Warning about *dark* chocolate/cocoa/cacao (or foods containing high amounts of 5ar inhibiting flavonols)!

Looks like I got a new symptom. I’ve developed a feeling of pressure in my head. It comes and goes, lasting a couple of minutes at a time. This has been going on for weeks now. I’ve seen this same complaint from other posters.

That’s so fucked. I had the impression that you were getting at least a few hours of sleep every night with the help of sleeping pills.

Oh I didn’t realize how much trouble a tbsp could do. I haven’t read this whole thread thoroughly, I was assuming people were saying stay away from these foods in general cause one guy said he had to give up green tea to stay safe which I thought was unnecessary.

I ate dark chocolate, blueberries (with oatmeal), and tofu, pretty regularly after getting PFS and it didn’t really change much for me. They weren’t big amounts though so nevermind I guess.

Yeah, I don’t mean that anyone should avoid eating anything with 5ar inhibiting flavonols altogether because that would be ridiculous and foods containing such compounds are very good and healthy for you. What I am trying to communicate (and failing at) is that if you take in supra-normal amounts of flavonols as delivered through supplemental portions of those foods, you may experience what I’ve experienced due to our heightened sensitivity to androgen modulation. I may have to change the OP to better reflect what I’m trying to say.

This condition is full of pitfalls. If we have sensitivities we have to scrutinise everything. I clearly didn’t and now I’m in this sorry state. Whether we like it or not our health must be our primary focus to build our lives upon.

Yeah, I mean I’ve only had this mild(?) form of PFS for not even a year and now I’m reliving the worst moments of when I first quit the fin all over again because of a couple tablespoons of cocoa beans lol. I’m at this for about a month straight now. I don’t know when, if ever, I could be worry-free again diet-wise. What did you take?

Glutathione. I took about 1000mg a day. Started getting headaches. I thought it was detox symptoms. Anyway I stopped several days later then experienced a crash the following week. My body is now wrecked. I’d been good for 7 years now my symptoms have increased massively and I feel like Mr Glass. If your symptoms haven’t increased then you should be ok and get back to how things were. Look forward to that moment it will get you through this. Evaluate your life especially stress.

God, I am so, so sorry to hear that. It’s unimaginable that even after 7 good years, a supplement can do this to you. Did you take it upon someone’s recommendation here on propeciahelp?

I think I’m going to have to be careful with any kind of supplements for life. I guess longevity supplements/therapies are off the table for me and maybe everyone else, too. My symptoms from when I first crashed are back, but they’re not worse. Hopefully they won’t get worse. Like you, I did develop head pressure that happens mostly at night, something that I mis-attributed to stress. It goes away when I meditate. Ironically, you recommended taking cocoa for it in one thread. Obviously my case is much milder than yours. I count my blessings. We must stay strong and never give up.

Also have you made a thread warning people about your experience of taking glutathione?

The trouble is that when life is going well we become complacent and make mistakes. Some guys here are smart and have a handle on everything, life, stress, relationships etc. They usually make good recoveries if their symptoms aren’t too serious and turn things around. I allowed myself to become over stressed and knew it couldn’t continue. I was only a month from taking a long break and enjoying life then I crashed. The key is to manage stress and your own happiness. If these things aren’t right then you can make dumb decisions and PFS is waiting quietly in the background. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemies. I’ve decided to go for therapy and try to deal with what Ive done. We have to find a way to move on without being complacent with our own bodies.

Did you consume the cocoa in one serving?

Your post gave me enough strength and hope to get through this. But it’s not true that in your case, you were your worst enemy. The source of stress is often not of our control. And you couldn’t have seen this second crash happening to you. The same could be said of everyone else here. You make the best of what you got, but sometimes life decides to give you further challenges.

I took a heaping tablespoon of the cacao nibs per day for three days. Maybe more. The day before taking the cacao nibs, I even ate an Endangered Species brand dark chocolate bar.

Once stress gets a hold of you a person can feel trapped in their situation, think negatively and struggle to take the way out because emotions cloud their judgement. They stop believing in themselves and stay the course until something serious happens. This can happen at any age and can lead to suicide. America seems to be leading the world on the use of mental health therapy. In Europe it’s not cool to say you have a therapist, it’s still somewhat taboo.

My instincts told me 6-9 months prior to this that I had to change. I couldn’t have predicted this crash but I knew my health would suffer so I set up an exit plan. All I can say is listen to our instincts and don’t be too proud to discuss these with others. Write down your instincts and weigh up the pros and cons. Most things in life take care of themselves. If we steer the big stuff like Health, careers and finances our lives can work very well. When these become over balanced they affect other aspects of our lives which requires extra work to keep things running smoothly. We must figure out our own limitations and what must be done if we choose to go beyond these. If we fail to do this we take risks based on uninformed information that can lead to serious consequences. This happens a lot on here. Consider how much thought went into taking coco. It’s harsh but we have to be more careful. Anyway I hope others can learn from my mistakes. Glutathione was not the reason for my crash, making changes during intense stress was the problem and it increased my chances of failure. I hadn’t done all my homework and that can happen when we are distracted.

31 days later:

Well, I’m in disbelief. Woke up after only 2 hours of sleep and here I am typing this. I just took a temazepam. I have no idea why this is happening. I think I am going to try cutting all nuts from my diet for now. I’ve been eating macadamia nuts, a bit too much last night maybe. I’ve been eating macadamia nuts a lot more on some days. Some nights have been a little better than others, and some worse. Then again I’ve cut out so many things from my diet but here I am again wide awake after 2 hours of sleep. This is insanity.

Maybe I need to keep a food diary. I think I’m going to ask to get some diazepam. I don’t even know if even benzos are safe for this condition.

I am under the impression that some people avoid all nuts due to bad reactions.

Yeah, I mean insomnia is a pretty adverse reaction, but I don’t know if anyone here has ever gotten insomnia due to eating nuts. Who knows though. Oh, and I also took 250 mcg B12 yesterday. Maybe that’s related. I don’t know. I think I’ll just start eating more meat again.

Well, not much thought was put into taking cocoa other than “This works for fatigue?” I thought this PFS crap was all behind me. What exactly triggered your crash?

my crash was triggered by stress. I over did things, became very negative which increased the motivation to work more all while realizing that i needed a break. Under stress and negativity I made mistakes about my supplements and when I started getting headaches from Glutathione I continue for several days instead of stopping. My research said it was a detox headache and hadn’t considered PFS as I’d never had a serious mental crash.

My PFS headache had now expanded in my brain and I realised I’d done something bad. I told myself I should stop everything and take a 6 month break but again I didn’t listen to my own advice. I’ve possibly caused serious lasting damage to my brain that has already changed my life and things may never be the same again. Now I can’t even take a drug or supplement without causing a crash. That’s really disgraceful to have done that to myself all whilst being aware that I was over doing things.
So as you’ve learned don’t take your body for granted. Fortunately your symptoms are not that bad and you will recover.

My biggest mistake since getting PFS is not spending a small amount of time each day on myself and my own well being. Instead I would focus on tasks in my life. I think this need to push through at the expense of your health is something I’ve seen on others who have experienced serious medical issues. My focus is now back on me and hopefully you do the same to.

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