Caffeine Sensitivity

[Joni63]

Hi,

Over the past year I have become really sensitive to coffee. So much that I totally switched over to decaf. Just wondering if anyone else had this symptom prior to being diagnosed with celiac.

Did it improve after you were gluten free?

[burdee]

Yes, sensitive to caffeine. I react with jitters, rapid heart beat, feeling hungry and weak after consuming. NO, that sensitivity did NOT decrease after abstaining from gluten (or my other 4 alllergies). I drink caffeinated bevereages so rarely that even decaf coffee will keep me awake at night if I drink it too late in the afternoon.

BURDEE

[Joni63]

  burdee said:

Yes, sensitive to caffeine. I react with jitters, rapid heart beat, feeling hungry and weak after consuming. NO, that sensitivity did NOT decrease after abstaining from gluten (or my other 4 alllergies). I drink caffeinated bevereages so rarely that even decaf coffee will keep me awake at night if I drink it too late in the afternoon.

BURDEE

I've also had the jitters, rapid heart beat and felt hungry soon after caffeine. I always thought I was hypoglycemic and needed to eat smaller meals more often. Then after going to strictly decaf, the symptoms went away and I felt more satisfied with eating and feeling full longer.

What other food allergies do you have?

I also have a problem with waking up at 2:00 - 3:00 am every morning. I even switched to organic coffee called Bambu and still had the insomnia problem. Haven't slept all night in a very long time and maybe 10 times out of the past several years.

Any suggestions for how to fix the insomnia?

[trents]

Several years before being Dx with celiac disease, I had some allergy testing done and one of the "supposed" allergens it turned up was not the caffeine in coffee but a protein component in coffee. I still drink it, like one cup a day and I don't seem to suffer adverse affects. As you may know, there is a lot of controversy surrounding allergy testing and the fact is it often turns up false positives.

Steve

[melmak5]

I have found that if I drink coffee or black tea 20-60 minutes later I have D. I am kind of in denial about it. I keep trying to consumer smaller and smaller quantities to see if I can keep at least some in my life. Cause right now I am gluten, dairy and sugar free and trying to avoid starch... cutting out one more thing right now just doesn't seem possible.

[burdee]

  Bellyfat said:

I've also had the jitters, rapid heart beat and felt hungry soon after caffeine. I always thought I was hypoglycemic and needed to eat smaller meals more often. Then after going to strictly decaf, the symptoms went away and I felt more satisfied with eating and feeling full longer.

What other food allergies do you have?

I also have a problem with waking up at 2:00 - 3:00 am every morning. I even switched to organic coffee called Bambu and still had the insomnia problem. Haven't slept all night in a very long time and maybe 10 times out of the past several years.

Any suggestions for how to fix the insomnia?

BELLYFAT: My other food allergies are dairy, egg, soy and cane sugar (ELISA blood test diagnosed). I had bad reactions to all those foods before test verification. So no surprises from my results, just peace of mind. I don't have a coffee bean allergy, so caffeine was just a stimulant for me. However, my husband who NEVER drank coffee showed a coffee bean allergy on the ELISA test. He DID consume gallons of colas (with caffeine from coffee beans) over the years before his test. People forget how much caffeine colas give them.

I also thought I was hypoglycemic. However I later realized I was just not digesting fats and proteins well, because I had low stomach acid caused by acid blocker and antacids, which were prescribed for 'gastritis, which was a misdiagnosis before my correct celiac disease diagnosis. Now that I've been taking digestive enzymes with betaine hydrochloride, I digest more fats and proteins from foods I eat and don't get low blood sugar before I get hunger signals anymore.

For insomnia I suggest: (1) cut out all sources of caffeine (including colas, chocolate, caffeinated teas and decaf); (2) don't eat within 3 hours of bed time (except a very small snack if hungry); (3) keep a regular 'cool down' before bedtime ritual; (4) stay out of bright lights for 2-3 hours before sleep; (5) when you wake up in the morning, get into bright light right away (sunlight, full spectrum light bulbs, etc.) to wake up and adjust your sleep/wake schedule; (6) don't watch stimulating tv or have emotionally charged conversations before bed; (7) avoid gettting too hot or too cold while you sleep; (8) wear a sleep mask and earplugs if you need to block out light and/or noise in your room.

