Jul 29, 2013
Gluten Intolerant or Caffeine Intolerant/UPDATED
I started having skin rashes last December. After eliminating many things from my diet I decided mid March that I was possibly gluten intolerant and started eating accordingly. I had blood taken on April 29th for a gluten test and it was negative. I continued to watch my gluten intake and still kept having reactions.
You might remember that on June 13th I had some blood drawn for allergy testing. Our health care paid for 5 tests and I had to pay for the other 3 tests at $21.00 each. I was tested for cow’s milk, soybean, wheat, gluten, oat, yeast and cheese ( they chose cheddar). They all came back negative. I continued to eat gluten free and still had reactions, the last big one being around June 18th just before I went to Edmonton to see my Mom for the last time.
That is when Colin came up with the suggestion that I might be allergic to coffee. I did a blog on that back in June. I also included this article that supports caffeine intolerance. For our anniversary earlier this month, we did a take out dinner rather than go out as I’m not so mobile right now and I ate wheat and had no reaction. A week later I tried a small amount of wheat again with no reaction. So far so good. Back to eating gluten free.
This past weekend I decided to treat myself to one of my Maxwell House special coffees, Orange Cappuccino instant coffee mix. I had one on Friday morning, two on Saturday morning and two again on Sunday morning. By mid morning Saturday I started having a rash on my neck, chest area and in the inside folds of my elbows and by Saturday evening I was sneezing and sneezing which is another caffeine allergy symptom. I sneezed all day Sunday and wondered if I was getting a cold.
I have not had caffeine since Sunday morning and have stopped sneezing and the rash is subsiding. Very very interesting. I do have formal allergy testing set up on August 22nd where I will be sure to have them check for caffeine. I am still drinking decaf coffee at this time.
So I am willing to give up coffee as long as I can go back to my soy based meals and have flatbreads again.
UPDATED JULY 30TH
In reply to a comment and to clarify. For years and years I have drunk these coffee mixes. Last summer when I went back to Weight Watchers I decided to switch to black drip coffee in order to keep my calories down. It was after 5 months of drinking drip coffee that I noticed my skin rash. That is why I think it is caffeine related.
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Maxwell House has a half – caff. maybe caffiene in smaller doses wont hurt
GoodLuck 🙂 Cindy
Cindy….welcome to the comment part of the blog. Nice to see you here. I will certainly check it out. Maybe I can have it only on Sundays as a treat.
Marty….I know but sometimes I just need to be bad.
George….I updated my blog to explain the situation.
Those special coffees are full of junk. I can only drink certain brands of organic coffee and no fancy ones-they have corn and other allergenic ingredients.
Maybe try some regular perked or drip coffee or even a regular teas. Not the instant flavoured kind, like Marty says the special coffees are full of additives.
I, too, love the Maxwell House International coffees – they are a real comfort drink to me after dinner. Folgers Coffee also has a half Caff coffee that we think is very good.
Contessa you are making it a very long summer by posting that great info & picture of the Isla.
A surprising number of products contain caffeine, and some have a lot more than what you think. Even decaffeinated drinks still contain caffeine – although only a small amount such as decaf brewed coffee .
Thanks Byron……I have decided to drop coffee totally for a while and see what happens. Welcome to the comment part of my blog.
It’s the Maxwell House Coffee! I have the same problem, but not with other brands. There’s something bad wrong in Maxwell House coffee. I love the taste but have to take off work if I unknowingly drink it!