With me, it’s a reaction to very concentrated sweetness (oh yeah, Snickers and Milky Way would definitely qualify) . . . regardless of the actual source of the sweetness (natural sweeteners vs. synthetic). And yes, I’ve made lists of ingredients, and they have nothing in common except the concentration of the sweetening substance.
I have no idea why as no other food does. I eat considerable amounts of sweets, peanuts, chocolate, etc. but never found a food or combination of foods that gives this reaction. Glad I’m not the only one. Almond joys have almonds and chocolate but never remember that happening with them. If anyone figures it out, please let us know.
Maybe you forgot to unwrap it.
Lifelong never-coughed Snickers lover here. Although chocolate in any quantity much larger than a Snickers worth does upset my stomach and give me a headache.
Snickers bars make me cough too, but Milky Ways just make me feel sick.
zombie or no
tickling can produce a snicker then a cough. its a cyclic thing.
I have the same issue kind of strange when i was a kid i never had this issue i would eat snickers whenever had money as i grow older now eating a snicker is a hard task. i always have to drink something in between the swallow and no not allergic to anything my gf says maybe it’s strong chocolate so it makes your throat harsh i eat beanuts and never have issues.
Iolada:
- Welcome to the SDMB.
- Punctuation is your friend.
Super welcoming.
Punctuation is our friend.
Welcome lolada!
Hopefully this is relevant here? While I don’t have a coughing problem with snickers bars or anything candy related, I’ve got “throat” issue ranging from mild to severe depending on the food type.
Really spicy food, and hard alcohol (scotch for instance) irritate my throat causing hiccups, or even choking. Even when eating spicy food that is just below my threshold for being able to eat it, I feel the urge to hiccup. If it is too spicy, my throat literally closes. Also, sipping some scotch a few years ago, my throat reacted so violently I couldn’t breathe for a bit. No fun.
Meanwhile, for years I noticed that when I bolted down fast food (you know, like McD) I would have a lot of throat mucus. It seemed worse when I hydrated (i.e. having a sweet drink) at the time. Just sipping water with the food helps. But just eating the food, I’ve been advised that maybe it’s having the salty meal go down the hatch that causes the mucus membranes to overproduce and cause me to cough and/or have to clear my throat a lot. Does anyone here flush out their sinuses with salt + baking soda solution? Works great, and when the solution is a bit hypertonic, it causes the membranes to produce mucus, which you can then clear out of your system and get some relief for a while.
Hence, if your throat (OP’s and anyone joining this thread) is at all like mine, I can easily imagine cases where eating something you are allergic to would cause your throat to secrete more fluid, making you cough and choke.
Full disclosure: I have a chronic issue with “too much postnasal drip” and allergies to dust mites, which in a house full of people and critters, are a constant irritant. So my throat is often swollen and very sensitive to irritants.
No, you’re talking about something entirely different. What we’re discussing is the need to cough, following eating something with a very concentrated sweetness, regardless of whether it’s natural or artificial.
Could be the extreme sweetness is causing excess saliva production. Try taking smaller bites and eating slower. Try drinking milk or water to dilute sweetness.
I think its just osmosis.
The chocolate sticks to the back of the throat, and then the sugar dries the membranes out.
The saliva glands are down below the tongue, so they dont wash the top and back very well.
solution… chew better before moving sweet chocolate to the back of the throat.
But it doesn’t just happen with sticky sweets like chocolate. It could be ANY concentrated sweet. It feels like an allergic reaction, but it happens with substances that have nothing in common except their sweetness.
Addendum: When my blood sugar’s low and I have to take glucose tablets, I cough.
I’ve eaten Snickers as my favorite candy bar my entire life. I’m 70 years old, and coughing started only a couple years ago. It feels like the tiny nuts (yes, chewed) adhere to back of throat. Clearing my throat and forcing/mimicking a hard cough sometimes, but rarely, works. Also water sometimes but rarely works.
If I can “work up”, which i can do, a healthy multiple sneeze (6 or 7 in a row), that IMMEDIATELY CLEARS THE ADHERING TINY TICKLING NUTS. That confirms it’s NOT an allergy situation – it’s the adhering tiny nuts. Hard sneezes ALWAYS WORKS.
Strangely, munching on ANY type of nuts does NOT cause the coughing. It’s only the Snickers bars.
The question is why has this started only a couple years ago after eating Snickers my entire life. And it happens ONLY with Snickers?
Reflex.
Eating soft pretzels gives me the hiccups.
Chocolate does it for me. Any chocolate.
Oranges too.
Unlikely to be related but I am allergic to tobacco smoke and synthetic fragrances, it is the aldehydes in them as a result of being exposed to methyl isocyanate some years ago.
I get this from Dairy Queen chocolate sundaes but not from Dairy Queen hot fudge sundaes which presumably have some kind of chocolate in them.