STEVE: There is a lot of controversy and potential false negatives with celiac disease blood testing as well. I'd say if you have obvious symptoms and allergy test results which point to the same foods, then the allergy test results are helpful for you. I don't believe skin allergy tests will reveal delayed reaction food allergies, but blood and stool allergy tests plus empirical evidence can be helpful.Many people have negative blood tests, but empirical gluten intolerance evidence. So they choose to avoid gluten. That doesn't mean the blood tests are worthless for everybody.

BURDEE

[trents]

Burdee,

Do you still take acid blockers? I've been on a PPI for several years because of GERD. I started them at the same time I was Dx with Celiac disease. They really work well for the GERD and if I stop taking them the GERD comes back, even though I am compliant with gluten-free diet. However, I worry about to high a stomach PH and not absorbing nutrients and minerals. My albumin and total protein are chronically a little on the low side.

Steve

[Joni63]

  burdee said:

BELLYFAT: My other food allergies are dairy, egg, soy and cane sugar (ELISA blood test diagnosed). I had bad reactions to all those foods before test verification. So no surprises from my results, just peace of mind. I don't have a coffee bean allergy, so caffeine was just a stimulant for me. However, my husband who NEVER drank coffee showed a coffee bean allergy on the ELISA test. He DID consume gallons of colas (with caffeine from coffee beans) over the years before his test. People forget how much caffeine colas give them.

I also thought I was hypoglycemic. However I later realized I was just not digesting fats and proteins well, because I had low stomach acid caused by acid blocker and antacids, which were prescribed for 'gastritis, which was a misdiagnosis before my correct celiac disease diagnosis. Now that I've been taking digestive enzymes with betaine hydrochloride, I digest more fats and proteins from foods I eat and don't get low blood sugar before I get hunger signals anymore.

For insomnia I suggest: (1) cut out all sources of caffeine (including colas, chocolate, caffeinated teas and decaf); (2) don't eat within 3 hours of bed time (except a very small snack if hungry); (3) keep a regular 'cool down' before bedtime ritual; (4) stay out of bright lights for 2-3 hours before sleep; (5) when you wake up in the morning, get into bright light right away (sunlight, full spectrum light bulbs, etc.) to wake up and adjust your sleep/wake schedule; (6) don't watch stimulating tv or have emotionally charged conversations before bed; (7) avoid gettting too hot or too cold while you sleep; (8) wear a sleep mask and earplugs if you need to block out light and/or noise in your room.

STEVE: There is a lot of controversy and potential false negatives with celiac disease blood testing as well. I'd say if you have obvious symptoms and allergy test results which point to the same foods, then the allergy test results are helpful for you. I don't believe skin allergy tests will reveal delayed reaction food allergies, but blood and stool allergy tests plus empirical evidence can be helpful.Many people have negative blood tests, but empirical gluten intolerance evidence. So they choose to avoid gluten. That doesn't mean the blood tests are worthless for everybody.

BURDEE

Thank you Burdee, I think I am going to ask for an ELISA test. Is that something my family Doctor will order?

I think I will have to cut out all caffeine, even the decaf like you suggested. I didn't want to have to go that far, but around 6:00pm tonight I drank 2 cuts of lite coffee and woke up wide awake with racing thoughts. It's definatly much worse tonight after consuming the lite coffee vs. the decaf which I do usually drink after dinner.

I also think I will try the mask and earplugs. I know I'm very sensitive to sound and light while trying to sleep. It's actually something I've toyed with for a while now.

The only other thing I could do is use the bright lights early in the morning. Most of the other things seem ok, except maybe being on the computer within those 2-3 hours before bed.

Starting tomorrow I will go caffeine free. How long do you think it would take for me to notice a difference if I totally eliminate the caffeine and that's my problem?