I’ve noticed a strange occurence lately, and this has only started happening over the last couple of months. I love coffee and meeting in coffee shops, and since working for myself I often go, just on my own, to be amongst people and check through written work for errors, somewhere away from the phones and other distractions.
Well, recently I’ve noticed that I’ve started to get a mild asthma attack when I go into coffee shops. I didn’t think much of it at first, a quick puff on the inhaler and I’ve been OK, but leaving the coffee shop brings instant relief.
At first I thought it could be cross contamination with milk or cream into my black coffee or herbal tea, but since my suspicians first arose I’ve been watching like a hawk, and making sure I let staff know so they make sure they’re careful. I have seen people stirring mugs of coffee with the same spoon as from a milky one before – this would be enough to give me a mild reaction in the past. A mild reaction being asthma and mild swelling of the lips and mouth.
I know my dairy allergy is dose related so I usually only get a mild reaction to a trace amount e.g. asthma, stomach cramps and maybe a nasty red rash on my cheeks. However, lately I’m wondering whether I’m becoming even more sensitive.
Could it be that I’m reacting to the oblivious latte and hot chocolate slurpers on the neighbouring tables? Does frothing up and heating the milk make it more allergenic? Has anyone else with a dairy allergy experienced this phenomenon when in the proximity of steaming milk?
I finally put two and two together when I was washing out an empty milk carton for the recycling; (my husband does drink milk so we still have it in the fridge) when I removed the lid to submerge it in the hot soapy suds I got a whiff of rancid milk. Not nice at any time, but on this occasion I immediately had quite a bad asthma attack, my lips began to sell up and had to leave the room and sit down. A minor panic which all ended well but this made me think ,”It’s the milk vapour that’s doing this. I’ve become super sensitive to milk!”
It seems to be the steaming of the milk that effects me, or getting a whiff right up the nostrils; I appear to be fine if the drink is made in the traditional English way with cold milk added.
Tips for avoiding milk allergy in cafes
So what am I do to? Here are some tips
- Don’t sit near the coffee machines – Choose a seat far from the coffee and milk making machines. Sit upstairs if you can. Sit near the door.
- Mask – Perhaps a should wear a mask when in such establishments? I don’t think this will work as you can’t drink the coffee if you are wearing a mask.
- Sit outside – this is more acceptable now after Covid, and cafes often have blankets on offer. In summer it’s even easier and is much the safer option.
- Stick to takeout – Enjoy the fresh made coffee but drink it outside in the park or on the move.
- Choose plant milks – If you do ask for alternative milk for your coffee remain vigilant, watch staff and always check, because once it’s poured you can’t really tell. Check the procedure is safe and no cross contamination can take place.
I’ve always been aware that some people have such severe allergies that they can’t even be in a room with others consuming the allergen but this has never happened to me before. Has anyone experienced the same thing? What should I do? Stop exposing myself to dairy in coffee shops? or keep going but for shorter visits? Can I perhaps desentise myself? This is probably unlikely since I get anaphylaxis from dairy if I consume even a small amount, always by mistake and when I’ve not been careful enough when ordering food. My attacks are also usually exacerbated by exercise so this is a new advancement for me.
I’d love to hear from others with an allergy to the smell or just being in proximity to their allergen. How do you cope with it? Does my house now need to be a milk free zone? Perhaps my husband can have his own fridge in the garage where he can have his breakfast and cup of tea – I’m sure he’d love that! So far it hasn’t happened with just one other milky drink in the room, but is it just a matter of time? or am I just panicking about nothing?
Hi Ruth – What a pain……
I have never heard of anyone getting an reaction to milk vapours before but people who are fish allergic certainly do react to fish vapour so I fear that it is only too likely. After there must be an awful lot of milk vapour floating round your average Starbucks!
However, I wouldn’t give up on the coffee shop just yet…. Try a few basic avoidance procedures first…
Try to sit in the corner so that milk vapour is only coming at your from one angle.
Never go up to the counter to buy – let someone else do that – as the majority of vapour will be in the ‘making’ area.
Wear an elegant chiffon scarf casually whipped around your head – it won’t filter out much but every little helps!
Try to go at relatively un-busy times – avoid lunchtime- when there will be fewer people flashing their milk around.
Aim for larger rather than small shops – more air for the vapour to disperse in.
If possible get whoever you are with to get a clean cloth, or at least one which has been well washed out in water, to mop the table before you sit down to ensure there is no milk residue on the table – maybe easier just to use some baby wipes which you can carry with you and have thrown out as soon as you have used them.
