panic attacks after eating

[kirby]

howdy y'all. i'm a 20 year old gal from DE and was thinking someone could help me find out what the heck is going on with me. one night last july, i had a panic attack completely out of the blue, and until i saw my doctor i kept feeling like i was going to have another one at any time. i suppose it was due to my mental state - i had just moved out of my parents house, just broke up with my boyfriend, was about to start at a new school in a month. i went to see my doctor and he prescribed citalopram (pretty much the same as lexapro) and for the next 6 months, i felt like my old self again.

until january. i'm out at a restaraunt and right after i had a shrimp cocktail, i had a full-blown panic attack. thought it was weird, maybe i should just stay away from shrimp. but then i had a panic attack after eating eggs, after eating a chicken wrap, after eating chinese food, after eating pasta, you name it. basically any meal at all, no matter what it consisted of. and if i don't have a panic attack, i feel like i'm going to. it just feels like my body can't "handle" food anymore. and forget about drinking coffee or alcohol - that's asking for a panic attack after 3 sips (this makes me very very sad as i am a coffee lover, AND almost 21). i went to see my doctor again. he said he thinks my panic attacks are still just from my mental state. there's no way i think it's due to my mental state now. i'm a really happy person and have close to no stress in my life. what about the food? he thinks i might have acid reflux. while i do have some symptoms of acid reflux (chest burning, nausea), why am i having panic attacks? is that just my body's reaction to having acid reflux? is it the food? do i need to change my diet completely? if so what do i need to eat and what should i avoid?

first my doctor gave me a stronger dosage of citalopram; 20mg to 40mg. didn't help even a bit. then he sent me to get bloodwork done, an upper GI, x-rays of my tummy, and all of that came back normal. i'm going to see a cardiologist on the 2nd just to make sure my heart stuff is ok, but my doctor thinks it's fine.

my boyfriend is a health nut and knows a lot more about medical stuff than i do, and thinks it could be anything from my diet to candida. he thinks i shouldn't go back on a medicine like citalopram though, because anything that messes with your brain chemistry is bad for you. what do you think?

it's been almost 3 months of almost constant panic attack/panic attack feelings. has anybody had/heard of something like this?? thank you for any advice you might have!!!

[worriedmom20]

hi i am also a 21 year old female having panic attacks i have to noticed that i am having them after i eat i am taking med at night
i hope u the best of luck i am going though the same thing i fight every day with them literally

[kirby]

thank you! i hope we both beat this!! if you find out any more info on what it could be, could you let me know?

[alibat]

If you have symptoms of reflux, I would consider treatment for it which is as simple as taking an antiacid everyday. This may relief some of your anxious feelings about food. It's worht the try.

[kirby]

i tried antiacids.. tums never worked. i bought pepcid complete and for one night it made me feel perfectly fine... and then that was it. now it has no effect at all. it never felt that much like acid reflux though. it's so weird! i can't describe it.

[sourris]

It is probably not the food you eat that causes the panic attacks, eating is just a trigger for this mind body reaction. Your whole fear response system seems to be on high alert just waiting for the next trigger to launch another attack. You have to look into the circumstances when the first panic attack started and get some help looking into the emotional part of this. Even though you declare yourself being totally happy now with your life their might be some unresolved emotional issues lingering in your mindset.
You might find some help by going to www.panicrelief.org. or try EFT (Emotional freedom Technique) www.emofree.com

[steph123]

The same thing has been happening to me and it is annoying. I am so anti going to the doctor that I have not done it yet. The first "spell" happened to me after eating a spicy chicken wrap-I was very hot and flushed, dizzy, itching on the bottom of my feet (WEIRD) had a major racing heart, foggy and lightheaded and it ended with chills and a headache. The second one was about 2 weeks later, after I had tuna salad with Spicy mustard-I got hot and sweaty, really red and flushed lightheaded, racing heart again itching of the bottom of my feet (although not as bad as the first time) and again it ended with a headache. The third time I had chicken tacos and jalapenos...no itchy feet, I was just hot, flushed, and had a racing heart...so you are probably thinking i am crazy for eating these spicy foods as did I...so I stopped (thinking I was allergic to some spicy ingredient) until I had my 4th spell today...i ate NOTHING SPICY and developed the heat and redness and a racing heart and a minor headache. I read about panic attacks after the 2nd one and read a piece that said to learn to calm yourself down when it happens, that may be why spell #3 was not horrible and spell #4 was even less harsh.....I hate this, does anyone have any advice or input???(that's my red face)

[kirby]

sourris, i doubt that my mind associates food with panic attacks, unless its subconscious. i can eat without having full-blown panic attacks now, but instead of having those i just feel sick sometimes. my panic attacks have changed as well... now i wake up with them in the middle of the night and they feel completely different. i start internally shaking, my teeth chattering, painful palpatations in my chest, and i have a tough time breathing. i never had panic attacks like that before, and i'm wondering if they really are panic attacks. it feels more like my body is reacting to something. it's really odd.

steph, i too am really anti-doctor about this whole thing... when my doctor said it was acid reflux, i thought ehh maybe. i got tested for it and it turns out i don't have it at all. i figure the best thing to do is just eat EXTREMELY well... so many fruits and veggies a day. i've also been staying away from dairy. i've been doing that for a few weeks and don't have panic attacks after eating, but sometimes i might feel a little sick. definitely better than a panic attack though! my attacks have completely changed, and also i've started getting the worst migraines of my life. my symtoms have done a 180 since i posted this and now it's a whole new problem. ugh!

but for you, i would say try eating lots of good stuff and hopefully they will go away.. i definitely feel better than before, hope you will too!

[Sammi8265]

Hi everyone I'm 22 years old and had my first panic attack when i was 13 years old. I also notice that when I eat food ( I haven't noticed with differant types ) however after i'm about half way through eating, everything starts getting brighter, and looks more vivid. I feel a little lightheaded/ dizzy sensation and that lasts for about 5 minutes or sometimes longer. It is interesting how almost everyone here has been told they had acid reflux as i was told that also. I don't however have acid reflux, and that was proved by a upper endoscopy. I have landed in the Ambulance with panic attacks that shoot my blood pressure all the way up to 190/100 and by the time i get to the hospital is is normal or close to normal again. I do however have a nodule/cyst on my thyroid and a problem with my adrenal glands (overactive) Has everyone had their thyroid checked, that can make you have anxiety like symptoms....the test is called TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) if you google that im sure it will bring up more about it. ( Thyroid and anxiety like symptoms) I hope that this post can help some of you out, or atleast let you know your not alone on this journey. Stay strong.

[LINENUP]

Start by avoiding all carbs, stick with a high protein diet and see if you get any more attacks.

If this works, then this points out that the sugars or carbs are signalling the pancreas which is overworking the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands will kick in with a sugar shock. Adrenals are the typical start of a panic situation.

Modify the diet, get plenty of nutrition and proper supplements and the problem should disappear.

You may also consider taking some form of digestive enzymes (full spectrum of pancreatic enzymes w/ hcl ) and see if that helps. But I think that the carbs are setting everything off.