What happens when a self-confessed chocoholic develops an allergy to chocolate?
AFTER 31 years of existence on this planet, I have come face to face with the worst tragedy of my life. It is of mind-blowing proportions and has created such an emotional upheaval that it’ll probably take me another 31 years to get over it!
Are you getting what I am droning on about? I’ve been this way for the past week. You see, I have, all of a sudden and out of the blue, developed an allergy to chocolate. There, I said it. I am a self-confessed chocoholic and that’s putting it mildly. I have been known to eat, drink, breathe and even live chocolate 24/7. Me allergic to chocolate? It’s just not possible, my mind shouts. It can’t be happening, my heart tells me.
Let me fill you in on the details. Last week, one fine morning, I ate some chocolate for want of food. Several hours later, the itching started and I developed urticarial rash all over my body. Never for once did I call chocolate the culprit. To me, it was the new talc I’d tried for the first time that day. Or was it the dust? Perhaps I’d developed an allergy to my dear hubby (don’t we all at times)! Or could it be that I’d suddenly become allergic to household chores? Hurrah!
Sadly, that was not to be. By afternoon, I was merrily scratching away, causing more and more blotches on my body. I was depressed. So naturally, I ate more chocolate. The itching was in direct proportion to taking chocolate, the food of angels. I still didn’t put two and two together. All the anti-allergic medication provided only partial relief, something akin to what our City Government did by patching up the roads after the rains.
What followed was generalized swelling and respiratory problems, i.e. difficulty in breathing. I had to be administered intravenous hydrocortisone (steroid) for reversal of the symptoms and was rather severely admonished by my consultant (who has the double edge of being my husband as well) not to deny the obvious if I wanted to live. All this time, my 18-month-old son was happily munching away at a bar of ... you guessed it, chocolate!
Well, as hubby dear made a grand sermon out of what it might lead to if I didn’t keep a check on my urge to have chocolates in every possible form, I decided to try different brands of chocolates, so as to find one which wouldn’t give me allergy. But to no avail.
Another stern telling-off followed. Hubby dear thinks that since I don’t practice what I was taught in med school, I need a reminder. And wow, a reminder it was! Rash leading to generalized swelling which, in turn, will lead to swelling of lips followed by the voice box going kaput and constriction of the windpipe. Airways of the lungs would follow in the footsteps of the PIA, i.e. too much noise but too little function. And if timely medical intervention is not provided, the ‘D’ word would ensue. However, yours truly is not as scared of the ‘D’ word as she is of not being able to have chocolate the rest of her natural life.
For me, there are four essentials in life: food, clothing, shelter and chocolate. Not necessarily in the same order and no compromise on the last one. I’m still searching for a brand of chocolate that would not give me allergy. So far, I’ve come up with zilch. Perhaps someone will develop genetically engineered chocolate — the kind with which I won’t have to pop anti-allergy medicine.
FOOTNOTE: Hubby dear now complains of anti-allergy medicine bills in addition to the amount he spends on my sweet tooth.
What happens when a self-confessed chocoholic develops an allergy to chocolate? 
