Caffeine Allergy: Top 20 Symptoms
Way back in yesteryear (2005), we published a post entitled “Yes, You Can Be Allergic to Caffeine” .
Since then this post has received over 190 comments from mostly those who have experienced some type of adverse reaction to caffeine.
I have painstakingly sifted through all those comments and have derived the top 20 caffeine allergic reactions in order from most common to least common. Note that this is entirely anecdotal evidence so don’t take it as gospel, but rather consider these caffeine allergy symptoms as possible since they were reported by a number of people.
Also, there is a fine line between caffeine sensitivity and allergy, but overall we’re dealing with the body not being able to correctly process the caffeine molecule so whether you want to call that sensitivity or allergy it’s up to you. In most cases these symptoms were reported after only having a little to moderate amount of caffeine.
- Skin problems such as hives, eczema, rashes, acne, severe itching.
- Headaches/ migraines.
- Anxiety and panic attacks.
- Can’t focus or concentrate
- Tongue, glands, or throat swelling.
- Heart racing/ palpitations.
- Angry, irritable, bad mood.
- Fatigue.
- Dizziness.
- Extreme jitters.
- Chest Pain.
- Depression.
- Numbness in face, hands, or feet.
- Muscle pain.
- Shortness of breath/ tightness of chest.
- Delusions/ hallucinations.
- Flu/ cold like symptoms.
- Vision problems.
- Cold sweats.
- Eyes swollen shut.
Most people reported several of the above symptoms and some of the caffeine allergy symptoms were quite bizarre. The ones that take the cake were itchy ears and anus suffered by one poor soul and a sweaty butt crack reported by another……..
5 Comments
I’m wondering how much of that is caffeine allergies and not a reaction to another ingredient. Take for instance my Co work and I both now after months and months of drinking have Adverse reactions to Monster Khaos or Lost 50 same drink different can. My co-work breaks out in a rash and i get Pain in the chest but other energy drinks don’t seem to have any adverse effects.
number one makes me laugh. i used to have skin problems (most notably eczema) but seemingly since i started to really pump in the caffeine i haven’t seen a trace of it. could just be coincidental timing, but idk..
Oh thank god I don’t have this….
On the other hand, I am allergic to beer, *expletives*
Still I guess mushy head symptom is better than itchy anus every day of the week
I don’t think i have a caffeine allergy – I think it is a trigger for something else, but that something else has yet to be diagnosed even after an MRI, an ultrasound, and a colonoscopy. Any caffiene from any source gives me extreme abdominal pain, with enough quantity i will be screaming and moaning for several minutes, and sometimes pass out. this may or may not involve spastic crapping. I am not exaggerating. I have had to avoid caffeine as though it would kill me, because i have had one of these episodes strike me while driving and it almost did kill me.
And all any doctor can tell me is “it sounds like a reaction to stress” or it might be IBS, but IBS wouldn’t just go away completely if you didn’t have one trigger, but as long as i never have caffeine again, i’m fine.
at this point, i’m just crossing my fingers to never have this reaction to chocolate.
that has got to suck