Panic attack, pre-eating...while eating...and a bit after eating

[matthewduffy2010]

Between the hours of 4pm and 8pm, i have been getting pretty bad panic attacks.

This is also the time when i have my dinner, and as such, everytime i eat my dinner i get really bad panic attacks, my brain racing telling me that i won't eat it and feel sick, when in actual fact, i clear the plate.

What's strange is that in the mornings and lunchtime, i eat fine, in fact, this morning, i ate a bowl of cereal no problem whatsoever, ate the whole thing and this afternoon, i had a sausage sandwitch, so obviously it's not an eating problem.

It's confusing me a bit, because a few days before this happened (this being Thursday 7th, 8th), i was eating fine, with no panic attacks.

and also, after i've eaten i'm absolutely fine, all the panic goes away, but of course it does come back after a while, due to the fact that i know it will happen again at the same time (between 4pm and 8pm).

I believe there's a trigger here somewhere, but i wanted to ask whether other people have had this happen to them.

God bless and thank you for your forthcoming messages! :)

[VickieX]

Your diet can influence panic attacks, i've cut out a lot of foods from my diet because i paniced over them.

1) stay away from Caffiene
2) try keep your sugar levels equal, so don't eat foods that are high in sugar.
3) too much dairy can give you headaches which can also induce a panic attack.

obviously this is all subject to the individual, but just a few tips there =)
hope the help =S
xx

[Veronica H]

Hi Matt
When your nerves are sensitised and you are having a panic attack your brain starts looking for a threat to pin the feeling on. Remember that at this time your fight or flight response has kicked in and your brain is making a decision as to wether to run or not. This is not about the food. I had an attack when I was using my hairdye and saw that as a threat and spent months trying to get over it. This is why people develop what appear to be irrational phobias. I can relate to the food as the same thing happened to me and I thought if I avoid eating then I will avoid an attack. This was before I fully understood this illness.You are being 'bluffed by a feeling' as the great Dr Claire Weekes would say.
Her book SELF HELP FOR YOUR NERVES ISBN 0-7225-3155-9 is available from the NMP shop. Dr Weekes was a physician and scientist. She was a fellow sufferer (nominated for the nobel prize for medicine) and really understood this illness. She took the mystery out of it, and devised a simple programme for recovery. I can't recommend this enough. I think you would feel reassured by this book.This will get better.
Here is a link to her site;

http://www.drclaireweekes.co.uk/

Veronicax

[Ronfl]

I too have issues after eating,what seems to help me is not to eat fully as that extremely full feeling makes my head start scanning my body.Obviously that starts the whole cycle. Ron