Panic Attacks from feeling full or feeling hungry?

[Rob]

Hi all,

I ask because I feel I am alone on this but would love to know if there are any other sufferers out there like me?

I often feel anxious after eating as I know I misintrepret the "heavy" sensation of feeling full with panicking and feeling sick. I often worry about meeting people after eating and ensure I have eaten little so I don't experience that feeling, however, feeling hungry can also set me off!!

Hence I have avoided eating in front of someone I want to impress (although last Sunday I did eat out in front of my girlfriend and did not panic once) and this causes havoc on my life as I don't want anything to stop me in my life, career and love life.

Rob x

[jackie]

dont know about the feeling fulll bit but i can see where you are coming from

as for the feeling hungry bit this definitely affects me very badley and i always feel so much worse if i havent eaten enuf

great fun this isnt it

jackie

[joolsukuk]

HI YEAH , BIG PROB FOR ME..DONTEAT COS FEEL SICK THEN FEEL SICK WHEN EAT! IT NEVER ENDS,HAVE LOST LOADS OF WEIGHT BUT DOING BETTER NOW EAT SMALL AND OFTEN TO OVER COME IT XX

jools xx

[giddy]

Hi Rob - backin Jan/Feb time I had problems with this, everytime I ate my evening meal my heart would start racing causing me to panic. I also feel a lot worse if I'm hungry. Maybe you've reached a point where you're expecting to panic everytime you eat and so you do? You could try to braek the cycle by eating little and often rather than big meals which make you feel too full.
Love Helen

[darkangel]

hi rob

i too get this - anxiety can spiral if i am hungry or if i eat i worry in case ive eaten something that could cause me to panic - another habit that needs to be broken.

not sure about u but i also get into a panic if i dont eat at a certain time !!

Darkangel

........life is for living not just for surviving

[Piglet]

Yes I have had this too - eaten too much and felt ill so that makes me panic and yet I hate that low blood sugar feeling even more.

Little and often is the answer for me.

Piglet xx

"Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?" said Piglet.
"Supposing it didn't," said Pooh after careful thought.

[chrispike]

Hi Rob
I know how you feel I panic that I won't be able to eat and then my mouth dries out and I can't eat. Also like you after i have eaten i feel full then I panic and feel sick and my heart pumps. I don't know about you but the feeling of panic is terrible and i just want it to end.

Chris

[jo61]

I agree with Piglet. If I eat too much I feel bloated. Too little and I'm anxious so I'm always nibbling!

[Barb]

I too panic if I get hungry, and eat little and often. I also carry a banana with me all the time, even next to my bed.

Luv Barb xxx

[lucy0927]

I nearly always feel ill when my anxiety is pretty bad which stops me from eating much. Around Jan/ March this year I had a lot of bad days and I didn't eat much, because I didn't eat much I lost a bit of weight and then everyone starts going on about how I'm not eating much and I'm losing weight and I shouldn't diet and how I may have an eating disorder and it just makes my anxiety worse because then I hate eating in front of people. It's a never ending circle. I didn't realise how closely food could be linked with anxiety until recently.

[Paddington]

i get panicky around food too,but for me it's eating in front of people,as i think they will judge me as a greedy fat pig:wacko: I like feeling empty,mind you if i do eat too much and get that heavy feeling inside i panic then too:wacko: Oh happy days:) Love Paddie.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[franfhm]

Really feel for you here, I get the same but its more of a panic about what I've eaten rather than feeling full.

I have meds to try and calm it, which I'm trying to ween myself off as I'm not sure how many more courses I'll be given, and failing badly.

[Frankie23]

i generally feel worse if i dont eat nothing, i find it hard to eat breakfast and can go up until dinner without eating anything, i then go dizzy, my body goes heavy and i feel faint which sets the anxiety in

Ive started just having a banana for breakfast until i got used to eating it then increased it to a slice of toast i can see the effects it has had on my well being

[jenny007]

Hi rob, I understand where you are comming from, i can't eat in front of people...it makes me nervous...so i hardly eat at all, and to make matters worse, everytime i do eat i feel really guilty!!! So thats a vicious circle all of its own!! Be well, and i hope you feel better soon :-)

[shortstuff]

Being hungry can set me off really bad. I have a tendancy to forget to eat as well, so hunger often creeps up on me. I keep trying to change my eating habits but they're so engrained!

[peter_griffen]

although Panic-attacks effect folks in different ways, if you feel hungry and lightheaded all the time, and it causes u to panic, then it could be hypoglycemia. if u click the link below, it will give u more details

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoglycemia

[Lou17]

I too get very anxious when eating, my throught tightens and Its very hard to swallow. When I do get something down I panic over whether it may have gotten stuck????

[yowie29]

I always used to hate eating in front of people. My biggest fear was of choking on something, then i would panic and my throat got so tight it was hard to swallow anything at all then. I would never eat much and then panicked people might think me rude. Its all part of the merry go round.

