Why do I feel so nauseated lately?

[Junot]

I "supposedly" suffer from anxiety and panic disorder but until just a few weeks ago I didn't have nausea in my long list of symptoms (fast and sense of an irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath, bloated stomach, diarrhea, dizziness, etc.). For your information, over these 7 years of anti-depressants and anxiolytics I've gained a lot of weight because I ate LOADS of sugary and fatty food (cakes, chocolates, french fries, like 4 croissants in a day, plus a whole pack of chocolate cookies and so on). So I decided to start a hypocaloric diet with aerobic exercice three weeks ago in order to lose weight. I've lost about 5 kg (11 lbs) so far. If I intended to keep my (over)weight I should ingest approximately 2500 kcal/day but I'm ingesting now just about 1200 kcal/day. I eat whole-wheat bread or toasts, low-fat dairy products, fruits, a lot of vegetables, meat (only chicken and turkey, both grilled), fish and I have cut on potatoes, pasta and rice. Could this diet be the cause of these nausea? Am I risking my health - even my life, doing this? Should I go back to my sugary and fatty diet?

Notes: I had stopped taking Prozac by my own will in April this year. Anxiety symptoms and crisis (or panic attacks) started coming progressively back and stronger since then. Yesterday I resumed the pills on my GP's advice. I told him about the diet and nausea I am feeling but he didn't give me a definitive and clear answer, nor did he prescribe me any exam, he just blamed it on my diet and anxiety. I DO NOT BELIEVE HIM, and I fear this is due to cardiac arrhytmias, hence why I am seeking advice from people who, like me, have gone or are going trough this hell.

Thank you for reading.

[Serenity1990]

Nausea and gastrointestinal issues are very common with anxiety, to the extent that doctors often don't like diagnosing anxiety if they're not present. Perhaps this you could use this as reassurance that it's very likely your health professional got your diagnosis spot on..?

[Junot]

Nausea and gastrointestinal issues are very common with anxiety, to the extent that doctors often don't like diagnosing anxiety if they're not present. Perhaps this you could use this as reassurance that it's very likely your health professional got your diagnosis spot on..?

Yes I know but they are common as well with arrhythmias. I've done several times 24h ECGs (holter) and other heart exams, everything was fine, but in all of those occasions I was under anti-depressants and anxiolytics so basically I was feeling great, asymptomatic. I fear that the pills might mask the true cause underlying the symptoms (nausea, heartbeat, GI disturbances). Isn't 7 years of anxiety and panic a bit too much? But the doctor insists that I am anxious and that I panic and so no further exams until further notice...

[Serenity1990]

I think the fact that you've been extensively tested and got the all clear should be a good indication that you're physically fine. And the comment that you were unsymptomatic when on SSRIs and you think that's because they alleviated your anxiety probably shows you know deep down where your problems lie.

Anxiety seems an odd thing, it can be acute or it can be chronic. Personally I believe drugs only take the edge off it and relieve some of the symptoms, and your anxiety will never go away until you work through its root cause. Which might take weeks, or might take decades. But personally I believe once that's dealt with the physical symptoms will soon follow. :)