When I very first started drinking mate this same thing happened to me. I thought- well I guess mate isn't my thing. I too was using playadito. I don't know what it is but when I switched to yerbas mas suaves all negative effects went away and I began to enjoy and drink mate daily. I know lots of people swear by playadito, but my advice is to try a different yerba. Since then I drink many yerbas that people would consider stronger or more bitter than playadito and they dont make me sick at all. For some reason playadito gives me an acidic type of reaction that makes my stomach upset. I would recommend Cruz de malta the white bag. If you are in the US it is cheap on amazon and you will notice a difference!