were white.. these were orange..
Anyhow, it said take 1-2 tablets, 3 times a day, and since I was freshly ill, I took 2. WIthin like half an hour I felt giddy and ill and had to lie. I thought nothing much of it.
Later in the evening I was feeling slightly better and got up to watch tv, then my mum reminded me to take the medicine, so i took another 2 pills.. within half an hour or so, i felt really ill and nauseous again and forced myself up to the bed…
Went my mum came back wiht my dinner, I felt so ill i had to eat a few bites, lie on the sofa.. and then get up to repeat the process agian.. needless to say i didnt finish my food… and went back to bed…
got up around 1-2 am and took the medicine again.. and the same nauseous sickly feeling came upon me..
good thing was my fever broke and I sweated like a pig around 4 am in the morning.
Woke up on sunday without any fever.. but my mum advised me to take one last round of the fever medicine just in case.. so i did.. and within one hour i was really ill again..
this time i suspected that was the medicine and not my fever that was making me feel so neausous so i looked carefully at the contents and it said CAFFEINE 30MG.
I get nauseous even when I drink one cup of coffee. And thats probably about 60mg of caffeine.. the 6 pills plus the 2 pills on sunday morning added up to about 240mg of caffeine..
and right now my arm muscles seem to be losing their feeling.. abit of a numb spasm kind of feeling.. and my chest has red itches/rashes like stuff… and im feeling nauseous….
i really believe its the caffeine.. and i will prob head down to the doctor to check it out…..
if anyone faces the same symptons pls tell me
I’m convinced…I must have this allergy. I thought I was loosing my mind. I had an MRI a Dizzy test, and blood workup to no avail. A Dr. at an ER told me I must be dehydrated and have Benine Posistional Vertigo to account for my dizziness, but that did not account for the confusion and ever increasing memory loss that I have been experiencing for a couple years now. Only recently have I experienced more symptoms such as nausea and blurred vision. I have had 2 panic attacks in the last month during that time I had cut back on caffien but had still been drinking iced tea and eating chocolate. I guess it is bye bye forever to my cherished cokes and coffee.
I’ve been having symptoms of sleeping all the time, lethargy, cranky, not wanting to face the day, incapable of a normal conversation due to the heebie jeebies feeling.
Twice lately I’ve had severe bloating high in the chest like nothing I’ve experienced previously that I thought was gas symptoms or indigestion. As I’m aging, I thought heart attack like symptoms.
Decided to enter coffee allergy into the search engine and found this site among other sites that explain symptoms of caffeine allergies.
This could be it. I was focusing on just coffee as a caffeine content until I read on this site the other sources mentioned. This was valuable to me as I need the wake up call..am real addle brained.
Coffee makes one acidic, the body needs to be balanced pH, just can’t get that when drinking coffee. There’s list of foods that make the body alkaline that might be helpful to some that are in the throes of withdrawal if they are trying to quit or even experiencing the pain of the allergy because they can’t quit, yet.
Another thing I’ve found that I want to pursue further is EFT Emotional Feeling Technique, also called “tapping” that uses the meridian flow in the body to affect balance and help one address pain, fear, phobias, etc by tapping in a sequence on the meridians of the body. Easy to learn and do.
The trick is to find the right wording to address the issues that are unique to each of us.
Sincerely,
Martha
I think I have a caffeine allergy. Whenever I drink it, my head swells and my groin starts to itch and then bugs crawl out of every hole in my body. Then I start smoking from my ears, my eyes light up, and my head turns around like a top — faster and faster and faster until my hair is the like the wire on a weed-whacker and chews up all the furniture and rips up the carpet, and then tears my clothes off. And there I am left naked in a devastated wasteland with smoke stains on my ears. But I keep drinking it. Do you think I’m allergic?
I just found this website and wondering if you can help. Since my daughter was born in November 2005 I have rarely had a week go by where I didn’t have canker sores in my mouth or my tongue swollen (geographic tongue). I’m one who rarely gets sick, yet in the past 7 months I’ve been to the emergency room twice for flu like symptoms, accompanied with the tongue thing. I’ve had numerous blood work done, more in depth than a regular CBC, xrays, HIV tests etc, and they are all negative. I started leaning toward an allergy and thought it might be nuts or chocolate, but now I’m thinking caffeine. I drink 5-10 12 oz sodas a day, mainly mountain dew. Any advice?
