Well if my life didn't already suck enough

[mathnerd]

Today I had lunch about noon and then didn't eat anything else until about 4:45. It was a half of a chocolate bar. Within 5 minutes of eating it, itching started. I took benadryl. A few minutes later, I started puking. Then few minutes after that my tongue and lips started to swell and I started wheezing. Oh, great. I know damned well what this is. Get out the epipen, tell MrMathnerd to take me to the ER. I was still pretty sick when we got there, so more benadryl, prednisone, two different meds to stop the puking, other steroids, the general SOP.

Doc then informs me that I should probably eat like I'm allergic to chocolate (or something in chocolate) until I can see my allergist, and that's likely going to come out positive for an allergy to either chocolate itself, or something that's in the chocolate, which might be difficult to avoid in various available chocolate things.

How can I be allergic to chocolate? It's the only sweet thing I like, and it's kind of a coping mechanism for dealing with all the other crap in my life.

THIS IS NOT FAIR!

Grrrr.

[kaherbert]

If you are in the US, could you be allergic to peanuts. Mars and Nestle chocolate almost always has either peanut oil or may contain traces warnings. Hershey products generally don't have cross contamination warnings or peanut oil.

[Crossbow]

Agreed that it could be a contaminant in the chocolate. Hopefully it's not the chocolate itself. I agree with the assessment of stay away until you can get tested, though.

[mathnerd]

I'm definitely not allergic to peanuts. I have parrots and am around peanuts all the time and eat them frequently. Also it wasn't US chocolate I was eating last night.

[EricKei]

Check the wrapper - regardless of origin - and see if it mentions cross-contaminants. If you don't see anything, google for something like "brand name chocolate allergic" or allergen, etc. I suppose it's possible that not all companies put cross-contamination warnings on their products.

[Kaylyn]

The only allergy I distinctly remember you having was tomatoes, even minute quantities causing the reaction you described. I don't know if you have any other allergies or if your allergy is spreading to other nightshade plants and their derivatives, but I suppose it's possible that mishandling in manufacturing allowed an otherwise innocuous contaminant to get in.

I remember that you previously had no problems with peppers (the story about Jester's fake tomato sauce made from red bell peppers comes to mind) but as they and other genus-Capsicum peppers are part of the same biological family as tomatoes (and potatoes), I wonder if your allergy is spreading. So if you were eating chili pepper infused chocolate, or if the chocolate had added starch in it, it MIGHT have been a trigger. (Of course if you've recently been eating lots of peppers or potatoes I doubt you'd have such a severe reaction so soon.)

Hopefully you and your allergist can get it sorted out. I'd hate it if I could suddenly no longer have chocolate!

[mathnerd]

I'm also allergic to eggplant, another nightshade, and have a skin reaction to potatoes, yet another nightshade (that's only in the last 6 months though). It looks as if I'm working through the nightshades, but as of now, I have no trouble with peppers or tobacco (which I smoke, not eat). I've also been recently diagnosed with mast cell activation disorder, which increases the severity of reactions to existing allergens, makes developing new allergies more likely, and can sometimes cause anaphylaxis for no reason at all.

The timeline is pretty clear. I'd had no other food in the previous 5 hours. The chocolate, or something in it, caused the reaction. This was an expensive European chocolate that was given to me as a gift. It does disclose the "made in a factory that also handles tree nuts" warning, but given that I'm around (and eat) tree nuts and peanuts continuously, I think I'd have shown signs of a nut or peanut allergy by now. The ER doc said just behave as if the chocolate bar was the source until I can see my regular doc.

I have an appointment with my allergist on June 7th.

[Victory Sabre]

Damn! I hope it's something simple like a component of the chocolate, and not chocolate in general.

I guess you'll have a better idea in a couple of weeks. Good luck.

[csquared]

I'm also allergic to eggplant, *snip*
This was an expensive European chocolate that was given to me as a gift.

Did you know that chocolate with eggplant is very popular in parts of souther Europe? You may want to contact the manufacturer and find out if they do anything with eggplant.

[mathnerd]

Did you know that chocolate with eggplant is very popular in parts of souther Europe? You may want to contact the manufacturer and find out if they do anything with eggplant.

I had no idea! The label doesn't say, but it's mostly in French, which I do have a basic reading/hearing fluency in (I can't speak it to save my life...well, maybe to save my life, but not well). I will check up on this.

[EricKei]

Maybe bring the label itself with you to the doc -- sealed inside a ziploc bag, placed inside said bag by...well...anyone else in your household other than you Maybe someone at the office either speaks French, or, as this IS a doctor's office we're talking about here, maybe the doc can recognize enough Latin base words to ID any chemical additives in there. Or just sit down and run the ingredients list through google translate.

[Cia]

Eggplant in French is 'aubergine' - which is also a shade of purple.

[Food Lady]

I hope it was eggplant! (I want you to be able to have chocolate.) If you have to give up chocolate, maybe carob? I know some people don't like it, but I think it's good.

[cindybubbles]

What about making your own sweets? Buy a cookbook with allergy-friendly dessert recipes.

[mathnerd]

Alas, it was not eggplant. And to be honest, I don't really like sweets with the exception of chocolate.