my anxiety seems to be so dependent on what I eat

[sphil]

I have had much lower levels of anxiety for the last few weeks - was really thinking that I was coming out of it. Then last week I had much more sugar than usual (lots of events involving cake!). A couple of days later I felt my mood slipping - more low than anxious. On Sat I cooked a very rich creamy pasta meal (cream, eggs, cheese, butter all in there) and since then my anxiety has been back with a vengeance.

It's very physical though, iyswim - a gnawing in the stomach mainly. And I'm not as panicked by it as I was. Still very unpleasant though - and I can feel the adrenalin very strongly.

It makes me wonder (as I have for some time) whether my anxiety is largely food related. I had my first and only major panic attack the day after consuming large quantities of dairy and caffeine (chocolate and tea) and since then I've noticed that certain things (caffeine, dairy, tomatoes, sugar) seem to set me off if I eat enough of them.

Anyone else?

[tractorgirl]

You might find it interesting to look up Hypoglycemia. My anxiety seems to get extremely bad after eating. I'm currently taking Diazapam on top of my usual anti-depressants, but i have been looking into Hypoglycemia, and will be mentioning it at my review next week.

Let me know how you get on.

[LesserOfTwoWeevils]

That's a really useful thing to know!
I've never noticed that any particular foods make me feel more anxious but I'm very conscious that I eat a lot of bread, and have read that it boosts serotonin levels. So eating lots of bread might be a kind of natural self-medication.

[sphil]

I have wondered whether its to do with blood sugar in the past - I know theres a connection between glucose and adrenalin, though cant remember exactly what it is! Feel absolutely fine today.