YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

Last night at about 11:00 I had not eaten a meal since about noon. I had a small snack at about 4:30 in the afternoon. At about 10:00 PM I ate some jelly fruit snacks to keep my stomach busy untill I could get some real food. About 30 minutes later I was going through a drive through for a sandwich and BAMB! Panic attack. I can't figure if it was the drive through ( I have SAD) or the surge of sugar from my little snack. Any thoughts?

I've never had one triggered by a blood sugar spike, but I have had them triggered by that woozy, dizzy, low blood sugar feeling. Either I start thinking I might pass out and panic about people seeing me pass out, or I start to worry that I won't be able to get something to eat in time and start to feel trapped and panic about that.

I can see how a spike could trigger it, though. Your body is suddenly feeling too much of something, like a rush, the same as you'd feel with the adrenaline of a panic attack. It makes sense. I had a friend who couldn't drink a lot of caffeine because it made her heart race which would trigger a panic attack. Seems like it could be pretty similar.

Hi.

Ya know, I've often wondered the same thing myself. Last night, I had a chocolate chip cookie (after having some cherries and pear in a fruit salad) around 9pm. Too late to be eating dinner, but it just happened that way. Anyway, around 3:30 am, I woke up with an anxiety attack. I have noticed that if I tend to eat sugar late in the day, there does seem to be a higher chance that I'll get some kind of panic or anxiety attack. I think you're on to something there. I am going to do a test and not eat anything with sugar after 6pm. As of late, I've been getting anxiety a lot more frequently, but I also haven't been eating as healthy as I usually do. I'll report back in a week to see if it has made any difference.

Cheers,
serious_oregon

Coffee does the same thng to me. I get even worse shakes and swirling thoughts. I have been trying to eat in a healthy way and cut out a lot of the junk that I sometimes eat when I am feeling anxious. I find that when I'm having a bad or low day, I am not hungry at all and will just not eat or forget to eat. The only foods that have any taste for me are the ones that are not very good for me. The ones that send me into a tailspin and make things worse. A rollercoaster of feelings and moods.

So I've been testing my "no sugar after 7 pm" theory. So far, I haven't been waking up with anxiety attacks in the middle of the night. I've reduced my overall intake of processed sugars throughout the day; even my decaf Americanos to cut out that little bit of caffeine I was getting in the afternoon.

So far, so good. I think I will definitely keep following this change of habit. I'm also trying to cut down on my late eating and movie watching. Something about the stimulation seems to make my brain a bit overactive as I sleep, it seems.

That's my report for now. It's interesting.
shanarchy: I keep a food diary. I think I'm going on a month now. It's pretty cool to put into perspective what I've actually been ingesting and then comparing it to off days. That's great advice to give!

Best All,
serious_oregon

I noticed this if I eat nothing all morning then have a high calorie/fat take out with soda for lunch my anxiety goes into overdrive in the afternoon. It's a lot less worse if I have something healthy for lunch but I can only manage coffee in the morning and don't really eat til noon these days. You do get a spike I think that can exaserbate any underlying anxiety.

am being lazy by not reading everyone's posts. So if someone already posted this ignore me. Could it be a food allergy? Were their any food dye in the fruit snacks? I have heard the red ones can cause behaviour issues why not panic?

The food log idea was a really good one. I started keeping it about a week ago. I never realized how much sugar I eat. In coffee, in snacks, in juice. It has helped me think more about what is going into my body and how it feels a bit later. I found that I still had a snack but changed what I chose to eat. I am also reading labels more. Do you think this is turning into an OCD thing? Ha ha, one more thing to add to the list. I have also no been eating after 7:00 PM and it has helped a lot with the night time twitches that keep waking me up. You know, the muscle spasms we get when we are tense from the day? Well, last night I had some roast chicken and broccoli for dinner and nothing else. No sweets for dessert or fruit. I slept for 10 hours!! No twitches. The first time in my LIFE. I don't know that it had to do with the meal or no sweets or any of the other things I do to try to relax before bed, but I will be trying this experiment again today.

Hi, Lilac & all,
I think that diet can definitely have an effect on anxiety. I'm noticing a big change in my sleeping since I stopped the sugars I would consume later in the day and started trying to be very aware of not eating at all after 7pm. This may be a minor factor in anxiety, but I'll take what I can get to lessen the distress.

Now if my cat would stop yowling at 6 am. She goes on periodically sometimes for a couple hours. She's not sick, but bored I think. And 16 yrs. old. This is giving me morning anxiety because I rely on my second sleep (7 - 9am) as my deep sleep time. It's very frustrating. I anticipate her doing it & it honestly causes me more anxiety than if I'd eaten a sundae before bed. Seriously! I can't spray her with water because that will end up freaking the dog out (too many neurotic entities under one roof). Anyway...what to do?