[Christi]

I dunno if this sounds familiar to any of you, but when i have eaten, and start to relax and watch TV, my shoulders start to ache and my chest pain starts. Then I have to get sumone to massage my shoulders for me, which can be very painful. I am fine all day as I go to college, or even just genereally at home, day time I am fine, it seems my panic attacks start at night time, every night! I have been given Amitriptyline, I take one and it makes me drowsy, luvly, I take two and they knock me out, perfect, but either way i feel really tired the next morning, sumtimes unable to get out of bed due to the severity of the tablets, so I only take them when I'm really bad. My chest pain is a frightner too, sumtimes very sharp short stabbing pains, which again generates to my left shoulder, I have had numerous ECG monitors, everything normal, sometimes i get the pain in my left arm, as if mimicking a heart attack, which in turn makes me worse, vicious circle!!!!! Then other nights I even wake up trying to breathe and shaking like hell with heart racing like hell, i am at my wits end with it now....they say stress is the main factor, but i cant get rid of the cause of the stress as it's my two elder kids. Even if sumone on tv is having a heart attack in a film or something, I find i can't breathe with them, as if in sympathy. I really need help, and all they offer me is counselling, which won't help, they tell me to try to deal with the panic etc, easier said then done, especially when we don't know when it's going to strike again......so despo for help!!!! :weep::weep::weep: Many Thanx

[jothenurse]

I have trouble with the eating from the panic disorder/anxiety. When I get anxious, I get gaggy. So over the last few months when my anxiety came back, I started having trouble eating again. No appetite and always feel like I have to gag/dry heave. Sometimes at night I can eat a little. I now am on Ativan per the psychiatrist, to try to lessen some of the anxiety so I can eat. It seems to help some, but I have lost 20 pounds and it scares me so much.

[winter-blues]

Hey guys, I realize this is an old post but I'm having the same problem currently and want to chime in. It's good to hear that I'm not totally alone on this, because at times it feels so odd.

WB

[Mike_NY]

After lunch at work when I sit back at my desk, I get very anxious sometimes which can lead me to going into a full blown panic attack. This tends to happen more when I eat a bit more for lunch and i'm pretty full. Wish I knew why.

[winter-blues]

Yup, me too. It's been the source of most of my panic attacks now for about 2 months. At first it was just eating, but that's not an issue anymore. I eat fine, accept sometime after, maybe an hour later, if I start to think about it, i'll get panicky. I suppose if I'm thinking about it doesn't happen every time, although I definitely feel nervous about it every time I eat.

[NoraB]

Hi folks,

I find that eating little and often helps during the day. Unfortunately the majority of my PA's happen at night and I think that low blood sugar is a trigger. Big meals are a no-no for me. Also it's important to think about what you are eating as a lot of foods and drinks can trigger a panic attack. For instance, I read one post on here where a lady was drinking green tea in order to 'calm down' but green tea is actually a stimulant. It's effective in weight loss because it ups the metabolism. When it comes to herbal teas, I've found it helpful to check the ingredients because I found that licorice root is added to many 'calming' ones presumably for taste and, again, licorice is a stimulant. I stick to chamomile.
When you are sensitized, I find that it's best to eat little, often and bland because the system is overloaded as it is so it makes sense not to add to the problem by eating sugar laden foods or foods that the body has to work hard to digest. The night I had the panic attack that saw me in A & E, I'd had a spicy chilli and a pint of high strength beer with a 'hint' of licorice - not that I realised until after.:doh:
All the best, Nora

[winter-blues]

Hey NoraB,

I totally agree. I've cut out caffeine completely, and I never really eat spicy foods to begin with, but for me I can't completely give up sugar. It's probably what is still causing me at least some of my anxiety these days because I find when I can eat I always want something sweet which as you would point out is a stimulant.

WB

[NoraB]

Hey NoraB,

I totally agree. I've cut out caffeine completely, and I never really eat spicy foods to begin with, but for me I can't completely give up sugar. It's probably what is still causing me at least some of my anxiety these days because I find when I can eat I always want something sweet which as you would point out is a stimulant.

WB

Ooh I love spicy food. I once was the vindaloo queen but these days I can't manage a korma without breaking a sweat.:ohmy:

Sugar is a tough one to give up WB that's for sure but for me it makes sense to cut it out altogether or at least be mindful of when you are eating it. Sugar doesn't cause panic attacks but it can trigger them so I would avoid eating it late in the day as a night time panic attack due to a sugar spike will just make things worse. When the body becomes sensitized changes that we'd normally tolerate without a problem can trigger an attack. Maybe once I'm not so sensitive, I will risk the odd Kit Kat again.:D

[winter-blues]

Hey Nora,

That's great advice. It's funny how food effects us. For me at times it was form of comfort, but since my Panic attacks started back up it's been a source of anxiety. I'm hoping with with some more time, I'll be able to relax again and not get so anxious every time I eat. I've had some good days lately so that's progress I think.

WB

[NoraB]

Hey Nora,

That's great advice. It's funny how food effects us. For me at times it was form of comfort, but since my Panic attacks started back up it's been a source of anxiety. I'm hoping with with some more time, I'll be able to relax again and not get so anxious every time I eat. I've had some good days lately so that's progress I think.

WB

I'm pretty much in the same boat regards food. I love my food but the panic attacks override that.

Good to hear that you are having good days. I had a good day yesterday. Today, not so good but I keep telling myself that the good days will keep coming and one day they will outnumber the bad.