what foods should be avoided with panic attacks,panic disorder and agoraphobia?
my daughter has panic atttacks, agoraphobia and I wanted to know if there were any food that would bring on a attack someone was telling me that the same foods that cause migraines and headaches will bring on attacks I need to know if its true and what they are. thank you
I must confess that I never heard this before - maybe someone else in the community will weigh in. The only thing that occurs to me is that panic attacks may be associated with a lower serotonin level so maybe that's a connection that is being alluded to. so i'm stumped on foods as well.
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Hi Jbsusie,
I don't know if you can call caffeine a "food," but it definetly should be avoided. Lately, I've been seeing a lot of people drink energy drinks such as "Red Bull," and not realizing that the high caffeine content is triggering their anxiety! I always see a number of people that don't seem to realize that the coffee, tea, Iced tea, and/or soda that they drink is triggering anxiety for them!
Over the years, I've heard a number of different antedotes about different foods, but no real consensus. I've had clients claim that juice (which has a high amount of suger) triggers anxiety. That makes some sense to me, because if you feel a change in your body due to consuming a large amount of sugar, the sensation alone could trigger anxiety (body sensations are one of the triggers for anxiety). For other people, just getting overly hungry can trigger a panic attack.
I've heard some people claim that fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants are "calming" foods. I don't know if that's really true, but we all know that these types of foods do have tremendous health benefits for us.
For me, the lesson here again seems to be to eat a healthy diet, avoid caffeine (and alcohol), high amounts of sugar, and do not allow yourself to get overly hungry.
As far as the foods that trigger migraines, I'll let Dr. Walcutt answer that one as she is an expert in the area of headaches!
Regards,
Jennifer L. Fee, Psy.D.
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jbsusie - Any food that produces a sensation that resembles anxiety or panic - jitteriness, racing heart, sweating, butterflies in the stomach, chest tightness, etc. could potentially trigger an attack because people with panic disorder are often misinterpreting bodily cues and hypersensitive to the sensations associated with panic. So if a food makes your daughter feel like she's having a panic attack that may raise her anxiety to very high levels. Whether this will actually trigger an attack is hard to say but she is likely to feel very uncomfortable and scared.
Rick Wirtz
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