People who have experienced an allergic reaction to kava: how have you dealt with it?

[TheKavaSociety]

Hello,
I've been doing a bit of research on the problem of rare allergic reactions to kava (you can read about some of the key observations here: http://kavaforums.com/forum/threads/mini-research-on-kava-allergies.9673/#post-116376). I've noticed that quite a few people see these allergic reactions as "reversible" or "manageable". If you have ever experienced an allergic reaction to kava (hives/rash, puffy face, etc), I would appreciate if you could describe your experience and whether or not you have managed to mitigate or eliminate this reaction.
Thank you

 

[Kavashua]

I have, my experience involved tremendously dry eyes with a puffy face (think in movies when someone gets stung by a bee). Eyes were so dry that it was painful. I just laid off for about two days and when the symptoms started to lessen I went back to my normal routine. Note: this was after a marathon session with a well known inexpensive kava and I have not had any reactions since I stopped using this brand.

 

[nabanga]

I've had about three "one-off" bad reactions over the last decade or so from dry kava. My face went red and puffed up and face and scalp were very itchy for about 24 hours. One time my face was really swollen and I had to take antihistamines - but this was from a forgotten kilo of kava that I had stored non-airtight for over a year in the back of a cupboard, which i couldnt bring myself to chuck out, so I put the bad reaction down to mould.

 

[avahZ]

When I started Kava a few years back, I began to get hay fever like symptoms (red, puffy, itchy watery eyes) after about a weak of daily use. I pulled back on my use because of this. Food allergies are common in my household( milk, eggs, coffee, etc). Those symptoms were not the same I had. Mine was more like seasonal allergies. When I was a kid, I took allergy shots of the same allergen plants. So I just decided to lower my dose with kava candies and slowly increase my dose over time. This has worked wonders, it's not gone but If I behave I can get away with no symptoms. I don't need a big dose to get what I want from kava... if I do have a small reaction I will take an antihistamine and sleep it off. This is only if I binge daily for more than a few days in a row. If the reaction was more like a food allergy I would not have risked it. Oddly enough NeNe seems to hit me a bit harder than the others, so I let the wifu have it if I get the sample packs. I wonder if there is a different prep method or care method/chems used on it vs moi or some of the elder pacific cultivars... it could be the individual kavalactone ( or other plant chem) that hit me is higher in NeNe. I dunno.

Hope this helps, I know it's not much.

 

[TheKavaSociety]

When I started Kava a few years back, I began to get hay fever like symptoms (red, puffy, itchy watery eyes) after about a weak of daily use. I pulled back on my use because of this. Food allergies are common in my household( milk, eggs, coffee, etc). Those symptoms were not the same I had. Mine was more like seasonal allergies. When I was a kid, it took allergy shots of the same allergen plants. So I just decided to lower my dose with kava candies and slowly increase my dose over time. This has worked wonders, it's not gone but If I behave I can get away with no symptoms. I don't need a big dose to get what I want from kava... if I do have a small reaction I will take an antihistamine and sleep it off. This is only if I binge daily for more than a few days in a row. If the reaction was more like a food allergy I would not have risked it. Oddly enough NeNe seems to hit me a bit harder than the others, so I let the wifu have it if I get the sample packs. I wonder if there is a different prep method or care method/chems used on it vs moi or some of the elder pacific cultivars... it could be the individual kavalactone ( or other plant chem) that hit me is higher in NeNe. I dunno.

Hope this helps, I know it's not much.

It's definitely a very weird type of allergy. The fact that so many people think it can be "reversible" (including people on the islands) seems especially rather curious. I suppose it might indeed be a similar mechanism to trying to immunotherapy used in the treatment of some allergies.

 

[r45t4m4n]

I've gotten a rash twice now, once on my chest the second time, my back. I slow down or stop my kava consumption when this happens. I also noticed if I apply a moisturizer daily to the area affected it goes away faster.

 

[TheKavaSociety]

I've gotten a rash twice now, once on my chest the second time, my back. I slow down or stop my kava consumption when this happens. I also noticed if I apply a moisturizer daily to the area affected it goes away faster.

Thanks. What kind of kava did you consume? When this happened, did you take any medications or did you just reduce/stop your consumption? If the latter, then how long did you stop drinking kava for?
Cheers

 

[r45t4m4n]

I drank a variety of kavas from board vendors, I don't want to name names, but they were all noble and from supported vendors. I was not taking any medication at the time, just stopped consumption. It took ~2 weeks for the rash to clear.

 

[TheKavaSociety]

I drank a variety of kavas from board vendors, I don't want to name names, but they were all noble and from supported vendors. I was not taking any medication at the time, just stopped consumption. It took ~2 weeks for the rash to clear.

Do you still drink kava?

 

[r45t4m4n]

Yes, drank some tonight.

 

[KrunkMunster]

I had this allergic reaction and did a lot of reading on it. Bottom line is it is a kind do of Dermo were your body is producing histamine in response to the kava lactones attaching to protien in the skin. I was able to overcome it by drinking through it and taking a small dose of anti histamines. Now I drink kava nearly daily with no adverse reactions. My skin was very dry for awhile but now that is even improving

 

[avahZ]

Yea it is definitely not like a typical food allergy. As I had said, if it was I would have not even pushed through. Food allergies will right up send you mole herding!

