Strange Swelling in Mouth after Drinking Tea?

Something strange just happened.

I made myself a cup of Creme Brulee from DAVIDsTea, as it’s a decadent tea with no caffeine in it. It’s the third or fourth time I’ve had this tea.

About 3/4 of the way through it, there was suddenly a swelling on the inside of my mouth about the size of an almond.

I’ve never had anything like this happen before. I googled, and most websites say the most common cause is allergies.

I’ve had red rooibos plenty of times with no side affects. The same goes for safflower and calendula. Green rooibos I’ve had once or twice in blends, but I’ve never noticed anything with it. And I’ve had this tea several times before. I added a bit of agave, but I’ve been adding that to plenty of things with no side affects. Same with milk.

I’m baffled. Any ideas?

16 Replies
Azzrian said

Sure hope you get better – whatever it is – if a food allergy it can be serious! We can develop them at any time. If you begin to have problems breathing or heart palpitations GET HELP! Don’t hesitate to go to the ER!
Have someone take you.

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Be careful. It does sound like a food allergy. Food allergies can get worse as you consume more of the food that you are allergic too. Perhaps there is something in the flavoring you are allergic too or also could be something else that is processed in the same facility if you are super sensitive or could be a new allergy. You might want to try an antihistamine to see if that helps. If it does, then it is probably an allergy.

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James R said

A food allergy test can be done really easily with an ige blood test. Just ask your Dr they can order one, its just a matter of drawing some blood.

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Bonnie said

Yes, I get really sick from that one myself and it began as scratchy throat and progressed into severe ‘D’ that lasts 5-6 days…I’m scared that one of these days I’ll go into shock. I’m seeing an allergist. I’ve never been allergic to anything in my life until I turned 62!

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Oh no :( I don’t want to be allergic to tea! Thanks for the info though guys. I’ll be careful ~

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darby select said

@Bonnie – it’ll be ok, don’t worry. I’ve recently went thru allergy testing and am doing shots twice a week. It’s really not bad and hopefully I’ll be better for it!

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Bonnie said

No, For me just rooibos, honeybush, licorice (bean family) not tea hooray…but in flavored tea’s it could be anything from the alcohol used in the flavoring or sometimes dairy or soy or nuts,even a spice.

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Uniquity said

I’m with the crowd – sounds like a food allergy. Since you can develop an allergy at any time, it can be tricky to nail down the culprit. The “almond sized” business is interesting though – I would think that allergic swelling would be more generally located all over the mouth/throat?

My guess was broken skin – if Michelle had bit her cheek or something I would expect that spot to be more reactive to the allergen.

Otherwise I mostly agree with the crowd – probably a food allergy, could be the rooibos or any additive, sometimes they appear suddenly later in life.

I know I have a habit of chewing my mouth up, but I don’t think I had. But yeah, it was VERY localized.

I dunno. It’s mostly gone down today. I’ll be careful and see what happens.

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I’ve gotten that with red rooibos too – from Adagio, and sometimes from 52Teas. Same thing – one part of my mouth is swelled, not all of it. (Benadryl kicked it to the curb.) I ended up avoiding the red rooibos for other reasons, so I haven’t had it happen lately.

Okay. Do you get the same thing with green rooibos? I’ve had a ton of red, but only a few green blends. I don’t know if the processing in red would affect it or not.

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Lynxiebrat said

Start keeping a food and drink journal. Note everything that you eat and drink and effects from them. Try to note as many ingredients of each item as possible. and note if anything feels metallic or chemically, or just ’off ’

I just started keeping a food journal due to my stomach getting upset after eating certain foods, but I was hard put to figure out what, so the journal can help pinpoint what is causing that reaction.

Thank you!

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