And, obviously – but I know I do not need to tell you – carry your Epipen/inhalers etc to reduce your stress levels.
Good luck!!!
Will also post your dilemma on my blog – see if anyone else comes up with some suggestions.
Hi Michelle. Thanks for the suggestions. All brilliant ones, thank you, but sadly eliminates my favourite little independent coffee shops which are small, always rammed full and thick with steaming milky drinks. This week I took an anti-histamine before entering and sat upstairs out of the way but still got asthma. Not bad enough to need to rush out but needed a few puffs and was a relief when I got out into the fresh air. Got to face the facts I think. Oh well. We live and we learn, and never fear. Epipens always at the ready.
Oh dear….. sorry………
How about, if they still exist, department store coffee shops? I know they are not the little independents, but….
Incidentally – have you ever considered immunotherapy?….
Hi Michelle. I’m not sure what immunotherapy is. I know I do have a bit of a ropey immune system and can get run down very quickly and easily. I will have to look into this. Could this be something that strengthens my bodies defences and so reduces reactions such as this?
Ruth
I’m a health journalist. I’m interested in your milk vapour allergy. Can you call me please?
Not in a coffee shop, but I could well believe you are indeed reacting to liberated milk in the atmosphere. Our little Christopher has had mild reactions – when we knew no better than to linger too close to a certain pizza restaurant door. It took a little while for us to work out the connection but Christopher would get quite asthmatic and cough and splutter. We now know that he’s anaphylactic to CMP ingestion and reacts to touch so we can only surmise that it was aerosolised proteins from the cooking cheese. Needless to say we give the doorways a wide berth now and ventilate our kitchen well if we are cooking anything he may be sensitive to.
Gosh yes. I hadn’t thought of that. I did get a bit asthmatic the other night whilst out with my husband in a kind of tex mex place. Lots of pizza’s and melted cheese everywhere. I had thought that as long as I wasn’t eating any dairy I’d be fine but it seems it can travel airborne!
Ouch!…Unfortunately yes. although we had never heard of anyone else suffering like that until your post. It does rather limit the possibilities for an eating out treat as a family and James and Katie do love the odd pizza. Michelle reminds me that he would also get the full allergic rhinitis symptoms along with the dry cough and breathless wheeze, so streaming eyes and blocked sinus and runny nose too. My only wonder is that it took us quite so long to put two and two together. you know we even took us all to celebrate Katie’s 10th and Christopher’s 1st birthday at a pizza place….If we’d only known, but he was so unwell before diagnosis that we just couldn’t unravel what was going on.
It took me ages too and I was constantly worrying my asthma was not under control and upping the preventative inhaler dose, when all the time it was just asthma being triggered by exposure to airborn allergen. It doesn’t stop me but I’m far more aware now and am careful where we sit. Preferably near a door, in a corner and at quieter times seems to help a lot. Stay safe and lets hope one day there is a universal cheap cure.
I was scrolling through the chats trying to find someone else with reactions (asthma) to the steam given off from coffee pots when you make espresso at home (but only decaf) but Ialas I don’t see any? I ingest coffee fine & the vapours from caffeinated coffee does not give me asthma?
Hmmm that’s an interesting one. Asthma can be weird. I can get a mild asthma attack I think from the steam from my bath someetimes, but the bath is fine, I’m OK in the bath, but something about the steam can trigger a reaction. I’m not sure why that coffee pot steam might do the same for you. I often wondered whether in the bathroom it could be releasing mould. could there be mould on the coffee? Reaching into the unknown here. No idea really. I certainly react to milk vapour but that makes sense as I cannot ingest dairy either.
Hi, I see this post is a few years old, but I’m just curious what ever came of your experience? My little son recently went into anaphylaxis after being inside a coffee shop. He has severe asthma and food allergies, including an allergy to milk. We tested him for allergies to coffee (negative) and so concluded he was reacting to the aerosolized milk proteins from the milk steamer/frothier.
