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Many people rely on a cup of coffee to get them started in the morning, keep them going in the afternoon or perk them up at the end of a long and slightly tedious evening dinner. But, unfortunately for me, coffee became the bane of my existence.
My name is Sandra and I am twenty three years old. I am allergic to caffeine. I know it may be shocking for all you coffee lovers out there, but, it is what it is.
This shouldn't be too much of a surprise, because allergies to most foods exist, but it's a bit of a surprise to put two and two together for most of us who take our morning cup of coffee for granted. I used to be a coffee addict. My daily caffeine consumption rivaled that of any of my friends, family members or colleagues. Finding out that I was allergic to coffee was probably one of the worst things to happen to me.
Whenever I used to consume coffee in the past, there used to be slight allergic symptoms such as mood changes, anxiety, headaches, etc. but I never paid any mind to them and could never even imagine pinning the blame to coffee. But, one day, it led me to a very dangerous situation.
I had experienced no previous allergic symptoms and had no family history of allergies. Before the dangerous reaction, I had a cup of coffee that contained 42mg of caffeine. I had to drive out of town for an official work and did not want to feel drowsy. Suddenly, halfway through the journey, my throat began to itch and I had difficulty breathing and then broke out in hives. I started losing my consciousness, and the control of the steering wheel. I almost got into a very bad accident but somehow, luck was on my side and I managed to apply brakes and pull up to the side of the road. I dialed the emergency number with much difficulty and was later admitted to a hospital with anaphylaxis.
Although I recovered, doctors could not understand what had triggered the reaction. Five days later, I experienced an itchy throat in the morning after drinking Japanese green tea and then again in the afternoon after eating coffee jelly.
I visited my doctor again because I couldn’t take any risk again. A positive skin test suggested that my allergy was caused by an IGE-mediated hypersensitivity reaction to caffeine.
I was seriously shocked because I used to consume coffee in a large amount and practically lived on it. My doctor took pity on me and tried to explain it to me in simple terms. According to her, if a person is allergic to coffee, their immune system responds to coffee in a similar way to how it would respond to pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses. It releases protective compounds, such as histamine, to isolate and destroy the intruding coffee. It turns out that having an allergic reaction to coffee is actually an immune system response.
That basically meant that my immune system viewed the coffee as an invader, which it needed to fight off. But, I was still bewildered because it had been years, and it never felt like I was allergic before. Sure, there were mood changes and anxiety but, those couldn’t be because of allergic reaction.
To this my doctor explained, that coffee allergies are pretty rare, but even if I was not allergic, I could still have sensitivity to the stuff. If I had a coffee intolerance, rather than an allergy, I could feel anxious, jittery, and irritable, have trouble sleeping, get an upset stomach, experience an elevated heart rate or high blood pressure, and I might even develop involuntary muscle spasms after drinking coffee.
After that, I stopped consuming caffeinated foods and drinks and had no further episodes. I eliminated coffee from my diet for eight weeks and felt noticeably better. However, I eventually went back to coffee because once you break up with someone, or something, you tend to forget all of the bad things about them and focus on the good times. Something similar happened to me. I was in denial. I couldn’t give up just yet, even after discovering my apparent allergy or intolerance.
Though my skin did not break out, when I started drinking coffee again, it instantly felt duller and was generally more agitated. My stomach felt bloated too, the same way it had been in the mornings before I started the elimination diet, even though I hadn’t reintroduced any other foods. But, I still couldn’t permanently kick coffee to the curb despite its negative effects. Because, let's face it, breaking up with coffee is difficult and painful. I didn’t possess that kind of will. But, as my symptoms started getting severe again, I had to eventually steel myself against the temptation called coffee.
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