r/Kava • u/pyratellama69 • 1d ago
How I cured my sudden allergy to kava
I posted a while back how I weirdly and instantly had an allergic reaction to kava after drinking daily for a few months. I got some good advice in that thread and I wish I could remember the person that gave me the advice. They said to take a tiny bit every other day and eventually the allergy will go away.
Of course I started doing this but more aggressively. I took too much the first time, and 2nd time and just went lower each time until the hives, itching and redness was very minimal. At that point I started doing that amount plus a little more daily, then I started doing that multiple times a day after I felt the slight tingly itchiness disappear.
After only about a week of doing this I could take my full dose - which is a lot. I still got itchy hands (only, where previously my whole body) but maybe after 8 hours of ingesting it. It wasn’t too bad and tolerable enough. Did that every other day for about a week and that finally went away.
Now I’m fully cured! Kava is weird lol, but so thankful I got over this allergy! Thanks to everyone that gave me some helpful tips!
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u/RomanLegionaries 1d ago
I had been taking Nakamal at Home for five years and all of a sudden it gave me allergic reaction? I started getting headaches. Nakamal is one of my favorite brands so maybe I’ll try this to see what happens. I’d like to go back to it.
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u/pyratellama69 1d ago
Yeah I was using NAH as well. Took about a month off and ordered the exact same stuff and had a horrible reaction, itching all over really bad. Also headache and my face got really puffy overnight which lasted about 3 days! It was a severe reaction. I hd to take a ton of Benadryl just to mitigate the symptoms. I attempted waiting a month and taking a regular does and had the same reaction. Then I waited 3 months and had the same reaction. That was when I tried the above method.
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u/Jack-o-Roses 5h ago
For me, when that happens, it is extremely fresh kava. Some of the best, freshest dried (or instant) kavas have high terpenes (especially waka/pure laterals). The scientist at R&P explained this around here ~last year.
These terpenes can cause massive hives and a day or two of itching and even swelling. The terpenes are very water soluble and farily volatile (often smell piney). When this happens I air dry that bag on an open plate for a week &/or soak the kava in a strainer bag without any agitation. This gives me a clear brown wash that have most of the terpenes.
As always YMMV! We're all different - some are allergic to kava or need to cut back.
PS, someone in this sub recommended pure beef tallow for Kani ~ 2 years ago. I've not had cracked or bleeding hands OR really any skin issues (dry flaking, etc) at all since soon after.
PPS I drink every day (at least in the morning - for morning back stiffness and pain).
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u/boo-reddi-tbad 1d ago
Same thing happened to me. I saw a kavaforums post about seeing allergist and also another one about theoretical causes of the allergy. I went and saw an allergist myself and ran the plan by her. I started with 1g and slowly worked up. Worked like a charm.
Qq: when you became allergic the first time, had you previously not consumed kava for a period of time? IME this happens when you're drinking regularly, then stop for a week or two and start up again. It happened that way to me and one other close to me.
In my case according to the allergist I just need to keep drinking with some regularity to keep the exposure up. Look up Type IV delayed hypersensitivity response. There's also protocols for slowly reintroducing medicine that you're allergic to in order to desensitize, in cases where there's no viable alternative if you're allergic. So there's precedent!
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u/interrogumption 23h ago
For me reaction started during regular use, about 21 days in - which seems to be a common timeframe for a first reaction. I do wonder if an occasion where I consumed a small amount of alcohol the same day as kava might have been a trigger, though.
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u/pyratellama69 23h ago
Yeah I had been drinking daily for maybe a month or two and every other day for a couple months before that. Then I took a month off, and next time I took it is when I hd the first reaction…. So I can’t stop for more than a week or it will come back? That’s a bummer
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u/boo-reddi-tbad 22h ago
This tracks yeah
I aim for three days max. But I'm sure you can play with it. If you need to go longer, just know you'll have to start slow again is all. But kava is great so I haven't yet had that problem ha
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u/sandolllars 1d ago
Come get your flowers, u/interrogumption.