hunger, heat, and anxiety?

[pwidi]

greetings!

as you may or may not know i suffered my first anxiety attack a few months ago while riding a bus. the next anxiety attack occured a few weeks ago, while riding another public vehicle. between that last attack and now there were a few extremely minor anxiety attacks. until today, that is.

while driving our trusty ole' pickup i suddenly suffered what was definitely the worst anxiety attack i felt in my life. the other anxiety attacks was "oh no, i'm going to the hospital". the attack a few hours ago was "i'm going to die."

now, relaxed in my comfy chair, i noticed that all the anxiety attacks i had happened when i had an empty or almost empty stomach.

the first attack happened at night. during the day i ate half a cup of rice, two spoonfuls of meat, and a doughnut.

the second attack happened at lunchtime. my breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal.

the third and worst attach also happened at lunchtime. my breakfast was a tomato omellete and a cup of rice.

does hunger have anything to do with anxiety? sometimes when i'm hungry i do feel some slight shaking, but i used to just shrug it off.

also, does the heat have something to do with anxiety? it's horribly hot here!

once again, thanks!

[SANDYJANE]

yes i find mine is bad when im hungry or hot , so ur not alone .



love sandy xx

[Zanxiety]

I’m awfully sorry to hear about the huge Panic Attack you had pwidi. Their not nice at all, I know, but at least you managed to get through it, so well done.

Some research has shown that hunger does have some affect on anxiety, and anxiety/panic attacks. If you haven’t eaten for a while, the risk and severity of an anxiety/panic attack is more because your blood sugar levels in your body get low. I’ve noticed that even though, I do have panic attacks still when I’ve eaten I often get gentle to mild attacks, whereas when I have times I haven’t eaten for ages, my panic attacks do seem to be a lot worse. The best thing is to make sure your eating enough food all from the four food groups, and not make yourself become too hungry. Drinking water is very good for reducing anxiety too, and so is apple juice and orange juice, but fizzy drinks such as Fanta, lucozade, coke and even tea and coffee can make you feel worse as they contain caffeine which makes you feel low. Although, this is only bad if you have them all the time.

With heat it can have an affect of anxiety too, as usually when it gets so warm you can suffer from dizzy spells, and headaches, or redness on your face or body, and even worry about what’s happening to you during these times. As long as you protect yourself wearing sun cream, or trying to shelter during very hot days then you can avoid this from happening and have some really good days to enjoy.

I hope I feel I’ve helped you enough since we do all want to help each other and become happier people again. So, just take good care of yourself and hope reading this has helped you feel better by understanding what’s going on. Try to focus on all of the positives instead of any negatives, and think of all the achievements you have or may have done. It’s hard, I can understand as panic can really be uncomfortable at times.

From Zanxiety

[beadbabe]

hello there
I definitely ffind I need to keep myself topped up with food and never let myself get hungry. If I do get hungry and shaky that spells disaster always. Even before panic attacks I couldn't get hungry or it would make me nervous.
If you then eat something really sugary when you have let your blood sugar get low it can backfire too so try to always have some protein combined with it as this slows down the sugar getting into your blood stream.

If you get really hungry your body sort of panics and released chemicals into the blood stream, and with us anxious people that just seems to have a knock-on effect, as panic attacks and anxiety have ourbodies in a state of high alert for any odd changes.

try to eat little and often and no too much sugary food if you find it affects you. They have a rebound effect. anyway, I don't have the energy to look into it but apparently low-GI food are excellent for helping anxiety.

[Dying_Swan]

Hey Pwidi.

Yup - I've often found that hunger and heat make me more panicky.

Doesn't sound as though you've been eating much? Someone mentioned protein, which is definitely good for filling you up for a long time. Another thing to try is to make sure you eat wholegrain foods. They kind of act like 'slow release' energy. E.g. if you eat a chocolate bar, it will instantly raise your blood sugar, but then it will drop again. If you eat a slice of wholemeal toast, it will raise your blood sugar more slowly, but keep releasing it for longer. So, as unappetizing as it may be, try switching your rice to wholegrain rice

Heat is a killer for anxiety (in my opinion). I find it important to make sure I distinguish just what is making me feel like that. So if I'm feeling hot and shaky, I just remind myself that it is hot, and my body is just responding to the heat. It's a normal physiological response, and nothing to worry about

Good luck xxx

[pwidi]

aha! i knew it! hunger and anxiety are related! thanks!

the funny thing is, that latest panic attack was so severe that i shouted to myself that everything was hopeless. but the moment i shouted that, i heard my voice, and realized how absurd i was. and i was driving perfectly well, by the way.

still, i stopped by a food joint and got a bite to eat.

so what food should i bring while driving? i usually go on 1 to 2 hour drives. can i eat crackers?

also, i am working on losing some weight (since i have hypertension). will this hunger-anxiety teamup do some damage to my efforts to lose weight?

ah, thanks people!

[beadbabe]

I'm so anxious I never put on weight but a great snack is oat cakes and cottage cheese. This wins all round - high protein and cottage cheese is good for anxiety too.

Apples are also good I think. And houmous is good.

Good luck!

[nomorepanic]

It is to do with the blood sugar levels dropping too low.

Eat regularly and small meals and things such as a banana are great stabilisers for sugar levels.

Never skip a meal or NOT eat atall all day - you will feel terrible as some of you find out.

[pwidi]

so when my blood sugar levels drop too low, the chances for an anxiety attack increases?

yeah, i used to carry a banana or two while driving. why i stopped doing that, i don't know.

will this "keep food in your stomach to avoid anxiety attacks" tactic work well with my "lose weight to lower my blood pressure" goal?

[beadbabe]

hi there
yes, because as long as you eat the right stuff - avoid high fat foods (you know what they are!) and eat a good balanced diet that has lots of fruit and veg and protein particularly because this slows down the release of sugars it shouldn't make you gain weight.

You know some of the thinnest people are people who eat all day long - it's what you eat (and a bit your metabolism) that determines your overall weight. I happen to burn everything off at the moment because of anxiety, but I do find that if I ever get hungry then it is a sure-fire way to increase the chance of a panic attack.

there are some really good books on balancing blood sugar on amazon - try low GI recipe books which will give you loads of info on this. I don't do the recipes because I don't want to lose weight but they give loads of info on how to balance your blood sugar levels and how this will improve your wellbeing and mood.

How do I know all this? I recently tried out going to a nutritionist to see what she said about panic attacks. She had had them in the past herself and reckons she cured hers by addressing blood sugar levels. Well, I am not sure about that, because mine are more about mental attitude, but I know that you have to look after yourself because anything and everything can contribute to this horrible illness.

Oh yes, someone mentioned bananas - apparently they make a brilliant filling snack (pity I don't like them). basically eat healthy, and wholemeal where possible.

Best of luck
I hope you find this useful.