Cayenne Pepper Safety: Common Side Effects and Usage Tips

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Cayenne
Posted by Gulay Ersoz (Los Angeles, CA) on 11/11/2007

I have been taking one cayenne pepper pill a day with warm lemonade in the mornings for the last 2 weeks or so. I experience slight heartburn like feeling but it was not a big problem. Two days ago, I took two pills instead of one, and it was no more than 3 minutes after I swallowed the pills, I had the extreme cramping in my stomach, became very dizzy, my left arm was hurting and I felt tingling on my fingers and legs... Not only the pain was extremely bad, my head was spinning, I was having hard time walking in my kitchen. I was hot, I just wanted to stop the cramping and managed to throw up. Took two Tums... With the hyper ventilation and dizziness, I laid in the bath tub and turned the cold water on, (I was so out of it and unable to control my reflexes, I couldn't even take my clothes off) it took about another 10-15 minutes before the pain went away, and I actually managed to get up and walk around... I called my doctor friend and she asked me if I experienced chest pain, I said no. Other than that I had all the symptoms of a heart attack. Went to see a doctor, and after the EKG, I was told that I had a bad reaction to cayenne pepper. It was not a joking matter for me, as I was home alone with my 3 year old sleeping in her bed, I had to have a reality check. How healthy is it to be trying to be healthy???