Hi Paulette, yes I’m convinced that I still have this problem. I get a mild reaction sometimes in my local pub on cheese and wine night so have learnt to avoid that. Coffee shops are difficult because they are one of those lovely cheap treats but I have learnt that sitting outside is best. Some coffee shops provide blankets in the winter, so as long as you’re wrapped up warm you can still enjoy steaming mug ob (black) tea of coffee. I also find it helps to sit near the door, avoid smaller places (such a shame as I love the little independent coffee shops) and also, avoid any really heaving busy places. After recent allergy tests I discovered that my dust allergy was off the scale. If I am anywhere with lots of people where the floor and curtains are dusty I also have mild asthma, which is annoying but never escalates to anything more serious. The same pub on a quiet day is fine, on a busy Friday night it’s painful and I can’t wait get outside. The asthma subsides the longer I’m out of the place. I’m really sorry to hear about your son, that must have been scary. I would suggest it could well have been aeorlised milk protein, as it’s the only thing that could have been affecting me. It took me ages to work it out, watching baristers like a hawk to see if they were stiring my black coffee with the same spoon or getting any milk in it, but it’s just in the air I think. Coffee shops for him might have to be a summer treat… or if you can sit upstairs, but at the moment, since he has such a severe reaction, I wouldn’t take him into one at all. You can tell him that he’s not the only one though! Interstingly, soya milk also gives me a really bad asthma attack, instantly, but with no other symptoms whatsoever. Good luck.
This happened in a Starbucks over the weekend to my highly milk-allergic son. He usually orders a kid’s soy milk and the staff is very accommodating, avoiding cross-contamination. But he had an amlost instant asthma attack upon walking through the doors.
I know your original post is old, but the incident caused me to get online to see if this had been the case for any other milk allergy sufferers. I gave him a dose of Benadryl, with no relief. From experience, when the proteins are inhaled, they are in his lungs and bloodstream, bypassing the digestive system- and causing an immediate effect.
He had a similar reaction about a year ago at summer camp when a fellow camper taunted him with a bag of cheesy Doritos- opened it right under is face. When he breathed in the cheese powder, he went into an immediate reaction.
I have not had that happen with milk but coffee can sometimes do this to me. I have experiences with just the smell or vapor from pasta sauce setting me into a pretty good asthmatic and coughing reaction.
You are not becoming allergic to coffee?
One of my good friends has a reaction to coffee vapour so I never have it when I’m with here. But no, I am fine when I have a black coffee at home, it’s just being out in a warm winter, steamy coffee shop. In summertime I can find places where I can sit outside but in winter that option is less appealing. Though I think I got actually dairyed the last time I had a black coffee and made the mistake of saying I’d have sugar… think they stirred it with universal whisk they stir everything with. Been back to speak to them about it but still lost 3 days of my life to a swollen nightmare.
Happens to my daughter who has severe dairy allergies and asthma. She is in a Stsrbucks …especially close to counter, she has an Asthma attack. She is 14 and it had happened over the years consistently, I have been told it is not possible but we know it to be true!
Oh yes, I’ve been told that it’s not possible to react to an allergen unless I eat some, but I KNOW that’s not the case too. I thought they were getting milk in my tea/coffee and had a huge mistrust of all coffee shops but I worked it out one time when I just had a glass of water, much to disgust of the owner, but I STILL had an asthma attack. And within 10-15 mins of getting outside my breathing gets better. In summer I sit outside, in winter I try to sit upstairs or by the door. Bit sad as I love people watching in a cafe but I have been known to freeze outside in hat, scarf and gloves. Very bracing. I enjoy it honest ;o)
This just happened to our daughter at Starbucks yesterday. I stopped in to get a beverage and she picked a boxed Apple juice. We were only in there long enough to stand at the counter, pay, get our drinks and leave. She began coughing and within 5 minutes actually asked for the inhaler. She does not have asthma in the traditional sense, but has had a few allergic asthma episodes in seven years. This happened one other time, again at a Starbucks, about three years ago. I think because the locations are small and they do a large volume of orders, it’s not a good combo for us. She is fine at another cafe we visit that is much larger, but does less volume when it comes to steamed milk. After the first incident, our allergist thought it was purely coincidental, but we still avoided taking our daughter into a Starbucks. Yesterday, we were at a shop right next to one, so I thought “It’s been 3 years; we are going right in and right back out.” And here I am today, googling to see who else has encountered this. 😐 Lesson learned – small spaces with loads of steamed milk are out for us.
Reading these posts have been so helpful, so glad I’m not the only one. I’m 23, have been severely milk allergic my whole life. I have had trouble with air exposure to milk since I was a child, but in the last 6 months it has gotten much more severe. Skin contact has also become a major problem for me. Starbucks is one of the worst places, and will send me into an immediate major asthma attack. Same with most restaurants where any kind of milk product is prepared. I have a fantastic allergist who specializes in food allergies, and we’re doing an official “airborne food challenge” in a few weeks to see just how allergic I really am. Honestly I’m just looking forward to having an official diagnosis because as it is right now, most work environments, even offices, aren’t safe for me. Someone drinking a cup of coffee in the next cube over, or eating cheese crackers and touching a door handle, is enough to make me very sick. It’s been a frustrating and upsetting journey, but I’m not giving up just yet.
