There are allergies to chocolate/cocoa.

Environmental physicians use a product called TriSalts to
block exaggerated allergic reactions to things.

Look at the ingredients on the packet of cocoa. There can be many additives in it. Some to make the powder flow better in the factory in the machines (and not clog up).

You could be reacting to anything in that product.

Tetany is not common outside of hospitals. The one patient I saw in community work had a hidden tumor of the parathyroid and he had a huge emergency and was transported in tetany to a hospital to have the tumor removed.

People who get thyroid surgeries can have damage to parathyroids too. Often in the hospital they are given extra calcium just in case.

You will want to make sure you are eating the RDA for magnesium daily, and if not, you should fix that. Low magnesium causes muscle spasms, and anxiety among many other things. Low enough and it can stop your heart (arrhythmia). Some drugs deplete magnesium, and diuretics including caffeine are major culprits. Use of stomach acid blocking drugs may impair magnesium absorption. If you are diabetic you lose magnesium in the urine (mechanism for this is not yet well understood).

This link will help you evaluate foods for magnesium content:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/

It is estimated from studies that up to 70% of Americans do not eat adequate magnesium containing foods. So this is a serious issue. Soaking in epsom salt baths can help restore some magnesium you may be lacking.

The thing that I dislike so much about this phase is that I am unable to move my body in this way voluntarily. I have muscle fatigue that prevents me from doing all the normal things, but then simultaneously I have an overwhelming and uncontrollable urge to move continuously.

In the first time I had this the muscle contraction was so strong it caused me to sit up in bed suddenly during my sleep. It was horrible because I can't move that fast of my own accord. It made me feel very ill, and of course, it's incredibly confusing when you're body starts to do these things and you can do nothing to control them.

Three years ago, when I first got the slurred speech and muscle weakness etc, I had bouts of strange muscle behviour that I have only now just connected. If I were to sit or lay still for some time, and then suddenly get up and try to move about, I would get the ministry of funny walks, often an uncontrollable marching movement with my legs. It sounds funny, which it was at first, but then when it keeps happening it's just so confusing. I feel like I'm going bonkers when this happens.

I see my first MG specialist + respiratory testing and EMG this coming Monday. Should I mention these symptoms? Or will it confuse the issue?

I'm sorry to post what may seem like an unrelated issue here (also for my previous post on the weird rash), but while I am still in this diagnostic process I have no idea what is related from what is not. By feeling out whether these experiences may be shared by others with MG, it helps me to understand whether that is indeed what I have, or not, as the case may be. Of course, that is ultimately for the neurologist to decide in any case.

I realize I am very reluctant, in the course of the last week, with a weird itchy rash and now muscle hyperactivity, to go to my GP. The GP I have now is very good and has never suggested that my symptoms are all in my mind, but, because so many other physicians over the past three years have told me these symptoms are a product of my imagination, it has become my default expectation. So I avoid going to the GP at all costs.

The thing which baffles me about this illness: Just when I think I understand it and can predict what it will do, it goes and does something completely different.

Thank you for this information. However, I'm pretty sure my magnesium levels are okay, if diet is anything to go by. I have a steady intake of magnesium rich foods on a daily basis -- porridge with oatbran containing dates, cinnamon and low fat natural yoghurt for breakfast, wholegrain toast or wild rice with home-made hummus containing tahini topped with sunflower seeds for lunch, supper is always wholegrains and often contains pulses...So, I think I'm at least okay on that front...

Hot chocolate is my only sin!

INGREDIENTS:
Sugar, corn syrup, modified whey, cocoa (processed with alkali), hydrogenated coconut oil, marshmallows (sugar, corn syrup, modified corn starch, gelatin, artificial flavor), nonfat dry milk, calcium carbonate, less than 2% of: salt, dipotassium phosphate, mono- and diglycerides, artificial flavor, carrageenan.
Contains: Milk.

Any clues?

I don't seem to have a problem with any other products containing cocoa...

I bolded your potential culprit:
http://blog.charisholisticcenter.com...-additive.aspx

Carrageenan is the suspending agent, in this product I presume.

On this link it seems that carrgeenan is leading to gastrointestinal problems, which I don't have...could this cause tetany?

They also mention, "allergic reactions"....
You'll have to Google further.

But the comments about opening pores in the GI tract to allow things to enter the body from the gut, is a real phenomenon.
This is how Celiac works....peptides get absorbed into the body this way and cause autoimmune reactions in people (when consuming gluten containing grains and foods).

These pores are now called Zonulin channels, and when they open, all sorts of things go into you thru them, since normally they are tight junctions. Then you start responding to all sorts of normal foods as a result. It can get very complex!

Also you can test this yourself....

Find another brand of cocoa without the additive and try that.

One other flow enhancer used the same way is maltodextrin.
Some people are very reactive to IT also.

My theory is that it might actually be to do with the phosphate content:

[URL="http://www.heathline.com/natstandardcontent/phosphates-phosphorous#1"]


'Excessive intake of phosphates can cause potentially serious or life-threatening toxicity. Intravenous, oral, or rectal/enema phosphates may cause electrolyte disturbances including hypocalcemia (low calcium blood levels), hypomagnesemia (low magnesium blood levels), hyperphosphatemia (high phosphorus blood levels), or hypokalemia (low potassium levels). Calcification of non-skeletal tissues (particularly in the kidneys), severe hypotension (low blood pressure), dehydration, metabolic acidosis, acute kidney failure, or tetany can occur.'

I don't think I'm gonna risk that...I felt like I was either going to have a heart attack or stop breathing. I will do anything to prevent feeling that way again!