Can Chocolate Make Symptoms Worse?

[artluvr09]

My Cardiologist told me not to have caffeine. He did say though that I can have chocolate. Today for some reason I have been feeling odd. My anxiety has been worse yesterday and today. This morning for breakfast I had a Boston Cream filled donut with chocolate frosting on top. Then I had some fudge tonight. Then earlier after lunch I had decaffeinated French vanilla black tea but it did say it had some very slight caffeine in it. I have been feeling restless anxious, irritable and just plain off and disoriented all day today and yesterday. I mean im disoriented 24/7 but it has been worse today and yesterday. Could chocolate make it worse? i'm just really out of it I feel like I can't see straight. I don't know.

[~elizabeth~]

Both the chocolate and the tea could have. Both are high in biogenic amines, and people with autonomic dysfunction can be very sensitive to theses substances. Chocolate is high in tyramine, which can mimic the effects of norepinephrine. In normal people, tyramine would be broken down in the gut by monoamine/diamine oxidases, but people with autonomic disorders may have depleted levels of these enzymes, in addition to having autonomic receptors that are oversensitive to catecholemines. For years now, I haven't been able to eat chocolate as it caused my tongue to go numb and sore, and irritated my throat causing it to go into a sort of spasm. Gradually my face started flushing in reaction to foods with high amine levels too. I only discovered this when I had to exclude high amine foods for a few days before urinary tests for neuroendocrine tumours, and found that it didn't happen on the restricted diet. Tea is also rich in substances that cause these problems, especially kinds that may have been fermented. If it wasn't for the horrific flushing, I probably would never made the connection between a worsening of POTS symptoms and diet, and worked out the connection with biogenic amines, I'd probably just have put it down to some kind of post prandial hypotension.

I now officially have a diagnosis of extreme amine intolerance now. This is not the same thing as mast cell activation, in my case it's actually closer to Raynaud's phenomenon, as exactly the same thing happens to my mouth/face if I have any medication that simulates norepinephrine (like midodrine). If you've had a bad reaction after chocolate, then it would be worth avoiding tyramine rich foods, and see if it makes a difference.

[looneymom]

If I give my son dark chocolate, it lowers his heart rate.

[Becia]

All I know right now, is I want a boston cream filled donut, lol. I read that and though "hey, sounds good!". I have no energy to bake today though, unless I get some super strong med kick later.

[Hope]

I don't know about chocolate, but all that sugar would have thrown me for a loop =)

[LMG]

Chocolate does not affect my BP or POTS but it can trigger a migraine for me, as many foods can. However, I have found if I want something sweet, it is better to have it later in the day. First, you have a baseline for how your day is going (even though we all know that can change quickly), and also I feel if I had a lot of protein for Bkfast and lunch, I can handle the sugar, but after a meal. Can't make it a meal. So I think many of us would feel kind of crummy after a boston creme donut first thing in the am. Maybe try oatmeal or eggs or protein and something salty like bacon (without nitrates if you can get it)?

Try the other things when you feel ok, and have eaten and try choc in a more pure form, like a few bits of just a plain candy bar.

Sometimes, choc is the only thing that makes me feel better or gets rid of a headache!!!

[Hope]

LMG, Good advice =)

[ramakentesh]

No caffeine? I have POTS and i couldnt live without caffeine! But initially i was in the hyped up tachycardia phase and couldnt handle it - now im in the fatiguey dizzy land and its a big help.

Chocolate was being investigated by the Baker Institute in Australia for lowering blood pressure over time (cocoa I mean). know idea if that is why.

[BeforeTheMorning]

I often feel a lot worse after eating chocolate. Chocolate does have theobromine in it, which can speed up heart rate and dilates blood vessels, so maybe that's why some Potsies can't handle it?