Well, after reading these I really think I’m alergic to caffeine. One time I came home from a vacation and I had drank coffee that day and over the vacation had lots of sodas. The day we came home i had a panic attack and my anxiety just keeps getting worse. That attack I screamed uncontrollably. We just thought I had anxiety but after reading this I think it is an allergic reaction. Today I had lots of chocolate, some soda, and coffee. When I got home I had a horrible reaction. I started having an attack again. I have a horrible headache right now, feel tired, jittery, and have a hard time focusing. When I have these attacks I also feel like I’m depressed and want to know what is wrong with me. But now I think I know. I have anxiety as it is but I think caffeine sets it off.
About two years ago I diagnosed myself with the caffeine allergy. Instead of drinking tea, I drink the caffeine free herbal teas. However, regular coffee is my enemy. I usually have adverse affects such as fatigue, stomach discomfort, moodiness, feeling of wanting to be left alone, shakes within my entire body, sweating, nausea, feeling of constipation, indigestion, and sometimes diarrhea. It’s like getting drunk: you know it’s gonna hurt later but you do it anyhow once you forget what it feels like.
I am 27yrs. old I found out about 4yrs. ago I’m allergic to caffeine. looking back I see I’ve been having reactions for a long time in grade school I was always in advanced classes until about 5th grade when I started drinking alot of pop I started having problems focusing. they did an I.Q. test on me in 9th grade my I.Q. was 131. they did other tests to see were I was in school I was at about a 5th grade level for everything. They told my mother they thought I had I comprehntion problem.In my early twenties I started having feelings like I couldnt breath. I went to the emergency room over and over they could never tell me what was wrong.One night I went to bed having a reaction and feeling like I couldnt breath the next morning I woke up feeling like I had pink eye when your eyes all full of stuff when I looked in the mirror my eye looked fine when I got out in the sun I relized I had a dark spot in my vision and a blurred spot.I went to docter after docter again and did all sorts of weird tests and once again they didnt know what was going on.It was probly 6mths after all this started I came across a docter who asked me if I drank alot of caffeine and told me to stop. It was hard but I did my breathing problems went away as soon as a stopped drinking caffeine. My vision got alittle better I notice if I have anything with caffeine my vision gets more blurred and than returns to how it usually is by the next day.I also get sharp pains in my head.
Listen,Two years ago I realised that I was alergic to caffine.My behaviour for years had been that of a lunatic.I’d been on various drugs and treatment to no avail,thats because I’d been tricking myself by feeding my caffine addiction with the odd chocy bar(6 or more bars a day)I put a stop to that but later went on course of chinese herbal tablets that I was assured were fine.When I started going through the roof I checked the contents on the net and found them to contain caffine.I cant believe the lack of mainstream info on such a dangerous drug
i rarely drink caffeine [tea, coffee, pop, energy drinks], but today i was so tired i bought an ice cappucino at tim horton’s. now i feel nauseous, dizzy, and kind of jittery too. the only way i can describe the headache is that it seems like my eyes have been straining to focus all day.
does this make sense?
I clearly have an allegery to caffiene and I think It has had a very devestating effect. I used to drink diet coke by the liter and would lose my temper at the smallest thing. If I had coffee I would get severe mood disturbances. Well I cut it out and very rarely have it, though I crave it sometimes. I gave in and a one red bull and I felt manic racing paranois swollen and bloated. I woke up the next day a mildy nausous headacky and miserable. The third day I was still a mess. I felt really tight bloated, contricted and unfocused. I had to use a tranquilzer to get back to my self.
All in all I have just as bad reaction to Caffeine as one could have with any triplicate or street drug. People think I am crazy when I say that and doctors shrug it off for the most part. I have heard that people with mood disorders should not have caffiene, but want came first the caffeine or the mood disorder?
Thanks for reading
I figured this out during the past couple months.
Before I used to drink a very strong cup or two of coffee every morning for years. Then a change happened.
