1. Community
  2. Mental health
  3. Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety symptoms after eating

Posted , 59 users are following.

sue92125
sue92125

Hi.  I was wondering if anyone else has anxiety symptoms after eating.  

I have been diagnosed as having an anxiety disorder but I think more than that I have some sort of digestive disorder.  Often after eating my heart races, my stomach bloats and I sometimes feel a bit breathless.  This is enough to make anyone feel anxious smile  The doctors have always said there is no connection.  I have been experiencing this for many years and keep getting fobbed off by the medical world telling me that it is just anxiety.  

It has affected my life enormously, leading to becoming housebound for days, sometimes weeks on end.

 

8 likes, 94 replies

94 Replies

Next
  • papote53
    papote53 sue92125

    Posted

    I feel breathless everytime I eat.  I lost some weight and have what they call IBS, but is actually stress and my stomach gets tied. They did every test in the book and the last one was a Stomach CT whiich I will get the results today. Doctors think my lack of air is anxiety -  I'm also light headed 24/7 which just got a little bettter but still working on it. I'm taking Alprazolam XR 0.5 twice daily but is not doing much for me when I eat.

     

  • brummiebabe
    brummiebabe sue92125

    Posted

    Hi there. When you eat, your stomach and various other digestive parts of the body need to work hard. To do this effectively, they need a bigger blood supply, so your heart beats faster to do just that. If you tend to be anxious, you may notice this as your heart beating faster. It then could speed up as you are worrying about your heart. You could have IBS which may cause tum to bloat, and again, if you are worrying about these things happening, you could get breathless due to hyperventilation.

    I have experienced the heart beat part and am constantly feeling bloated. They blame this on IBS. Hope this helps you and good luck

    • sue92125
      sue92125 brummiebabe

      Posted

      Thank you.  I think I do have a bit of IBS and a sluggish digestive system in general.
  • david7897
    david7897 sue92125

    Posted

    Hi Sue, BB and P, 

    Sounds like IBS on top of our anxiety stuff. For IBS you might like to try dairy free to see if that helps. I went from big time milk, cheese etc to none-at-all following Jane Plant diet suggestion and it has helped me in a few ways. I just stopped, and after a week I had a big fat milkshake and felt sick within an hour. Prof. Plant has written a couple of books explaining why dairy free might be a good idea for folks with cancer too. She did a cook book and I use it a lot now. Cholesterol is down too. I hope you feel better soon, David.

    • papote53
      papote53 david7897

      Posted

      Yes, I live milk and cheese but I do control myself with less than 2 cups of almond milk daily and 1 slice of cheese. Pizza once monthly. ;-) MY IBS is pretty much under control but I'm ready to make it even better.   I also take almond milk with my morning cereal. So you take a calcium vitamen?
    • david7897
      david7897 papote53

      Posted

      Good question !  I'm a bit of a weird person in the way I think, and my thought process was - cows feed calves milk for a year (?) and they end up with really big thick healthy bones as an adult eating only grass. So I reckon if I just eat an otherwise normal diet with plenty of veg and do load bearing exercise I should be fine. Let's see smile
  • Elisabeth35372
    Elisabeth35372 sue92125

    Posted

    Hi Sue,

    So sorry your are going through all this.  I would suggest that you check out Histamine Intolerance.  This can create anxiety after you eat, along with other symptoms.  Sometimes it's enough to avoid high histamine foods.  If that's not enough, you may want to go on a low-histamine diet.  You're right that it can sometimes be caused by the digestive system.  Many with Histamine Intolerance have a lack of DAO in their intestinal system.  DAO is necessary for digesting histamine properly.  If the histamine isn't digested properly, it will be released into your body with all kinds of symptoms.  I hope this helps you.  Good luck!

    • Elisabeth35372
      Elisabeth35372 stephanie0646

      Posted

      Hi Stephanie,

      DAO stands for diamine oxidase.  Notice if you have anxiety or panic attacks when you eat high histamine foods.  Since I wrote that entry, I've also been diagnosed with SIBO (probably IBS, too).  Good luck to us all!