 

[TheKavaSociety]

Hm. Are you guys sure you didn't just manage to successfully desensitize by taking small amounts and gradually increasing your dose? I am not an expert on allergies, but wouldn't this explain how people manage to "reverse" their reaction to kava?

 

[avahZ]

Yes I am pretty sure that is what I did. As I noted above, it was more like seasonal allergies. Very itchy red eyes, runny nose... only happened when I used kava.

I can still have a small reaction and now thinking about it, that could be one reason heavy kavas tend to make me feel bad. Love my moi and Fijian. Oh and those nice (RIP) extracts and kava candies!

 

[TheKavaSociety]

I had this allergic reaction and did a lot of reading on it. Bottom line is it is a kind do of Dermo were your body is producing histamine in response to the kava lactones attaching to protien in the skin. I was able to overcome it by drinking through it and taking a small dose of anti histamines. Now I drink kava nearly daily with no adverse reactions. My skin was very dry for awhile but now that is even improving

how long did it take you to overcome that reaction? Did you keep drinking the same kava?

 

[kilakila]

I had a reaction much like @r45t4m4n . A little bit of dermo in the hip area on both sides, but a horrible rash on chest and back. Like acne zits. Couldn't use the amlactin on those because I kept scratching them, so smothered them in coconut oil every night. I stopped drinking kava for about a week - and I don't remember which kava it was - and the rash began to fade. Started drinking a couple of times a week for about 2-3 weeks and the rash slowly diminished. Nothing there now, and no dermo.

 

[KrunkMunster]

how long did it take you to overcome that reaction? Did you keep drinking the same kava?

Probably close to a month. It was really bad for 2-3 weeks. I almost threw in the towel. I looked pretty damn hideous at times, but I just told people at work I was having an unknown allergic reaction to something and I was going to the Dr to figure it out.

You have to keep drinking Kava or you'll never get over it. It will just come back if you stop and then start again. Your body needs to desensitize itself to the histamine response the Kava is causing. From what I read, it is very similar to how allergy doctors help someone get over really bad bee sting allergies and such. They inject the person with small amounts of venom over time to help their body get over the reaction.

What I did was take 1 Benadryl 2-3 times per day (morning and night, but sometimes in the afternoon if I had a really bad day). If 1 Benadryl didn't get the reaction under control, I took another one. I also used Benadryl cream to help with the itching.

When I did drink Kava, I used a very good Noble and stained the hell out of it.

If this is an honest to gosh food allergy -- I'm betting it isn't --, then you will probably have a very bad allergic reaction and then you will have no choice but to not drink Kava. Food allergies are actually fairly rare on a population as a whole basis, so I think it's fairly unlikely you have a food allergy.

Now that I'm over my reaction, I enjoy Kava daily with next to no negative side effects. Sometimes my skin drys out a lot, but this is easily remedied with coconut oil and drinking lots of water.

 

[EQ]

Hm. Are you guys sure you didn't just manage to successfully desensitize by taking small amounts and gradually increasing your dose? I am not an expert on allergies, but wouldn't this explain how people manage to "reverse" their reaction to kava?

I've had this three times. The first was 6 months after I started Kava.
Along with @KrunkMunster I drank through it. Amlactin worsens it.
Can't tell you what varities of Kava or how long. The first stayed for 3 weeks, and I abstained for a week, and a half. and started drinking again as it wasn't improving much. The other 2 times it went away quicker, and I believe it is because the first time Amlactin worsened it.
The other 2 times I used Castor oil.

 

[KrunkMunster]

I've had this three times. The first was 6 months after I started Kava.
Along with @KrunkMunster I drank through it. Amlactin worsens it.
I can't remember what varieties I was drinking.

I can confirm that Amlactin made it worse for me too.

 

[TheKavaSociety]

Probably close to a month. It was really bad for 2-3 weeks. I almost threw in the towel. I looked pretty damn hideous at times, but I just told people at work I was having an unknown allergic reaction to something and I was going to the Dr to figure it out.

You have to keep drinking Kava or you'll never get over it. It will just come back if you stop and then start again. Your body needs to desensitize itself to the histamine response the Kava is causing. From what I read, it is very similar to how allergy doctors help someone get over really bad bee sting allergies and such. They inject the person with small amounts of venom over time to help their body get over the reaction.

What I did was take 1 Benadryl 2-3 times per day (morning and night, but sometimes in the afternoon if I had a really bad day). If 1 Benadryl didn't get the reaction under control, I took another one. I also used Benadryl cream to help with the itching.

When I did drink Kava, I used a very good Noble and stained the hell out of it.

If this is an honest to gosh food allergy -- I'm betting it isn't --, then you will probably have a very bad allergic reaction and then you will have no choice but to not drink Kava. Food allergies are actually fairly rare on a population as a whole basis, so I think it's fairly unlikely you have a food allergy.

Now that I'm over my reaction, I enjoy Kava daily with next to no negative side effects. Sometimes my skin drys out a lot, but this is easily remedied with coconut oil and drinking lots of water.

I am not sure it's a good idea to take antihistamines while you try to desensitize. From what I've read it might be better to just use much smaller amounts (initially and gradually increase if your body's ok). But again, not entirely sure if this "kava allergy" works in a similar way to other food allergies. On the one hand it appears to be relatively common (though we could be biased - we only see the reports from those who get it, the thousands and thousands who don't get it do not come here to report not getting any allergic reaction), on the other hand it is often weirdly reversible.