She Thought Caffeine Was the Problem. It Was More Complicated Than That.
Dr. John Erickson, DC | Laser & Chiropractic Center of the Rockies | Loveland, CO
Case 005 | Series Post #5
She Had Written Off an Entire Food Group
She had convinced herself it was the coffee. The headaches always seemed connected to caffeine, so she had started managing her intake. Sometimes it helped. Sometimes it didn’t.
She came in exhausted. Not from the headaches. Just exhausted. Low energy had been her baseline for so long she had stopped noticing it was unusual.
What happened next surprised both of us.
Three Problems She Had Learned to Live Around
She was 55. Depression, headaches, and persistently low energy. Three separate problems — or so it seemed — that she was managing with a combination of habit adjustment and resignation.
The headaches she had linked to caffeine. The low energy she attributed to age. The depression she was addressing through other means. She came in wanting help with the energy specifically. That was her stated goal.
Initial testing revealed she was positive for many different allergens. We began with the foundational NAET protocol, starting – as we often do – with eggs.
She Couldn’t Remember Ever Feeling This Energetic
After the first treatment for eggs, she came back with a report I wasn’t expecting.
She said she had such a burst of energy after that first treatment that she couldn’t remember ever feeling quite so energetic.
She had come in for help with low energy. The first treatment — for eggs, not an energy supplement — produced a response she hadn’t felt in years. That alone told us something important about what had been draining her.
We continued working through the Basic 17. She reported sleeping better. Then we addressed caffeine specifically.
The headaches went away. And here was the part she hadn’t anticipated: it didn’t matter whether she drank caffeine or not. The headaches were gone either way.
The Caffeine Wasn’t the Cause — Sensitivity to It Was
Assessment identified reactivity across multiple allergens, with eggs and caffeine among the significant findings. In NAET, we assess how the body responds to individual substances and address those responses systematically.
Her belief that caffeine was causing her headaches wasn’t wrong — but it was incomplete. It wasn’t the caffeine per se. It was her body’s sensitivity to caffeine that was driving the pattern. The distinction matters: eliminating caffeine manages the exposure; addressing the sensitivity addresses the response.
The egg sensitivity finding was equally significant. Egg is a basic protein that the body uses in dozens of metabolic processes. When the body treats a foundational nutrient as a threat, the energy cost of that ongoing reactivity is real.
Patient-Reported: More Energy, Better Sleep, Fewer Headaches
She reported a significant increase in energy following the first egg treatment – something she described as unlike anything she could recently recall. Sleep quality reportedly improved as she continued through the foundational protocol.
Following her caffeine treatment, she reported that the headaches she had previously linked to caffeine intake resolved – and remained resolved regardless of whether she consumed caffeine.
Three problems she had been managing separately appeared to have a common thread she hadn’t previously considered.
The Immune System’s Relationship With Common Foods Is Underestimated
The nervous and immune systems regulate each other reciprocally. Research published in the Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology has documented that stress – including the physiological stress of ongoing immune reactivity – shifts the body’s immune balance in a direction that sustains and amplifies the allergic state.[1] The body in a constant reactive mode is a body spending energy it doesn’t have.
When the body is treating common substances – eggs, caffeine – as threats, the immune activation required to maintain that vigilance is not free. It costs energy. It costs sleep quality. It creates systemic inflammation that manifests in ways that don’t look like a typical allergy.
Here is the question: how many people are managing headaches, fatigue, or low energy with strategies that address the symptom — when the actual driver might be an unidentified sensitivity to something they consume every day?
The Problem You Came In For Isn’t Always the Only One Worth Solving
She came in for energy. She left with energy, better sleep, and the headaches she had managed for years no longer showing up.
That is not what she expected. It is what happened.
If you have been managing fatigue, headaches, or other persistent symptoms without clear resolution — a sensitivity evaluation might answer a question you didn’t know to ask.
— Dr. John Erickson, DC | Laser & Chiropractic Center of the Rockies | Loveland, Colorado
To learn more about NAET at Laser & Chiropractic Center of the Rockies, visit laserchirorockies.com or call 970-412-3212.
Individual results vary. This story is de-identified and shared with permission. It represents a reported patient experience and is not a guarantee of outcome. NAET is a complementary wellness approach and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or medical condition.
[1] Montoro, J. et al. “Stress and Allergy.” J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. 2009;19 Suppl 1:40-47. PMID: 19476053.