  • laura17718
    laura17718 sue92125

    Posted

    Hi Sue, the stomach is a massive part of anxiety.  I now have gaviscon after every meal and before bed, really does help.

     

  • laura17718
    laura17718 sue92125

    Posted

    Also, I have given up wheat, gluten, milk, chocolate, onions, cheese (cheese is terrible for palps). These are my triggers which since anxiety cause my so feel sick and lightheaded.  I'm also seeing a chiropractor, tension in the neck causes the fuzzy head feeling.  One time I could not get out of bed as my head felt so heavy and had a constant off balance feeling...I had an adjustment at the chiro and it went instantly.  I believe when the nerves in the neck are constricted through tension it also causes stomach problems.

    • mariogu99
      mariogu99 laura17718

      Posted

      Hi Laura

      I have those exact symptoms you described-I had a steroid shot a few months back which had bad side effects including anxiety and panic attacks.  I take a little Xanax to calm me down. Never had any medical issues before the shot for my hip. Any insight or help would be greatly appreciated. 

      Thanks Mario

  • gail98771
    gail98771 sue92125

    Posted

    I totally support the other comments on this site that you should remove yourself off dairy and see how you feel. I use almond milk or soya milk and have never looked back since then. I breather better now, suffer no symtoms in my stomach and feel back to normal. A dietician may be able to test to see if you are lactose intolerant.
    • avi83652
      avi83652 gail98771

      Posted

      Hi! I want to know if you still take meat or any effect of any GM foods?
  • crystal59357
    crystal59357 sue92125

    Posted

    I have been medicated for Panic Disorder for almost ten years now and am only now realizing the relation between my anxiety and eating patterns. In the past year I have come to the conclusion that I have Reactive Hypoglycemia. This causes me to feel tremendous anxiety shortly after eating... typically a half hour to an hour later and can last for a couple of hours.

    My doctor has not been helpful at all with this so I have taken it into my own hands and have since learned that Intermittent Fasting cures Hypoglycemia. Basically, my body has stopped using fat for fuel and relies consistantly on carbohydrates... this is not the way our bodies are meant to operate. Intermittent Fasting retrains your body to work the way is should.

    I have just started my intermittent fasting yesterday. I recall many years ago, after experiencing the worst bouts of anxiety in my life to the point where I too was housebound, I was unknowingly fasting intermittently and at that point in my life my anxiety vanished. I could never figure out what I did that changed my anxiety until now and cannot wait for my body to readjust to this new lifestyle =D

    • hidden-rain
      hidden-rain crystal59357

      Posted

      Hi Crystal.

      Thanks so much for your post. I have lives the worst few months of my life as I have been extremely anxious and increasingly paranoid and depressed and I strongly believe that my gut is the main culprit. Please tell me more about your intermitted fasting and what foods to avoid!! I am also looking into probiotics...

    • Brodie
      Brodie hidden-rain

      Posted

      If you think that's your gut is the culprit of your problem then go see a gastroenterologist and have him check you for sibo or candida yeast in the cut both of these have the same effect panic attack anxiety low blood sugars
    • a_guest
      a_guest crystal59357

      Posted

      I have noticed a simular thing too.

      Occassionaly, after eating, I get  anxous, have almost likea  apanic attac, high tension, or i feel blue/depressed.

      It is only at the times when my neversous system is already off, due to the accumulated high strees,....

      Fasting helps.

      It is a natural reaction, to availd it, I eat light food, some days only drink teas.

      Gynger tea is good for digestion...

      Defitatly there is some linc between guts and nervous system.

       

    • julie58360
      julie58360 crystal59357

      Posted

      Hi Crystal, I was diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia a few years ago. Was eating every 2 to 3 hours. Went on low carb, super clean diet. Still never felt right. Started fasting just over 3 weeks ago. I study during the day and tutor in the evenings until 8pm. So I wait until I finish work at 8pm to eat. I've had very little to no anxiety. A few times I've eaten before tutoring and I really struggled - decline in cognitive functioning, anxious and a bit all over the place. As long as I fast all day, I feel great. Only downside is feeling hungry, trying to get enough food in me for the day and maintaining my weight. Just wondering how you're getting on? Have you been fasting?

Back to top
Next

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.