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MyFitnessPal Community

What could I be allergic to in diet Dr Pepper?

elphie754

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?

Replies

crackpotbaby

It's either the dr or the pepper

CMNVA

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.

malibu927

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

elphie754

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: »

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.

earlnabby

elphie754 wrote: »

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?

This could be a difficult one because Dr. Pepper boasts that it is made from 23 different flavors (pub trivia question from a week ago). The one thing it is not is the aspartame since you don't have an issue with diet soda in general. Can't be the coloring either since colas also have it.

ETA: Dr Google says:

"The 23 flavors are cola, cherry, licorice, amaretto (almond), vanilla, blackberry, apricot, blackberry, caramel, pepper, anise, sarsaparilla, ginger, molasses, lemon, plum, orange, nutmeg, cardamon, allspice, coriander, juniper, birch, and prickly ash"

missnolder890

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

It has to be something in the flavoring they're using as that's really the only difference between the two sodas.

estherdragonbat

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

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

It's gotta be one of the flavorings.

elphie754

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

It's gotta be one of the flavorings.

I agree

elphie754

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

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

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

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

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

If you also react to root beer, could it be the sarsaparilla or sassafrass?

After all, Coke has caramel coloring.

elphie754

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

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

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

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

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

Update: saw allergist today. She can't be certain which ingredient it was but reccomended that I cut out all dark sodas.

tashygolean730

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

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

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.

razorbackinflorida

I would cut out the sodas. Not meaning to be preachy but I used to drink diet sodas all day every day. It actually caused me to retain water, and didnt help my weight loss cause. I was doing about 5-6 per day. I started putting water and a tiny bit of Stevia into my water and made lemonade. Gradually I weaned myself off the Stevia. I now only drink water during day, and at night water with lemon. That stuff is so bad for you.

janejellyroll

razorbackinflorida wrote: »

I would cut out the sodas. Not meaning to be preachy but I used to drink diet sodas all day every day. It actually caused me to retain water, and didnt help my weight loss cause. I was doing about 5-6 per day. I started putting water and a tiny bit of Stevia into my water and made lemonade. Gradually I weaned myself off the Stevia. I now only drink water during day, and at night water with lemon. That stuff is so bad for you.

Diet soda won't help or hurt weight loss. It's just a calorie-free beverage.

foodblaze

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.

Chef_Barbell

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.