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Dark Chocolate Herx/Flare?

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Posted 8/18/2021 3:56 PM (GMT 0)
This might be a silly question, but has anyone noticed they start feeling like they’re herxing when they eat dark chocolate? I know a lot of people with Lyme eat a bit and even my practitioner said a little bit here and there is fine! But every time I eat it, I swear is start herxing. It might be a flare but I start getting die off symptoms. Any one else or am I crazy? 😂
Posted 8/18/2021 4:52 PM (GMT 0)
I eat chocolate and it doesn’t cause a herx for me.

Maybe you’re intolerant/have a sensitivity to chocolate ?
Posted 8/18/2021 5:33 PM (GMT 0)
Before I was diagnosed with Lyme I would definitely get an increase in symptoms -- tingling, numbness, sometimes spasms and nerve pain -- when I ate sugar and specifically chocolate (I was a chocolate addict). I don't think it's a herx, I mean Borrelia feeds off sugar, this is why we're not supposed to eat that stuff. Now after 2 years of treatment that does not happen, but I still don't feel good if I eat sugar. It doesn't happen with fruit though. Alcohol always made me feel like I was being poisoned to death, even 1 glass of wine.
Posted 8/18/2021 5:35 PM (GMT 0)
I know chocolate has an effect on hormones, might be what's going on.
Posted 8/18/2021 5:51 PM (GMT 0)
this is so fascinating to me. I appreciate when people post things they feel insignificant or silly, because it often makes me not feel crazy!!

i’ve been craving dark chocolate specifically and having awful numbness tingling dizziness. i’m going to stop the chocolate and see if it helps.

I am having. a huge flare rn, horrific overstimulation and detox issues, so dizzy and tinnitus, eye blurry, my muscles and limbs just don’t want to line up with what I want them to do, I can’t even drink thru a straw without strict concentration. my lips just don’t even want to work. I am eating soft boiled veggies and soups and homemade broth and meat and some fruit ... a little eggs, but no grains or sugar or processed food. except that one bite of chocolate makes my day.
Posted 8/18/2021 6:41 PM (GMT 0)
If you're craving chocolate badly make sure you're taking magnesium daily, preferably at night. You could be deficient.

A good bowl of fruit will combat my sugar cravings. I put banana, strawberries, and raspberries in a bowl with coconut milk (plain, no sugar or additives), almond butter, cinnamon and nutmeg and microwave it for 30 seconds then stir it all up. If I have ground flax I'll add some of that too, it's like a smoothie bowl.

Sometimes I do chopped apple, almond butter, coconut oil, and pumpkin pie spice in a bowl and microwave it, it's like a crustless apple pie.
Posted 8/18/2021 6:50 PM (GMT 0)
The only chocolate I have is those dipped chewy granola bars, and the peanut, almond, cashew bars with chocolate-coatings, otherwise I'm very mindful these days about how much carbohydrates and sugar (both are very similar to me) I have. Keto says I think 30 grams of carbohydrates or less per day, if I can follow that I usually pretty good. If I go over that amount and eat a bunch of sugary snacks, chips, junk food, carbs, fruit rollups, fruit chew snacks, I can expect a flare-up of symptoms for the next few days..

I feel best and clearheaded when I am strictly ketogenic or fasting state.... like maybe some raw or lightly steamed cabbage and rotisserie chicken cutlets..
Posted 8/18/2021 7:14 PM (GMT 0)

Halesmcvey64 said...
This might be a silly question, but has anyone noticed they start feeling like they’re herxing when they eat dark chocolate? I know a lot of people with Lyme eat a bit and even my practitioner said a little bit here and there is fine! But every time I eat it, I swear is start herxing. It might be a flare but I start getting die off symptoms. Any one else or am I crazy? 😂

Yes can cause a herx. Especially if u have EBV, herpes types 1&2 , shingles. Not suppose to have chocolate. it can make u feel tingly or numb.it causes inflammation and outbreak of herpes viruses and ebv. Chocolate gives me anxiety sometimes because of the caffeine content most likely especially if u cut down and haven't had it in a while
Posted 8/18/2021 10:08 PM (GMT 0)
orbiting around,
that smoothie bowl sounds divine!

medical nerd,
I am always learning new things from u. is herpes 1 or 2 what causes cold sores? I often get those around my lips esp if i’m fighting off a cold
Posted 8/19/2021 12:30 AM (GMT 0)
Chocolate is considered a high-histamine food, so many people with histamine intolerance issues (like mast cell activation syndrome) cannot tolerate it. If you react with herx-like symptoms to chocolate, then I would explore MCAS.
Posted 8/19/2021 12:54 AM (GMT 0)
I second what saraeli said - MCAS.
Posted 8/19/2021 8:39 PM (GMT 0)
Ok people talked about sugar and whatnot but dark chocolate is lower in sugar than milk chocolate. What it is higher in is caffeine though. I love love love dark chocolate because you can actually taste the cocoa but I have to eat very little because I am sensitive to caffeine...depending on what your symptoms are, you just might be reacting to the caffeine from it.
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