Hi Ruth – I noticed a similar thing recently so I thought that I would do a search and see if anyone had the same issue. For me, I can actually drink cold milk in any form, including in coffee, but for some reason, I have an allergy when I drink coffee that contains steamed milk.
Anyway, thanks for your thoughts!
Pete
Very interesting Pete… The body is so complex!
Wow I have been having this reaction for years at Starbucks and it all makes sense now. I am highly allergic to dairy and experience similar asthma attacks upon entering Starbucks, and now refuse to even walk in to the store. I never put it together that it was the steamed milk causing this reaction. Oddly enough, most other coffee shops don’t give me this kind of reaction, but I guess Starbucks is pumping out more steamed milk drinks than most other establishments. Thank you for your insight
Hi Ruth – I am so glad to come across this article. I’m 23 years old and have a dairy allergy and I’ve noticed the 3-4 times I have been in Starbucks (a few times I haven’t even bought anything) I am noticing an allergic reaction to something. My throat starts to swell a little.
So I think you’re on to something, it’s likely the milk vapour!
I am convinced it is, though I can’t prove it. It’s a mild reaction but unpleasant and in small coffee shops it’s very hard to breath. One day I’m gonna have a dairy free coffee shop with a book shop attached. No milk allowed and no swelling throats 🙂
I can absolutely attest to this. The exact same thing happens to me, and it’s really frustrating. 🙁 I’ll have a coughing fit after I leave that lasts for at least 15 to 20 minutes, especially if I don’t have an inhaler on me. The last time it happened I took a benadryl, which helps, but takes longer than an inhaler. It is the milk proteins going airborne that’s doing it.
Wow, fascinating. I’ve been allergic to milk my whole life (I’m a 37 yr old male), and I have a whole bunch of other food allergies too. I started drinking coffee in coffee shops when I met my girlfriend, about 8 yrs ago. But, one time in Starbucks I had an immediate tightening of the chest, and a mild asthma attack. I stopped inhalers and asthma medication over 15 years ago, so when this happened I was mystified. I thought it might be coffee particles in the air, but it would seem like it’s the steamed milk. Here’s the thing thought – it’s ALWAYS been just Starbucks for me. And it seems that way for people posting comments here. Is there something different about the way Starbucks go about steaming their milk in their shops? Strange!
WOW just Starbucks? That is interesting. I wonder if they are larger coffee shops, making larger coffees with more milk, more coffees as they are so busy. No idea. Good reason to avoid Starbucks I guess! If other coffee shops are better, stick to independents. I do 🙂 But I don’t only get this reaction in Starbucks. LOL. I can also get a reaction to what I think is dust just in very busy small old rooms with lots of carpets and furniture. The more people, the more movement and I’m a goner. Asthma strikes when I’m normally pretty controlled with my asthma these days. Keep out of starbucks! That’s my advice
This happens to me all the time. I have the same anaphylactic reaction to dairy when I consume it and I have asthma. I now avoid all Starbucks and other coffee shops that steam milk or other types. The Starbucks inside the target stores seem to be okay, maybe there’s better air circulation in those ones. Panera bread brews lattes and coffee too but most of the locations I know are large enough I can stay far enough away from where they make the drinks
My allergy reaction is a bit different . Since about three years ago every time I have a latte the next day my lips or eyes swell up for half a day or so . It’s only when I have the milk at Starbucks . Its so werid.
Gosh that is really weird… why would it only be their milk? That really does make no sense. What type of coffee to you have?
My child toddler who has a severe dairy allergies gets bad asthma every time we bring him into Starbucks. He also breaks out in hives when he eats anything in their food area – like a banana or bagel..they soak up that steam like a spongue. We learned our lesson and dont go there anymore!!
I thought I was the only one! But it happens to me in most cafes. Just have to sit outside 😉
Hi Ruth,
I am sorry to hear about your story and I would like to offer you a possible solution:
I am the founder of a specialist Clean air technology company called Radic8.
One of our products is a personal air steriliser called hextio which uses advanced photo-catalytic oxidation to neutralise airborne pathogens and pollutants (not try to catch them).
Is is mobile and can be powered from a 12v battery, we are also designing a carry bag for this unit so that it can be used anywhere.