Any time I drink any caffeine now, iced tea… anything- I get a light-headed feeling, start feeling excited in the short-run but then feel anxious and scared about my own thoughts later, have difficulty falling asleep, strange obsessive dreams (much like when I have a fever) and I sweat the entire night even in a freezing, air-conditioned room. And I wake up super tired and sweaty and unable to get a deep breath in the morning. It’s like my body can’t process caffeine any more and so it’s forcing it out through my sweat.
Then, after a few weeks, I start to have dreams that people are preparing pots of coffee and I just happen to be there, getting a cup. So, a few days later (after I’ve forgotten the symptoms I experienced that night I drank caffeine), I suddenly think to myself, it’s not that bad, and I start to drink iced-tea or coffee again and then the cycle repeats. Ahhhhhhh! Don’t drink it if you feel this way. It’s hard, but you have to keep the way it makes you feel in the forefront of your mind so you don’t do it again, I guess.
I know how you people feel. I went to the Doctor becuse of feeling tired and run down etc. Ran a bunch of test and they could not find anything. Last summer I quit drinking pop and after the withdrawl period about 2 weeks for me I felt great. I have not felt that good in years. Then after a while for some stupid reason I started drinking pop again think it wasn’t that bad. Then try to quit and felt tired and have bad headaches etc. Quit caffeine and after a while you will fell better. It is just hard getting through the withdral symtoms.
i’m not sure if i have an allergy to caffeine or not.i have recently started drinking the high energy drink Bawls, sometimes 2 a day.Afterwards, I’m extremely hyper,giddy, and my face has a tingly feeling, especially my lips.When I haven’t had caffeine that day, I am irritable and i have incredibly painful headaches.Does this sound like allergies or an addiction?
Wow, a little surprised by the amount of comments here. I have not met anyone else with a caffeine alergy in the last 8 years. I have many of the common symptoms listed here.
- can’t think
- head aches
- skin problems (I get sties of all damn things.)
- blurry vision
- etc.
A little different from most posts is that I have a delayed reaction. It often take around 3 days for me to get the reaction and it lasts up to a couple weeks.
Tell me ppl, what you think!
when i drink one single coffee, i feel the following things: a bit strange, overhappy, feel like jumping around and/or dancing, feel to have a lots of power, exploding of having too much energies. i can’t concentrate on one thing but i feel like rushing around rather, and i want to be surrounded by people, talk to them, hug everyone etc. Just one single cappucino, which is said to contain less caffeine than a normal coffee already makes me feel so. Do you think i may be allergic? My problem is that these feelings are good, and it actually makes me happy, but it is a bit strange that it doesn’t do the same to others, and parhaps i should take care.. maybe this is the same thing or something similar that makes other people panic
ahoy! i think i might be allergic to caffeine because i noticed specifically this morning when i began to sip my tall black coffee i began to feel TIRED, BLAH, HEADACHE, aggrivated and yes yes yes i did say TIRED. i can most often fall asleep after coffee and am so so addicted tho i only have ONE coffee a day! sometimes it makes me stay up all night, other times it seems to literally make me drowsy. is this possible? i am also bi polar and yes, coffee makes it worse! information from those present please! thanks! -L
My father and I are both allergic to caffeine. The symptoms I get are:
- skin problems (itching, cystic acne)
- heart racing/palpitations
- dizziness
- inability to concentrate
- headaches
The first symptom can persist for days, but the other symptoms usually wear off within a few hours or a day.
My allergy to caffiene is also extreme. The smallest amount will set off an ugly and prolonged reaction, with debilitating stress levels, along with panic attacks. I stopped drinking anything that contains caffiene and have been caffeine free for over two years now. I REALLY miss espressos and long to drink a big cup of joe. Unfortunately even decafienated coffee contains caffiene - can you beleive it?! I helped clean myself out by drinking alot of distilled water, and I felt alot better after a couple months of drinking it.
