I am currently experiencing some very weird sensations which I think are tetany and which I suspect are caused by calcium intake. I am feeling very agitated (for which there is absolutely no good reason, it came on very suddenly, and is definitely not my usual self...) accompanied by a strong desire to take a deep breath, which I can't, extreme muscle hyperactivity, esp. hands and wrists, tingling and numbness in the front of the tongue and lips, a feeling of collapsing in my lower throat (I have been having trouble swallowing this evening, which has been improving over the last weeks but now seems suddenly worse). I feel a great desire to pace up and down incessantly and being still causes me to feel very unwell. This is the complete opposite of my usual state because normally I can't stand up for more than a few seconds and simply don't have the ridiculous energy that I suddenly have to move about in this way.

This happened to me once before, about ten weeks ago, following taking an aspirin. The symptoms occurred within 30 minutes of my taking it. At this time I was also taking vitamin D, and I attributed my weird symptoms as a reaction to the combination of aspirin and vitamin D. But now I have it for the second time, I find only one other denominator: I have just finished drinking a hot chocolate that is very high in calcium.

I know, if last time is anything to go by, that this extremely energetic and agitated phase will be followed by a phase of much worsened muscle weakness. My question is, is it possible calcium intake has caused these symptoms? Can anybody shed any light on this? I feel I am going crazy in this state.

Ah, I just looked this up a bit better and think I understand a bit more...of course tetany in the usual case is caused by low calcium, and I know I have low blood calcium level from tests. But this hot chocolate, which I haven't drunk since I had these symptoms before (weird, never connected it) also contain high levels of bovine phosphate and are processed with alkali, which, combined with low calcium gives the effect I am getting now. Really horrible! Sorry for such a weird post, I will probably look on this tomorrow in a slightly bemused light but at least my energy is being diverted into my fingers and not pacing around the room...

Whenever I have milk products I get super sensitive and agitated. This includes lactose in pills. A doctor told me that I couldn't be allergic to lactose since it's a sugar, but regardless of what the doctor said I still have the problem. I found out that it's not just the milk but the hormone rbst or rbgh. My theory is that some of the hormone is attached to the lactose. I can't even have beef unless it's angus because angus cows aren't exposed to the hormones for milk production. I even get infections when exposed to these hormones. Recently I was taking a vitamin with bovine as an ingredient. I developed severe acne and swollen irritated breasts. I quit taking the vitamin and my hormones returned to normal.

When I tried to figure out what was causing the problems. I would write down what I ate, and I finally narrowed the culprit down to the growth hormones. I did this also for pain from my Trigeminal Neuralgia. When I got rid of all the vitamins with Magnesium Stearate in them my pains became weaker and less frequent.

There are so many things added to our vitamins and foods that can cause a variety of issues. There may be an additive in the calcium, vitamin d, and the aspirin that might give you problems. I'm not sure if this is MG related or if it's just a consequence of living in this time era, but keeping track of what's causing the problem might help.

There really isn't enough calcium in a food source to give you tetany.

What happens is that the ratio of calcium to magnesium may be skewed. Low magnesium is awful in its own way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetany

When you take vit D...you become more efficient in absorbing calcium from food. High dose Vit D in the area of 5000 IU or more a day, has some suggestions now, to lower any supplemental calcium to 600mg a day or lower.

Tetany can also come from endocrine problems. Parathyroid tumors can cause it.

True allergy to cow dairy comes from the casein protein in milk.
(not lactose-- lactose intolerance is diarrhea and gas from undigested lactose feeding the organisms in the bowel).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_allergy

MrsD, I don't know if I have an allergy to milk or lactose intolerance. A friend checked my blood sugar after I had something with milk and it was in the low 40's. My mom has hypoglycemia and I was borderline years back. I think maybe my issue with lactose may be separate from my problem with the growth hormones, but I don't know, I'm not a doctor, but I know I have a problem and so far I haven't received a clear explanation from any doctor.

What meter did you use? Lactose normally does not show up on the system used by One Touch (which reads only glucose)... but it may read on Abbott's system, as a high. Free and easy system may read other sugars, and that can be confusing.
But this does not explain a LOW in any way.