Our latest development for this unit is a directional airflow hood so that people can blow clean, sterilised air around themselves which will displace any polluted air.
We are calling this concept Clean Air Cloud.
I will have the new hoods for hextio manufactured in about four weeks time and I would love to send you a free hextio unit with the new hood in order for you to test it out and give me feedback / testimonial.
Please get in touch and let me have your thoughts.
Best regards
Richard
Hi Richard, this sounds very interesting. There are are many who could benefit I’m sure but what the hoods like? I may not be brave enough to venture out wearing one. I am also very busy moving house at the moment so may not respond for few weeks/month while I get all this sorted. Thanks for your comment though and good luck with the product. I will certainly be able to put you in touch with some organisations who may be able to help you promote the product.
Hi Ruth,
I get hives on my forehead while drinking lattes. Since discovering that the lattes were causing this reaction, I no longer drink them. After reading these posts, I’m wondering if it is the airborne steam vs ingesting the steamed milk as I had thought. Interesting….
But, I don’t have a problem with cold skim milk in coffee.
These stories are fascinating and informative.
I used to drink milk often, but I’ve been mostly vegan for the last couple of years. Yesterday I ordered coffee for lunch, and it seemed to have milk in it. I hadn’t intended to include milk, but I didn’t want to waste it, so I drank it: no problem. But half an hour later, I got itchy all over and then nauseated. Within half an hour, the attack subsided. I’d never had an event like that before. It might have been any of many things that caused it, but I wonder if I’ve become allergic to milk after not drinking it for a long time.
I also wonder if this is connected with Crohn’s disease, another autoimmune condition. I developed it 4 decades ago soon after moving away from home to university. No one knows the cause, but here’s one guess. Eating in the dining hall, I’d drink milk every meal because I thought it was healthy. But maybe the milk, since it came from other dairies than the milk I’d drunk at home, might have had other components, perhaps mycobacteria, which are not necessarily killed by pasteurization (though they are killed by ultra-high temperature pasteurization, or UHT, which is used for boxed milk than can be kept at room temperature until opened) and which have been theorized to be one possible trigger of Crohn’s disease. I recovered from Crohn’s disease and have not had symptoms for many years. But maybe something in milk can trigger my immune system to overreact, perhaps chronically as with Crohn’s disease, or acutely as with the possible brief allergic episode yesterday. This is just a guess based on an N of 1, so don’t rely on it. But sometimes anecdotal evidence accumulates and shows something relevant.
Fortunately, a possible solution for me seems easy. When I order coffee or tea, I’ll just ask for no milk.
I’m pretty sure I went from having a mild skin reaction to anaphylaxis to dairy after I cut it out of my diet so well, as I wanted to avoid getting eczema from it. Incredible to imagine that might happen to others. I thought it happened to be because I already had a mild allergy to milk but it was delayed and so not light threatening. Now I can’t touch a drop or I go into anaphylaxis and unconscious. The body is an incredibly complex machine. Just be very careful and keep an eye on it as the reactions could worsen with further exposure. Very interesting though. Thanks for sharing. No idea what Chrohns might add to the equation!
Hi Ruth,
this makes so much sense, it might finally explain what I am experiencing too. I have allergic reactions to all kind of things, but milk is the worst. As I also get asthma attacks from milk and am very scared (and annoyed) every time, I decided to do an experiment to make me less sensitive to the milk. And it works, but you have to keep doing it. I mix 1 drop of milk in 3 liters of water and drink 100ml out of this mixture every day. I do this for 1 week, as long as I have no reaction. Then I reduce the amount of water very slowly every week, always with 1 drop of milk. The moment I sense a reaction, I go back to more water. And I always only drink 100ml out of this mixture. It works very well, with time I get less and less sensitive to milk. Unfortunately, one has to continue forever, otherwise the allergie comes back as it was relatively quickly (meaning a month or two). When I did this year ago, I could at the end even have a bit of milk in my coffe! it was amazing. Then, I stopped doing the experiment and the allergy came back, as bad as usual. So now I am doing it again. A milk allergy is horrible, as it is almost everywhere. What I also do when we go and eat outside, I take a pill of antihistaminica half an hour before the food arrives and it helps against traces of milk in the food. I make me tired though.
Thank you for bringing up that milk vapour could be an issue, I never thought about it but it makes so much sense now.