I’m wondering about this myself.. I’ve read numerous articles now including this website and I should at least give “going caffeine free” a real chance. I have Eosinophilic Esophagitis which basically means I have an excess of white blood cells fighting allergies in my throat. I don’t really eat all that much, I’m afraid to because I choke so often (food impaction/”dysphagia”). I have been seeing doctors for about 6 months now and taken tons of allergy tests (it is caused by an allergic reaction to foods).. and my problems persist, especially lately. I know I consume too much caffeine (usually a double espresso, a soda, and a red bull every day) and have had some episodes where I pretty much go crazy having all kinds of strange and thoughts that are definitely not real. I used to feel so smart and able to think clearly, but lately I’m always confused, reading more than a paragraph or two of news is a chore, or my thoughts go elsewhere.. so hard to concentrate.. again I gotta give avoiding caffeine a try…
I experience strange symptoms after I eat/drink something that contains Caffeine…swelling of my tongue, legs and abdomin. Stabbing pains in my legs, along with burning sensations and itchyness in the ankles, tingling and numbness in hands/feet/head. I become jittery and feel like my head is swelling…it feels like I’m having an out of body experience (wierd!) I have since developed chronic Tinutis (ringing in ears) and Blepharitis (swelling of eyelids) both are incurable. I suffered through Esophogitis, Duodenitis, Gastro/Intestinal Problems which went away when I stopped the caffeine. My Dr. has tested me for almost every major disease, I have had every sort of X-Ray, MRI, CT-Scan, Barrium (oral), Neuro-Exam, Oral & Rectal Scopes and gallons of Blood work to diagnose the cause of my ailments…all negative. I finally noticed that my Symptoms worsened after a Coffee/Coke/Choc Bar and tried to eliminate them from my diet….after a few weeks I started feeling better. I then put caffeine back into my diet..and all my syptoms worsened. I am still having trouble with my legs but am hopeful that eliminating the fiend called caffeine from my life will clear up the last of my problems. A friend’s husband was having similar health issues at the same time…he cut out caffeine b4 I did and his health is almost back to normal. I hope this msg will help others with similar issues, as the Dr’s don’t seem too informed about this type of allergy and I have suffered for 3yrs now! Ex-Coke-Aholic 
I discovered that i was allergic to caffeine a few years ago.My symptoms are feeling dizzy,stomach pains, feeling jittery, heart palpitations, vomiting, weakness. pains in my legs. feeling horrible! I tend to stick to hot drinks that are naturally caffeine free like fruit and herb teas.
Beware of a guy named Barry. He trashed Welcome to the Dance, Caffeine Allergy on Amazon because he doesn’t believe that anyone can be allergic to caffeine and he NEVER read the book. I read it. She’s too smart for me but knows what she’s saying. I’m real allergic to caffeine. Get sweats, numb tongue, the whole bit.
I was diagnosed with a caffeine allergy years ago, but of course I ignored it-until now. Has anyone else ever had a feeling of lightness/weakness in your body, mainly arms and legs? I don’t know how else to explain the feeling, but it’s scary. It’s almost a numbness; it feels really weird. I would love to know that I’m not the only one who experiences this!
I dont know if i have an allergy to caffeine but, I usually have a skin rash after I drink a coffee 6-8 hours later. Its red and ithchy and like small bumps everywhere. And i am really annoyed and stressed out later in the day after work. Could that be related to a caffiene allergy? Its like I am on edge and pissy. Some just make me feel downright sick…
(sorry for poor english)
My symptoms were acnes on head, very ugly. I used to have longer hair just to hide them. Doctors didn’t succeded to answer to what I am alergic.
I accidentaly discovered when stopped to drink coffee becouse busy schedule. Until then, I drinked 4-5 coffees at daily basis, and I think that my organism was overhelmed with coffein.
From time to time, I drink coffee (cannot complitely without it) and it comes back.
bloody coffein
I definately am allergic to caffeine…..If I drink anything with caffeine in it, i get cystic acne all over my body, my face, back legs, arms, EVERYWHERE! I recently quit consuming cafffeine and my cysts are healing dramatically!
I went to this site because every time I drink even the smallest amount of coffee I get jitery sick and I feel like Im traped. I felt like I was going crazy and my heart was pounding rapidly. I thought that it was all a coincidence that I got sick whenever I drank a cup of coffe. Im trying to let the feeling pass now and my head finally stopped pounding after some asprin. I will never drink coffee again.