Did i have an allergic reaction to msg? i take mirapex .5mg for rls. while eating a chinese meal i became violently ill within a minute - lost all color, sweat profusely, skin cold and clammy, was incoherent, extreme nausea and profound sick feeling, no

Hello. : Hello. Having had a very similar reaction to food eaten at a chinese restaurant, i felt compelled to respond to your question. Mono sodium glutamate (msg) is added to food to enhance flavor. It lowers costs for restaurant owners as msg is much less costly than many exotic spices. Reactions to msg have been called both “msg symptom complex" and “the chinese restaurant syndrome”. However, it is used in a wide range of foods other than chinese delicacies. Reported side effects to msg have included: nausea; headache; profuse sweating; flushing or turning red; weakness; chest pain; rapid heart rate; irregular heart rate & paresthesias / odd tingling felt on body surfaces including the head and neck. In the United States, research has not been able to reproduce msg reactions and so the only evidence for the reaction is considered anecdotal. New zealand & australia’s food standard organization indicated that less than 1% of the population have transient reactions to msg when a large amount is consumed in a single meal. A john hopkin’s study indicated that msg has an excitatory response on the central nervous system. This disrupts the immune system and thus can be component of the reactions that some people get with msg. I can not tell you if the Mirapex (pramipexole) is impacting your susceptibility to develop an adverse reaction to msg. Perhaps, the chef is using more msg in the evening meals? I now always ask if msg is added. The problem is that many restaurants will tell you that there will be no msg added to your food; but still add it to reduce their cost.

Sounds like MSG: Reaction, also called chinese restaurant syndrome. Results from severe vasodilation of blood vessels as an idiosyncratic/exaggerated response to msg (everybody gets at least a little of that if the dose is high enough, some are very sensitive to even small amounts). I don't think the RLS or the Mirapex (pramipexole) are related, but you could share the story with your doc. Some asian places don't use msg.