Caffeine Allergy/Intolerance

[Kelly_Fitz]

I have had a serious problem with caffeine ever since I got the Gardasil vaccine. Whether or not the two are related, I have no clue, but I was an avid coffee drinker, soda drinker, what have you, before I got this vaccine. About two days after I received the vaccine I started to suffer something I cannot even accurately describe--my hands would tingle, I would feel like I was dying, I felt like I had the flu and I had a horrible fever. Beside the fact that I was having a bad reaction to the vaccine, I didn't realize that at the same time I was having a bad reaction to caffeine. All of the sudden, any time I had any coffee, soda or anything, I had a horrible panic attack and felt like, for lack of better words, like I was going crazy. I have suffered this since February of 2007. Just today I had HALF of a diet coke, no kidding, HALF, and the entire day couldn't even exist in my own skin. It is as if my body cannot metabolize it properly and it honestly makes my blood pressure go sky high---i'm talking like 150s or so without me even being anxious. What do I do??? What caused this?? Does anyone else have a similar experience??

From someone who is completely lost and feeling like they have no answers, there has to be someone else who has experienced what I have. And if not, then maybe I have no hope of anyone helping me explain what happened....I went to the dr. who administered the vaccine, who wouldn't help me, and countless others who dismissed my problems. But this is a last ditch effort to find someone else who either shares this problem or who can help me out.

Thanks.

[YeagleJeff]

I quit drinking. I quit smoking. it is hard to quit caffeine. coffee was just very important when doing school work as energy drinks for working out. I think it might be heart related, because I like to run, but for a while my run time was getting worse and worse. I quit smoking and drinking. i figured the combination of cigarettes, alcohol, and caffeine i consumed per day was the reason for the panic attacks (probably didn't help). I figured quiting 2 would solve the problem. I could just work more to avoid drinking and smoking. coffee is what i use when i work and energy drinks when i work out.
For me it feels like a heart problem but it could be different.
It first happened at work and hit me like i was having a heart attack.
I can't think straight
I start to hate people (more).
My stress gets worse.
I have read that being too stimulated can make you ineffective. That stress and caffeine can push you over. For example a little coffee and a little stress can make you more effective but too much can make you ineffective.
I think it might be a little more than stress though

[JJen17S]

I don't want to sound repeatative, but this was happening to me recently as well, but I learned to cut caffeine out a yr ago. The bigger question for me is I am tired and weak all the time. Does anyone have suggestions on natural forms of energy that have been effective, because anti-depressants such as wellbutrin and prozac have the same effects on me as caffeine does which I also cut out. (even headache medicine). Any suggestions would greatly help!

[danguy]

I have a very similar problem, but the reaction didn't start until I had an apendectomy, which was shortly after I stopped my low carb diet. Up until then I could drink 10 cups a day without problem and eat 3 or more loaded plates of spaghetti. Yesterday I had a Tim Horton's Coffee, which is my usual Sunday ritual, at about 3:30 and some macaroni at 6:30. By 9:30pm I couldn't sleep. I felt like I had overdosed on caffeine. The chief complaints being jaw pain, chest pain ( down the center of my ribs) inability to get a "Good" breath (while I don't feel short of breathe per se, I do feel like every breath I take is only about 1/2 of what I need) and though my heart rate stays normal, it is pounding like my heart is ready to explode. My chest pains are almost completely muscular, but I have had some relief recently by seeing a chiropractor, and I have been to the hospital 2 or 3 times now with what was sure was a heart-attack. While this has been getting more and more frequent, I hadn't made the connection to coffe until yesterday. So today begins the rest of my life without coffee, and if that doesn't work the next step will be removing wheat from my diet.

[felixthehat]

Hi Kelly,

I suddenly became unable to have caffeine in 2008. Even a half cup of tea causes the same symptoms in me - my hands and face tingle, my heart starts pounding - not exactly that much faster but much harder - high blood pressure is the reason, I think. I feel like I need to go to a hospital for hours. After the initial reaction I am so tired I feel like I could die. I have gone to the hospital a couple times thinking it was a heart problem but all tests were negative. I'm becoming more and more fatigued as the years go by. I also get very fatigued when I take depression medication - doctors keep telling me it's depression, but I don't think it is. A friend of mine in med school recently suggested caffeine intolerance is a classic symptom of chronic fatigue syndrome, or could point to an auto-immune disorder. I hope you can find a rheumatologist to check you out. You are much too young to have to feel like this, and it only gets worse if you don't address it.

Best of luck.

[felixthehat]

Hi Kelly,

I suddenly became unable to have caffeine in 2008. Even a half cup of tea causes the same symptoms in me - my hands and face tingle, I feel like I need to go to a hospital for hours. After the initial reaction I am so tired I feel like I could die. I have gone to the hospital a couple times thinking it was a heart problem but all tests were negative. I'm becoming more and more fatigued as the years go by. I also get very fatigued when I take depression medication - doctors keep telling me it's depression, but I don't think it is. A friend of mine in med school recently suggested caffeine intolerance is a classic symptom of chronic fatigue syndrome, or could point to an auto-immune disorder. I hope you can find a rheumatologist to check you out. You are much too young to have to feel like this, and it only gets worse if you don't address it.

Best of luck.

[deanna20]

OMG! Me too... I am 20 years old, and I have been drinking coffee since I was 12.. at high amounts.. all of a sudden out of the blue, every time I have it,  my heart rate gets dangerously high, I feel like Im going to pass out, I get weird aches throughout my body, a lump in my throat that feels like when you swallow too much french frie at once, both of my hands tingle on the left side, and I panic and think im having a heart attack.. damn, I wish someone could really explain it!