A reading of 40 is alarming....but one cannot depend on home monitors to be accurate that low. If the strips are not fresh, or you had not checked the calibration with the test solution recently, you can not rely on that reading.
When working optimally home units vary by 10pts or more per reading!

You would need a 4 hr (a 6hr would be ideal but most people cannot tolerate one this long) glucose tolerance test with accurate testing every 1/2 hr to see if and where you hit those lows.
Reactive lows may come from insulin resistance. A test for fasting insulin will show a high out of range if you have this. Too much insulin will clear the blood rapidly and cause reactive lows. This can be due to insulinoma tumors of the pancreas (not common), or the hypoglycemia illustrates an impaired glucose tolerance situation, which is a prelude to later diabetes in some people.

I think it is terrible that a reading of 40 was not followed up on by a doctor. Lows this low can cause unconsiousness, and even brain damage. (new studies on diabetics who gets lows like this show ONE low can lead to dementia!).

I'm not sure what type of meter was used. The meter was for my friend's husband who was diabetic. I was pricked on the finger and the blood was put on a strip and I can't remember much about the meter. It happened maybe seven years ago. I noticed that my thighs were really cold at the time and for some reason my friend thought to check my blood sugar. She gave me a glass of orange juice and maybe twenty minutes later retested me and I was normal.

I just avoid anything with milk or lactose, but sometimes I will get it by accident - like if I eat in a restaurant.

When I was even younger, in my 20's, I took a long test drinking some kind of concoction every so often. I was borderline hypoglycemic then. I was told to just watch my diet. I'm now 55 and just recently my GP said they no longer give the test over several hours. My glucose is normal for the standard glucose test when I don't eat anything for 24 hours, but it will not show my reaction to what the lactose may be doing to me. I don't know if the test is available elsewhere, but I live in a somewhat small town in Arizona.

The average fasting glucose is not 24 hrs...it is nothing by mouth after midnight and testing first thing in the morning.

The average test is 2 hrs now, but this will not show anything much except high glucose results if they are present.

Many of us on the PN forum have had at least one 4hr GTT.

This is a set graphs showing the test and results for elevated glucose and hypoglycemia.
http://hypoglykemie.nl/gtt.htm

I'd get a new doctor if I were you.

We live in a world which is becoming more and more synthetic.

Even if we try to have natural organically grown foods, avoid synthetic detergents etc. we can't really do it.

We are constantly exposed to numerous chemicals which are foreign to our body. How we individually respond to them depends on our genetic makeup and previous environmental exposures.

Many of those substances will not cause any damage on initial exposure, but with repeat and accumulating exposures they eventually will.
There is very limited data on the effect of chronic exposure to various substances, but the limited data there is, is quite alarming.

For instance a substance which is widely used in the cosmetic industry showed no ill effects when given to lab animals in a certain dose. But, when the same dose was used for 90 days there was a significant effect on multiple organs. A recent study showed that genetically modified crop considered safe, led to serious ill effects in lab animals exposed to it for a significant period of time (previous studies were done with a very short exposure, which caused no such effects).

There are no follow up studies on humans and physicians are not trained to recognize, diagnose (or even consider) the ill effects of such environmental exposure. So, there is no way to know what they really are.

A cup of hot chocolate can potentially contain numerous substances, which can effect the immune system, mitochondrial function and numerous metabolic processes. It depends on what you made it from.

I just made the hot chocolate by adding water, but I did use two sachets in one cup, as it tastes better. I believe the effect is accumulative as I have been drinking it for about five days now. I am not very well versed in how MG relates to low calcium levels, but I thought there was a connection, and so, given that tetany can be caused by low calcium levels, I thought it might be related?

I found that the symptoms came on very quickly, within twenty minutes of drinking the hot chocolate. I found that the symptoms were relived just as fast, about two hours later, half an hour after eating a piece of dry toast. I am not allergic to milk and drink it every day in coffee and have never had a problem. Tetany is a neuromuscular problem isn't it? Or am I confused here. Please feel free to put me right.

If the hot chocolate isn't the cause, then what is? I find it very alarming that I can go from one state (very fatigued muscles, barely able to move or speak) to pacing up and down the room. I also find it hard to believe it is just due to the hot chocolate because surely something so inocuous can't cause such an extreme reaction? I am even right is assuming these symptoms are tetany?