Panic disorder which most cases happening after eating.

[jamieclancs]

Hi everyone,



I'm new to the forum and haven't really done anything like this before. I started having panic attacks around 3 years ago. They only happened when I drank the night before and I didn't even realise what they were at first. A few months later I had one out of the blue (after not drinking) and it suddenly scared the hell out of me. Since then I had more and more until a year passed and I wasn't eating anything because of them.



I eventually went to the doctors and got prescribed 10mg of Citalopram. Things went well and I began to get my confidence and appetite back however there was still always the worry of having more.



Low and behold I had another a few months later and the cycle began again. I got my dose upped to 20mg and the cycle repeated for another few months until I had another. I'm now on 30mg and again started feeling better until I had another a few weeks back. This time I told the doctors that upping my dose won't work but nothing else was suggested.


The worst thing is that I feel anxious after eating because the bloated feeling makes me hot and the pressure on my stomach raises my pulse which in turn makes me have an attack. I can't eat anything unless I'm immediately able to lie down and do something that takes my mind off it so this is making my life a living hell :(. The association with a full stomach means I can't even go out for food as I'll immediately feel anxious about it.



Has anyone else had food related anxiety or gone from Citalopram to another medication with success?

[Darksky]

Does it happen after you eat anything, however small?

Maybe you could try graizing. I naturally eat like this. My actual meals are small, probably child size portions but I eat small amounts all day. People say whenever they see me I'm always eating :) I will have a banana, half an hour later, a biscuit, half an hour later, a piece of cheese and so on. It's how I've always eaten, just graizing on small amounts all day.

Do you think this would work for you?

[jamieclancs]

Does it happen after you eat anything, however small?

Maybe you could try graizing. I naturally eat like this. My actual meals are small, probably child size portions but I eat small amounts all day. People say whenever they see me I'm always eating :) I will have a banana, half an hour later, a biscuit, half an hour later, a piece of cheese and so on. It's how I've always eaten, just graizing on small amounts all day.

Do you think this would work for you?

It's definitely a huge amount worse after a large meal. I haven't discovered certain foods causing it and as it's all in my head sometimes the smallest meal can make it come on. For example last night I had a grilled chicken breast and about a tablespoon of hummus (tried to avoid fatty foods in case that brought it on) but I still felt anxious.

I am going to keep eating smaller and often though as it seems to be the only way forward. I have been prescribed diazepams but haven't taken any yet, they were an emergency that I keep in my wallet. They seemed to help me at the start knowing I could fall back on them but now I'm too afraid to take them in case they make me anxious! My life is hell lol. If I don't laugh I cry!