Take care,
Marianne
Gosh you are brave. I’m not sure I’d want to risk this. I wonder if it’s possible to get desensitised to milk allergy and nut allergy for adults in the UK. I know they do it for kids at Addenbrooks hospital. It would really transform my life. My reactions are so bad though that I’m unconscious and I just can’t risk it. So all this Covid outdoor cafe culture is brilliant for us! It is not quite normal to sit in coats and blankets outside a coffee shop. Yay!
Hi all,
I am 29 and have had anaphylaxis to dairy my whole life. I have a long list of other food and seasonal allergies along with asthma and more recently diagnosed, eosinophilic esophagitis. I started noticing that I was having allergic reactions after entering a Starbucks or small cafe sometime in college. As many others mentioned I thought it was because of cross contamination despite always being very careful and telling the baristas that my allergy is severe. This issue would happen even if I only ordered herbal tea or nothing at all, I finally put the pieces together that it had to be the milk vapor in the air. I think Starbucks even uses a few powdered additives for flavors that contain dairy. A week ago I ran in a Starbucks to pick up a friends order and have been struggling with my asthma ever since. All to say, I think everyone here is correct and there are others experiencing this as well. My solution will be complete avoidance in the future or sitting outside. Other solution I’ve found that makes me feel a little better about missing out on most food experiences is making food and drinks at home that are tasty and I know are safe. Thank you for sharing your experience with this- I thought I was the only one!
My 9 year old daughter has had a dairy allergy since she was a baby, Starbucks and coffee shops with strong odor set off her asthma. I suspect her reaction may be from the fresh ground coffee because we first noticed her reaction when we would go downstairs to the restrooms at a coffee shop where they ground the coffee downstairs. But now I’m wondering about milk vapors, too.
Last night we went to a restaurant and while waiting for our food, she started having breathing trouble. We were sitting near the bar and kitchen.
Also, she suffered through topical steroid withdrawal when she was 2-4 years old. I saw mention of that horrible condition in your bio.
Hi Gina, I’m sure it’s milk vapour because it’s an allergen that is very easily vapourised. It took me ages to work out what caused mine and was certain at first that people had contaminated my drink. I do also get this in some restaurants and it’s frustrating. I don’t know what causes it. I also get it in houses if there are lot of people. If it’s quite and just a few people I’m OK. So I wonder if it’s dust allergy too, getting moved about the stomped as people move about. I find taking an antihistamine can help, it I take one before going in. Also setting outside (not always possible or comfortable in winter) or at least far from the kitchen and coffee making area. It’s something I still struggle with to this day. I managed to enjoy my green tea in a cafe/restaurant only yesterday but would have lingered longer if I hadn’t started to experience shortness of breath. It’s so hard because we don’t want to miss out, stay home or limit life so much. I’m thinking milk and dust but I’m not 100%
I just reread your comment and saw the TSW part, I hate it when kids get this, it proves that only a short usage is enough. Despite professionals telling us it’s rare and only happens if used incorrectly. May I ask how long your daughter used topical steroids and what potency? There is a study, called the Juhasz study that indicates that children can experience worsening eczema, rebounding eczema and topical steroid addiction in just two months of use. It’s effed up! Thanks for sharing and I’m judging from your comment that she recovered from TSW? How do you manage her skin now? I’d love to know. I’m 4 years now and am really struggling with the backs of my legs but the rest of me is now doing so well. (touches wood, throws salt over shoulder, prays to the skin god that I’ve not just jinxed myself).
I’ve had this and hoping to be tested for alpha-gal syndrome. Mine started after being treated for a bad case of Lyme. I became dizzy, nauseated and had a hard time breathing in Starbucks twice after staying to read. I couldn’t make sense of it. I also had violent stomach cramps after getting a latte with oat milk. I asked what kind of milk and they use oatly just like I used at home. So it didn’t make sense. I never thought to ask to make sure the utensil or the tip of the steamer be wiped before making mine. Now I only get black coffee. I was reading about alpha-gal and realized it must be the steaming soy and dairy milk. I’m highly allergic to soy too. Good luck to you! Thank goodness for drive thrus. Also I don’t have this issue at a coffee shop that has separate rooms for sitting from where they steam.
Hi Melissa, thanks so much for your comment. I am so sorry you’ve experienced this too, it’s so scary, thinking you might tip into a serious reaction. I get a very strong and bad wheeze in many cafes. I have found one near me that has a back door to a toilet and their storage area. This seems to mean that the milk vapour is blown out of the shop as people leave or arrive and the back door is opened. Also a few with a separate room, if you can bags a seat in there. Another great tip. How do you get tested for alpha gal syndrome? Is it a blood test?