What could I be allergic to in diet Dr Pepper?

elphie754
elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I've been having something really weird happen the past 2 weeks. At work I've been drinking diet Dr Pepper (which is a switch from Diet Coke). I have never had a problem with it before. Now, when I drink it I get a burning sensation in my mouth, followed by hives on my tongue and lips. At first I thought it was due to antibiotics, but I stopped them over a week ago. I was feeling absolutely fine until I started drinking the diet Dr Pepper at work. This doesn't happen with any other diet soda.

I have an appointment with my allergist on Friday, but just curious if anyone had any ideas?
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Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    c3z6sjatu4ui.jpg

    Caramel coloring isn't on your list already, is it? Other than that, I don't see anything.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    CMNVA wrote: »
    Obviously it's one of the additives in Dr. Pepper. Could be the coloring, etc.

    What I would do is to create a little spreadsheet of all the ingredients in Diet Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper. Compare the two and see which ones are different. You've then found your likely culprits.

    I had to do this with various pain relievers I was taking. At first I thought I was allergic to ibuprofen because I would take it and get a few hives on my chest within 20 minutes. Then it happened with Tylenol. Then it would NOT happen with liquid ibuprofen. So I made a spreadsheet of all the common pain relievers I took and compared them. I found that I cannot take things with povidone in them. I'm not allergic to ibuprofen but I am allergic to any of the brands that use povidone. And there's a lot that do.

    I'm thinking it is the artificial flavoring.
    malibu927 wrote: »
    c3z6sjatu4ui.jpg

    Caramel coloring isn't on your list already, is it? Other than that, I don't see anything.

    No it's not. I'm thinking it is the artificial flavoring.


    I'm also wondering is it is a cross contamination issue (they put away something that contains wheat/barley/oat and then put away the soda in the display). Going to completely cut it out until I see allergist though.
  • missnolder890
    missnolder890 Posts: 72 Member
    If you're anything like me, it could be the aspratame. I have discovered I can't drink it. It gives me chest pains and I even ended up in the ER when I mixed a water flavors packet that contained aspratame and some hydroxycut.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    It has to be something in the flavoring they're using as that's really the only difference between the two sodas.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    missnolder890 wrote: »
    If you're anything like me, it could be the aspratame. I have discovered I can't drink it. It gives me chest pains and I even ended up in the ER when I mixed a water flavors packet that contained aspratame and some hydroxycut.

    Except that the OP has mentioned being able to drink Diet Coke with no ill effects.

    Could it be an interaction between two ingredients that are benign on their own but cause you issues in combination?
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    edited July 2017
    Possible ingredients in the flavoring:

    Vanilla
    Amaretto and/or the ingredients of it (Almond, Apricot, Plum, Peach)
    Caramel
    Blackberry
    Raspberry
    Grape
    Coriander
    Juniper
    Spikenard
    Birch
    Ginger
    Sarsparilla
    Allspice
    Sassafrass
    Wintergreen
    Burdock
    Dandelion
    Clove
    Licorice
    Chocolate
    Nutmeg
    Anise
    Molasses


    Do you have any seasonal allergies? Do you have a similar reaction with rootbeer (which has similar flavors)?
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    It's gotta be one of the flavorings.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    It's gotta be one of the flavorings.

    I agree
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    Possible ingredients in the flavoring:

    Vanilla
    Amaretto and/or the ingredients of it (Almond, Apricot, Plum, Peach)
    Caramel
    Blackberry
    Raspberry
    Grape
    Coriander
    Juniper
    Spikenard
    Birch
    Ginger
    Sarsparilla
    Allspice
    Sassafrass
    Wintergreen
    Burdock
    Dandelion
    Clove
    Licorice
    Chocolate
    Nutmeg
    Anise
    Molasses


    Do you have any seasonal allergies? Do you have a similar reaction with rootbeer (which has similar flavors)?

    Yes I do.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    elphie754 wrote: »
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    Possible ingredients in the flavoring:

    Vanilla
    Amaretto and/or the ingredients of it (Almond, Apricot, Plum, Peach)
    Caramel
    Blackberry
    Raspberry
    Grape
    Coriander
    Juniper
    Spikenard
    Birch
    Ginger
    Sarsparilla
    Allspice
    Sassafrass
    Wintergreen
    Burdock
    Dandelion
    Clove
    Licorice
    Chocolate
    Nutmeg
    Anise
    Molasses


    Do you have any seasonal allergies? Do you have a similar reaction with rootbeer (which has similar flavors)?

