Panic Attacks After Eating
-
Guest
-
Guest
I have that often. I have really bad health anxiety so I am always scanning my body without realising it. Apparently when you are eating, your stomach expands and contracts and moves kinda like if you were squeezing a rubber ball in your hand. My mind picks up on this and kicks off my anxiety. It spoils things every time we go out somewhere for dinner.
-
Guest
I can feel for everyone who suffers with this terrible problem. At the same time...it is such a relief to know that I am not alone and others struggle with the same battles.
Just as everyone has stated...when I eat many small meals to control my metabolism I'm OK and the shortness of breath during digestion is not so bad. When, however, I gorge myself with junkfood; particularly late at night I create quite the panic trigger for myself.
After devouring a meal I realize what's coming and get that sinking feeling inside. The anxiety begins there and I find myself needing to get up and move around. After a half hour or so and into digestion (or lack thereof)...the bloating gets bad; the pressure pushes against my diaphram to create real shortness of breath and then my anxiety takes the whole experience to a new level. My heart punds through my chest and if it gets really bad..I get tingling in my hands and feet, I hyperventilate....and the impending doom attacks. I'm absolutely convinced that I'm going to drop dead of a heart attack any minute.
I've been to the ER literally DOZENS of times for these issues and thankfully the local staff is very understanding and patient with me.
And every time I get in front of the doctor I immediately begin to calm down. After a careful examination (sometimes extensive testing - EKGs, blood work, chest x-rays, etc) and all the symptoms are gone.
While in the early stages of panic I try my best to fight it. I get on the phone with close family and friends that I trust and try to get my mind off of it. They NEVER understand...they just can't.
They all say..."Just tell yourself that you're OK."......"You know that it is not your heart....MIND OVER MATTER!!"
Yeah, right!! Yes, my mind knows all of these things. But my body doesn't care. It doesn't listen. And it has the power to convince me that everyone is wrong and I am deathly ill. Even though I've been through it literally TWO DOZEN TIMES with trips to the ER (representing the absolute worst panic episodes for me) you'd think that I could overcome this horrible, dysfunctional thought process. Sometimes it does work; on good days and during veyr mild attacks. But when bad ones happen....there is little that I can do to stop them.
And for me...all of the extreme anxiety takes its toll on my digestive system. Everything just stops working. Digestion seems to stop completely and everything in my mid-section just freezes and stops moving.
And if I'm going through a stressful time in life....and the anxiety is bad...my stomach can get relaly bad. I'm constantly bloated, constant indigestion, etc. And because these sensations are triggers for me...it creates a vicious cycle that is hard to stop.
And my stomach needs a good week of relief from accute anxiety to heal and get back to normal functioning (homeostasis). So if I can't but those 5 or 6 or 7 "uneventful" days togather back to back....my stomach stays raw and beat up.
Sorry to ramble and I want to thank everyone for their contributions to the forum. It helps me so much to know that people know EXACTLY what I go through.
Just as everyone has stated...when I eat many small meals to control my metabolism I'm OK and the shortness of breath during digestion is not so bad. When, however, I gorge myself with junkfood; particularly late at night I create quite the panic trigger for myself.
After devouring a meal I realize what's coming and get that sinking feeling inside. The anxiety begins there and I find myself needing to get up and move around. After a half hour or so and into digestion (or lack thereof)...the bloating gets bad; the pressure pushes against my diaphram to create real shortness of breath and then my anxiety takes the whole experience to a new level. My heart punds through my chest and if it gets really bad..I get tingling in my hands and feet, I hyperventilate....and the impending doom attacks. I'm absolutely convinced that I'm going to drop dead of a heart attack any minute.
I've been to the ER literally DOZENS of times for these issues and thankfully the local staff is very understanding and patient with me.
And every time I get in front of the doctor I immediately begin to calm down. After a careful examination (sometimes extensive testing - EKGs, blood work, chest x-rays, etc) and all the symptoms are gone.
While in the early stages of panic I try my best to fight it. I get on the phone with close family and friends that I trust and try to get my mind off of it. They NEVER understand...they just can't.
They all say..."Just tell yourself that you're OK."......"You know that it is not your heart....MIND OVER MATTER!!"
Yeah, right!! Yes, my mind knows all of these things. But my body doesn't care. It doesn't listen. And it has the power to convince me that everyone is wrong and I am deathly ill. Even though I've been through it literally TWO DOZEN TIMES with trips to the ER (representing the absolute worst panic episodes for me) you'd think that I could overcome this horrible, dysfunctional thought process. Sometimes it does work; on good days and during veyr mild attacks. But when bad ones happen....there is little that I can do to stop them.
And for me...all of the extreme anxiety takes its toll on my digestive system. Everything just stops working. Digestion seems to stop completely and everything in my mid-section just freezes and stops moving.
And if I'm going through a stressful time in life....and the anxiety is bad...my stomach can get relaly bad. I'm constantly bloated, constant indigestion, etc. And because these sensations are triggers for me...it creates a vicious cycle that is hard to stop.
And my stomach needs a good week of relief from accute anxiety to heal and get back to normal functioning (homeostasis). So if I can't but those 5 or 6 or 7 "uneventful" days togather back to back....my stomach stays raw and beat up.
Sorry to ramble and I want to thank everyone for their contributions to the forum. It helps me so much to know that people know EXACTLY what I go through.
-
Guest
What a relief! I am so glad that I'm not the only who experiences "weird symptoms" after eating. About 30 minutes after I eat, I begin to feel really dizzy and disoriented.
The Dr. ordered a fasting glucose and a glucose tolerance test and all came back normal, so it's obvious that I have panic symptoms after eating.
You're not alone. I'm so thankful for this post. I feel a little less alone and scared now, and hope that you do too!
The Dr. ordered a fasting glucose and a glucose tolerance test and all came back normal, so it's obvious that I have panic symptoms after eating.
You're not alone. I'm so thankful for this post. I feel a little less alone and scared now, and hope that you do too!