can too much caffine bring on an attack

[glen]

hi to everyone, just wandering, had my first panic attack whilst driving the other sunday whilst it was realy hot, had no idea what was wrong with me and drove meself straight to A&E where they checked me out with blood tests chest xray urine tests and ECG and said "everything ok but you may have had a panic attack".
i excersise 3-4 times a week (and have done for the past 4 years due to the fact i compete in offroad motorcycling), and i gave up smoking back in january, and eat very healthily but did start to drink a lot of coffee at work as well as diet coke to substitute what i thought is eating too much through not smoking.
can this increase in caffine intake plus the very hot weather have helped to bring on this attack?

[kairen]

Hi Glen,

yes too much caffeine, can bring on an attack, and with the coke as well, thats a lot, i dont drink coke now and try to only drink decaf, coffee,

hope your feeling ok now



kairen x

[Meg]

Welcome Glen ,

Yes it could have done. Plus coke is high in caffiene too unless you're specifically drinking te non caffieine sort .

Caffiene usually sets your heart racing as a first symptom

Having a hard time cutting out caffeine (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2728)


Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com

Watch your thoughts, they become your words...
Watch your words, they become your actions... Watch your actions, they become your habits... Watch your habits, they become your character... Watch your character, it becomes your destiny...

[seh1980]

Caffeine always makes me panic :D

"Life is too important to take seriously" Corky Siegal

[glen]

cheers everyone feel fine at the mo.
tho i do have problems with me breathing before the attack and now after mainly caused by a stuffed up feeling nose, vics synex nasel spray seems to help any other ideas to help me breath better.

[Sue K with 5]

I totall agree with Kairen

I am now on mediation for depression, and I too suffered severe panic attacks due to the intake of Tea and coffee and diet coke made it even worse

I now drink Decaf coffee

and stopped drinking Coke - Its good new that your exercising and you take care of yourself,. some people get just isolated attacks, maybe something has been worrying you


Good luck and take care


Sue with 5 children

scknight

[nomorepanic]

Welcome aboard Glen

I gave up caffeine about 5 years ago now and never looked back - don't miss it atall.

Had you eaten properly that day as well cos that can make you feel panicky?

Nicola

"Nearly all happiness comes into our lives through doors we don't even remember leaving open"

[psycho2000]

Ola Glen!

Welcome to the forum. I used to be a smoker as you, gave up a month or so ago. Coffee is not very good for the heart I believe myself, because it increases the heart rate unneccessarily, just like nicotine in cigarette, which is not good. So, if you have given up smoking, which is really excellent (i'm not being too humble about that :D), then you can seriously consider drastically reducing your coffee daily intake. In my opinion, 1 cuppa in the afternoon (when you body is already going) is more than enough. If you can stop it completely (sort of a detox cure if u know what i mean), then by all means try to do so. But if it leads to too much anxiety and other withdrawal symptoms, then just have 1 cup a day.

Oh the breathing difficulty is perfectly normal. I know how uncomfortable and depressing it can be at times...I had a bad day today myself. But try some slow breathing...have a lie down if you can. Keep your throat wet by sipping water (not a lot) and that should help. Try to keep urself busy when you experience that as well. Talk to someone, it will make u feel much much better trust me.

Any more things u wanna know, just ask away or drop me a PM if you wanna chat!

Sam.

One day, one day I will beat u and that day, I will be free again, as I was before...

[BrandyK]

I also gave up caffiene! and will never drink it again!

Brandy

[henri]

Hi Glen
My sister had her one and only panic attack one summers day last year, after having eaten nothing all day and drunk five coffees. So i reckon there is definitely a link between the two!
I gave up caffeine when i started having panic attacks, was so hard at first. now i can enjoy a tea or coffee ocassionally if i really want one, but generally i've stayed caffeine free and it's not that bad.
henri x

[kairen]

I was a real coffee addict, i would drink cup after cup, no wonder i was so loopy LOL, then at 33 started smoking cos i felt stressed, so i was really helping myself but havent had cigarette for 8 weeks now

**pats herself on the back **



kairen x

[laurenessex]

caffine and processed foods didn't help much either!

[glen]

cheers to you all for your comments. sorry but been away from the pc for a few days. to be honest hadnt eaten anything that sunday morning just had 2 cups of tea plus it were ****** hot (32C) but been feeling weird ever since. still been going to the gym and not having breathing probs there as my mind is off it so that works well and i can keep training, also raced my bike on sunday and won! first time this year but was absolutley shattered after. just feel weird though like im half cut but i dont drink! doctor gave me some beta blockers and have tried one and felt ok yesterday afternoon anyone else tried them? or would i be better off trying to beat it myself? as for worrying thoughts, well getting married in september in mexico but that dont worry me but my dad who is a very bad depression sufferer cannot decide wether he will come or not as hes worried he will be a burdon and to be honest so am i. sorry to go on and on but it helps a bit.

[Meg]

Kairen

Well done on the stoping smoking !!

**to be honest hadnt eaten anything that sunday morning**
2 cups of tea in reality probably wasn't it but not eating won't have helped ..

**not having breathing probs there as my mind is off ** Glad you've made this connection - well done

Congratulations on your bike win.

Betablockers may help with racing heart rate or breathing issues but will not solve your issues .






Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com

Watch your thoughts, they become your words...
Watch your words, they become your actions... Watch your actions, they become your habits... Watch your habits, they become your character... Watch your character, it becomes your destiny...

[tonyd45]

Im trying at the moment to cut down on my caffiene intake (drinking 2 litres of coke a day and getting as big as a house lol),i dont drink coffee anymore as i will feel a reaction almost within minutes,makes me very jumpy.You mentioned the diet coke,which apart from the caffiene also contains Aspartame(sweetener) which is not good at all and i have read research which stated it wasnt good for anxiety as well lots of other things.
I also gave up smoking (last october)mainly because of anxiety about my health but i have put on 3 stone in weight (14 stone now!!) which kinda defeats the object but im gonna do something about it very soon.

Tony d

[Meg]

Tony,

It sounds like you have come a very very long way in your journey.

Alcohol, smoking and caffiene both kicked and now onto stopping coke and increasing exercise..

Yes aspartame is a very unhelpful substance and can indeed cause and perpetuate all sorts of symptoms.

Good luck - we're here to help to support you through this

Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com

Watch your thoughts, they become your words...
Watch your words, they become your actions... Watch your actions, they become your habits... Watch your habits, they become your character... Watch your character, it becomes your destiny...