    Yes I do.

    ding ding ding. i think this is the issue. sorry, OP... :(
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Crazy question-I am looking into all the ingredients of Dr Pepper. I know in the US the company has to state if the caramel color is derived from wheat. However, I also just read that they don't have to declare if it is derived from barley. Is that true? If so, found the culprit.
  • jennybearlv
    jennybearlv Posts: 1,519 Member
    I have no helpful suggestions. I just wanted to express my sympathy because Dr. Pepper is delicious and I am sorry you can't drink it.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    jennybearlv wrote: »
    I have no helpful suggestions. I just wanted to express my sympathy because Dr. Pepper is delicious and I am sorry you can't drink it.

    I know. I'm a bit bummed out about it.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    edited July 2017
    If you also react to root beer, could it be the sarsaparilla or sassafrass?

    After all, Coke has caramel coloring.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    If you also react to root beer, could it be the sarsaparilla or sassafrass?

    After all, Coke has caramel coloring.

    From what I've researched Coca Cola uses corn in their caramel coloring in the US. Dr Pepper doesn't seem to list it one way or the other.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    If you also react to root beer, could it be the sarsparilla?

    After all, Coke has caramel coloring.

    I was thinking the birch (a common seasonal allergy which also crosspolinates all the ingredients in amaretto like peaches, plums, apricots, etc.), wintergreen/cinammon/clove/anise/licorice (all common oral allergies), or yes some form of the coloring ingredient.


    but honestly, i have no clue we're all just guessing at this point. :P
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,301 Member
    You could be reacting to paraben, its a common preservative in many dietary preparations, processed foods, processes drinks, and even some medications! But not forgetting the personal and domestice cleaning prodicts. I had a burning sensation when I took my liquid levothyroxine all 5 ml of it. (other forms of dairy free thyroid meds are not available in the UK on the NHS)

    You say you have recently finished some antibiotics. May I tentatively suggest you try to obtain a biotic product speciffically to replace microbes commonly lost when taking antibiotics. When these things are out of balance some of our foods are not broken down as they should be. I had very positive results when I used some earlier this year.

    I know Coke is high in salicylate the ingredients are similar. It is also possible histamine intolerance could be in the mix, both intolerances can coexist, a real pain. General medicine is loathed to consider these as problems one needs to go to someone more inclined to want to rid you of the symptoms rather than conceal them.
  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
    I'm allergic to it too! And have no clue why. I don't get hives, but I don't drink more than a sip or two, and usually on accident. I get numb, on my mouth and throat, and if drink too much they swell, especially my lips and I get fishlips.Oy other thing that regularly causes similar issues with me is too much pecan or walnut
  • perkymommy
    perkymommy Posts: 1,642 Member
    I'm highly allergic to nutmeg. I can't drink Dr. Pepper either but not sure why. I consider it a darker soda and can't drink any of them. I can't drink root beer either.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Update: saw allergist today. She can't be certain which ingredient it was but reccomended that I cut out all dark sodas.
  • tashygolean730
    tashygolean730 Posts: 92 Member
    edited August 2017
    I've never researched all the differences between the two, but I cannot drink diet pepsi products. I can drink regular pepsi products and diet coke products, but diet pepsi products give me hives. I just stay away from diet pepsi stuff. I don't drink much soda though anyways.
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    The one thing it is not is the aspartame since you don't have an issue with diet soda in general.

    If it's a true allergy (one obvious indication would be if antihistamines help) then you can also cross off any of the small molecules, since small chemicals are effectively invisible to IgE, which is the class of antibody that causes allergies. Agree the natural flavoring is your probable culprit - it would have lots of larger plant proteins, any of which could possibly trigger a reaction.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    rankinsect wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    The one thing it is not is the aspartame since you don't have an issue with diet soda in general.

    If it's a true allergy (one obvious indication would be if antihistamines help) then you can also cross off any of the small molecules, since small chemicals are effectively invisible to IgE, which is the class of antibody that causes allergies. Agree the natural flavoring is your probable culprit - it would have lots of larger plant proteins, any of which could possibly trigger a reaction.

    Yes it was a true allergy. Had to take high doses of Benadryl and hydroxizine for the reaction to go away.
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
    foodblaze wrote: »
    I believe that diet soda is bad for you. Look at all the chemicals used to make it. To have carbonation occasionally I have the La Croix water. Comes in so many flavors and is free of additives.

    There are chemicals in everything.

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